Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Bush in Cleveland: Eloquence from unexpected (and expected) places
One final point: when you watch the C-Span feed (and if you have broadband it is a better use of 90 minutes than any television you are likely to watch tonight) notice that Bush seems extraordinarily comfortable and relaxed for a guy whose poll numbers are in the toilet. This is not the performance of a man who feels that he is under siege. Confidence like that comes from only two places -- isolation and denial, or faith. If you tell me which you believe it is, you will also probably be telling me how you voted in 2004.
19 Comments:
By 
Robert Lewis, at
Tue Mar 21, 11:12:00 AM:
Unexpected Eloquence?
Bush on March 20, 2006: "if I might correct a misperception. I don't think we ever said -- at least I know I didn't say that there was a direct connection between September the 11th and Saddam Hussein . . . I was very careful never to say that Saddam Hussein ordered the attacks on America."
Bush on on January 28th, 2003: "Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists... including members of al Qaeda.... Before September the 11th many in the world believed that Saddam Hussein could be contained."
Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda in the same sentence, separated by seven words. Two sentences later, September the 11th and Saddam Hussein, separated by six words.
Where I grew up, they call that lying thru your teeth, not "eloquence."
By Admin, at
Tue Mar 21, 11:37:00 AM:
It seemed the same speech he has been giving for four years.
The look on his face was, in my opinion, the look of denial.
this guy is finished, and he's taking the country with him.
and yes, i voted for the other guy.
By Robert Lewis, at
Tue Mar 21, 01:27:00 PM:
Aha! You choose to use the "it depends on what your definition of "is" "is" defense.
So, when Bush says: ""Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists... including members of al Qaeda.... Before September the 11th many in the world believed that Saddam Hussein could be contained" and by doing so intentionally misleads both COngress and the public, by linking Spetember 11th and Saddam Hussein, this is not saying there's a direct link - only implying a direct link. I see. That's your defense?
As I recall, after Clinton used that same defense in covering ub a blow job - he was impeached. If we can impeach for a blow job, I feel sure we can impeach for misleading a country into war, and illegally ordering warrantless wiretaps.
Bush is done - put a form in 'im.
By 
, at
Tue Mar 21, 03:55:00 PM:
There is a third reason why Bush would be so confident. He's holding all the cards and the Democrats haven't realized it yet.
I missed most of the speech but my wife was astounded by it. She voted for Gore in 2000 and thought Bush was a moron and a puppet. Not any more. She's realized the error of her ways, unlike prior commentators. She was stuck in a traffic jam caused by Bush's visit and said she was happy to be inconvenienced by The President.
By , at
Tue Mar 21, 05:34:00 PM:
The bush is holding all the cards??????? What, 52 Jokers? How much Kool Aid did they give you before your brain, eyes and ears were permanently damaged. The bush eloquent???????? On what planet and how many light years away? He is a high fulctioning illeterate who STILL looks like a deer caught in headlights. Didn't you see him trying to read the cheat sheets his staff stayed up all night to write? Drink some more kool aid, maybe this dose will finally shut down all your senses.
By Dawnfire82, at
Tue Mar 21, 06:20:00 PM:
"He is a high fulctioning illeterate "
Irony exists in this statement on several levels...
I'd like to see *you*, Mr. Illeterate, get an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
And "Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists... including members of al Qaeda.... Before September the 11th many in the world believed that Saddam Hussein could be contained" says that there was a link between Al Qaeda and Saddam, not that there was a link between Saddam and the 9/11 attacks.
Duh.
It's in plain English. You're reading what you want to see, not what is actually written.
Aside, you took the words out of context. Surprise. Conspiracy theorists often do shit like that. Here is the ACTUAL quotation context, from the 2003 SOTU Address: "With nuclear arms or a full arsenal of chemical and biological weapons, Saddam Hussein could resume his ambitions of conquest in the Middle East and create deadly havoc in that region. And this Congress and the America people must recognize another threat. Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications, and statements by people now in custody reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of al Qaeda. Secretly, and without fingerprints, he could provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists, or help them develop their own.
