The Moose laments that we have defined contrition down.
This week the President expressed regret about his sometimes blunt style of language.
"In a round-table interview with newspaper reporters, President Bush -- who not long ago declined to identify any mistakes he had made in his first term -- expressed misgivings for two of his most well-known expressions: "Bring 'em on," in reference to Iraqis attacking US troops, and his pledge to get Osama bin Laden "dead or alive." Bush said Thursday: "Sometimes, words have consequences you don't intend them to mean. 'Bring 'em on' is the classic example, when I was really trying to rally the troops. . . . Some interpreted it to be defiance in the face of danger. That certainly wasn't the case."
The Moose observes that this isn't exactly donning sackcloth and ashes. Last spring, the President stammered and stuttered when asked if he made any errors. So, with deep introspection, this time he came up with this harsh self assessment. This is what passes for self-reflection for W. Call it defining contrition down.
Don't expect the President to go any further in re-evaluating past actions. For example, it is not as if he is going to express regret for his triumphalist dress-up, fighter jock landing on the USS Lincoln in the Mission Accomplished photo op. He is not going to apologize to the over one thousand bereaved families that perhaps he gave the wrong impression on May1, 2003 that the war was over. It would not be him. It is not in his nature. After all, if things had gone according to plan, it could have been used in campaign footage.
Ironically, the President prides himself as a religious man. This week he asserted that he didn't know how anyone could do his job without a relationship with the Lord. But aren't Godly folks supposed to love mercy and walk humbly? Doesn't Proverbs inform us that pride goeth before the fall?
Maybe the Moose is just a grumpy Old Testament type, but he has to work real hard at turning the other cheek.
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