Less John Wayne, more JFK

Friedman's latest column 'Repairing the World' is interesting:

I am glad Mr. Bush is meeting with Tony Blair. In fact, I wish he would turn over leadership on the whole Iraq crisis to him. Mr. Blair has an international vision that Mr. Bush sorely needs. "President Bush should be in charge of marshaling the power for this war," says the Middle East expert Stephen P. Cohen, "and Tony Blair should be in charge of the vision for which that power should be applied..."

Yes, some people and nations are just jealous of America's power and that's why they oppose us on Iraq. But there is something more to the opposition. I deeply identify with the president's vision of ending Saddam Hussein's tyranny and building a more decent, progressive Iraq. If done right, it could be so important to the future of the Arab-Muslim world, which is why I won't give up on this war. But can this Bush team be counted on to do it right? Mr. Bush's greatest weakness is that too many people, at home and abroad, smell that he's not really interested in repairing the world. Everything is about the war on terrorism...

Virtually all of Mr. Bush's speeches are about how we're going to protect ourselves and whom we're going to hit next. America as a beacon of optimism - America as the world's chief carpenter, not just cop - is gone. We need a little less John Wayne and a little more J.F.K.

As I've said many times in the past (OK, who cares, but anyway), we need better PR.

The moral high-ground has been ceded by default to people who hold up U.S. flags in the shapes of swastikas. Instead of anti-war protesters being seen as supporters of tyranny, they're acclaimed as heroes.

Foreigners hate us, and blame all their woes on us. Where's the campaign to point out the good we do, and answer the snide critics who Blame America First?

John Wayne is good, but we should mix in a little JFK.