The Pope's speech to Mr. Bush

[buldra]

here's the link:

http://www.repubblica.it/2004/e/sezioni/politica/bushroma/testopapa/testopapa.html

[CWebster]

1. Fluff. nt

[drfemoe]

2. link? n/t

[Tellurian]

3. Fluff or great restraint..

The Pope's message touched ever so lightly the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, couched in very carefully chosen words, meant to direct not chastise or publically embarrass Bush.

I'm sure the Reagan accolades irritated Bush immensely.

[bitchkitty]

4. Wow, ol' Papa can really smooch Bush butt! n/t

[struggle4progress]

11. Looks like a diplomatic slap-in-the-face to me

"You are very familiar with the unequivocal position of the Holy See in this regard, expressed in numerous documents, through direct and indirect contacts, and in the many diplomatic efforts which have been made since you visited me,..."
TRANSLATION: Sit up and pay attention!

"May a similar hope for peace also be rekindled in the Holy Land"
TRANSLATION: Are you going to do anything to calm down the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

"In the past few weeks other deplorable events have come to light which have troubled the civic and religious conscience of all, and made more difficult a serene and resolute commitment to shared human values"
TRANSLATION: What sort of country tortures people?

"I assure you of my prayers and cordially invoke upon you God's blessings of wisdom, strength and peace."
TRANSLATION: In situations like this, we can always pray

[0007]

5. What does %u2019s mean?

[DarbyUSMC]

6. It happens when an apostrophe is supposed to show up.

[nolabels]

7. President DE-elect Al Gore prior speech to Amerika

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh060304.shtml

(snip)
“Rather than making efforts to dispel” concerns that he was playing politics, “the president is on the campaign trail two and three days a week,” Gore said, “often publicly taunting Democrats with the political consequences of a ‘no’ vote.” Gore explained the problem with this approach. Many pundits would probably agree with the points Gore made. Well–they’d probably agree with them now:

GORE: I believe this proposed foreshortening of deliberation in the Congress robs the country of the time it needs for careful analysis of exactly what may lie before us. Such consideration is all the more important because the administration has failed thus far to lay out an assessment of how it thinks the course of a war will run–even while it has given free run to persons both within and close to the administration to suggest at every opportunity that this will be a pretty easy matter. And it may well be, but the administration has not said much of anything to clarify its idea of what would follow regime change or the degree of engagement that it is prepared to accept for the United States in Iraq in the months and years after a regime change has taken place.

We’re engaged in a hasty deliberation, Gore said. And we haven’t been told what will happen after regime change occurs in Iraq.
(snip)

[ElsewheresDaughter]

8. bush* asked for this meeting with the pontif so he could have a photo op

for his Opes Dei (CC) in order to garnish more Cathoplic voters this campaign cycle

the Pontif took this occassion to tell bush* just how evil bush*s deeds are(in paraghrph 4/5 he means the torture at Abu Ghraib) and let us know this fact in his opening statements and IMHO it is NOT "fluff":

"I thank you for wishing to meet with me again, in spite of the difficulties presented by your own many commitments during this present visit to Europe and Italy, and by my own departure tomorrow morning for a meeting with young people in Switzerland.

Mr. President, your visit to Rome takes place at a moment of great concern for the continuing situation of grave unrest in the Middle East, both in Iraq and in the Holy Land. You are very familiar with the unequivocal position of the Holy See in this regard, expressed in numerous documents, through direct and indirect contacts, and in the many diplomatic efforts which have been made since you visited me, first at Castelgandolfo on 23 July 2001, and again in this Apostolic Palace on 28 May 2002.

4. It is the evident desire of everyone that this situation now be normalized as quickly as possible with the active participation of the international community and, in particular, the United Nations Organization, in order to ensure a speedy return of Iraq%u2019s sovereignty, in conditions of security for all its people. The recent appointment of a Head of State in Iraq and the formation of an interim Iraqi government are an encouraging step towards the attainment of this goal. May a similar hope for peace also be rekindled in the Holy Land and lead to new negotiations, dictated by a sincere and determined commitment to dialogue, between the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

5. The threat of international terrorism remains a source of constant concern. It has seriously affected normal and peaceful relations between States and peoples since the tragic date of 11 September 2001, which I have not hesitated to call "a dark day in the history of humanity". In the past few weeks other deplorable events have come to light which have troubled the civic and religious conscience of all, and made more difficult a serene and resolute commitment to shared human values: in the absence of such a commitment neither war nor terrorism will ever be overcome. May God grant strength and success to all those who do not cease to hope and work for understanding between peoples, in respect for the security and rights of all nations and of every man and woman.

[lockdown]

12. There's a photo op - giving the pope the Medal of Freedom

Just saw it... absolutely nauseating, chimp presenting the pope with a Medal of Freedom... saying "We appreciate the strong symbol of freedom that you have stood for and we recognize the power of freedom to change societies and to change the world..."

Aaaargh! :puke:

[KalicoKitty]

9. The pope thinks Bush is dumber than ever

[dryan]

10. Pope and Bush meeting

I watched this on Imus in the Morning this AM. The pope is in pretty bad shape physically but there is nothing wrong with the man's mind or spirit. I'm sorry that he is not the man he was 10 years ago. It was difficult to understand a lot of what the Pope said so I appreciate the link to his written speech. Say what you will about the Pope and the Catholic Church (I am a Roman Catholic by the way), but I think the speech was pretty good. You know Marcos and the Duvaliers tried to use the Pope too and where are they now?