"You know he means what he says, and, "yes" means yes, and "no" means no"

[bigtree]

Bush and Putin's news conference (looked like a game show set):
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/02/20050224-9.html

Q Mr. President, four years ago when you first met with President Putin, at a time some in the world were questioning his commitment to democracy, you reassured a lot of those critics by saying that you had looked into his soul and saw a man that you found trustworthy. You've just listed some concerns here today. I'm wondering if you could unequivocally and without reservation repeat that statement today?

PRESIDENT BUSH: One thing I -- gave me comfort in making the statement I made in Slovenia was that Vladimir said, when I agree with you, I'll agree with -- I'll tell you, and when I disagree with you, I'll tell you. In other words, we'll have a very frank and candid and open relationship. And that's the way it's been. There was no doubt in my mind what his position was on Iraq. He didn't kind of hedge, he didn't try to cloud up the issue. He made it abundantly clear to me that he didn't agree with my decision. And that's an important part of having a trustworthy relationship, a relationship where, when a person tells you something, you know he means what he says, and, "yes" means yes, and "no" means no. Sometimes in politics yes means "maybe," and no means "if." This is the kind of fellow who, when he says, yes, he means, yes, and when he says, no, he means, no.

Bush: "Vladimir can speak for himself on this issue, but all I can tell you is, he said -- yes meant yes, when we talked about values that we share."

This is worse than the statement by Bush years ago when he said that he "looked into his (Putin's) soul. Here we have a ruthless dictator, who, like Bush, gives lip service to democracy and spends his time undermining it and dismantling it. Bush, with his invasion and occupation of Iraq, and his use of the Patriot Act to undermine the freedom and privacy of Americans. Putin, with his seizure and closure of any meaningful, independent press in Russia, his heavy-handed military meddling in Chechnya and elsewhere, and his dismantling of any pretense of democracy as he has "radically restructured" Russia's political system which has allowed the Kremlin to appoint all governors to create what he described as a "single chain of command".

In fact, listening to these two lecture the world on the meaning of democracy only reinforces my belief that Bush is conspiring to undermine and destroy ours, and has committed himself to look the other way as Putin destroys Russia's.

You know, conservatives and republicans always lecture others on the protection and defense of democracy and freedom, but they have done more in the last century to weaken and hobble these than any terrorist or foreign enemy could have ever dreamed of.

Bush and Putin: Two of a kind. Tweedledee and Tweedledumber. Dangers to democracy and freedom. Bad for Americans and Russians alike.

[Sparkly]

1. So when Putin said Iran shouldn't have nuclear weapons, that was "no,"

but about the idea of giving them a nuclear reactor, he said "yes," to which Chimpy replied "no" except he really meant "if" so he decided to say "yes" to staying quiet about the issue, meaning "maybe," since Putin's trustworthy.

[bigtree]

2. spot on!