Politics: presidential double-speak

"I fully understand that the job of the president is and must always be protecting the great right of people to worship or not worship as they see fit," Mr. Bush said. "That's what distinguishes us from the Taliban. The greatest freedom we have or one of the greatest freedoms is the right to worship the way you see fit.

"On the other hand, I don't see how you can be president at least from my perspective, how you can be president, without a relationship with the Lord," he said.

Seeing as "the Lord" is a specifically Christian term for a higher being, I wonder if this precludes a Jew or even a Muslim from ever being president in GWB's America.

And while these statements aren't so troublesome in their own right (it's perfectly reasonable for a person to draw their strength from their faith, and speculate that doing their job without it would be humanly impossible), I wish Bush could find a rhetoric that was far more inclusive about faith and religion. I'm not even absolutely opposed to federal money going to faith-based groups with particular restrictions (i.e. anti-discrimination rules, etc.).

I simply believe Bush needs to recognize more clearly the diversity our country without merely lip-servicing the tolerance and protection of people who don't think like him.