Bush to mother of soldier killed in Iraq: "Don’t go sell (presidential coin) it on eBay.”

[sabra]

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/

<snip>

Several mothers who have lost children at war in Iraq took part in a new talk show today on National Public Radio.

One of them, Elaine Johnson, recounted a meeting that she had with President Bush in which he gave her a presidential coin and told her and five other families: "Don’t go sell it on eBay.”

An excerpt from the interview on NPR's Tell Me More can be heard here.

The president told her that the war goes on because the U.S. has "a mission'' to complete. But Johnson says she has discovered her own mission now: Fighting to bring the troops home.

NPR link here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10572647

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Always tacky when tactful is preferred

[Supersedeas]

2. the Hugger in Chief can't even do that right.

[BuyingThyme]

3. eBays.

[Bluebear]

4. Apropos of nothing, as usual, Mr. Bush. What a beast he is. nt

[Cha]

5. zidzi to the fucktard in thief..

"Fuck you, bush and your insentive asshole."

[partylessinOhio]

6. * doesn't care who he insults. He is not fit to wipe the shoes of a military mother.

[PA Democrat]

7. Sometimes frat boy humor is just totally inappropriate.

Bush is obviously too stupid and emotionally out-of-touch to understand this.

[ceile]

8. Oh good lord!

:banghead:

[godai]

9. Someone should demand that he apologize

There's something seriously wrong with him. He cannot function properly in public. It's either drugs or alcohol which make him blurt out outrageous statements, like the Queen gave him a look. This tops that and is disgraceful. Imagine the outrage on the right, if Clinton (he would NEVER do this) had said something like this.

[WinkyDink]

10. What a perfect time for a jest! Bush was only trying to lighten the mood!

[tabasco]

41. Haha, yeah what a joker! Like the "looking for WMD in the Oval Office" skit.

Bush had the press rolling in the aisles with that gem!

Ahh, the poor misunderstood Chimpolini .... nobody knows how much he hurts inside . . .

NOW WATCH THIS DRIVE !

[Ilsa]

43. Yeah, like this guy:

1984 Dune's Harkonnen Baron Beast

Always looking to lighten things up.

[johnnie]

11. Did he ask them to pull his finger too?

He is such an ass

[tanyev]

12. "How do you know his life would have been good?"

Cindy Sheehan is not the only Gold Star mom who felt disrespected after a visit with George W. Bush. Dolores Kesterson, whose son Erik was killed in Iraq in November of 2003, was among several military families who last year were invited to meet with Bush as a group. Each family was allotted ten minutes with the president, but because she is divorced from her husband, Dolores asked to speak with Bush one-on-one.

Dolores reports exclusively for U.S. Tour of Duty that she waited alone in a small partitioned area, wondering if her request would be granted, before a Bush aide suddenly announced, "The president will now see you." As the commander in chief strode briskly toward her, it seemed to Dolores that he was trying to intimidate her. "He came marching in and got right in my face...eyeball to eyeball, and said, 'I'm George Bush, the president of the United States, and I understand you have something to say to me in private.'"

Dolores tried to give Bush a sense of what type of person Erik had been. She described her son as a "comedian" whose favorite saying was, "Life is good." The president replied, "How do you know his life would have been good?"

Dolores was shocked by Bush's eagerness to question the value of her son's life. She told the president, "Nobody wants to die."

Before he concluded their meeting, Bush proclaimed to Dolores, "We won't know in our lifetime whether or not Iraq was a success."

http://www.ustourofduty.org/pages/videoDoloresPrez_high.html

[kimmylavin]

17. Really?

Really?
He REALLY announces himself as "the president of the United States"?
Sounds like a 4-year-old playing dress-up.

As for his eBay crack, I would have punched him.
How dare he?

[Ilsa]

44. Shit, I think I 'd give the fucking coin back to him. Or throw it on the

optimistic sunshine rug in his office.

[Buns_of_Fire]

71. I can think of a better place to put it (if you get my drift)

Although the SS might take umbrage at five mothers knocking him down, pushing Joe Lieberman out of the way, and inserting them -- one by one -- where the sun don't shine.

Listen closely to see if he jingles when he walks now.

[Bluebear]

23. Oh my good god, "How do you know his life would have been good?" ?????

I have heard it all now.

[Cameron27]

75. How could he have said

anything so cruel. He has no heart, he's barely human.

[renate]

27. Oh. My. God.

"I'm the president of the United States (and you are a worm who dares to disagree with me)"

"How do you know his life would have been good?"

