NYPost

FINEST HOUR FOR LEADER OF FREE WORLD

By ROD DREHER

September 15, 2001 -- HAIL to the chief.

After three days of appearing uncertain of himself in response to the crisis, George W. Bush finally found his voice, standing atop a pile of rubble at ground zero, surrounded by filthy and exhausted American heroes.

Bush has been criticized this week for his stuffed-shirt manner in response to the crisis. He was elegant in his remarks earlier in the day at the national prayer service in Washington, but his finest hour was yet to come - the president saved it for where it was most needed, New York City.

Wearing jeans and a work jacket, and with his arm around a weary firefighter, Bush heard the hard hats cheer "U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!" and he rallied the nation with a single line, straight from his heart.

"I hear you," the president said. "I hear you, the rest of the world hears you, and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!"

Hell, yeah! Let the word go forth, baby: This country and its leader are unbowed. And we're coming for you bastards.

We have presidents for times like this, and Bush rose to the occasion. What an astounding moment of joy and resolution amid so much sorrow. We're going to remember those words for some time.

Bush's lines were all the more remarkable because they were off the cuff in response to a worker who shouted out that he couldn't hear the president, despite his bullhorn.

All week, in formal settings, Bush has come across as somewhat stiff and rhetorically maladroit. The nation has rallied around him, because that's what we do at times like this.

But he has until now seemed the victim of his handlers, the same ones who reportedly wouldn't let him return to Washington on that fateful morning.

He should have been in the nation's capital, just like the king and queen of England remained in Buckingham Palace during the Blitz, refusing to run from the enemy, despite the threat to their personal safety.

Yesterday, the nation saw its president standing shoulder to shoulder in the chaos with the Bravest and the Finest.

For the first time since Tuesday, Bush came across as one of us.

The president has now seen what destruction America's enemies have wrought. I hope he was able to cast his eyes across the body parts lying in the mangled metal.

During the Cold War, we used to call the president "the Leader of the Free World," to distinguish the man who symbolized the liberty-loving nations from the evil empire of communism.

The phrase became dated when the Soviet Union fell. Now that the evil empire of radical Islam has declared all-out war on the civilized nations, it is time to revive the phrase.

Our nation is one, and, God willing, the Free World will be behind us, too, if they still have courage and a love of freedom.

For today, it is enough to know that the American president acted for a grateful nation when he put his arm around that firefighter, expressing solidarity. And he has spoken mightily for his angry, grieving nation, all 280 million of us.

-- Anonymous, September 15, 2001

Answers

I heard that on the radio. it was great!

-- Anonymous, September 15, 2001

-- Anonymous, September 15, 2001