Forums Index >> General >> George W. Bush on the lessons learned in Iraq
Page : <1> :
Hardly presidential, to say the least.
Got Democracy?
Phone-Jamming Records Point to White House
WASHINGTON - Key figures in a phone-jamming scheme designed to keep New Hampshire Democrats from voting in 2002 had regular contact with the White House and Republican Party as the plan was unfolding, phone records introduced in criminal court show.
ADVERTISEMENT
The records show that Bush campaign operative James Tobin, who recently was convicted in the case, made two dozen calls to the White House within a three-day period around Election Day 2002 as the phone jamming operation was finalized, carried out and then abruptly shut down.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060410/ap_on_go_pr_wh/election_phone_jamming
(I know this veers off subject, but I figure "why not pile on?")
WTF?!?!?! First redistricting, now this BS.
This guy's an idiot.
(<---insert here all crooks and liars posts ever)
Last edited: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 at 6:30:11 PM
What is free...really.
As other countries again thier freedom
though "war on terror" we lose ours.
What a price to pay for world freedom.
Peace
He's high.. But not on marijuana... I'm not sure what he's on... Idiot pills?
Hey ass clone! Where ya bin?
Vash: don't you remember that tune: freedom isn't free? I mean, who cares that here in the states, we're more indebted and possess fewer civil liberties? The flip side is that we've secured a civil war in iraq! Now the people we've freed are free to fight over who gets to rule their theocracy!
Viva freedom.
Wow... And we only lost 2300 or so lives, so now more people can die- but not ours! FREEEEEEEEEDOM!!! W00t!
...Ya know that 15 million people protested against this war around the world on the same day? Largest peace march EVER. And wouldn't you know it, Michael Moore was there with a vidcam and a certain hard-rock band...
It's a music video, but it's a story- or, more accurately a lot of them. MTV banned it, so get it while it's hot.
Oh, and look for the news headlines in some of the scenes. All real.
PS:
And my first advice is, never use force until you've exhausted all diplomacy.
Seems kind of hypocritical, don't ya think?
Last edited: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 at 7:53:20 PM
Can't open it on my crappy work computer...have to wait til home. I wonder why MTV would ban it...i mean, aint they part of the insidious "liberal press?"
Makes you wonder what really motivates the press...and suggests: nothing nicer for making money than protecting status quo...
MTV has been unindated by mainstream politics ever since they stopped playing 24/7 videos. It sucks as does most of their content. Don't watch MTV. I mourn the halcion days of real TV Videos.. Back when V66 was the only channel doing it... Before this MTV garbage.
Maybe because, God forbid, they thought it was boring... Hey, it has ideas in it scarier than ANY scene in freakin' "Her Portrait in Black"! And what about "March of the Penguins"?
...MTV?...
Is there anything you'd like to tell us?
Maybe something about this:
[Nine Inch Nails] [was] due to play [The Hand that Feeds] at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards, but dropped out due to conflicts between Trent Reznor and MTV concerning the band's plan to incorporate an image of George W. Bush into the performance. An announcement made by Trent Reznor on the NIN website on May 26 stated: "Nine Inch Nails will not be performing at the MTV Movie Awards as previously announced. We were set to perform 'The Hand that Feeds' with an unmolested, straightforward image of George W. Bush as the backdrop. Apparently, the image of our president is as offensive to MTV as it is to me."
-from the Wikipedia article on The Hand that Feeds
What if this whole crusade's a charade
And behind it all there's a price to be paid
For the blood on which we dine
Justified in the name of the holy and the divine
-NIN, The Hand that Feeds
But enough about MTV. They get their 24 hours of fame every day.
Last edited: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 at 8:17:49 PM
Don't get me wrong... I don't blame MTV for nixing Trent Reznor. I believe that album from many years ago with "Head Like a Hole" entranced some angst nerve in my body at the time, but on the whole, Reznor's music is as garbagy as MTV itself.
On another topic...
I drool at the thought of meeting Mr. Bush in person sometime. Man, to load up and send a swift knee to his nuts would be sooo satifying. Now that imagery would be worthy of public broadcasting.
Last edited: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 at 8:18:51 PM
And if an upcoming video features Bush getting kneed in the nuts, I will sign ANY petition to get it played on MTV.
Reminds of when I used to wonder what I would yell at Nixon if I ever got close to him...and then, whatever is beyond "quite unexpectedly", Richard Nixon came up to shake hands with me at a party. I certainly had time to think about my improbable situation, and, ultimately I chose to shake his hand (which was odd in a couple of ways; one was that his hand seemed squishy... I have no idea). My sense at the time was that it would have been inappropriate to engage him in any way other than to receive his greeting. Time and Fate had made it too late to yell at him. Not so with our current Educator in Chief. How many of us would shake this guy's hand? Not I.
Have you noticed how often he represents that his main responsibility as president is to protect the citizens of this country, presumably from outsiders?
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."
