"A major blow for terrorism"
The illiterate in chief went at it last night in a stump speech posing as a press conference. The full quote alluded to above was, "And a free Iraq is going to be a major blow for terrorism." That's not what he meant to say, obviously, but it was certainly the truest thing he said all night. William Saletan analyzes the tautology of his statements, the credibility gap of his administration, and the difference between reality and the Bush reality.
Here's some other gems from the mind of George W. Bush:
"We're not an imperial power," sayeth Bush, as he stood in what can only be described as an imperial setting at the White House, "as nations such as Japan and Germany can attest."
If that's supposed to be reassuring to Iraqis or the U.S. taxpayer, history reminds us that we are still stationing thousands of troops in both those countries.
Oh, and they had declared war on us.
"A country that hides something is a country that is afraid of getting caught." Again, William Saletan looks at the twisted logic of that statement, but all I could think of was Dick Cheney and his energy task force. Or the thousands of Clinton-era documents the White House has kept from the prying eyes of the 9-11 Commission.
"Ed, I asked for that briefing." He was speaking of the now-famous (or infamous) Aug. 6 "PDB." Trouble is, he asked for no such thing.
And, of course, the highpoint of the night:
"Hmmm. I wish you'd have given me this written question ahead of time so I could plan for it. John, I'm sure historians will look back and say, gosh, he could have done it better this way or that way. You know, I just -- I'm sure something will pop into my head here in the midst of this press conference with all the pressure of trying to come up with an answer, but I hadn't yet."
He's apparently not trying very hard.
Self-confidence in a president is a mighty good thing. But the miserable failure is pathological.
The usual suspects weigh in.
I'm sure the Center for American Progress will be fact-checking the Preznit's happy talk as well as AG Ashcroft's equally curious view of reality and history.
Here's some other gems from the mind of George W. Bush:
"We're not an imperial power," sayeth Bush, as he stood in what can only be described as an imperial setting at the White House, "as nations such as Japan and Germany can attest."
If that's supposed to be reassuring to Iraqis or the U.S. taxpayer, history reminds us that we are still stationing thousands of troops in both those countries.
Oh, and they had declared war on us.
"A country that hides something is a country that is afraid of getting caught." Again, William Saletan looks at the twisted logic of that statement, but all I could think of was Dick Cheney and his energy task force. Or the thousands of Clinton-era documents the White House has kept from the prying eyes of the 9-11 Commission.
"Ed, I asked for that briefing." He was speaking of the now-famous (or infamous) Aug. 6 "PDB." Trouble is, he asked for no such thing.
And, of course, the highpoint of the night:
"Hmmm. I wish you'd have given me this written question ahead of time so I could plan for it. John, I'm sure historians will look back and say, gosh, he could have done it better this way or that way. You know, I just -- I'm sure something will pop into my head here in the midst of this press conference with all the pressure of trying to come up with an answer, but I hadn't yet."
He's apparently not trying very hard.
Self-confidence in a president is a mighty good thing. But the miserable failure is pathological.
The usual suspects weigh in.
I'm sure the Center for American Progress will be fact-checking the Preznit's happy talk as well as AG Ashcroft's equally curious view of reality and history.
posted by John at 10:15 AM
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