Since when is stealing an election ratification of a president's

[whistle]

...war policy? Iraq Policy Ratified by Election says Bush, plus he says all mistakes and misdeeds are foregiven because it is the will of the voters. :wtf:

<snip from an article in the Washington Post>

Bush Says Election Ratified Iraq Policy

By Jim VandeHei and Michael A. Fletcher

President Bush said the public's decision to
reelect him was a ratification of his approach
toward Iraq and that there was no reason to hold
any administration officials accountable for
mistakes or misjudgments in prewar planning or
managing the violent aftermath.
"We had an accountablity moment, and that's called
the 2004 elections," Bush said in an interview wth
The Washington Post.
"The American people listened to different assessments
about what was taking place in Iraq, and they looked at
the two candidates, and chose me."

With the Iraq elections two weeks away and no signs of
the deadly insurgency abating, Bush set no timetable for
withdrawing U.S. troops and twice declined to endorse
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell's recent statement that
the number of Americans serving in Iraq could be reduced
by year's end. Bush said he will not ask Congress to
expand the size of the National Guard or regular Army, as
some lawmakers and military experts have proposed.

In a wide-ranging, 35-minute interview aboard Air Force
One on Friday, Bush laid out new details of his second-term
plans for both foreign and domestic policy. For the first
time, Bush said he will not press senators to pass a
constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, the top
priority for many social conservative groups. And he said he
has no plans to cut benefits for the approximately 40 percent
of Social Security recipients who collect monthly disability
and survivor payments as he prepares his plan for partial
privatization.

Bush was relaxed, often direct and occasionally expansive
when discussing his second-term agenda, Iraq and lessons
he has learned as president. Sitting at the head of a long
conference table in a cabin at the front of the presidential
plane, Bush wore a blue Air Force One flight jacket with a
red tie and crisp white shirt. Three aides, including his
new communications adviser, Nicolle Devenish, accompanied
him.

With his inauguration days away, Bush defended the
administration's decision to force the District of Columbia
to spend $12 million of its homeland security budget to
provide tighter security for this week's festivities.
He also warned that the ceremony could make the city
"an attractive target for terrorists."

"By providing security, hopefully that will provide
comfort to people who are coming from all around the
country to come and stay in the hotels in Washington
and to be able to watch the different festivities in
Washington, and eat the food in Washington," Bush said.
"I think it provides them great comfort to know that
all levels of government are working closely to make
this event as secure as possible."

The president's inaugural speech Thursday will focus
on his vision for spreading democracy around the world,
one of his top foreign policy goals for the new term.
But it will be Iraq that dominates White House deliberations
off stage. Over the next two weeks, Bush will be monitoring
closely Iraq's plan to hold elections for a 275-member
national assembly. He must also deliver his State of the
Union address with a message of resolve on Iraq, and he
will need to seek congressional approval for about $100
billion in emergency spending, much of it for the war.

In the interview, the president urged Americans to show
patience as Iraq moves slowly toward creating a democratic
nation where a dictatorship once stood. But the relentless
optimism that dominated Bush's speeches before the U.S.
election was sometimes replaced by pragmatism and caution.

"On a complicated matter such as removing a dictator
from power and trying to help achieve democracy, sometimes
the unexpected will happen, both good and bad," he said.
"I am realistic about how quickly a society that has been
dominated by a tyrant can become a democracy. . . .
I am more patient than some."

Last week, Powell said U.S. troop levels could be reduced
this year, but Bush said it is premature to judge how many
U.S. men and women will be needed to defeat the insurgency
and plant a new and sustainable government. He also declined
to pledge to significantly reduce U.S. troop levels before
the end of his second term in January 2009.

"The sooner the Iraqis are . . . better prepared, better
equipped to fight, the sooner our troops can start coming
home," he said.
Bush did rule out asking Congress to increase the size
of the National Guard and regular army, as many lawmakers,
including the president's 2004 opponent, Sen. John F. Kerry
(D-Mass.), are urging. "What we're going to do is make sure
that the missions of the National Guard and the reserves
closely dovetail with active army units, so that the pressure
. . . is eased."

A new report released last week by U.S. intelligence
agencies warned that the war in Iraq has created a training
ground for terrorists. Bush called the report "somewhat
speculative" but acknowledged "this could happen. And I agree.
If we are not diligent and firm, there will be parts of the
world that become pockets for terrorists to find safe haven
and to train. And we have a duty to disrupt that."

Bush acknowledged that the United States' standing has
diminished in some parts of the world and said he has
asked Condoleezza Rice, his nominee to replace Powell
at the State Department, to embark on a public diplomacy
campaign that "explains our motives and explains our
intentions."

Bush acknowledged that "some of the decisions I've made up to
now have affected our standing in parts of the world,"
but predicted that most Muslims will eventually see America as a
beacon of freedom and democracy.

"There's no question we've got to continue to do a better job
of explaining what America is all about," he said.
On the election Bush said he was puzzled that he received
only about 11 percent of the black vote, according to exit
polls, about a 2 percentage point increase over his 2000 total.

"I did my best to reach out, and I will continue to do so
as the president," Bush said. "It's important for people to
know that I'm the president of everybody."



:wtf:

[forgethell]

1. Well, *

is not going to admit he stole it, now is he? So he has to act like he really won, doesn't he?

;)

[whistle]

3. Bush can act any way he wishes, but it is important that the rest...

...of us do not become drawn into that collective myopia.

<snip>

Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.

The power of seeing which has traditionally been so linked to the truth has, in our western culture, been colonised by the ego so that it has become the tool of prediction and control. We learn to see what we expect or even what others expect. Much of the thrust of post-modern criticism is concerned with deconstructing these codes and expectations which have led to cultural myopia.

Times of great transition dissolve the certainty that is built from the past. It is as if we have gone blind and can no longer see where we are going. Who will lead us out of this blind alley? Not our political leaders for sure. Perhaps no one can? Perhaps we have to go into this blindness and like Oedipus learn to develop INSIGHT?

<more>

http://www.re-vision.org.uk/phenomena/symptoms.html

[forgethell]

5. But the point is,

honestly elected or not, * is the President, with all the powers of that office. He can act anyway he chooses, and all post-modern criticism notwithstanding, there is not one goddamned thing that we can do about it.

[MasonJar]

2. He is the most arrogant bag of sweeper dirt to ever disgrace our

nation. How did this happen; the world is too much with us. (Wordsworth)

[journalist3072]

4. Bush

That arrogant SOB might as well have taken a leak on the graves of each dead person from the Iraq war. No reason to hold him accountable, because he's been "re-elected." Yea right.

Just when I think he can't get any more arrogant, he says this.