:wow:

This to a grieving mother.

In all seriousness, why does this man have a reputation for charm? What a TURD.

[muffin1]

66. Let me get this straight

This poor woman's son is killed in Bush's war (based totally on fucking lies, BTW). Then the fucking asshole insults her son, and then tries to sell her on his war. How can this be????:cry:

[tmlanders]

13. I have seen/heard other accounts of * "comforting" the families

The one that sticks in my mind is about a Mom in Maine who lost her child to this idiotic war. When * came to this woman in the receiving line she asked him why we were in Iraq. He told her that he wasn't interested in discussing this with her that day.

I would have punched him!

:spank:

[Ilsa]

46. I think I would have tried to

break his jaw for a crack like that. What a rude, insensitive sonofabitch.

[bdamomma]

69. that is what he needs, he needs a serious crack across his face.

[RaleighNCDUer]

14. Don't go sell it on Ebay.

And with six short words, he turned what should be a treasured memento into a repulsive thing. Will she ever be able to look at it without hearing those words, equating the symbol of her son's sacrifice and her loss with some gimcrack to be auctioned off for a couple bucks?

I haven't said it yet today, but I really hate that man.

[Behind the Aegis]

15. That comment made my heart hurt.

What a fucking asshole!

"Your son gave his life for my little revenge war. Here's a trinket for you. Now don't go trying to make a buck off it. You know, the way I am doing and used your son to do it."

:puke:

[Lisa]

73. I agree -- he said it because that's the way his mind works -- he sees everything as a cheap trinket

... to be sold as soon as he gets tired of it.

[Hippo_Tron]

16. This isn't the first time I've heard that he said this

Moron doesn't even stop telling the joke after he's told that it's insensitive.

[karlrschneider]

29. Same here, I know I heard it at least 2 years ago.

Maybe it's new reporting on that...I mean he wouldn't really do it AGAIN, would he?

Wait....never mind.
:grr:

[madrchsod]

18. she should put it on ebay with a full explanation

and donate the proceeds to a worthy veteran organization. i bet she`d raise a lot of money..

[kwyjibo]

62. agreed... I bet someone out there would be willing to donate a lot of money for that.

could possibly get some good media coverage too. Woman Defies Presidential Order to Avoid Ebay?

[KansDem]

19. "So who are we honoring here?"

Remember this?

CINDY SHEEHAN ON HER PRIOR MEETING WITH SHRUB
“He wouldn’t look at the pictures of Casey. He didn’t even know Casey’s name. He came in the room and the very first thing he said is, ‘So who are we honoring here?’ He didn’t even know Casey’s name. He didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t want to hear anything about Casey. He wouldn’t even call him ‘him’ or ‘he.’ He called him ‘your loved one.’ Every time we tried to talk about Casey and how much we missed him, he would change the subject. AND HE ACTED LIKE IT WAS A PARTY."

Think Progress

The man has no class...

[quiet.american]

The man is sick. Very sick. n/t

[bdamomma]

70. yes, he is, and he should be committed, and totally out of control.

[NorthernSpy]

20. and yet conservatives still wonder why the rest of us loathe this little toad!

One of them, Elaine Johnson, recounted a meeting that she had with President Bush in which he gave her a presidential coin and told her and five other families: "Don’t go sell it on eBay.”

In other words, he assumes that this token -- along with the sacrifice it represents -- will mean as little to her as it does to him.


Something about that man just doesn't quite come out human.

[southerncrone]

50. No he can't be human.

What a sociopath! There needs to be SERIES intervention w/this dude! To be raised a blue blood, he certainly has no since of decorum or appropriate behavior. 10 yr olds know better!
But look who raised him....2 insensitive asses.

[DemGa]

21. Bush is a sociopath

No other explanation.

[klook]

30. My thought exactly.

A sociopath has no empathy for the feelings of others.

From http://www.hss.caltech.edu/~mcafee/Bin/sb.html -

Profile of the Sociopath

• Glibness and Superficial Charm


• Manipulative and Conning - They never recognize the rights of others and see their self-serving behaviors as permissible. They appear to be charming, yet are covertly hostile and domineering, seeing their victim as merely an instrument to be used. They may dominate and humiliate their victims.


• Grandiose Sense of Self - Feels entitled to certain things as "their right."


• Pathological Lying - Has no problem lying coolly and easily and it is almost impossible for them to be truthful on a consistent basis. Can create, and get caught up in, a complex belief about their own powers and abilities. Extremely convincing and even able to pass lie detector tests.