I know that we are always beating a dead horse by posting his speeches or remarks. His words speak for themselves, and there's nothin' new about this. But I am still absolutely astonished every time I see his words in print. I have never been enormously enamored of Reality, but it really is difficult to reconcile how terrible is our current achievement with how great is our potential.
^
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."
W said that? Scary... :S
Wow... Talk about lying through his TEETH! If that counted for perjury (after all, it is
an oath), then Dumbya would be worse off than Nixon right now. Forget Lewinsky... W IS a scandal- a walking one.
The difference between an anus and an a--hole is that an anus can't put its arm around you.
He's not a good communicator...no question. What scares me most is the simplicity and linear nature of his thinking. Very black and white. Very little hint of nuance or appreciation of interdependence. Almost seems adolescent to me. Frightening. I'd hate to be Iranian right now.
Last edited: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 at 11:32:51 PM
You're right. It is an oath, the desecration of which we are witnessing. My point is that his responsibilty as president, above all else, is to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. I doubt that he has read it. I further doubt that he would truly understand it in any broad context.
Last edited: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 at 11:33:49 PM
Page : <1> :
11 April, '06 Salon.com
During a talk yesterday at Johns Hopkins University, the president of the United States was asked to share with aspiring policymakers "some wisdom or some insight" based on his experience with the "very difficult decisions on the use of force and engaging in war."
This is how he responded:
"Thanks for the question. I would encourage those of you studying here to be a part of policymaking for our government. It's -- it is a high honor to serve your country. And my first advice is, never use force until you've exhausted all diplomacy. I -- my second advice is, if you ever put anybody in harm's way, make sure they have got all the support of the government. My third advice is, don't make decisions on polls. Stand your ground if you think what you're doing [is] right.
"Much of my decision about what we're discussing these days was affected by an event. Look, I -- during the 2000 campaign, I don't remember ever discussing with people what -- could I handle war, or could my opponent handle war. The war wasn't on our mind. War came unexpectedly. We didn't ask for the attack, but it came. And so much of the statements I make and have made since that war were a result of that attack.
"I vowed then that I would use all assets of our power to win the war on terror. That's what I vowed. It -- the September 11th attacks affected me. It affected my thinking deeply. The most important job of the government is to protect the people from an attack. And so I said we were going to stay on the offense two ways: one, hunt down the enemy and bring them to justice, and take threats seriously; and two, spread freedom. And that's what we've been doing, and that's what I'm going to continue to do as the president.
"I think about the war on terror all the time. Now, I understand there's a difference of opinion in a country. Some view the attack as kind of an isolated incident. I don't. I view it as a part of a strategy by a totalitarian, ideologically based group of people who've announced their intentions to spread that ideology and to attack us again. That's what they've said they're going to do. And the most dangerous -- the biggest danger facing our country is whether -- if the terrorists get a weapons of mass destruction to use. Now, perhaps some in our country think it's a -- that's a pipedream; I don't. I think it is a very real threat, and therefore, will spend my presidency rallying our assets -- intelligence assets, military assets, financial assets, diplomatic initiatives -- to keep the enemy off balance, and to bring them to justice.
"Now, if you're going to be the president or a policymaker, you never know what's going to come. That's the interesting thing about the world in which we live. We're a influential nation, and so, therefore, many problems come to the Oval Office. And you don't know what those problems are going to be, which then argues for having smart people around. That's why you ought to serve in government if you're not going to be the president. You have a chance to influence policy by giving good recommendations to the president.
"You got to listen in my line of work, and I listen a lot. Ours is a complex organization that requires a management structure that lets people come into the Oval Office and explain their positions. And I think it's to my interest, by the way, that not everybody agree all the time. You can't make good decisions unless there's a little -- kind of a little agitation in there. And sometimes we have.
"But anyway, good question. I guess, my answer to your question is, is that you got to be ready for the unexpected. And when you act, you base your decisions on principles. I'll tell you one principle -- I'm not going to filibuster, I promise -- but you got me going here, so --. I want you to understand this principle, and it's an important debate and it's worth debating here in this school, as to whether or not freedom is universal, whether or not it's a universal right of all men and women. It's an interesting part of the international dialogue today. And I think it is universal. And if you believe it's universal, I believe this country has -- should act on that concept of universality. And the reason I do is because I do believe freedom yields the peace.
"And our foreign policy prior to my arrival was 'if it seems okay, leave it alone.' In other words, if it's nice and placid out there on the surface, it's okay, just let it sit. But unfortunately, beneath the surface was resentment and hatred, and that kind of resentment and hatred provided ample recruitment, fertile grounds for recruiting people that came and killed over 3,000 of our citizens. And therefore, I believe the way to defeat resentment is with freedom and liberty.
"But if you don't believe it's universal, I can understand why you say, what's he doing, why is he doing that? If there's no such thing as the universality of freedom, then we might as well just isolate ourselves and hope for the best.
"And so -- anyway, kind of rambling here. Yes."