Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Octafish

(55,745 posts)
59. That made me furious.
Wed Mar 20, 2013, 08:10 PM
Mar 2013

That was something that should also have outraged the nation. As it was, few people, evidently, knew about it, thanks to our captive news media.

Here's another attempt at humor by George W Bush, uttered to the mother who lost a son in Iraq and to whom he had just presented a medal (paraphrasing from memory):

"Don't go sell it on e-bay, now."

EDIT to add:



Bush to mother: Don't sell on eBay

Posted by Mark Silva at 2:30 pm CDT
Originally posted: May 31, 2007

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.

Host Michael Martin asked Johnson: "What about you? Why did you decide to start speaking out? ''

"My son was killed November 2, 2003,'' Johnson said. "After they had my son’s memorial in Colorado Springs -- that’s Fort Carson -- I was interviewed by the Gazette Newspaper, and that started it all.

"They said they had a mother or a person to ever lashed out at the president, criticize the president of being insensitive,'' she said. "So a couple of days after that they called me and said that President Bush would like to meet me. And I said well okay, only at his cost because I was not spending my money to meet him.''

"So he flew about a hundred families back to Fort Carson,'' she recalled.

"And in the room that I was in it was only me and four more other families. And I asked him questions you know, on um why we were over there? He couldn’t answer that. I said, well what are we fighting for? He said to finish a mission.

"I said, why was my son and the rest of the soldiers on the Chinook helicopter, which was supposed to be only to transport cargos not humans? He said, well he didn’t know. He referred me to General Wilson, which was in the same room. General Wilson’s response was that they, you know, they was transporting them on that same helicopter and never was shot down.

"They flew over Fallujah; Fallujah was always the hot spot. Common sense would've tell them, if you fly them over Fallujah, you should have escorts that has the equipment to detect these weapons that would attack the plane.

"But you know, they so brilliant, they up there in D.C., now, that a mother with a high school diploma can sit down and day, okay, now I won’t send them over a hot spot without protection.

"President Bush, he just didn’t see that, and he told me I was kind of, seemed like I was kind of hostile. I said, ‘yes I am hostile, because you sent my son over there.’ So my thing is -- all the questions that I asked him, he didn’t know nothing then, and he definitely don’t know nothing now, because the United States is in worser shape now that it was in 2003 that my son died.''

Martin asked: "So when you left that meeting did you leave with determination to do something or did that happen over time?''

Johnson said: "When he told me -- I said what’s, what’s the mission? He couldn’t give me an answer. I says, well I’m going to tell you what: I’m on my mission now. My mission had just begun. And my mission is to fight to bring these troops home, to take care of these troops when they get home.

"Then he gave us a presidential coin,'' she said. "Now you check this out: He gave six of us a presidential coin, tell us not to tell the rest of the people that was there, and then after that he told us don’t go sell it on eBay. Now you tell me how insensitive that can be? What kind of caring person is that?''

http://web.archive.org/web/20070603153217/http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2007/05/bush_to_mother_.html



