He was some kind of leader (Times Union)

[struggle4progress]

By CASEY SEILER, Staff writer
First published in print: Sunday, January 18, 2009

... "As I leave the house he occupied two centuries ago, I share that optimism," Bush said. "America is a young country, full of vitality, constantly growing and renewing itself."

I've come to believe that this is a dangerous and destructive idea — as perilous to our nation's civic health as the notion that a middle-aged man with bad knees and two vodka tonics in him can jump from a third-floor hotel balcony and land in the pool, and not on hard concrete. Emergency rooms and funeral parlors are full of people who fail to heed the words of another great film character, "Dirty" Harry Callahan: "A man's got to know his limitations."

A nation's got to know its limitations, as well — which in our current state include a credit crisis, rising unemployment, two wars, sagging property values and an international reputation badly damaged by the sort of behavior Callahan used to use against San Francisco's worst punks. (Then again, Harry never waterboarded anyone.) ...

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=761011&category=OPINION