22 March, '06, Wheeling, WV:

"My purpose is to share with you what's on my mind and then I look forward to hearing what's on yours... I'm the commander in chief. I'm also the educator in chief. And I have a duty to explain how and why I make decisions, and that's part of the reason I'm here."

"I knew that the farther we got away from Sept. 11, 2001, the more likely it would be that some would forget the lessons of that day. And that's OK. That's OK... And it's fine that people forget the lessons, but one of my jobs is to constantly remind people of the lessons."

"When I was coming up in the '50s in Midland, Texas, you know, it seemed like we were pretty safe. In the '60s it seemed like we were safe. In other words, conflicts were happening overseas but we were in pretty good shape at home."

"The most important responsibility of the commander in chief... Is to defend the citizens of this country. That is our most vital and important responsibility. I have never forgotten that from September the 11th on."

"By the way, if the president says something, he better mean it, for the sake of peace. In other words, you want your president out there making sure that his words are credible."

"There's an interesting debate in the world, is whether or not freedom is universal, see, whether or not -- you know, there's old Bush imposing his values. See, I believe freedom is universal... The way I put it was, there is an almighty God. One of the greatest gifts of that almighty God is the desire for people to be free, is freedom."

"I'm finding out what went wrong. In other words, one of the things you better make sure of when you're the president, you're getting good intelligence. "

"Iraq is a part of the global war on terror. In other words, it's a global war."

"And I can understand people saying, 'Man, it's all going to -- you know, it's not working out.'"

"Oops -- not through yet. A little early on the clap."

"Thank goodness Laura isn't here; she would be giving me the hook."

"De Tocqueville, who's a French guy, came in 1832 and recognized and wrote back -- wrote a treatise about what it means to go to a country where people have -- associate voluntarily to serve their communities."

"My buddies come from up from Texas... And they come up from Texas and they're, kind of, looking at you, like, 'Man, are you OK?' Yes, you know. And I tell them, I say, you know, 'I can't tell you what an honor it is to do this job.' They often ask, 'What's the job description?' I say, 'Making decisions.' And I make a lot."

"Just got to keep talking. Word of mouth, there's blogs, there's Internet, there's all kinds of ways to communicate, which is literally changing the way people are getting their information."

"First, I hope that your generation will lead -- no doubt, your generation will lead. Generations, when called, somehow find the courage to lead. That's step one. Two, I think you'll be dealing in a world in which you will be confronted with making values choices; for example, family -- understanding that the family is an important aspect of society. Secondly, the choice of life. You know, for example, you'll be confronted with a very difficult debate between science, on the one hand, and the hopes of science, and life. That debate is just beginning. In other words, 'Do you destroy life to save life?' for example, is one of the very difficult debates that your generation will be confronted with..."

"Anyway, you'll be confronted with some stuff. Hopefully, our job is to make sure you're confronted with less issues, like being hooked on oil. One of the issues that we're confronting with now that I hope you'll not have to confront with is jobs going elsewhere because we don't have the math and science skills and engineering skills and physics skills that are taught to our children here."

"I wish I could stay longer to answer your questions. I can't. I've got to go back to D.C. You know, I'm not necessarily saying I would rather be in D.C. Than here. I'd rather be here than there, but nevertheless, that's what my life dictates. God bless you all."

Educator in Chief.

^ lol..can't beat a good bush speech, always a good laugh over here :)

Last edited: Thursday, March 23, 2006 at 7:06:30 PM

Dang. :[

Usually during a speech, you've, um, gotta certain few things you want to...appeal to the people, to bring them alongside and help them understand that...well, being President is being hard and I've got to make those hard decisions. Personally, I'd like to decide to head back to Texas or at least stay here with you fine people cause, well, you complete me. You understand the science of families making hard decisions concerning the war on terror and the need for physics and chemistry, engineering delivery systems and using those capabilities to insure everyone's God-given grace to enjoy freedom and download MP3s without some French guy mucking it up while we're taking away the burden of making decisions. Just leave that to your elected officials as we avoid the left cross, er, hook from our wives as we confront the need to educate ourselves and our children. Education is alright by me, so's learning and remembering. Cyphering is a little tricky, but that's why we have the French. Good night everybody!

NOTE: I'm beginning to wonder what's going on. Who's changed the most, me or Bush? Maybe he fired his speech writer or something, but I remember those early speeches being a lot better. He usually said some things I could hang my hat on and make me feel like things were OK. But when I read that speech, I'm a little dumbfounded that he's my man. Sure, I understand the country way, heck, I hear it all the time from plenty of good people. Somehow though, he's passed beyond that in my mind and just seems plain confused. Maybe its all been too much for him and he's having some trouble. Whatever it is, something's going on.

Last edited: Thursday, March 23, 2006 at 8:32:05 PM

Lol. Indubitably.

! Yar !

I do have to agree with W on an important issue, although it pains me to do so.

Paraphrasing; he said the the current problems we now face will be fixed by a future president.

I could not agree more. (Finally, something that someone without a "conservative faith" can agree upon with someone who does.)

Last edited: Thursday, March 23, 2006 at 10:09:25 PM