• Lack of Remorse, Shame or Guilt - A deep seated rage, which is split off and repressed, is at their core. Does not see others around them as people, but only as targets and opportunities. Instead of friends, they have victims and accomplices who end up as victims. The end always justifies the means and they let nothing stand in their way.


• Shallow Emotions - When they show what seems to be warmth, joy, love and compassion it is more feigned than experienced and serves an ulterior motive. Outraged by insignificant matters, yet remaining unmoved and cold by what would upset a normal person. Since they are not genuine, neither are their promises.


• Callousness/Lack of Empathy - Unable to empathize with the pain of their victims, having only contempt for others' feelings of distress and readily taking advantage of them.

See the website linked above for more.

[Initech]

22. Unbelievable. Even he doesn't know how to show respect

for those that died in, um, HIS WAR! :argh:

[donkeyotay]

24. Try to imagine any actual president in this position.

Imagine Clinton making that remark, or Carter or Kennedy. He's not a president. He's a horrid joke that's been played on this country.

Loathsome toad.

[depakid]

25. As if any more proof is needed that this man is a sociopath....

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

26. Gosh, who'da thunk that his "compassionate conservatism" would override his "free market" ideology?

Must be a terrible struggle for a man with the brain of an intellectually challenged beet.

[Tigress DEM]

28. He was probably just making a subtle push toward Tom Noe of "coingate" fame

After all, in *ush world everything is for sale. He just wants his "compadres" to get a cut.

Tom sold coins and did lots of creative accounting with Ohio's worker's comp accounts so that Ken Blackwell had lots of funds to help GW in 2004 election heist.


Interesting NOTE: Isn't it funny how when the story is about correcting a problem years after it came to light, the rethugs want to take the credit even though the Gov (D) Ted Strickland is calling them on creating a cost inflated system that would actually do the opposite of what they claim it will?


http://www.news-herald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18405928&BRD=1698&PAG=461&dept_id=21846&rfi=6

State needs Office of Internal Auditing
05/31/2007

<snip>
Our elected officials should have understood the depths of the problem and acted sooner. Now, two certified public accountants and a financial consultant are working to restore credibility to the state's oversight of its finances.
Two years since "coingate" came to light, Ohio hasn't closed gaps in accountability to prevent a scandal the likes of which rocked the Bureau of Workers' Compensation.
But State Auditor Mary Taylor and state Rep. Carol-Ann Schindel, R-Leroy Township, see the glaring need for an internal state fiscal watchdog. The CPAs are joined by state Sen. Robert Spada, R-North Royalton, a financial consultant.
Taylor recommends the "Office of Internal Auditing" be established in the governor's Office of Budget and Management.
Gov. Ted Strickland and state legislators should approve it.
While Ohioans would like to think everything in state government is squeaky-clean, we know better. Tom Noe misspent millions in a state rare coin fund, and losses from other BWC investment scandals climbed to a staggering $300 million.
Under the plan proposed in House Bill 166 and Senate Bill 146, any red flag would go before a central office staffed with internal auditors.

[Coexist]

31. what a dick.

[jody]

32. I set low standards for * and he fails to meet them. He's the word's champion limbo dancer. n/t

[terrya]

33. Is he always this insulting to ordinary Americans?

[gatorboy]

34. K & R

It's seems to have gotten to the point where he just tries to see what crap he can get away with...

[Cabcere]

35. What a f***ing douche.

:grr: :puke: :mad: :banghead: That is all.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

36. That is simply inhuman.

On the Trib Swamp blog you linked to, some neo-simpleton suggests that Bush's eBay comment came during a light-hearted moment in the meeting, one that made the mother smile as well as everyone else in the room. Because really, you know, you can't be gloom and doom all the time, even when you're meeting with bereaved families. You gotta leave 'em with a smile on their faces. Right? Right?

Simpleton's stretch to make this guy look human misses by miles. Bush's comment was a horribly condescending insult, conveying in just a few words his contempt for the families who have sacrified (you types would sell it on eBay) and his cynical attempt to replace what they have lost (it's valuable enough to be sold on eBay). Disgusting, and inhuman.

[Lisa]

74. talk about projecting, eh?

As you point out, he doesn't care if he's seen to be calling those families cheap, ungrateful, trashy people, accusing them of exactly the kind of behavior that he exhibits every day!

[Ino]

37. Idiot Son seems to think they're worth a lot.

Here's Poppy's coin on ebay... starting bid $2.99. No takers yet
http://tinyurl.com/33d6lk

[dubyaD40web]

58. That has to be fake.

Look close at the coin. It says "George W. Bush" on it with the year 1988. Poppy is George H. W. Bush.

