Beyond confidence building

President Bush’s speech Thursday to firefighters, police officers and postal workers in Atlanta, and to the nation, was another solid effort. Though less stirring than his address immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks, it was a well-crafted and well-delivered call to courage and optimism. The closing tribute to Todd Beamer, one of the heroes of the Pennsylvania flight, was especially inspired.

Delivering such speeches in times such as these is part of president’s job, and it is a duty Mr. Bush performs as well as any of his predecessors. The extent to which Americans will, in fact, adapt to the new reality and meet the new challenges depends considerably upon the model set by their president.

But to truly build the nation’s confidence, the president should now move beyond generalities about the strength of the American spirit to specifics about how that spirit can best be employed. No reasonable person expects an immediate conclusion to the anthrax attacks – the nature of the crime is too insidious. Certainly, no rational person expects a commander in chief to divulge status reports and precise plans for the ongoing military campaign. It has been plainly stated from the start that the war on terrorism will be long and that progress may at times not be apparent.

Mr. Bush should, however, be doing more, now two months after the attacks, than merely talk about volunteering for community service at home. The public clearly has a desire to serve the country; it is an energy that must be harnessed before it dissipates. A detailed and comprehensive plan to do just that, The Call to Service Act, was introduced to Congress just days before Mr. Bush’s speech, yet it was not mentioned. It is not necessary for the president to offer the bipartisan bill his unqualified support, but his support for the concept and his guarantee that its debate will be expedited would it reassure Americans that their government truly is focused.

It is time also to move beyond touting the importance of the Office of Homeland Security and promising that all agencies of government will cooperate to the fullest extent. It is obvious, from the muddled response to anthrax attacks to the public relations fiasco regarding California bridges, that total cooperation has yet to develop. The president must assure Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge and the public that foot-dragging by any agency or grandstanding by any official will no longer be tolerated. Despite his even-natured public persona, the president has a reputation for being blunt in private. It may be time to let that private side show.

He also could use some of the reputed bluntness on Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike. It does no good for Mr. Bush to claim that the $7.7 billion he has allotted for homeland security is the most his budget allows when both parties have loaded up emergency relief and anti-terrorism bills with unconscionable pork-barrel projects. The impasse on whether to federalize airport security must be broken and that will happen only when the president rejects the House’s tiresome ideological aversion to federal employees and adopts the bipartisan approach of the Senate.

From making the postal system anthrax-proof to conducting background checks on airport personnel working in secure areas, to protecting water supplies and power plants, too many crucial homeland defenses are simply taking far too long to mount, too many irrelevant matters are cluttering Everybody knows it. It is time for the president to say so.