Freedom

Bush is, as the media never tires of instructing us, and evangelist Christian, but his most telling characteristic is evangelizing for freedom:

"All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppress, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you."

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"We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom."

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"Liberty for all does not mean independence from each other."

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"Our country must abandon all habits of racism, for we cannot carry the promise of freedom while burdened with the baggage of bigotry."

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"Some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty, though this time in history, four decades defined by the swiftest advance of freedom ever seen, is an odd time for doubt."

This fall our nation was confronted with a choice: a choice between an imperfect leader whose strengths and weaknesses we had come to well know and a would-be leader who could never clearly articulate his vision for our future and whose aloofness and lack of passion at times seemed to suggest he wasn't particularly interested in the job at all, but merely going through the motions.

We chose. Only the ensuing years will inform us if our choice was the right one. But let us all hope we chose well.