For once, Wonkette speaks seriously. She is right: Revenge against Al-Qaeda is *not* the motivating force behind Bush administration foreign policy.
Posted by DeLong at August 6, 2004 11:24 AM | TrackBack | | Other weblogs commenting on this postBush at Unity Conference: George Bush did not do well in his speech to the UNITY conference of minority journalists. For some reason, his stump speech call for tort reform did not meet with its usual round of applause, and when asked about "tribal sovereignty in the 21st century," his response -- "tribal sovereignty means that, it's sovereign" -- while technically accurate, did little to answer the question. Yet, as usual, Bush did have moments of true lyricism:
We actually misnamed the War on Terror. It ought to be the Struggle Against Ideological Extremists Who Do Not Believe in Free Societies Who Happen to Use Terror as a Weapon To Try To Shape The Conscience Of The Free World.
We're sure that focus grouped well. In fact, we hear that the only reason they didn't go with it was that Toby Keith was having trouble making it scan. No, really: It's one thing to "misspeak," which everyone does, it's another thing to be so drenched in flop sweat that you start channeling David Foster Wallace, which usually only Dave Eggers does.
And this lengthy sound bite also reveals a real rift between Bush and some of his supporters. Apparently, 9/11 is sort of incidental to his foreign policy -- the hijackers just "happen to use terror as a weapon." Like they picked up some airplane tickets at the checkout stand or something. Whether or not they use terror, it's the "ideological extremists who hate free societies" that Bush has a problem with, and in that case, we look forward to his upcoming invasion of the Justice Department.
UPDATE: The White House has the official transcript. And it notes a detail almost too sad to include here:We actually misnamed the war on terror, it ought to be the struggle against ideological extremists who do not believe in free societies who happen to use terror as a weapon to try to shake the conscience of the free world. (Laughter.)
No, that's what they do.
It's hard when you're used to speaking to pre-selected fanatics. . .
Since Mickey Kaus got all analytical over Tommy Franks' transcript of "I wouldn't say that the things that Senator Kerry said are undeniable about activities in Vietnam" vs. "I wouldn't say that ... [pause] the things that Senator Kerry said are undeniable about activities in Vietnam," perhaps he'll now get equally exercised over his President's comment about "free societies who happen to use terror as a weapon."
Posted by: Dr. BDH on August 6, 2004 11:33 AMDid someone forget to make the journalists sign loyalty oaths in advance?
Posted by: Kuas on August 6, 2004 11:44 AMBrad -
I'd be interested in getting your take on a TNR article called False Positive. It's, at the time of this writing, the featured article on their website. It tries to explain why Americans are so unhappy with the economy. It makes sense to me, but it would be great to get your take on it.
Posted by: timshel on August 6, 2004 12:08 PMBrad -
I'd be interested in getting your take on a TNR article called False Positive. It's, at the time of this writing, the featured article on their website. It tries to explain why Americans are so unhappy with the economy. It makes sense to me, but it would be great to get your take on it.
Posted by: timshel on August 6, 2004 12:08 PMBrad,
An invasion fo the justice department? What's Ashcroft, a tuna sandwich? Don't answer that.
uh...
that's weird 2fair,
We like Wonkette when she is serious.
Posted by: Lee A. on August 6, 2004 01:50 PMWe also like Wonkette when she's not serious.
We just like Wonkette.
Posted by: Barry Freed on August 6, 2004 01:58 PMRead the whole transcript. Seems like Bush doesn't know about the 14th Amendment. Of course, that's one that he wouldn't be too excited about upholding.
Posted by: Blue the Wild Dog on August 6, 2004 03:03 PMre The White House transcript: I wonder about the following,
First, I want to thank the board of directors of this August organization.Now, this isn't necessarily W's fault because, well you know but surely this should have been spelled, "august," with a lower case "a" But then again we are in the month of August, there's no denying that; not even for a Republican (at least not yet.) Could it be that this organization only constitutes itself and convenes in the month of August? If the former is the case then perhaps it is indicative of the level of education of the staffers in the White House press office or whoever it is that typesets that mind-numbing pap. Or maybe it is the case that the word processing program spell-checker, no doubt MicroSoft Word or Office, changed it. And if that is the case then will it do that in any month or will it just capitalize the word "august" in the month of August because it is, well, August?
Inquiring minds want to know and the American public has a right to be informed. And since the press corps doesn't seem to be doing much of anything now when there are at least half a dozen major stories I can think of off the top of my head that they could be pursuing, 2 of which are Watergate scandalosity level, and one of which is far bigger; well, I figure that could give them all something to do without having to leave those plush carpeted halls of power. Some c'mon guys, get crackin'.
Posted by: Barry Freed on August 6, 2004 04:01 PMUh, that's "So c'mon guys" there at the end not Some.
Hey Briad, No HTML? WUWT? I wanted to italicize the Bush quote and have a line space below it.
First, I want to thank the board of directors of this August organization.
You just can't jive a minority journalist like you can a Fox "news" analyst.
Posted by: Slothrop of Boulder on August 6, 2004 04:50 PMMaybe certain letters are capitalized as a code for Bush to Emphasize them in a speech. I've noticed that when reading a speech he often seems to struggle to give a word some extra air. It also may be that if really does have a reading disability, a capital letter here and there might help him stay on course while reading.
Posted by: lansing on August 6, 2004 05:04 PMThe Republican Party is not about freedom. Its own supporters would not support it if they thought it was.
Posted by: Frank Wilhoit on August 6, 2004 06:35 PMAs hilarious as this quotation is, I enjoyed hearing a section of Bush's speech on NPR news today. Speaking about the dismal jobs report, Bush says "The economy is doing what it's _supposed_ to." Which is---apparently---to not create many jobs!
I was looking for yet another "Bush Misspeaks" headline on the wires, but none were forthcoming.
Posted by: Pete Coffee on August 6, 2004 08:58 PM