The year of the sharp elbow and the quick tongue

"America must confront threats before they fully materialize," President Bush told the Republican Governors' Association at a fundraiser yesterday:

Previewing his principal re-election theme, Bush made national security the centerpiece of his revamped re-election speech, explicitly invoking the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

"The action we take and the decisions we make in this decade will have consequences far into this century . . . If America shows weakness and uncertainty, the world will drift toward tragedy. That will not happen on my watch" . . .

"I will defend America whatever it takes."

Acknowledging the imminence (and we use that word advisedly) of "the year of the sharp elbow and the quick tongue," the President offered a little elbow jabbing and tongue lashing of his own:

"The other party's nomination battle is still playing out. The candidates are an interesting group with diverse opinions," Bush said. "They're for tax cuts and against them. They're for NAFTA and against NAFTA. They're for the Patriot Act and against the Patriot Act. They're in favor of liberating Iraq, and opposed to it. And that's just one senator from Massachusetts." His supportive audience erupted in laughter and applause.

In mewling response to the forcefulness of the Commander-in-Chief's frontal assault, FrankenKerry™ [Moxie] droned ineffectually that GW's entry into campaign mode showed the President is "nervous" . . . WHO's nervous?

Note. The article on myway.com [via Drudge] which we cited above has disappeared down the memory hole. Tried googling to no avail, so this post is not fully linked.