Does anybody seriously think Kerry would be a better leader then Bush?
Here are a couple of stories that I think define the man pretty well.
Bush pauses to comfort teen
"…Lynn Faulkner, his daughter, Ashley, and their neighbor, Linda Prince, eagerly waited to shake the president’s hand Tuesday at the Golden Lamb Inn. He worked the line at a steady campaign pace, smiling, nodding and signing autographs until Prince spoke:
This girl lost her mom in the World Trade Center on 9-11."
Bush stopped and turned back.
“He changed from being the leader of the free world to being a father, a husband and a man,” Faulkner said. “He looked right at her and said, ‘How are you doing?’ He reached out with his hand and pulled her into his chest.”
Faulkner snapped one frame with his camera.
"I could hear her say, ‘I’m OK,’ " he said. "That’s more emotion than she has shown in 21/2 years. Then he said, ‘I can see you have a father who loves you very much.’ "
“And I said, ‘I do, Mr. President, but I miss her mother every day.’ It was a special moment.”
Special for Lynn Faulkner because the Golden Lamb was the place he and his wife, Wendy Faulkner, celebrated their anniversary every year until she died in the south tower of the World Trade Center, where she had traveled for business.
…“The way he was holding me, with my head against his chest, it felt like he was trying to protect me,” Ashley said. “I thought, ‘Here is the most powerful guy in the world, and he wants to make sure I’m safe.’ I definitely had a couple of tears in my eyes, which is pretty unusual for me.”
And this:
George W. Bush saluted an Army officer who had been badly injured during the September 11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon
"As you may know, the President and Mrs. Bush visited the Washington Burn Center on Friday 14 September. Among those they visited was LTC Brian Birdwell, who was badly burned in the Pentagon attack. Mrs. Bush went into Brian’s room, spoke to him for about a minute, all the time as if they had been long acquaintances. She then turned to Brian’s wife Mel, who at this time had been at the hospital for probably 2 1/2 days, and apparently, according to Mel herself, was dirty, grimy and had blood on her shirt.
Mrs. Bush hugged Mel for what Mel said seemed like an eternity, just as if Mel were one of her closest family members.
Mrs. Bush then told Brian and Mel that there was “someone” there to see him.
The President then walked in, stood by Brian’s bedside, asked Brian how he was doing, told him that he was very proud of them both and that they were his heroes.
The President then saluted Brian. Now, at this point in time, Brian is bandaged up pretty well. His hands are burned very badly as well as the back of him from the head down. His movements were very restricted.
Upon seeing the President saluting him, Brian began to slowly return the salute, taking, from the accounts so far, about 15-20 seconds to get his hand up to his head.
During all of this, 15-20 seconds, President Bush never moved, never dropped his salute. The President dropped his salute only when Brian was finished with his, and then gave Mel a huge hug for what also probably seemed like an eternity.
Pray for our leadership. Thank God for what we are, have, and will be.
As a note to those of you who might not be familiar with military protocol, the subordinate normally initiates a salute and will hold it until the superior officer returns the salute.
In the above incident, President Bush acted in the role of the subordinate to show his respect and high regard for the injured man.
…Birdwell’s older brother, Wade, also confirmed the story via e-mail:
“I cannot tell you how grateful and truly proud I am that when Brian started to return that salute, despite his wounds, the president held his salute firmly and thereby permitted my brother the honor of demonstrating his and the true character of so very many others of our fighting men and women. Indeed, you should know that it was this very character that likely saved Brian’s life in the first place. As Brian crawled through the fire, certain brave men and women pulled him from the carnage, carried him out to the parking lot, then into the adjoining street.”
