President Bush and Armageddon

President Bush was asked yesterday whether or not the rise of terror is a sign that the Biblical Apocolypse is upon us.

I thought this was a strange question to ask.

President Bush replied "The answer is – I haven't really thought of it that way."

Then another question came out.

"My question is that author and former Nixon administration official Kevin Phillips, in his latest book, 'American Theocracy,' discusses what has been called radical Christianity and its growing involvement into government and politics.

"He makes the point that members of your administration have reached out to prophetic Christians who see the war in Iraq and the rise of terrorism as signs of the apocalypse. Do you believe this, that the war in Iraq and the rise of terrorism are signs of the apocalypse? And if not, why not?"

Ah, now the questioning made sense. The religious nutcase label would make an excellent story.

President Bush gave one of the best answers I've heard in a long time.

"Here's how I think of it. The first I've heard of that, by the way. I guess I'm more of a practical fellow. I vowed after September the 11th, that I would do everything I could to protect the American people. And my attitude, of course, was affected by the attacks. I knew we were at war. I knew that the enemy, obviously, had to be sophisticated and lethal to fly hijacked airplanes into facilities that would be killing thousands of people, innocent people, doing nothing, just sitting there going to work.

"I also knew this about this war on terror, that the farther we got away from September the 11th, the more likely it is people would seek comfort and not think about this global war on terror as a global war on terror," he said. "And that's good, by the way. It's hard to take risk if you're a small business owner, for example, if you're worried that the next attack is going to come tomorrow. I understand that. But I also understand my most important job, the most important job of any president today, and I predict down the road, is to protect America...

"And so, to answer your question, I take a practical view of doing the job you want me to do – which is how do we defeat an enemy that still wants to hurt us; and how do we deal with threats before they fully materialize; what do we do to protect us from harm? That's my job. And that job came home on September the 11th, for me – loud and clear. And I think about my job of protecting you every day – every single day of the presidency, I'm concerned about the safety of the American people."

I can't imagine what kind of response the MSM was expecting, but I bet they were hoping to hear something they could use to shout "it is the Crusades all over again... Bush the Christian wants to destroy Islam."

To the chagrin of many, instead of President Bush the Christian Crusader, they heard President Bush the Cerebral Leader.

War on Terror , President Bush