Peggy Noonan on Bush

Yesterday on Opinion Journal, Friday columnist Peggy Noonan expressed her disgust with President Bush and her wish that she could fire him now. Sadly, not much of what she says make sense.

She argues that Bush makes her sick when she sees him during a news conference. He's too happy, she says. He ought to be depressed, about what she doesn't say. Clearly, she's depressed and thinks he ought to be. Bush makes her depressed, she says, by what he says and the way he says it. Specifically, he ought to be depressed like her. That he's not depresses her.

Bush also is too idealistic, she says. He ought to be a realist like her. She's mature and he's not, she suggests. He ought to be more like her. Bush shouldn't be romantic about our country, the beacon it can be to the world, and what the Founders did. He should be more realistic, a tougher customer -- more like her. Why she isn't romantic about our country, believing it to be a beacon to the world, why she isn't romantic about what the Founders did, she doesn't say.

Bush shouldn't believe in principles and ideals, he shouldn't be brave or steadfast, he shouldn't believe that freedom isn't just for Americans. Instead, he should be more selfish and isolationistic she seems to say.

The stock market just hit a record high, the deficit is decreasing, interest rates are low compared with recent decades, home ownership is high, the economy is sound, Americans are free, militarily we are the strongest in the world by far, we have not suffered a terrorist attack since 9/11.

We are engaged in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq but our casualties are the lightest of any major war ever. Given enough time and resources, we will win both these wars. In any case, these wars do not threaten our existence as a nation unless we surrender as some Americans think we should. We must resist and conquer Islamist terrorism if we hope to remain free. We have an immigration problem and a potentially budget busting problem with unfunded mandates.

None of our problems are insurmountable assuming we are not so consumed by hatred of our political opponents, as some Americans seemed to be toward George W. Bush, that we prefer beating our political opponents to solving our problems .