A thought on Bush's Farewell address

i have thought about this address. at first i was overcome by the imperial rhetoric. Almighty God! Powerful stuff.

but this is a very dangerous farewell address for one reason that i can think of: the tradition of petitioning that it fosters.

the example of the surgeon who petitioned the president to bypass the age limit. once some of the rules are bent by such a petition, then the precedent for future "acts of heroism" is set and the process of petitioning will hijack the presidency far more than anti-terrorism. the rules must be respected, the toughest decisions aren't always the biggest ones.