[rrpjr]

Watching the speech I felt an overwhelming wish for unity of purpose to win the war. I hoped for the breathtaking prospect of unity expressed by all politicians. I very much wished for both an offer by Bush to end all partisanship and work with the opposition party to secure victory, and a democratic response that both lifted my spirits with its joint resolve to win just as it dispirited our enemies and repudiated their campaign to demoralize and divide us with their sick bloodthirstiness.

However, Bush’s failure to articulate properly the reasons for this war and the importance of victory, or to pledge an end to partisanship and to appeal for unity in this crucial hour, and the democrat opposition’s choice to continue its relentless and wickedly opportunistic derision and defeatism left me in a foul state. I came away wondering if the tired old West is capable of this fight at all, if it really has seen its best days, if pride in the noble ideal of liberal, capitalist western civilization and its intention to uphold it in the face of Islamic nihilism and barbarity – surely its greatest menace -- has been entirely exhausted and corrupted by materialism, apathy, post-modern moral confusion and self-loathing and paltry political power-mongering.