Ask The White House: "President and Mrs. Bush really like Psalm 27"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

NOTE: All spelling errors, typos, etc. kept intact. I've copied and pasted, what you see below is what's on the White House Web Site.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/ask/20041015-2.html



Jim Towey
White House Deputy Assistant to the President and Director, Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives

Sherry, from Oregon writes:
Could you please tell us the scripture that President Bush used to place his hand on the Bible in the 2000 inaugeration. I am a chaplain of a Women's Republican group here in Oregon and would like to pray over that scripture for our president, and our nation.Iknow that the scriptures chosen always have special meaning for the president. Thank You

Jim Towey:
Can't help you on that one, Sherry. I don't know. I used to work for Senator Hatfield, and so I got out to Oregon a lot, so hope you are enjoying Oregon's tremendous autumnal beauty! I do know that the President and Mrs. Bush really like Psalm 27: The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom should I fear? That is a beautiful Psalm.

Patricia, from Fairhaven Massachusetts writes:
I would just like to send the message to President Bush that I feel he is doing an excellent job even in the face of all the negativity this past year. I hope he stays strong and knows that the negativity is not coming from the average citizen but from the media.

Jim Towey:
Thanks Patricia! Your words of encouragement will mean a lot to him - and all of us working for him!

:grouphug: :puke: :grouphug:

[madmax]

1. My favorite Psalm

Was posted on DU, sorry I don't remember the DU'ers name.

Psalm 2004

Bush is my shepherd, I shall be in want.
He maketh me lie down on park benches,
He leadeth me beside the still factories.
He restoreth my doubts about the Republican Party.
He leadeth me into the paths of unemployment
for his cronies' sake.
Yea, though no weapons of mass destruction have
been found, he maketh me continue to fear Evil.
His tax cuts for the rich and his deficit spending
discomfort me.
He anointeth me with never-ending debt:
Verily my days of savings and assets are kaput.
Surely poverty and hard living shall follow me all
the days of his administration,
And my jobless child shall dwell in my basement
forever.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Was the White House web site so partisan under Clinton?

Did his team indulge in sickeningly sweet meaningless tosh? I suspect not.

So much of it is awful PR. Once day 'Ask the White House' was being answered by a NASCAR driver! I sent him a question asking if he was the president's chauffeur, since I couldn't see any other connection a professional driver would have with the White House. The bastard never bothered answering.

[DenverDem]

3. Not real letters.

Like questioners at publican events, pathetically transparent bullshit from karen huge's office of pathetic bullshit developement.

[klook]

6. About as real as the LTTE from soldiers

that happened to have the same exact wording in every paper where it appeared.

[Richardo]

4. Psalm 27: It's all about me-me-me. Plus, heavy on the 'enemies' thing...

The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation

27 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came <1> upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. 3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. 4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty <2> of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. 5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. 6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; <3> I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.

7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. 8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. 9 Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. 10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. 11 Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain <4> path, because of mine enemies. 12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. 13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. "When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up"

So Bush has some heavy Freudian issues to work through, does he?

[Richardo]

8. That line shouted out to me, too

He does have Mommy/Daddy issues, that much is clear. :eyes:

[alfredo]

11. This lends weight to Ron Suskind's article

Without A Doubt.

[klook]

5. Stumbling and falling

Here are some other apropos lines from Psalm 27:

• When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. (as Rove and Bush are falling now)
  
• Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. (Swift Boat Liars, Sinclair, et al.)
  
• I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. (stay away from those pretzels!)
  

[Nexus7]

9. Kerry hit this one out of the park!

It is one thing to comb through the Bible at one's leisure and pick out psalms to make some point. That is akin to * fumbling the catch at the debate then going out and mocking JK behind his back, and out of context. That is what the xtian right indulges in.

Anybody watching the third debate though, was left with no doubt Kerry understood religion, and its place in public life. Not only did he make clear he knew and understood religion and the Bible very deeply, he demonstrated how it can be utilized in public (and personal) life correctly with his apt and contextual quotes from it.

John Kerry owned the religous debate that night. That debate is now over.

[Toucano]

10. You've already said it all, but I'll join in.

:puke:

[merh]

12. For someone who is instructed by the word to "not be afraid"

he sure is one fearful individual that spreads fear as he goes. He should practice what he reads (or is read to him). Psalms is simply a writing that tells people that fear is inopposite to faith. If one has true faith, they have no fears or earthly concerns.

The weed that would be king is much too paranoid. He doesn't believe these words.