In the Bush "secret" tapes, why did he refer to himself as the President ?

[kentuck]

On MSNBC, this AM, they showed a small transcript of one of the tapes where Bush says something to the effect ... what will the children think if they say the "President" has done drugs...maybe I can try it? ... Why would he refer to himself as the "President" before he is even elected or selected? I am wondering about the timeframe of these tapes???? And whether or not they are contrived?

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

1. IIRC, they were made in 98....

when bush was "considering" his presidential run. But you are correct that he referrers to himself as the president even then...very interesting observation, i missed it too...

[pdxblue]

17. more rove propaganda...diversion from gannon-gate n/t

[unblock]

2. it was said as a hypothetical

[WI_DEM]

3. because he is a cocky son of a bitch

who knew he would "win". What makes me mad is he criticizes Gore for publically admitting that he smoked weed, saying it was a bad example for the kids. What is a bad example is not publically saying, "yeah I did it and I don't recommend it." if that is what he thought.

[JAbuchan08]

4. I think he was probably thinking of Al Gore and Bill Clinton

as well as other candidates who faced the dilemma of whether or not to admit to drug use as much as he was thinking of himself.

[rodeodance]

5. that is one of this virtures you know--he is an optimist (like he just

said a bit ago)

[JAbuchan08]

9. I don't doubt that he was confident, but I really wonder whether

Rove and the rest of the administration would risk letting Bush in on the secret, better to let him construct his own mythology of destiny and God etc.
Still, of all the telling linguistic choices that Bush and the GOP make, this doesn't really stick out to me.

[Benhurst]

6. Good catch. I would not be surprised if they were contrived. NT

[tanyev]

7. Because he knew it was already a lock?

[Canuckistanian]

8. Because the presidency had already been paid for.

These things aren't cheap, you know.

[louis-t]

10. I see this being spun as

poor Georgie got stabbed in the back by this 'friend'. His numbers will rise for a short time. Sickening.

[kentuck]

11. I just heard the tape played again...

and he refers to himself as "President Bush"????????? That doesn't add up for me.

[bush_is_wacko]

12. The bush/son presidency thing was planned from the moment Poppy

got elected out of office. From what I have read baby bush was LIVID about that. It is all about entitlement to him.

I know there were SEVERAL political magazines that published stories along these lines. those stories EVEN mentioned his vendetta against the "guy who tried to kill my dad." (Saddam Hussein) and BTW, I'm not sure that whole story wasn't as contrived as hell too.

This emperor has been planning his rise to power for a very long time. It would be foolish to discount that fact. That is one of the reason's he isn't already out of office. He's certainly committed as many, really FAR more criminal acts than Nixon or Clinton did. I guess the State of the Union address should now be SWORN testimony so that president's can be convicted of lying under oath about WMD's or something.

As far as I'm concerned and I think MANY people in DC feel the same. This guy would have been LONG gone or perhaps NEVER even placed in office if he hadn't been rigging the system for almost 20 years to begin with. The remake of the classic movie the "Manchurian Candidate" wasn't just a fluke IMO. People know what this monster is and they are dying of that knowledge in record numbers. I should probably say "they" instead of just "he" here. "He" is just a pawn.

I have no love of Saddam Hussein, I know way to many former Iraqi's to be able to overlook his horrendous reign of terror, but he holds an awful lot of ammunition AGAINST members of this administration. The plan to remove him and hide him from the public was set in motion the day Poppy's administration realized they had given him TOO MUCH power and left themselves vulnerable to allegations that he could most likely PROVE. Now that he's been captured and imprisoned they can assure themselves that no one will EVER hear those allegations and NO ONE can hold them responsible for the many politically motivated assassinations and genocide wars that occurred after they gave Saddam their blessing and the weapons and power to pull them off

Saddam was a threat to THEM not US!

[49jim]

13. Wait until we find out

the tapes were actually made after he became president and this is just another way to "boost" him up in the polls. Nothing would surprise me now....and when and if it comes out....nothing will happen.Put nothing past Rove. Why is it being released now when he is out of the country? A diversion from Gannon? We ask you decide.

[fooj]

14. Same reason Shrub knew in 2000 and 2004! Poppy told him so!

[mattclearing]

15. Eh...he's probably speaking hypothetically.

It was during the campaign, so he's thinking as a potential president.

I wouldn't read to much into it.

[drummer55]

16. you're grasping at straws.

because he was thinking of the future. Its a what if scenerio.
Replay it a couple of times then put yourself in the same position.

[kentuck]

18. Perhaps...

But it's seems weird to me to refer to yourself as the "President" before you are even nominated...I could understand "If I were the President..."

[Vinca]

19. The more I hear the tapes, the more I'm convinced they're scripted.

The conversation isn't natural and there's no reason Bush's "friend" would need to release any of them in order to sell his book. It's all another load of bullcrap being fed to the press and they, of course, are lapping it up.

[Blue_In_AK]

20. Bingo! n/t