Bush’s words equal actions
COMMENTARY
Shawn Franklin

In November 2000, still a political fetus, I was voting in my first presidential election. Not having been raised in a very politically charged environment, I had no clue about Republican or Democrat; liberal or conservative or otherwise.

I can honestly say that I did not vote party lines that year, but rather I voted solely on what the candidates were saying. The candidate I voted for that year ran on a platform of bringing morality back to the White House. I saw a quiet reserve and determination in those words; an unchanging, unbending, solitude about my candidate: George W. Bush.

His time in office has been full of turmoil but, through it all, I believe that Bush has done exactly what he said he was going to do when he ran for president. He had morals and values he was bringing to the White House, he was going to abide by them in his decisions and he would always stick to his guns.

I believe that, given the circumstances, he has been unwavering all along in telling the American public what he was going to do and subsequently doing it. Consider the tax cuts, corporate crime and education. Whether you agree with him or not, Bush has not catered. He has led.

President Bush ran on a platform that we all knew about. He was going to make decisions and was going to stick to them. No poll or statistical number was going to change that. It was this resolve that resulted in the highest presidential approval ratings ever recorded.

Post-Sept. 11, everyone in the world wanted to follow President Bush and his resolve. He made a decision to attack and destroy the terrorists responsible for the attacks and the countries that harbored them — a global crusade for peace and freedom. It was that end that everyone agreed on, but the means that everyone got tangled up in.

Through this maze of endless inspections, debates that produced nothing and a powerless United Nations, President Bush has maneuvered with steadfast resolve. But yet, surprisingly, when President Bush chose to fight for peace and freedom in another country, suddenly everyone jumped ship. When President Bush decided to take on our responsibilities as a nation, and the responsibilities that the United Nations was supposed to be acting on, there was no one left in the boat. Too many people wanted peace, but no one wanted to pay the costs.

My statement is simple: I support President Bush because of his values, beliefs and morals, coupled with his mission to better America and to fight the good fight of peace and freedom and given his track record for doing what he says he is going to.

War is not an easy decision. Threats should not be taken lightly post-Sept. 11. And I refuse to sit back and be a police nation (as we were under the previous administration) as well as attack only when attacked.

Shawn Franklin is a senior economics and marketing major from Stanton. He can be reached at (s.r.franklin@tcu.edu).