- With all his dangerous executive orders, repetitious
insistence on the necessity for the Iraqi war, monotonous clinging
to the WMD fairy tale, transparent declaration of a need for spying on
individuals, and irresponsible nonchalance about our national debt approaching
a trillion dollars, President Bush has mistakenly taken on the mantel of
liar, cheater, deceiver, dictator, even traitor.
-
- I say mistakenly because I now believe that Bush is none
of these things. Oh sure, he's a lousy president. Perhaps the worst president
in American history. But I am convinced it is a totally erroneous assessment
of this president to attach to him labels of purposeful harm, intentional
mean-spiritedness, or inherent evil.
-
- The contrivance that opened my mind to alternative possibilities
about Bush's performance in and out of the White House came to me in a
most unexpected and parochial way: namely a 2006 calendar of George W.
Bushisms; each day offering inane utterances during his presidency, and
not a few from before that.
-
- After flipping a few pages of the calendar, the light
dawned and I realized for the first time that President Bush is not evil,
not mean, not crazy not ill-intentioned, and surely not dictatorial.
-
- President George W. Bush is not to be blamed. He simply
has a can missing from his six-pack; a screw loose. In short, Bush is an
intellectual zero; a closet dunce. Whether or not this makes him dangerous
depends on how far into space you believe this man's think-piece has gone.
That it has gone somewhere cannot be denied.
-
- And these quotes, taken at various times during Bush's
political career, give ample and undeniable testament to this un-presidential
insufficiency.
-
- On August 30, 2000, at a CNN online chat. Bush babbled,
"As governor of Texas, I have set a high standard for our public schools,
and I have met those standards." We can only hope that the children
will meet the same high standards.
-
- In St. Charles, Missouri, on November 2, 2000, Bush spouted,
"They want the federal government controlling Social Security, like
it's some kind of federal program." Well, I must say, they certainly
had most of us fooled.
-
- In Washington, D.C., on August 5, 2004, Bush averred.
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never
stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and so
do we." It seems that nowadays you can't trust anybody.
-
- On May 29, 2003, in Washington, D.C., Bush intoned, "I
recently met with the finance minister of the Palestinian Authority, and
I was very impressed with his grasp of finances." Yes, but the
big test is, Mr. President, can he balance his checkbook?
-
- In Mainz, Germany, February 23, 2005, Bush mused, "After
all, Europe is America's closest ally." Which proves that we at least
have somebody in our corner.
-
- On December 5, 2000, Bush brought forth this on CBS's
60 Minutes: "Dick Cheney and I do not want this nation to be in a
recession. We want anybody who can find work to be able to find work."
And I do too, if they can find work.
-
- I wish to heaven I was making all this up. I would be
having fun at President Bush's expense, but I'm confident that he would
see the humor in it and laugh just as hard as I am laughing. Too bad. Every
quote you read hear, I swear, is authentic Bushbabble, all of which the
man himself is grossly unaware.
-
- As a young man, Jim Moore never had the opportunity to
go to college. He had to get out, get a job, and go to work. Too
bad President Bush can't say the same thing.
-
- But I digress.
-
- Speaking to Paula Zahn about Rudy Giuliani, Bush said:
"He has certainly earned the reputation as a fantastic mayor, because
the results speak for themselves. I mean, New York's a safer place for
him to be." Who knows, it may even be safer for the rest of
us.
-
- Acknowledging something that the whole world already
suspects, Bush, on May 7, 2003, divulged this: "I think war is a dangerous
place." Revelations like this are not easy to come by.
-
- And this: In Brussels, Belgium, on February
22, 2005, our esteemed leader had this to say: "This notion that the
United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And
having said that, all options are on the table."
-
- Finally, as Yogi Berra might have thought long and hard
about it, then offered this: "You really don't know a man until you
get to know him."
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- Anybody seen that missing can?
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