Please read the story I quote below. It comes from a xanga of someone I don’t know, but it is good nonetheless. The original article is here. Yes, the elections are over now, but that’s not the point. I don’t care if you supported Kerry or Bush, or whether or not this would have swayed your opinion to either side. However, this is a story that demonstrates the character of President Bush.

Tuesday, October 05, 2004

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The Real President Bush That I Know

As you know, I interned at the White House during the summer of 2003. Here is a little story which my friends have urged me to share with you.

One day, early in the summer, President Bush was going through the White House, greeting his staff and the interns. As I shook his hand that day, one of the most humbling experiences happened. President Bush said, “Mr. Ahn, are you alright?”

I was dumbfounded and managed a feeble “Um, sir?” Hey, the president of America was speaking to me. And not only was he talking to me, but he actually remembered my name from 2 weeks ago. No matter how much you hate Bush, if the world’s most powerful man talked to you, you would tremble just like I did.

The president asked me again, “Are you alright, Mr. Ahn?”

Still at a loss for words, I replied, “Uh, yes sir.”

But the president wouldn’t relent and said, “But your spirits just don’t seem too high.”

Struck by his honesty, I then did something that surprised me and everyone around; it surprises me even today. I said to him, “Mr. President, I know you’re a busy man but I also know that you have a strong faith in Christ. Could I ask you a favor?”

Still holding on to my hand, the President of the United States of America looked at me with gentleness and said, “Just name it.”

I told him that my father had recently been diagnosed with cancer and that he may need to undergo a second operation to remove the tumor. I said, “Sir, it would mean so much to me if you would pray for my father this evening.”

He began to lead me towards a nearby staff desk as he said, “I guess this explains it. I could tell that your heart was heavy today.” From the top of the desk, he took a pen and a slip of paper and asked, “What is your father’s name?”

He then asked several more personal questions about my dad, while reassuring me with how powerful prayer is. When he had finished writing the personal info about my dad down, he stood up and said that he would be praying every day for my father until he heard the result of the surgery.

I told him, “Well, we’re praying this is just remnants of the original stage.”

He said, “Well, keep me updated on his prognosis, ok? And would you mind if I prayed for you right now?”

Stunned, I let out a weak yes. President Bush began leading me to a small private room when his personal staff interjected. He waved them off and said, “We’d like a little private time to pray.”

As they stepped back, I was prepared to do the “traditional” prayer, where people just stand there with their hands clasped, heads bowed. Instead, he placed his hands on my shoulder and started to pray. My throat began to throb as he cried out to God, for Him to show His good and perfect will in all of this and to show mercy on my father.

I guess my body shook a bit, because all of a sudden, the President of the United States of America pulled me into a gentle embrace. Still praying with my head on his shoulder and his on mine, I shuddered at the Holy Spirit’s presence in the room as the President asked Him to show mercy upon my father and to strengthen him with a confidence in Christ.

Afterwards, all I could manage was a weak smile. Again, I was simply astounded at what had just took place, but with simple words, I was able to thank him and tell him that we were and would continue praying for him.

This president — George W. Bush — actually took time out of his life to cry out to God for my family. He prayed for my family…. that is just amazing. After that summer, I saw President Bush in a different light.

I now see a gentle, loving, humble man who seeks God every morning; who knows his sinfulness and repents daily; and who knows that he must be on God’s side rather than the public’s.

Whether or not you approve of the job George W. Bush has done as President, he is, at the very least, a decent man. In my opinion, apart from the flaws of his presidency, George Bush is a man of great faith and in his eyes, there is a burning love for Jesus.

BUT you must make your own opinion and choice. Don’t forget to register to vote, because the deadline is like…today. REGISTER and VOTE for the man you want to be President.

Wow.

Well, I am glad that Bush won the election. Four more years! There is not much more to be said since the election is over and so we continue, but the economy is happy as well.

From Reuters, Stocks Jump on Bush Win

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rallied on Wednesday, boosted by shares of health and defense companies that are likely to benefit from the re-election of President Bush, but higher oil prices checked advances.

Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry conceded in a close presidential election, which buoyed Wall Street with the certainty that there would not be a repeat of the 2000 election, when the outcome was not known for more than a month.

“Investors are happy that Bush retained the White House,” said Jon Brorson, managing director of growth equities at Neuberger Berman. “He’s a known entity, and he’s put through some favorable policies for investors. The expectations were that he’d win the White House.”

Third period, this morning, began with our teacher informing us that Kerry had conceded.

I applaud Kerry for doing this, as it takes some courage to give up a battle, and it saved much time and effort in many people’s lives better spent elsewhere. He is smarter than Al Gore in that, and he also did not say “I invented the internet!”

Now, please, let us continue with our lives and hope that the four more years we supported will be a prosperous term.

Now Playing: Delerium Ft. Sarah Mclachlan - Silence (Tiesto’s in Search of Sunrise Remix) / genre: Trance

So. Election Day, 2004.

I do not like Kerry. To me, Kerry is one who promises things just to win votes for the power. He is a waffle– in other words, a flip-flopper. He voted for the war in Iraq. Now it’s election time, and he says he’s against it, criticizing it. Well, we can’t pull out now. Pull out now and we’ll have more chaos. It wasn’t even Bush’s “fault” for initiating the war; he acted on flawed intelligence. He did not make up in his mind the reasons he acted on to go to war in Iraq. And no, Bush did not start a war with Iraq; he started a war with a few Iraqi people in control of Iraq, not the people.

Okay, also, Kerry does not mean what he says. We have him, a flip-flopping waffle, also saying that he is Catholic. My name is Stephen, and I am a Catholic. Kerry supports abortion. Oh wait, he says he doesn’t support abortion, but he wants it to be legal. He says religion and politics should not interfere with each other.

However, there is no excuse in the case of abortion since if one is pro-life and Catholic, he must believe that from conception, babies have souls, which means that aborting the baby can be classified as a murder (from the point of view of a pro-life person) since all babies have souls, correct? Well, if Kerry is Catholic, and therefore if he is pro-life, how could he stand to not outlaw what he must believe as murder? Well, I’m Catholic. I don’t know about you, Mr. Kerry, but I don’t support what we both classify as murder.

Oh, and Kerry is liberal. More taxes and government unprivatizing things? No!

I don’t care if you vote for Bush or someone else, but don’t vote for Kerry.

More pictures here and here

Election Day rant over! No more of talking about this for a while (I think). LET’S TALK ABOUT TIESTO IN CONCERT II. Well, I watched a video stream of Tiesto in Concert II on both days, Friday and Saturday (of last week). Day two (Saturday’s Tiesto in Concert II) was brilliant. It was amazing! He played Re:Locate - Typhoon on that day, and played the classics in the last/extra/request hour that took place because of daylight savings time!

The MC said, “We were gonna wish you good night, God bless, and have a safe trip home… But the clocks went back.” This was followed by a huge applause from the audience filling the sold-out Gelredome in Arnhem in the Netherlands.

Here’s what was dropped in the last set.

Special Request Hour 67. Push - Universal Nation/ The Anthem 68. Gouryella - Gouryella 69. Paul Oakenfold - Southern Sun (Tiesto Remix) 70. Kamaya Painters - Endless Wave 71. Yahel & Eyal Barkan - Voyage 72. BT - Mercury & Solace (Original 12″ Master Mix) 73. Veracocha - Carte Blanche (Original Mix) 74. Delerium - Silence (DJ Tiesto’s In Search of Sunrise Remix)

The tracklist is amazing. I like all the tracks in it. The mixing was not top-notch but the tracklist was certainly amazing. Not only were the songs good, but playing old trance classics and anthems in a modern venue brought nostalgia to both those present and those watching the video feed and was simply a great phenomenon. There was no progressive trance or modern uplifting trance in the last hour. There were old anthems and epic tracks!

I go to dinner now.