Thank you for standing up to Them, Rex.
Duh!!! malaise Mar 2013 #1
TIME's CIA guy is helping rewrite the history of the Iraq thing. Octafish Mar 2013 #15
oh my god NoMoreWarNow Mar 2013 #19
Here zappaman Mar 2013 #20
thanks NoMoreWarNow Mar 2013 #77
He wouldn't be CIA if he is trying to defend Bush. Bush threw the CIA under the bus for his acts. stevenleser Mar 2013 #22
He ''covers'' CIA for TIME. As for what TIME Inc and the Media do on behalf of CIA... Octafish Mar 2013 #35
None of that means anything in this context. The CIA probably hates Bush. They would not cover for stevenleser Mar 2013 #37
It absolutely does. The real bosses stay in power, no matter who sits in the Oval Office. Octafish Mar 2013 #39
I disagree. I've never seen evidence of any such influence. stevenleser Mar 2013 #40
Here ya go... Octafish Mar 2013 #42
That's pretty milquetoast. I thought you said the CIA was pro-Bush and pro-Republican. stevenleser Mar 2013 #44
You stated you never see CIA influence in the media. I showed it to you. Octafish Mar 2013 #49
It's milquetoast because it doesnt rise to the level of what I thought you were suggesting stevenleser Mar 2013 #50
The CIA had actual 'reporters' planted in the media. Were you around during the Bush years btw? sabrina 1 Mar 2013 #56
In what way did he throw them under the bus? He awarded Tenet the medal of freedom. nm rhett o rick Mar 2013 #54
Bush 'cleansed' the CIA and remolded it to his liking. He made sure to replace any dissenters sabrina 1 Mar 2013 #53
I think he got some help from Cheney, but I guess that goes without saying. rhett o rick Mar 2013 #55
Lol, well as we all know, Cheney was the real president. Bush probably just did as he was told. sabrina 1 Mar 2013 #57
I know this may sound weird but I feel a little sorry for him. rhett o rick Mar 2013 #68
Wait, wait! Saddam offered to leave for $1 billion? And we spent TRILLIONS on war to oust him? tclambert Mar 2013 #46
Yes, the WMD propaganda conspiracy to commit war was treason and, just1voice Mar 2013 #2
yep-- such a tragedy NoMoreWarNow Mar 2013 #21
Yes, but moving forward... zeemike Mar 2013 #26
Here's an historic photo of a Japanese officer who oversaw water-boarding Allied POWs... Octafish Mar 2013 #51
Off to Greatest! nt raccoon Mar 2013 #3
Defector admits to WMD lies that triggered Iraq war Octafish Mar 2013 #52
So I ask... RoccoR5955 Mar 2013 #4
I'd much rather see them incarcerated at Gitmo for the rest of their miserable lives. nt. OldDem2012 Mar 2013 #8
It must be, as said with so many other issues, "It's all the fault of the Republicans." AnotherMcIntosh Mar 2013 #62
Yes indeed, and more than that librechik Mar 2013 #5
Remember Mark Lombardi, librechik? The artist connected bin Laden And Bush with his Art. Octafish Mar 2013 #58
I do remember him and think of him frequently librechik Mar 2013 #78
This is ProSense Mar 2013 #6
And what do they tell us ordinary folks with no "on tap" high powered attorneys? Ignorance shraby Mar 2013 #32
We are murderers. n/t L0oniX Mar 2013 #7
I'd agree if we were still a Democracy, my Friend. Octafish Mar 2013 #9
+1, it's not like billions worldwide and clearly here in many cities didn't protest this action. Lionessa Mar 2013 #10
that's definitely part of the whole problem NoMoreWarNow Mar 2013 #23
Exactly. zeemike Mar 2013 #28
They were found guilty by a war crimes tribunal bananas Mar 2013 #11
Found guilty in an earlier International (War Crimes) Tribunal too: chknltl Mar 2013 #60
The statement that we are a nation dedicated to the rule of law is incorrect mindwalker_i Mar 2013 #12
....... trusty elf Mar 2013 #13
This message was self-deleted by its author damnedifIknow Mar 2013 #14
I am in complete agreement with the point of view expressed in the JDPriestly Mar 2013 #16
recommend times one trillion NoMoreWarNow Mar 2013 #17
Just think how much Oil the US could have bought with 6 Trillion. formercia Mar 2013 #36
Yes, imagine the good work that could... tex-wyo-dem Mar 2013 #71
Yes. aquart Mar 2013 #18
K&R SunSeeker Mar 2013 #24
Mass murderers and pretty proud of it... Tikki Mar 2013 #25
don't get all conspiratorial on us, Octafish, you know how That flies here... Whisp Mar 2013 #27
What sets them off like nothing else is mentioning the BFEE tie to Dallas. Octafish Mar 2013 #65
These ticky fine points of law and humanity matter nary a whit to post-WWII America indepat Mar 2013 #29
K&R! G_j Mar 2013 #30
The worst kept secret in the world is how profitable war is for an economy Blue_Tires Mar 2013 #31
Never profitable for an economy involved in war. Only good for profiteers on point Mar 2013 #34
Under international law it is a war crime 'act of aggression' on point Mar 2013 #33
It's a good thing we ratified joining the ICC and the killers can be brought to trial...oh, wait. Tierra_y_Libertad Mar 2013 #38
That video makes me nauseous. DollarBillHines Mar 2013 #41
He laughs when he says 'money trumps peace.' Octafish Mar 2013 #66
"Ooops no WMDs under this desk (hahahaha)." Rex Mar 2013 #43
That made me furious. Octafish Mar 2013 #59
All of America should be really pissed off over the war but, Hotler Mar 2013 #45
So can I go to the police station and file charges against him? tclambert Mar 2013 #47
And George Bush gets to spend his retirement painting puppies. Initech Mar 2013 #48
That's funny, I didn't know that he graduated from coloring books! n/t RoccoR5955 Mar 2013 #74
Wow, I am astonished, thanks for informing me. xtraxritical Mar 2013 #61
K&R AnotherMcIntosh Mar 2013 #63
k & r to that! thank you. eom wildbilln864 Mar 2013 #64
K&R Solly Mack Mar 2013 #67
K&R. (nt) Kurovski Mar 2013 #69
Octafish, watch this video by Arundhati Roy this week when you have time. madfloridian Mar 2013 #70
Forward! blkmusclmachine Mar 2013 #72
How long must justice wait? Coyotl Mar 2013 #73
Kick nt Mnemosyne Mar 2013 #75
Now we are paying the price dem in texas Mar 2013 #76
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»The US Invasion of Iraq W...»Reply #59