Bush Promises to Push Freedom Abroad; Says Little About Problems at Home

There was comparatively little in his 21-minute inaugural address about domestic problems, but one line did stand out: “Our country must abandon all the habits of racism, because we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time.” Standing alone, it was a powerful statement, worthy of presidents like Kennedy and Johnson, who won the trust of African Americans with deeds that went beyond lofty words. It was the kind of sentiment that could spark a healing of the sharp political differences that sharply divide this land. But with Bush’s record of opposition to affirmative action, with budget cuts that hit Black Americans particularly hard, with his promotion of judicial candidates with records that civil rights activists abhor, he isn’t trusted by the vast majority of African Americans, and many others as well. He enters his second term with fewer than half of those polled by The New York Timesapproving his job performance. That’s much lower than the ratings, in the 60 percent range, Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan had at their second inaugurals. [more]

• IRAQ? WHAT IRAQ?: While Bush mentioned the abstract notion of "freedom" 25 times in a 17-minute speech (yes, that works out to 1.5 times a minute), the president remained strangely silent on the most important issue facing the country today, the increasingly unpopular war in Iraq. Three other presidents gave their second inaugural addresses during times of war: James Madison, Abraham Lincoln and Nixon. All three focused heavily on the challenges faced by the country in a time of war. Bush, however, never let the word Iraq pass his lips. And "while the war's costs mount, the president pointedly did not ask the country for sacrifices to win the victory he promises." [more]
  
• A CBS News/New York Times poll out this week shows that Bush has the lowest approval ratings of any reelected president in half a century. [more] and [more]
• Dancing the War Away [more]