Before September the 11th, many in the world believed that Saddam Hussein could be contained. But chemical agents, lethal viruses and shadowy terrorist networks are not easily contained. Imagine those 19 hijackers with other weapons and other plans -- this time armed by Saddam Hussein. It would take one vial, one canister, one crate slipped into this country to bring a day of horror like none we have ever known. We will do everything in our power to make sure that that day never comes. (Applause.)
Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words, and all recriminations would come too late. Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy, and it is not an option. (Applause.)"
By Robert Lewis, at
Tue Mar 21, 09:01:00 PM:
Sirius - get serious. When addle-pated adolescents such as yourself get their panties in a bunch - negative things can happen.
Bush is a fucking liar, and time has run out on him. Sorry to burst your sad bubble.
By , at
Tue Mar 21, 09:36:00 PM:
"Bush" and "eloquence" in the same sentence? Whatever it is that you are smoking, I want it!
Bush looked and sounded like a petulant teenager on meths today.
All along, I had been wondering whether Bush's sociopathic behavior was the result of faulty brain wiring or a real character flaw, but I was convinced that it was the latter when he uttered this really edifying phrase: "... American forces will remain in Iraq for years and it will be up to the next President to decide when to bring them all home..."
It was par for the course for that spoiled, rich, brat, who has evaded responsibility for his own actions his entire worthless life, thanks to Daddy's cronies.
The message was clear. "Let others clean up after me".
Of course, if the next President is a Republican, he will just compound the insanity.
If the next President is a Democrat, he will be a one-term president, for cleaning up the mess left behind by the Bush administration will require serious sacrifices from the American public. And we all know that the average American voter has a very short memory, and does not give a damn about what is right for the U.S. if it requires paying for it.
Either way, this country is doomed.
The only solution is to get the hell out of here and move to more civilized climes, like Europe or Canada. At least, in those countries, they do not let religious fanatics take over the government...
By sammy small, at
Tue Mar 21, 09:36:00 PM:
Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda in the same sentence, separated by seven words. Two sentences later, September the 11th and Saddam Hussein, separated by six words.
Where I grew up, they call that lying thru your teeth, not "eloquence."
Where I grew up, they call that presumption a "conspiracy theory".
By , at
Wed Mar 22, 09:14:00 AM:
Someone must have seen 'V for Vendetta' this weekend.
Canada and Europe are not controlled by religious fanatics? Well, try living under the religion of secular marxist collectivism where everyone is forced to live equally poor, oppressed and miserable under the evil politically correct speech code police, the anti-Christer brigade, the redistribution thieves and the unacknowledged secret 'propaganda poet' legislator (otherwise known as Stalin's useful idiots) "Imagine" John Lenin.
Dudes, the only reason totalitarian Collectivists hate George W. Bush is because he represents everything the Collectivists could not destroy these past thirty years...America.
By Robert Lewis, at
Wed Mar 22, 09:28:00 AM:
Omigod - so divorced from reality! "the only reason totalitarian Collectivists hate George W. Bush is because he represents everything the Collectivists could not destroy these past thirty years"
George Bush has lived off the public tit his whole life. His first two business enterprises went belly-up; he was bailed out by his daddy's pals. Then, he used insider trading gains on Harken stock to buy into the Texas Rangers.
The Rangers were bought for $50 Million. Then the taxpayers of Arlington Texas were forced to build a new stadium (at a cost of $250 Million) and then to GIVE the stadium to the Rangers, who promply turned around and sold the team AND the stadium for $300 million.
If that's not socialist welfare for the moronic rich, what is? Every paycheck since then has been either the taxpayers of Texas or the taxpayers of the USA.
He's never earned an honest dollar in his whole life, and you want to make him the poster boy for entrepeneurial America? ROTF!!!!!
By , at
Wed Mar 22, 09:30:00 AM:
Whatever happened to the American concept of Liberalism? Noam Chomsky mashed it to death with a heavy-duty Iron Curtain sledgehammer.
