Is the Civilian Reserve just another throwaway applause line in Bushs State of the Union speech?
President Bush’s call last week for a Civilian Reserve Corps to help troubled countries is either a solid idea whose time has come or yet another throwaway applause line in a State of the Union speech and it’s up to Mr. Bush to decide how it turns out. Five years ago, Bush called for doubling the size of the Peace Corps. That didn’t happen. The burden is on Mr. Bush to prove he is serious. Carlos Pascual, who worked on the idea when he was director of the State Department’s Office of Reconstruction and Stabilization, says the lack of specifics “is indicative of the lack of leadership around it, the lack of commitment.” One test will be whether the White House funds it in next week’s 2008 budget proposal. Mr. Bush’s proposal last week found a mixed audience among bloggers, with some saying the idea is overdue, but others saying the details will matter. One blogger said he “was reminded of Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol,” a comedy about bumbling police officers assigned to train a
