Being President of the United States has always been a lonely job, but it becomes increasingly more difficult and frustrating with the passage of time.

I have a whole list of serious complaints against our president. On the other hand, I would not want his job. I continue to believe that George Bush has been faced with a series of horrific problems to which there are no clear or painless solutions.

No matter, he moves forward step by step. He shows up at his job every day. He continues to love and respect his family, his nation and the office he occupies. He remains optimistic about the nature, history and the future of the United States of America. No matter how egregious the verbal assaults against his character, intelligence and motives, he never breaks faith with the system of self government and civil liberties that ensures that his persecutors will be heard.

I am not sure that we can ask for anything more from a Man.

I am convinced that one day history will credit him for his patience and faithfulness. For now, as his public approval rating hovers in the 30s, I am reminded of the timeless Rudyard Kipling poem:


IF


If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!


--Rudyard Kipling


What can we do? Pray for George Bush and the United States of America.