Bush Among Friends - putting lipstick on a cartoon pig

[radfringe]

Bush Among Friends
http://editorandpublisher.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Bush+Among+Friends&expire=&urlID=19962259&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.editorandpublisher.com%2Feandp%2Fcolumns%2Fpressingissues_display.jsp%3Fvnu_content_id%3D1003315514&partnerID=60

The president met with "Kuds" and seven other conservative columnists on Wednesday, and declared, among other things, that we had to invade Iraq because they attacked us. <b><i>"Don't write me down as trying to always put lipstick on the pig," </b></I>he instructed.

By Greg Mitchell

NEW YORK (October 26, 2006) -- If you've ever fantasized about what it would be like to eavesdrop on our president chatting with some of his strongest fans in the media, then your decidedly odd dream has come true. President Bush met with eight leading conservative columnists on Wednesday afternoon, and a transcript has just been released.

It's a fascinating fly-on-the-wall replay, nearly all on-the-record -- as the president explains, "I'm a skeptical off-the-record" guy. Surprisingly, there's less joking around than at most press conferences, although he does call Larry Kudlow of CNBC "Kuds" and claims he is a "blood and guts" guy. Clearly among friends (Krauthammer, Henninger, Blankley, and the rest), Bush states, "al-Qaeda is lethal as hell," and then instructs, "scratch the 'hell' -- it's lethal." Later he urges, "don't be writing -- don't write me down as hopelessly naive and trying to always put lipstick on the pig."

---snip---

Then he goes on: "I believe when you get attacked and somebody declares war on you, you fight back. And that's what we're doing." Of course, this ignores the fact that Iraq did not declare war on us -- but it's been so long now, maybe he's just forgotten.

---snip---

"If it's not the Crusades, it's the cartoon -- that's a good slogan," one of his guests suggests.

Another suggestion comes from "Kuds" Kudlow, who opens his questioning by practically begging the president to let him come away with at least one tiny bit of positive spin about Iraq.

Kuds: "I want to go on the air tonight, I want some good news. I need some good news, sir."

Bush: "Yes, I do, too."

Kuds: "I really do."

Bush: "You're talking to Noah about the flood. I do, too. ..."

Kuds: "You said if we leave Iraq they'll come after us --

Bush: "Yes."

Kuds: "We've heard you say that quite specifically. So maybe that's a sign of victory, is that they haven't come here.""If it's not the Crusades, it's the cartoon -- that's a good slogan," one of his guests suggests.

Another suggestion comes from "Kuds" Kudlow, who opens his questioning by practically begging the president to let him come away with at least one tiny bit of positive spin about Iraq.

Kuds: "I want to go on the air tonight, I want some good news. I need some good news, sir."

Bush: "Yes, I do, too."

Kuds: "I really do."

Bush: "You're talking to Noah about the flood. I do, too. ..."

Kuds: "You said if we leave Iraq they'll come after us --

Bush: "Yes."

Kuds: "We've heard you say that quite specifically. So maybe that's a sign of victory, is that they haven't come here."

[Emit]

1. I get an error message from the link n/t

[radfringe]

2. link fixed -- try now

http://editorandpublisher.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Bush+Among+Friends&expire=&urlID=19962259&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.editorandpublisher.com%2Feandp%2Fcolumns%2Fpressingissues_display.jsp%3Fvnu_content_id%3D1003315514&partnerID=60

[Emit]

3. Thanks much ! n/t

[JohnnyRingo]

4. That's the new war slogan?

"If it's not the Crusades, it's the cartoon -- that's a good slogan,"

Doesn't "a good slogan" have to make sense?
I know "cartoon" and crusades" both start with a "C", but other than that,I don't see what the two words have in common. It's not even catchy.

I sense some serious ass-kissing here.

"Yes sir GW, you just come up with those from the top of your head, don't you?"
"Like 'global world'... whatta guy"

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Analysis of Bush's language in a blog

My strategy, from day one, was to go on the offense, stay on the offense, and keep the pressure on them until we are able to bring as many to justice as possible. They morph. You know, they kind of – there is al Qaeda central, there is al Qaeda look-alikes, there is al Qaeda want-to-bes. They’re dangerous. Some are more dangerous than others. And we have got special teams and special operating teams, as well as intelligence teams, pressuring them a lot.

They morph. These guys are so dangerous they don’t even keep a recognisably humanoid shape. Like the T-2000 robot, made out of liquid metal. Faced with such a foe, you need not just special teams but special operating teams, as well as experts, professionals and so forth. You also need one of the really great thinkers.

Abizaid, who I think is one of the really great thinkers, John Abizaid – I don’t know if you’ve ever had a chance to talk to him, he’s a smart guy – he came up with this construct: If we leave, they will follow us here.

He came up with this construct. There I was, trying to take “they will follow us” seriously, and now Bush admits that’s it’s just a construct - that Abizaid just made it up. I’m completely wrongfooted. It’s very clever: this kind of stuff is going to really confuse the enemy. It’s like putting mascara on a – what was that phrase again?

http://unspeak.net/talking-to-noah-about-the-flood/

Reading this, where Bush is among friends, lobbing him easy questions, I'm starting to think that Bush really is a moron after all. I have generally thought he's of at least average intelligence, but has no curiosity, and is thus quite ignorant, because he hasn't bothered to learn as much as other people do (especially those in politics) by his time of life; but in this interview, he just comes across as confused. Still it's good to know he's not casting dispersion. But one moment he's saying:

You know, it's an interesting world in which people are not willing to listen to the words of an enemy, but in this case, we're able to listen to the enemy and find out what the enemy thinks and publish their thoughts. The Commander-in-Chief must listen carefully and take their words extremely seriously.

and then he turns around and claims:

If we leave, they will follow us here. That's really different from other wars we've been in. If we leave, okay, so they suffer in other parts of the world, used to be the old mantra. This one is different. This war is, if they leave, they're coming after us. As a matter of fact, they'll be more emboldened to come after us. They will be able to find more recruits to come after us. ... the only defeat is leaving, is letting things fall into chaos and letting al Qaeda have a safe haven.

When the terrorists and insurgents in Iraq specifically say what they object to is the USA remaining in Iraq, and all the foreign policy experts agree it's the coalition presence there that is increasing terrorism. And al Qaeda had no haven at all in Iraq before Bush invaded, but he still says, in the context of the 'war on terror', "I made the right decision on Saddam Hussein."

Oh hell, I've only got to page 4 of 18, and it's clear Bush is a complete idiot. He's making Dan Quayle look like Benjamin Franklin. There's too much crap in this interview to analyse in one go without going crazy.

[jimshoes]

6. I'm surprised someone didn't ask

him what his favorite color was. Or perhaps his most favorite Gilligan character.