My statement focused on his resolve to fight terrorism and in that respect he has not changed his mind. Peejz pointed out in her post that he is in a position to see things more clearly. We as ordinary citizens rely on our elected officials to look at things that we, living in an open society, can’t afford to advertise.

A strong leader is, imo, one who doesn’t let negative opinions sway from making the truly hard decisions when necessary.

Why is NOT changing ones mind when faced with new facts and information a “good thing”???

I think it’s the exact opposite of “good”. That kind of behavior is stubborn and ignorant to reality.

…And dangerous. (!)

Come on; you’ve got to be kidding me.

Do you realize that a foreign power burned the White House? They basically controlled our capital?

President Washington wasn’t far from losing the Revolutionary War.

WW2???

The actions of these terrorists (9-11 and otherwise) are never going to destroy America, but there are a number of events in American history that came close.

I knew in the back of my mind that we’d come to this point someday, and here we are. But I just couldn’t see either of the Democrite candidates, Al “Earth in the Balance” Ecofraud Gore, or John “I voted against it— before I voted for it” Kerry in the White House.

That leader recognizes reality and articulates to the people why he is changing his position. I can’t believe that either extreme above is a good thing. With the rock of Gilbraltar type, you better hope they are right because if they aren’t you’ll sink right along with them. The finger in the wind types are too subject to manipulations of the media and special interest groups. Like most things in life, somewhere in that gray area but weighted toward the stalwart side seems to be the right combination imo.

We should, however, be critical of him if he’s not willing to take a second look at decisions that time has shown to be poorly made. George Bush’s resoluteness bothers a good number of people becauase they are smart enough to realize that no one is perfect. They know that he is just deluding himself.

People who are scared and feel threatened dig their heels in. Good leaders, in addition to appearing strong and resolute, also appear thoughtful and do not shy away from differing viewpoints. You could see it in presidents like Reagan and Clinton. Their body language exuded a strong leadership quality and a sort of “tip of the hat” to the other side, “but this is the way we’re going to go on this one”. Later on, they were able to comment on their decisions and acknowledge when they’d made a “not so good” decision on something.

..Chuck..