The Bush Doctrine: War for the appearance of purpose

The presidential profile has become a staple of front pages and cover stories since Sept. 11. Virtually all the profiles have the same flattering tone summed up by USA Today's headline back in October: "Same President, different man in Oval Office." How different is difficult to grasp because every other profile compares George W. Bush to a different president.

He's been compared to both Roosevelts (Teddy's big stick, FDR's big commitments), to Woodrow Wilson (morality and American exceptionalism), to Harry Truman (folksy), John Kennedy (gutsy), Ronald Reagan (knows evil when he sees it) and of course to the first George Bush, although why, besides a family resemblance, is yet unclear. The comparisons work either as the gratuitous flattery that usually wallpapers a war leader's first months, or more likely as fillers of presidential tonnage Bush himself lacks.

Because to be so often compared to so many presidents should signal alarm, not self-confidence. It speaks of a void at the center of power that must be made up. In some cases it is. Afghanistan comes to mind, even if what began as a war on terrorism is, for lack of a clear victory on that front, turning into an old fashioned war of conquest, a pudding looking for a proof.