Bush to Americans: Change Your Soft Culture

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - Hoping to tap into the wave of patriotism sweeping the United States since Sept. 11, President Bush asked Americans on Thursday to seize the moment to change the nation's "feel good" culture.

"Our culture has said, 'If it feels good, do it,"' he said in a speech at an emergency operations center. "Our dream, or my dream for the country is that we usher in a culture that says 'Each of us are responsible for the decisions we make in life."

Bush's reference to America's feel good culture apparently alluded to what U.S. Republicans saw as the excesses of former President Bill Clinton's eight years in office which were marred by sexual scandals.

Bush was on a two-day tour of three southern states aimed at winning support for his call for 200,000 new volunteers for community service and for every American to give two years -- or 4,000 hours -- to civic duty. Bush first made the appeal in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday.

The effort marked a departure from the president's early reluctance to ask Americans to sacrifice for the war on terrorism launched after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

In Daytona Beach, Bush made a pitch for the Senior Corps program that encourages people older than 55 to volunteer, saying they might have retired "but their brains haven't retired, their experience hasn't retired."

'SPIRIT OF UNITY'

"In my State of the Union address the other night I chose to spend time talking about the spirit of unity in our country," he said. "I know how strong we are as a nation and now our job is to take that spirit and extend it for years to come."

The hijacked plane attacks in New York and Washington that killed more than 3,000 people, along with the war in Afghanistan, have given new life to Bush's dormant campaign vow "to usher in an era of responsibility."

Bush said no one wished "this evil" had happened, but that he hoped it would help change Americans' lifestyle for the better.

"We have a chance to change our culture for the better," he said. "We have a chance to turn this evil, to turn the evil deeds and the evil acts into incredible, long-term good for our nation. I ask you to seize the moment."

In a message that occasionally took on an almost religious fervor, Bush talked at each stop about "the enemy watching too much daytime TV" and thus concluding that Americans were spineless and materialistic, that they would not fight for their beliefs and would cower in the face of terror.


CIVIC CALL TO ARMS

"You know, the enemy hit us the other day, a while ago. They didn't understand America," he said. "They thought we were weak and materialistic and soft. Instead, they have found a patient, determined, compassionate nation that stands in the way of their efforts to spread evil."

Bush has unveiled plans for a USA Freedom Corps to oversee an unprecedented expansion of volunteer programs, including a new Citizen Corps to fight terrorism at the local level.

Bush has unveiled plans for a USA Freedom Corps to oversee an unprecedented expansion of volunteer programs, including a new Citizen Corps to fight terrorism at the local level.

A former rival has agreed to help win congressional approval of $560 million for the programs in 2003. Arizona Sen. John McCain made volunteer service a theme of his 2000 campaign against Bush for the Republican presidential nomination.