[WI_DEM]

38. What a tacky, senseless comment made by a tacky and senseless man

[mitchum]

39. He's even a HALF-ASSED sociopath

most sociopaths are skilled enough to at least make the appropriate noises

[Philosoraptor]

55. A sub-sociopath, a whole new category.

Exactly, most socios can at least hide it.

[Imagevision]

40. Bush Tacky?? - He's a GD. fool! the sonofaBITCH should have been impeached long ago -> Pelosi!!

I'll bet Bush had that grin-smile on his sick mug thinking it's ok to be humorous

[jgraz]

42. If Pelosi won't impeach this fucktard, we need to get us a new Speaker.

[Imagevision]

45. Pelosi and others should be measured by her performance...what say you all?

if she hasn't accomplished much perhaps we should rethink Ms. Pelosi for keeping her job. people can talk you to sleep, but actions make you stand up and take notice also when no actions have been accomplished!

[jgraz]

47. Yep. And so far I haven't seen much in terms of tangible results

Lots of "political theater", but nothing in the way of real change yet.

[davidwparker]

67. It's all up to the voters in the Bay area. I swear if I were in her district I'd

see to it she wasn't returned to Congress. Same for Harry Reid. Except for the 10 or so that continually vote the way the base wants, I'm ready to return no incumbent.

It's what they ACCOMPLISH, not what they talk about. They use that "we don't have the votes" as an attempt to snow us. The republicans certainly don't have the votes and they continue to get their way.

It's collusion is what it is. Not a dimes worth of difference between the two of them.

[Frank Cannon]

48. Remember last Christmas when Bush told the soldier...

who'd had his limbs amputated at Walter Reed that he, too, had been injured recently...that he got a scratch from a cedar while clearing brush at his ranch? He nyuk-nyuk-nyuk'ed like he thought that was the funniest joke ever.

Overflowing with the milk of human kindness and compassion, is our Commander in Chimp.

[Blueberry_raspberry]

49. Did he really say that?

What an idiot we have for Prez.

[Frank Cannon]

52. He really did

But I just Googled it and saw that he actually said it at the Amputee Care Center of Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, on January 1, 2006.

"As you can possibly see, I have an injury myself -- not here at the hospital, but in combat with a cedar. I eventually won. The cedar gave me a little scratch. As a matter of fact, the Colonel asked if I needed first aid when she first saw me. I was able to avoid any major surgical operations here, but thanks for your compassion, Colonel."

What a dick.

[piesRsquare]

65. Words fail me.

I remember him visiting the amputee and talking about his "injury" (I was mortified), but this is the first time I've seen/read what he actually said.

Notice that in these few short sentences, he refers to himself (I, myself, me) SEVEN times. Unbelievable narcissism. It's always about HIM!

[StarryNite]

51. What an asshole deluxe!

My heart just breaks for those who have lost family members in that nightmare.

:cry:

[SoCalDem]

53. rememebr when he said "Can't wait to HANG this"?

said to Coretta Scott King, when she presented him with a framed picture of MLK.. I gasped when I heard himsay that.. He just snickered, smirked and went on blathering..

[Philosoraptor]

54. I'm afraid the SS would have to hold me back.

If I was a dad who just lost a son or daughter to this madness, and he'd said that to my face, man, I don't know what I'd do.

[formercia]

56. The "Mission"

Manifest Destiny.

The same rationale used to commit Genocide against Native Americans.

[Vinca]

57. At that point I'd ask the King to follow me to the restroom to watch me flush it. nt

[symbolman]

59. I'd have stuck that coin

in the crack of my ass, and then tossed it on his desk.

"Should smell like your mother's breath, Fuckface - don't YOU sell it on Ebay..."

Wonder what they'd do? :)

[muffin1]

64. lol

:rofl:

[swimmernsecretsea]

60. It's not a coin, It's your suppository, President Bush.

Cheney will administer treatment momentarily.

[Jack Rabbit]

61. I wouldn't sell it on eBay

I'd drop in in the sewer.

[muffin1]

63. Has Bush fucking lost his mind???????

Has he ever had a fucking mind? God I hate that fucktard!:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

[Proud2BAmurkin]

68. what a DOUCHEBAG

.

[Lisa]

72. I wish we could sell HIM on eBay

(although the site probably has policies against selling dangerous items, such as war criminals and pathological liars.)