What I'm about to write may be shocking. I didn't think King George was bad, of course I had low expectations. He was his usual bumbling, rambling, unable to think on his feel self, but he didn't completely mess up.
Here was a typical exchange. Note he doesn't actually answer the question and randomly starts babbling about things that weren't asked. I fault my boy, Tim, for not pressing him harder when he just didn't answer questions.
Russert: Will you testify before the commission?
President Bush: This commission? You know, I don't testify? I will be glad to visit with them. I will be glad to share with them knowledge. I will be glad to make recommendations, if they ask for some.
I'm interested in getting I'm interested in making sure the intelligence gathering works well.
Listen, we got some five let me let me, again, just give you a sense of where I am on the intelligence systems of America. First of all, I strongly believe the CIA is ably led by George Tenet. He comes and briefs me on a regular basis about what he and his analysts see in the world.
Other gems were (on Osama):
I have no idea whether we will capture or bring him to justice, may be the best way to put it. I know we are on the hunt, and Osama bin Laden is a cold blooded killer, and he represents the nature of the enemy that we face.
[Amy says: I predict Osama is miraculously found, "dead or alive", sometime in the late summer time frame, so it's front and center in voters minds.]
On Free Societies:
See, free societies are societies that don't develop weapons of mass terror and don't blackmail the world.
[Amy says: he is suggesting that the U.S. is not free or is there a new policy where we are destroying our weapons? Inquiring minds want to know!]
On his National Guard Service:
Russert: You did were allowed to leave eight months before your term expired. Was there a reason?
President Bush: Right. Well, I was going to Harvard Business School and worked it out with the military.
[Amy says: must be nice to be special! I'm sure there are some service people in Iraq who might like to be attending HBS right now]
On the budget:
Russert: How about no more tax cuts until the budget is balanced?
President Bush: Well, that's a hypothetical question which I can't answer to you because I don't know how strong the economy is going to be.
[Amy says: yet he is counting on his tax cuts to boost the economy to the point where his budget will cut deficit in half. Can you review that math one more time, Georgie?]
On being a "uniter":
Why do you think you are perceived as such a divider?
President Bush: Gosh, I don't know, because I'm working hard to unite the country.
[Amy says: gosh darn it! I'm tryin' the best I can. I can't help it if all the heathens who are going straight to hell fight me.]
But the scariest thing he said was this:
I'll tell you, though, I'm not going to change, see? I'm not trying to accommodate I won't change my philosophy or my point of view. I believe I owe it to the American people to say what I'm going to do and do it, and to speak as clearly as I can, try to articulate as best I can why I make decisions I make, but I'm not going to change because of polls. That's just not my nature.
which says: nothing will change in my next administration if I'm re-selected. A truely frightening idea, indeed.
> read the transcript
> some reactions
> more reactions
> DNC's list of inaccuracies-----
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| Comments (3)
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Comments (3)
URL: http://www.livingreflections.com/blog
dragonslayer - I agree with you, I don't think politicians should change with the wind - though I do think they should be able to evolve and change views sometimes without getting slammed mercilessly.
What I was trying to say here more along the lines of 4 more years of Bush just horrifies me. Nothing will change and in my opinion, we'll be on a very bad path.
Posted by amy | October 26, 2006 8:15 PM
Posted on October 26, 2006 20:15
URL: http://www.netcom.com/~buccb/blogger.html
I'm not a big Bush supporter, but I like the fact that he said he's not going to change. I hate when politicians change their tune to please the voter. I prefer a politician who espouses his own morals and ideas and if that vibes with the voters then he wins, if not, he loses.
Guess that's why I'm not in politics.
Posted by Dragonslayer | October 26, 2006 8:15 PM
Posted on October 26, 2006 20:15
URL: http://matthew-maly.ru
Defense Enterprise Fund (DEF) is a venture capital fund financed by the US
Congress to convert former Russian producers of weapons of mass destruction.
According to the Department of Defense Audit, DEF spent half of its grant on
itself, which is twenty five times the industry average. As far as DEF's
investment portfolio of $30M, $20M disappeared from it under very suspicious
circumstances.
Defense Threat Reduction Agency ("DTRA") maintains a DEF-related webpage.
This page used to state that the number of former Soviet WMD scientists
converted by DEF to peaceful pursuits was 3370. I questioned this figure in
my letters to DTRA, and DTRA reduced this figure to 1250, which is a 66%
reduction. But the real figure is no more than 200 Russian scientists.
DEF was supposed to serve as a start-up for a privately financed $200M
venture capital fund that would continue to invest in Russian WMD conversion
projects. The $67M DEF's grant was supposed to be returned to the US
Treasury.
Instead, DEF was closed as of December 31, 2003, its entire $67M grant lost,
and nobody was punished, except the whistleblower.
Relevant documents are here: http://nunn-lugar.com/def/
Posted by Matthew Maly | October 26, 2006 8:15 PM
Posted on October 26, 2006 20:15