Why do people forget the "WALK SOFTLY"

[Wakie]

It strikes me how often I hear people these days repeat the old Teddy Roosevelt quote "Walk softly and carry a big stick".  To be certain a very sound national policy.

What strikes me though is how many Bush-supporters I've heard repeat this quote when Bush has absolutely ignored the "walk softly" portion of the quote.

By repeatedly thumbing his nose at the international community, by announcing "bring em on" to terrorists, by appearing under a large banner declaring "mission accomplished", and just basically by being a loudmouthed blustering buffoon George W Bush has NOT "walked softly".

Today David Kay's successor as the head of our weapons inspectors declared that not only did Iraq NOT have WMDs, but that "We were almost all wrong about Saddam's weapons programs."
[link=http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040917/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/iraq_weapons&cid=542&ncid=716]
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040917/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/iraq_weapons&cid=542&ncid=716
[/link]

Under Bush's leadership the US has gone from a soft walking international gentleman to a loud mouthed bully.

[Posterity]

Agreed.

The quote also says carry a big stick, not to beat others over the head with it.  Of course there are times when the big stick needs to be used, but Iraq was not one of them.

Ronald Reagan understood the idea of peace through strength, but George W. Bush apparently does not.

[A18]

Wakie, you really need to read some of the letters Roosevelt sent to other nations.

[cwelsch]

It's uhhh ... "speak" softly, at least as TR said it.  I don't think I'd use him for an anti-war argument, he wanted to go into WWI in 1914 and called Wilson a yellow coward when he didn't.  TR was probably the closest we've ever had to a war-mongering president.  He was just very charismatic about it.

[cwelsch]

He also wanted to send the Navy around the world, just to prove we were bad-asses.  Congress refused to spend money on it.  He sent the ships halfway around the world, which was in the budget, then forced Congress to authorize the money to bring them home the second half.