A Boston Tea Party …(Off Repeat Mode)

We all have a favorite song or at a minimum a few songs that when we hear them make us sing t out loud. Pick one of those songs and imagine hearing it played 24 hours a day for a week straight. It would not take long for you to lose interest in that song. Same words, same melody, same beat over and over all the time, every time you turn the radio on. It would not take even the full week before you would turn the radio off and turn your attention to something else.

I describe this because it is very much like the past few years hearing President Bush give a speech on the war on terrorism. Every time he spoke it was the same old lines. Listening to the President had become so very predictable. I knew he was going to tell me it that war was hard work and that war was a long process and that terrorists were out to get us. Those words were inspiring and effective the first couple of times but like a favorite song the more it got played the less I wanted to hear it. I kept wondering if his speech writer was just that bad or did he only have one speech writer or did his handlers not have enough confidence in him to use different language in his speeches. I totally supported and continue to support the war effort but also I realized that this President was losing support just from his redundant speeches.

Today the President finally played a different song on the album of war. The first new words I had heard in more than a year. Words like “The time has come for all responsible Islamic leaders to join in denouncing an ideology that exploits Islam for political ends and defiles a noble faith” and “They have been sheltered by authoritarian regimes: allies of convenience like Syria and Iran that share the goal of hurting America and moderate Muslim governments and use terrorist propaganda to blame their own failures on the West and America and on the Jews” and “In this new century, freedom is once again assaulted by enemies determined to roll back generations of democratic progress. Once again, we’re responding to a global campaign of fear with a global campaign of freedom, and once again, we will see freedom’s victory”. The words are as inspiring as they are different. Finally his handlers took him off repeat mode. Thank God and let’s hope it continues. Like new songs new words can have the power to motivate, to excite, to rally. Each new song has a chance to be a hit. Old speeches should only be brought out to reminisce about not to be continually repeated.