1115.org

(1)
George W. Bush made an appearance in Irvine, CA on Monday to “discuss Comprehensive Immigration Reform”, as per the official White House description of the event. But there was also a whole lot of Iraq going on.

For reasons it has not yet revealed in public, the Washington Post was at pains to airbrush its account of some of Bush’s remarks, presenting a kindler, gentler Bush than the real live version:

Bush briefly noted that he sat in a California church yesterday near a “mother and stepfather” who were “grieving” for their son who had been killed in Iraq.

But here’s what Bush actually said:

First, you got to know that the hardest decision for a President is to put anybody in harm’s way — because I fully understand the consequences of making such a decision. I was at church yesterday in Twentynine Palms. In the pew that I was sitting in was a mother and step-father grieving for a guy who lost his life. And I knew that I would have to deal with this as best as I possibly can.

This guy wouldn’t recognize empathy and compassion if they showed him photo ids. Trying to turn on the empathy and compassion, the best he can do is “grieving for a guy who lost his life”?

As for that last sentence, your guess is as good as mine. Probably as good as Bush’s too, for that matter. All I get from it is that even when he’s trying to project compassion, all he can manage to do is go “I-me-me-mine”.

(2)
In case you have been worrying about our noticeable lack of success in the war on Iraq, and wondering whether it resulted from poor planning or bad things happening to good people, George Bush reached deep into his heart, to offer the following insight in response to a question:

The fundamental question on the Iraq theater, though, is did we put enough troops in there in the first place. That’s the debate in Washington. I’m sure you’ve heard about it. Let me just tell you what happened. I called Tommy Franks in with Don Rumsfeld and said, Tommy, if we’re going in, you design the plan and you got what you need. I said — I remember the era when politicians were trying to run wars, people trying to fine-tune this or fine-tune that. One the lessons of Vietnam, it seemed like to me — still does — is that people tried to make decisions on behalf of the military, which I think is a terrible precedent to make if you’re the Commander-in-Chief. By the way, you can’t run a war, you can’t make decisions based upon polls and focus groups, either.

And so I told Tommy, I said, you know you got what you need. And then it’s my — then the fundamental question is, do I think he’s comfortable telling the Commander-in-Chief what’s real and isn’t real. So I spent a lot of time with Tommy, and the first time I’m with him I’m trying to figure out whether or not he has got the ability to walk in the Oval Office — which can be kind of an intimidating place — and say, here’s what I think, Mr. President.

I was comforted by the fact that Tommy and I were raised in the same part of the world. He went to Midland Lee High School with Laura, by the way. I felt like — I felt like that there was kind of a kinship to begin with, and I’m confident, sir, that Tommy told me exactly what was on his mind. I believe that. And so, therefore, the troop level that he suggested was the troop level necessary to do the job. And I support it strongly.

So there you have it, folks. Because Tommy and George were raised in the same part of the world, and because Tommy went to school with Laura, therefore we had a good plan.

It wouldn’t surprise me a bit to learn that Bush believes the reason why things started to come unstuck in Iraq was that Tommy Franks retired, and his job passed to John Abizaid, who’s a nice enough guy, and smart and all, but the trouble is he warn’t raised in the same part of the world as George and Laura. (Also, he didn’t have the sense to go by Johnny, which would have been a distinct advantage in the war on Iraq.)

(3)
I’m not sure whether Bush is more dangerous or more frightening. It probably didn’t escape your attention that in the same paragraph Bush said both “Don Rumsfeld” and “One the lessons of Vietnam, it seemed like to me — still does — is that people tried to make decisions on behalf of the military, which I think is a terrible precedent”.

Or do you think he really meant – and believes – it’s terrible only if you’re the the Commander-in-Chief?

(4)
Bush went on to say that, knowing what he knows now, he would still choose to invade Iraq:

But on the big decisions of sending the troops in, I’d have done it again.

He wisely kept his trap shut on the subject of what the rationale for invading Iraq would be today. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to learn that the best he could come up with on the spur of the moment was “Saddam, he …why he … he didn’t go to Midland Lee High School with Laura, you know”.

(5)
Early in his speech, Bush said:

First, I want to talk about the war on terror. I wish I could report to you that the war on terror was over. It’s not.

Whoa! He just confused the flaming heck out of me. What does something not being true have to do with Bush reporting it to the American people? He never let niceties like that stop him before. Is he starting to lose it, do you think?

(6)
Is today April 25th or is it April the 25th? Does anyone know who started this whole September the 11th thing? Is it even legal any more to say September 11th?

(7)

And the United States government, whether you agree with my policy or not, must stand by our troops. When they’re in harm’s way, they deserve the best pay, the best equipment, and the best possible support.

Sounds like a great plan, Mr. President. Now, do you have a target date for putting it into effect?

(8)
Ever wonder what our foreign policy is based on these days? Apparently, a deep and abiding belief in the Christian God:

I based a lot of my foreign policy decisions on some things that I think are true. One, I believe there’s an Almighty, and secondly, I believe one of the great gifts of the Almighty is the desire in everybody’s soul, regardless of what you look like or where you live, to be free.

(9)

And I know that democracies do not war with each other.

Nosirreebob. But democracies sure can put on some kick-ass wars against dictatorships, huh?

(10)
Do yourself a favor, and read his whole damn speech. And try and answer the following question: is he even trying any more, or just mechanically going through the same old motions?

(11)

You know, it’s really important for people to be able to connect the concept of freedom to our security. And it’s hard. It’s hard, particularly in a day and age when every act of violence is put in your living room. And I know that. I fully understand the challenge I face as the Commander-in-Chief to describe to the American people why the sacrifice is worth it.

And perhaps the best way to do so is to share one of my favorite lessons of history with you, and that is that my relationship with Prime Minister Koizumi of Japan is a special relationship. He’s an interesting guy. And he’s a friend, and we work to keep the peace. We sit down — when we sit down, we talk about the importance of democracy developing in Iraq. The Japanese had troops, by the way, in Iraq to help this young country. We talked about North Korea. We talk about issues of peace. I find it so interesting and so ironic that those are the conversations I have with him, especially since 60 years ago, my dad — and I suspect many of your relatives — fought the Japanese as an enemy.

And so what happens between 18-year-old G.H.W. Bush, Navy fighter pilot, signing up to fight the sworn enemy of Japanese, and his son sitting down to talk about the peace? And what happened was Japan adopted a Japanese-style democracy. Democracy can help change the world and lay the foundation for peace. And that’s what’s happening today. These are historic times. My job is to lead this to protect you. And my job is to lay the foundation of peace for generations to come. And that is why I told those Marines yesterday that we’re going to complete the mission.

(There was a long moment, wasn’t there, when you thought the lesson of history was going to be that his relationship with Koizumi is a special one?)

It seems there might be other lessons of history that are relevant there—more recent history, and more directly relevant because it pertains to ill-advised interventions on the other side of the globe. But Bush does with the lessons of history what he does with intelligence (cherry-pick) or with the truth (play fast and loose). I’ll bet you my share of the national debt against yours that as a child, he had trouble matching the right shaped block to the right shaped hole.