Best Two Questions of the whole pResidential Press Conference...

[mikelewis]

...
And so the second part of your question is, look, I'm going to do what I think is right, and if people don't like me for it, that's just the way it is.

Q Quick follow-up. A lot of the consequences you mentioned for pulling out seem like maybe they never would have been there if we hadn't gone in. How do you square all of that?

THE PRESIDENT: I square it because, imagine a world in which you had Saddam Hussein who had the capacity to make a weapon of mass destruction, who was paying suiciders to kill innocent life, who would -- who had relations with Zarqawi. Imagine what the world would be like with him in power. The idea is to try to help change the Middle East.

Now, look, part of the reason we went into Iraq was -- the main reason we went into Iraq at the time was we thought he had weapons of mass destruction. It turns out he didn't, but he had the capacity to make weapons of mass destruction. But I also talked about the human suffering in Iraq, and I also talked the need to advance a freedom agenda. And so my question -- my answer to your question is, is that, imagine a world in which Saddam Hussein was there, stirring up even more trouble in a part of the world that had so much resentment and so much hatred that people came and killed 3,000 of our citizens.

You know, I've heard this theory about everything was just fine until we arrived, and kind of "we're going to stir up the hornet's nest" theory. It just doesn't hold water, as far as I'm concerned. The terrorists attacked us and killed 3,000 of our citizens before we started the freedom agenda in the Middle East.

Q What did Iraq have to do with that?

THE PRESIDENT: What did Iraq have to do with what?

Q The attack on the World Trade Center?

THE PRESIDENT: Nothing, (long pause...DOH!) except for it's part of -- and nobody has ever suggested in this administration that Saddam Hussein ordered the attack. Iraq was a -- the lesson of September the 11th is, take threats before they fully materialize, Ken. Nobody has ever suggested that the attacks of September the 11th were ordered by Iraq. I have suggested, however, that resentment and the lack of hope create the breeding grounds for terrorists who are willing to use suiciders to kill to achieve an objective. I have made that case.

And one way to defeat that -- defeat resentment is with hope. And the best way to do hope is through a form of government. Now, I said going into Iraq that we've got to take these threats seriously before they fully materialize. I saw a threat. I fully believe it was the right decision to remove Saddam Hussein, and I fully believe the world is better off without him. Now, the question is how do we succeed in Iraq? And you don't succeed by leaving before the mission is complete, like some in this political process are suggesting.

Last question. Stretch. Who are you working for, Stretch?


Time Start: 51:00
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/08/20060821.html#
Video on the right

Come on everybody, let's all do some hope and join in the Freedom Agenda! And as we know, the best way to do hope is by injecting Government directly into your Freedom Agenda; but make sure you use a clean needle.

[niallmac]

1. "What did Iraq have to do with that?"

"Nothing, (long pause...DOH!)"

Bwwwwwaaaaaaahahahahaha :rofl: :popcorn: :rofl:

[ginnyinWI]

2. His Imperial Chimpiness held full court today

...And summoning all of his intellectual prowess, came up with these lessons for us mere mortals:

Terrorists and extremists are trying to take control of Iraq! And if Iraq fails, they will have a safe haven!
(oh really? I didn't know! It's only been three and a half years--how nice of you to explain this to me!)

There are groups in Lebanon, Gaza and Iraq who are all fighting against democracy! (yes, and not to mention the Republican party in the U.S.A.)

The whole problem with Lebanon is that they have Hezbollah, a "state within a state". (shucks they shouldn't oughta let that happen, should they? Sillies!)

You people don't understand the threat like I do! (and to prove it, he raises his voice) Let me finish! My strategy will work! Really! You just need to give it time! (like 50 years or so)


The real source of the trouble in Iraq is Al Qaeda, y'know. They are just making it look like civil war. (and then there was the matter of the strawberries...)

We can't leave now, because that would prove to all the dead troops that their dying wasn't worth it. (at this point I yelled, "Nixon!!!")

:eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes:

[mikelewis]

4. Another good one...

GWB: "...It will embolden those who are trying to thwart the ambitions of reformers. In this case, it would give the terrorists and extremists an additional tool besides safe haven, and that is revenues from oil sales."
Yeah, cause I don't care what monsters take over Iraq, we're still gonna buy oil from them. We don't care what they do to those people as long as we get our fix.

or maybe this one...

GWB: ...the world must understand that now is the time to come together to address the root cause of the problem. And the problem was you have a state within a state. You have people launch attacks on a sovereign nation without the consent of the government in the country in which they are lodged.

And just how many people support the Iraq war now that we know you lied? 35%? In essence, aren't you launching attacks "without the consent of the government in the country in which they are lodged."

Oh yeah, I forgot... He's the Government... Of the Bush, by the Bush and for the Bush, forever and ever, amen...

[kentuck]

3. I agree ...

Those were the two best questions of the news conference.

