Conservative Chapman: In debate, Bush acted like he got "pole-axed"

[kaitykaity]

**Note: Buzzflash says this guy is a conservative, and this
just rips Bush to shreds.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0410030449oct03,1,6028090.column?coll=chi-news-hed


Getting some insight on the president's uncomfortable relationship with reality

Published October 3, 2004

How many members of the Bush administration does it take to change a light bulb?

None. "There's nothing wrong with that light bulb. It has served us honorably. When you say it's burned out, you're giving encouragement to the forces of darkness. Once we install a light bulb, we never, ever change it. Real men don't need artificial light."

For weeks, Sen. John Kerry has been accusing President Bush of living in a "fantasy world," disconnected from what is happening in Iraq. Thursday's debate was reassuring proof that the incumbent is not impervious to bad news. Bush didn't give the impression of a president who is serenely confident that things are going well. He gave the impression of a guy who has been pole-axed by reality and is stumbling around half-dazed, even as he insists he's fine.

Whatever his own understanding of the dire situation, Bush doesn't want anyone else to recognize it. His strategy for succeeding in Iraq is to pretend we are succeeding, regardless of any information to the contrary.

In the debate, he spent less time disputing Kerry's evidence than faulting him for speaking the unspeakable. "I don't see how you can lead this country to succeed in Iraq if you say wrong war, wrong time, wrong place. What message does that send our troops? What message does that send to our allies? What message does that send the Iraqis?"

. . . more

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

1. A few devastating paras:

One of the mixed messages Bush detected from Kerry was the senator's vote last year against an $87 billion appropriation that included money for body armor for U.S. troops. It was the vote that inspired Kerry's immortal line, "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it."

But that vote took place in October 2003--seven months after the war in Iraq began. The only reason the administration needed to buy body armor for our troops after the invasion was that it didn't buy it in sufficient quantities before the invasion.

Why not?

Because the administration assumed postwar Iraq would be no more turbulent than Bingo Night at the retirement home. Kerry may be faulted for voting against the funding, but his decision didn't cost American lives. Bush's lapse did.

[wryter2000]

2. OMG

How many members of the Bush administration does it take to change a light bulb?

None. "There's nothing wrong with that light bulb. It has served us honorably. When you say it's burned out, you're giving encouragement to the forces of darkness. Once we install a light bulb, we never, ever change it. Real men don't need artificial light."

That's priceless.

[aden_nak]

3. A guilty man attacks his accuser, not the evidence.