Saturday, January 12, 2008
Oh no, not again...
Sigh. I wish he wouldn't do this.
5 Comments:
By 
, at
Sat Jan 12, 05:01:00 PM:
"Oh no, not again..."
"Again"?
If you're referring to the now-infamous "Mission Accomplished" sign, that was put up by the Navy because, indeed, their mission had been accomplished. That it was somehow a message on Bush's part, and referring to the entire war, was just Leftist spin.
On the other hand, your feelings run in the right direction. Better to just pull a John Wayne and keep the braggadocio to a minimum.
By , at
Sat Jan 12, 05:29:00 PM:
Pull a John Wayne?
"A man ought to do what he thinks is right"-- Hondo
Quoted by LGD
By , at
Sat Jan 12, 05:44:00 PM:
President Bush seems to be drifting into self-parody. Too bad for us.
By , at
Sat Jan 12, 09:11:00 PM:
As CIC it is entirely appropriate for him to congratulate the troops. Someday we will all look back and realize just how difficult this Presidency really was and just how well GWB has performed under the constraints of the times.
By 
Noocyte, at
Sun Jan 13, 12:16:00 AM:
I don't see anything untoward in this speech. He described the situation pretty much as it had unfolded, neither sugar-coating the dire straits in which the COIN strategy/Surge were implemented, nor engaging in unduly triumphalist hyperbole about where things have gone since then. His statements about the future were couched in terms of hope, not inevitability, and this is not only proper, it is essential and entirely in keeping with his station.
Gen Petraeus, Amb. Crocker, and the service men and women he addressed are singularly deserving of great praise for bearing the hopes of the American and Iraqi people with distinction.
Should things turn sharply south from this point onward -- the gods forbid -- only those who engage in the most crass revisionism will be able to paint this speech as "self-parody" or unearned trash-talk.
In short, I hope he does *more* of this, if and as circumstances warrant it.