[LuckyLib]

5. "before we started the freedom agenda in the Middle East"???

Something I NEVER do, I decided to do this time. I listened to him, read the transcript, and he absolutely cannot construct a coherent thought that makes its way to speech. It's painful. I kept looking at the faces of the Press Corpse imaging all of these thought bubbles above their heads saying, "You're so full of shit!"

[ninkasi]

6. Everything he says

sounds like the ravings of a paranoid person who is not properly medicated. Stop and consider...who else talks about "bad guys plotting evil", and "they hate us for bringing democracy to them", and "they hate us for our freedoms". That makes no sense at all. There are many other free countries in the world, and terrorists don't seem to be attacking them because they're free.

No, they conveniently only have problems with countries who invade them, kill and maim their citizens, torture innocent people, and raze the infrastructure of the country. If he truly believes this, he's even crazier than I realize. What other adult do you know who goes around talking about "evil, bad men", "plots", "waiting the the shadows to attack us", and drivel like that? It sounds like poorly written script for some 50's drama, where all the B grade actors over emoted, and we watch now because it's so bad it's funny, like "Reefer Madness."

I grew up in the late 40's and then the 50's, and I remember how phony t.v. shows were..."Look...up in the sky...it's a bird...it's a plane...it's SUPERMAN!" All Clark Kent had to do to hide his identity, was go into a phone booth, strip to his Superman outfit, doing God knows what with his other clothes, and NOBODY recognized him, because he took his glasses off. Bush talks like some person who suffers from arrested development, but who also is the leader of the most powerful country in the world, and his fantasies can create disaster. How can anybody take the slightest notice of what be babbles anymore?

[ginnyinWI]

8. and the saddest thing is

He's been here so long spouting this drivel, that the press and the people have stopped being astonished at his stupidity.

He seems to have to go to such a great effort to say the simplest things. A lot of what he asserted today was just stating the obvious. Does he really look out at the press corps and decide that they need these things explained to them? He must believe that he has a vision greater than mere mortals!

And yeah, all of that good v.s. evil rhetoric is so tired! I mean, c'mon, we're grownups and can handle a bit of nuance. But the thing is, he cannot.

Only in a country with a complicit media could a person like this continue in office. They prop him up and obligingly attack and suppress opposing viewpoints.

But it's not only incompetence. His ideas are just plain wrong for today's world. Even if he could have pulled off the Iraq occupation competently. Conservative ideas only move things backward.

[ninkasi]

10. You've summed it up beautifully

when you say "Conservative ideas only move things backward." That's a huge problem, isn't it? And I can't for the life of me understand why the media goes along with this charade, because it makes them look as stupid as he is. It never bothered me if people didn't like my looks, or my clothes, or my job, but the worst insult I can think of is to have my intelligence questioned. I'm far from being brilliant, but nowhere near as dim as Chimp is.

[Sal Minella]

12. And did you notice the New Word -- "Peroration" -- yes! A new word!

=====================================
Does he really look out at the press corps and decide that they need these things explained to them? He must believe that he has a vision greater than mere mortals!
=====================================
Did you hear him refer to finishing his peroration -- and then he stopped a beat and said (I could HEAR the smirk) -- "Look it up."

It's a brand-spanking new word to him, so it must perforce be new to everybody else also.

[Stardust]

7. I thought Du would be ON FIRE with Bush's latest gaffe but yours

is the first comment I've run across. Countdown mentioned it but it was kinda buried amongst the other gibberish Chimp said. I wish we could somehow blast the "What did Irag have to do with the on the World Trade Center: Nothing" comment to our troops in Iraq and to everyone else who ignorantly believes there was a link between the two. I can dream, can't I?

[ginnyinWI]

9. maybe he did it on purpose

Since he's tied Iraq to the war on terra, and Iraq is failing miserably, he thinks it taints his reputation on fighting terra. But maybe that's giving him too much credit.

[goclark]

11. DU was on fire on this issue this morning nt

We picked the drunk SOB to pieces.

[Stardust]

14. Good for y'all! guess I need to check in earlier.//

[teknomanzer]

13. Where was the organ grinder?

Well its pretty damn obvious why his handlers limit the monkey's appearances before the press. Democracy has somehow failed us in this country. How in the hell could such a complete idiot be our president. I have no doubt this idiot REALLY is a sock puppet. There is no way this jackass can be running things. He's just a front for high class thieves and war profiteers. Woe to America... you have your Nero.

[ginnyinWI]

15. well, not a sock puppet, but--

He's a for-real ideologue, and I don't think everyone in the administration is. I mean, he's on a crusade to be the "Hero of the World", and thinks that history will thank him. Meanwhile the neo-cons are all too happy to go along for their own evil purposes, and the corporate bastards are all too happy to profit from war.

And because * is an ideologue, he refuses to look at objective reality without filtering it through his own messianic lens. That reality is what's real to him, so he thinks that everyone else is just too stupid to see it.