Son,

Several candidates for President have long histories.  Many of them have run for other offices like Senator, or Governor, or Mayor.  In the process of seeking those offices they necessarily catered to the limited population of their respective ambitions.  Romney and Giuliani were pro-choice.  Giuliani has been married three times.  Huckabee raised taxes.  Clinton voted for the war in Iraq.  These folks have records that do not suit the current political climate or their current ambition.  They can either defend their past, or apologize for making a mistake.  The answer to the question seems to be in political expediency rather than in honesty.

President Bush is faced with a dilemma.  The National Intelligence something-or -other now reports that Iran gave up their nuclear bomb program in 2003.  President Bush has been ramping up the rhetoric – if this is possible – expounding on the reality of World War III in the context of Iran.  Now President Bush is being challenged to rethink his position based on new information.

This seemed to me to be a perfect opportunity for him to get out of a deep hole that he personally dug.  President Bush picked up his shovel and dug the hole a little deeper.  In spite of new intelligence Bush harps on “… Iran was dangerous, is dangerous, and will be dangerous…”  Does this guy ever learn?

So how about those other folks, those folks running for Bush’s chair at the round table of international lunacy.   After watching President Bush it is somewhat refreshing to hear Romney and Giuliani say things like, “If a person makes a mistake they should admit it.”  A little humility can go a long way.

While I like humility – I also should note that there are those like Joe Biden and Chris Dodd and John McCain that do not acknowledge mistakes – that is because they don’t have to.  These are men who have been reasonable and thoughtful and have managed to adjust their reason with new information and to move forward. Each of them will say, “I have a long public record.  I stand on my record.”  They are not saying that they have always been right, but they are saying that they have always attempted to use sound reason in making decisions.

I like humility – but a history of sound reason goes a long way.

Dad