By , at
Wed Mar 22, 09:38:00 AM:
Hey Robert Lewis there is a cure for BDS, it's called commonsense.
By , at
Wed Mar 22, 10:09:00 AM:
"...secular marxist collectivism..." in Europe and Canada?
This has to be the biggest display of crass ignorance and stupidity, not top mention paranoid hysteria, I have ever seen on this blog.
By , at
Wed Mar 22, 12:35:00 PM:
Looks like Lewis learned Reading Comprehension at the Michael Moore School of Literature.
Excellent site, by the way (I had a look through the archives). Thanks for putting fingers to keys.
By Dawnfire82, at
Wed Mar 22, 01:04:00 PM:
Where the hell did all these freaks come from?
By lazerlou, at
Wed Mar 22, 01:36:00 PM:
Eloquence? Please do enlighten me by giving examples of Bush's eloquence. I watched the same speech and Q/A. The guy bumbled as much as ever. Perhaps you are just confused because he is finally taking unscripted questions, and even going before the whitehouse press as a last ditch effort not to become the universally accepted worst president ever. The guy can barely put whole sentences together. Most eloquent was his response to the woman who asked about his administration's links with fundamentalist christians who believe the Iraq war is a first step toward the apocolyse. Asked if he believed the same his "eloquent response" after fumbling was "I'm more practical than that."
Yea, eloquent. Time to take a deep breath and remove your biases and take a look at his performance in that Q/A, and as president in an objective light. I beg of you to try because by any obejective measure, thi guy is a disaster for us and the world.
By , at
Wed Mar 22, 05:00:00 PM:
Seems the moonbats have been aroused by Bush's performance. The excrable Plain Dealer was full of similar rantings to those seen here this morning. Their reaction signals how much they fear Bush striking back.
The Dem's have overplayed their hand and Mr. Poker is starting to play his. Harry ("I killed the Patriot Act") Reid is not going to enjoy the mid-terms.
By Rich Casebolt, at
Wed Mar 22, 09:26:00 PM:
Never confuse a lack of eloquence with a lack of wisdom.
That is the fundamental mistake of Bush's opponents, who long ago assigned as much (if not more) importance to formal education as they did to the wisdom that allows that education to be properly applied.
To put it simply ... this President is no liar. He did what he said he was going to do ...
... remove Saddam Huessein from power, thereby giving that regime the first comprehensive and uncorrupted weapons inspection it ever had ...
... end Saddam's support for terrorism, which we are now seeing did have ties to Al Quada (not that it mattered, for terrorism of any sort can no longer be tolerated in this modern, global civilization) ...
... liberated 25 million Iraqis (in addition to 25 million Afghanis).
What made him different, is that he actually chose to ACT to confront those who perpetrate terror, instead of just talking about it ... or negotiating with it ... or seeking to understand and accommodate it ... or the myriad of other "solutions" his "educated" opposition so eloquently promoted ...
... "solutions" that allowed the terrorists to grow both stronger and bolder, and made this INEVITIBLE war longer and more costly.
When are these people going to be held accountable for the INACTION that made things worse?
The kind of totalitarian evil that is willing to use terror tactics against noncombatants intentionally, to further its objectives, will exploit negotiation/understanding/accommodation to further those objectives, as well.
It is only turned, or destroyed, when CONFRONTED ... something the "educated" opposition pooh-poohed as beneath civilized people.
In 2001, 3000 of our own people joined the millions outside or borders now "beneath us" in our global civilization, as a result of the refusal to confront this evil as it appeared ... a refusal led by those who now criticize the efforts by this President to restore and protect the rights of free people.
And yes, many do criticize for the very reasons someone alluded to above ... this President will not endorse the strange brew of socialism, hedonism, and relativism such as these embrace, therefore in their eyes he is the evil, and must be defeated by any means available ... truth be damned.
We won't be fooled again ... by ignorance with a sheepskin, or tenure, or an anchor chair.
