Hooray for Harry Taylor

06 April 2006 |permalink | email article

Real political theater happened yesterday when W. addressed an open-forum event in Charlotte, N.C. Harry Taylor, 61, did something that no frustrated Democrat has yet been able to accomplish since John Kerry blew the 2004 election. Taylor stood up in the balcony and told off the president.

Abandoning the drill of screened audiences and scripted meetings, the forums represent a new PR effort by W. to confront his falling public approval and appear more spontaneous and unafraid of criticism. The response has generally been a love fest.

That is until the commercial real estate broker challenged the president and rattled off a series of grievances on war, liberty, domestic eavesdropping and quality of life issues.

ìYou never stop talking about freedom, and I appreciate that,î Taylor said. ìBut while I listen to you about freedom, I see you assert your right to tap my telephone, to arrest me and hold me with charges. To try and preclude me from breathing clean air and drinking clean water and eating safe food.î

Many in the audience of a nearly 1,000 booed but W., to his credit, took the criticism in stride. He refused to apologize for the eavesdropping, boasted about building democracy in Iraq, said that if he didnít think victory was possible heíd bring the troops home and justified the decision to go to war.

When an angry citizen has to guts to tell the president of the United States to his face that ìI hope, from time to time, that you have the humility and the grace to be ashamed of yourself,î heís expressing the frustration of a majority of Americans about this administration.

Taylor’s three minutes of fame is in contrast to the failure of Democrats to get beyond talking the talk about a plan for victory. So far, there has not been a single, unified and compelling voice such as the improbable real estate guy was able to articulate.

Would W., a hard-liner on leaks, have been so sweet had Taylor asked him about authorizing White House official ìScooterî Libby to disclose secret intelligence information to reporters in an attempt to discredit a CIA adviser whose views undermined the rationale for invading Iraq? Replying it was legal would only beg the Nixonian question about using such data for political advantage. 

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