YOU WANT TO SEE COURAGE IN ACTION? Read this CNN article about a man named Harry Taylor who stood up at a public forum in Charlotte, North Carolina, and told Pres. Bush he was ashamed of and frightened by his country's leadership. There is a link in the article to a video clip; go and see for yourself. It's awesome to watch an ordinary citizen say these things to Bush's face.

I'm sure someone will point out that the president told the audience, when they started booing Taylor, to let him finish. I'm glad he allowed Taylor to have his say, although he could hardly have done anything else with the cameras on him. More important, though, is how the president responded to the man's comments. Did he take them seriously and attempt to address them in a substantive fashion? Absolutely not. Bush let the man speak, and then simply repeated all the shallow platitudes he's said hundreds of times before: that he will not apologize for monitoring communications between American citizens and suspected Al Qaeda terrorists; that the spy program is legal and limited; that it's constantly reviewed to make sure it's within the law, blah blah blah. All lies. But more to the point in this particular context, is that, instead of at least trying to respond to this man in a fresh, original, thoughtful way, he chose to use the same pat cliches he uses at every press conference, in every speech, and at every opportunity.