Maybe the President is growing up

And maybe he'll finally grow into the office and LEAD as best for America without feeling the incessant need to bash his predecessor at every opportunity for political gain. The presidency is a killing job, and I can hope the realities of the life and death decisions that the president must make are finally imprinting themselves onto President Obama. 9/11 changed George W. Bush into a determined leader (one can argue weather the path he chose was best or not, although I think history is going to judge him much better than we tend to do in the here and now), Thank God Obama hasn't faced that sort of a tragedy, but maybe he's finally growing into the job, transitioning from politician into leader. I hope it is so.

"proliferation may increase the risk of catastrophe. Terrorism has long been a tactic, but modern technology allows a few small men with outsized rage to murder innocents on a horrific scale....

"We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth that we will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations – acting individually or in concert – will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified.

"But as a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation,...I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler’s armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda’s leaders to lay down their arms.

"So yes, the instruments of war do have a role to play in preserving the peace....

"But it is also incumbent upon all of us to insist that nations like Iran and North Korea do not game the system. Those who claim to respect international law cannot avert their eyes when those laws are flouted. Those who care for their own security cannot ignore the danger of an arms race in the Middle East or East Asia. Those who seek peace cannot stand idly by as nations arm themselves for nuclear war.”

-- President Barack Obama, Nobel Peace Prize speech, Oslo, Norway, Dec. 10, 2009

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"Our second goal is to prevent regimes that sponsor terror from threatening America or our friends and allies with weapons of mass destruction....

"North Korea is a regime arming with missiles and weapons of mass destruction, while starving its citizens.

"Iran aggressively pursues these weapons and exports terror, while an unelected few repress the Iranian people's hope for freedom....

"States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred. They could attack our allies or attempt to blackmail the United States. In any of these cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic.

"We will work closely with our coalition to deny terrorists and their state sponsors the materials, technology and expertise to make and deliver weapons of mass destruction....

"We'll be deliberate, yet time is not on our side. I will not wait on events while dangers gather. I will not stand by as peril draws closer and closer. The United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons.”

-- George W. Bush, State of the Union speech, Washington, D.C., Jan. 29, 2002


Hat tip to Bill Kristol, this is really his post