Bush: "The world is more peaceful and more free under my leadership"

[spindoctor]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/10/28/national0247EST0439.DTL

<SNIP>
"I will defend my record at the appropriate time, and look forward to it," Bush said. "I'll say that the world is more peaceful and more free under my leadership, and America is more secure."
<SNIP>

Where to begin with ploughing this remark 6 feet under?
First I'll have to fix my busted gut though.

[hatrack]

1. Oh, so now it's "MY" world?!?!

Now Chimpy "leads" the world?

WTF?!?

What a flatline buffoon.

[tom_paine]

2. The LIES that Emperor Bunnpants* gets away with

Yes, I suppose the world IS much safer considering that we are likely now hated as much as the Soviet Union or nazi Germany were at their brutal heyday.

And our brutal heyday hasn't even begun...

[madrchsod]

3. the madness of king george

has he gone insane?

[devinsgram]

14. I agree,

he has to be the most arrogant a**hole around. He is so stupid, ignorant and well, there just are not enough words in the dictionary to describe him. He just makes my blood boil!!!!!!!!!!!!

[atreides1]

4. Yeah Right

We're fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, there are still Mexican citizens crossing the border illegally, looking for a better life.
Israel has picked up its war with the Palestinians, there is tension with North Korea, most of our so-called allies have tyrannical rulers and dictators.

3 million people are out of work with more to follow, the poverty level has increased, education is under funded intentionally, Congres gives itself a pay raise but denies compnesation for Reservist and Guardsmen.

WHAT KIND OF FUCKING DRUGS IS THIS MAN ON.

[asjr]

This man has said some stupid things in the past, but this is the mother of all stupid things. I wonder who wrote that line for him.

[progressiverealist]

5. here's a question I'd really like answered

Suppose 9/11 had never happened. What in god's name would * be touting? What would he have? I'll bet his approval rating would literally be in the 30's

[ComerPerro]

6. He would be talking about

how shameful it is to be impeached and then unanimously voted out of office. He would be discussing the horrors of being egged on the street, and how his Secret Service agents don't even want to protect him.

Hopefully, that will happen after the truth about 9/11 is discovered and revealed (if that ever happens).

[forgethell]

13. He would be touting

his tax cuts. What else is there?

[Brotherjohn]

19. Not to mention 9-11 doesn't exactly make for "a peaceful world" either.

Forget for the moment the debate as to whether the Bush administration instigated or allowed 9-11. The fact remains that it happened during his term. And while one could say that much of the planning for 9-11 occurred while Clinton was president, one can also say that it happened following nearly a year of complete non-engagement in the Mid-East peace process by Bush, while the U.S. continued to supply billions in military aid to Israel. This amounts to tacit approval of Israel over Palestine. It's not surprising that the situation had become so chaotic over there before 9-11, and it's not surprising that America was attacked with an administration in power that had completely disengaged from the situation.

So while we respond to the Bush "peaceful world" ploy, let's not forget to include 9-11:
"More peaceful? We have started two major wars and are still fighting on both fronts, the Mid-East is in shambles, the nuclear situation is worse than ever (with countries such as Pakistan, N. Korea, India, and possibly Iran developing or accelerating their programs), and we have suffered the worst terrorist attack in history on our own soil."

[Parche]

7. Who is safer

All of his rich cronies are safer from his tax cuts to them
Halliburton is safer from bankruptcy with all of those lucrative
non bid contracts in Iraq

[aquart]

8. Is this one of Letterman's Bush Joke That Isn't a Joke?

[eleny]

9. There must be something to that Valium stuff...

[DinahMoeHum]

10. He actually said "my leadership"?!?!?!? LMAO !!!

Yeah, I guess he actually said it.

Sheesh, what an asshole.

:evilfrown:

[scarface2004]

11. I will defend my record at the appropriate time

ok, when they get you to the international war crimes tribunal you stupid fuck!!

[candy331]

15. Save it

till the war crimes court. I hope the handcuffs are big enough to fit.

[OldSoldier]

17. If they don't...

all they need do is give him an enema; then they'll slip right on.

[beanball]

21. War crimes tribunal

heres hoping our dream becomes a reality,Bush is really nutty as a fruit cake.

[PATRICK]

12. How big can a Big Lie get?

There has to be a limit. Will he lose the election then announce he won?

[Minstrel Boy]

16. nah, he's already done that one

He's working on new material for '04.

[Junkdrawer]

20. Depends - do you mean Most Votes or Most Votes Counted?

There's a difference.

[kentuck]

18. Sounds like a lie but how can you prove such a statement?

Is it the Patriot Act that makes us more free or is it the Bush Doctrine of creating more terrorists than we ever thought possible?

[lovedems]

22. He should profess the following, while he is at it...

I received this in the form of an email. Do you think he will mention any of these issues when he is defending his record?

I attacked and took over two countries.

I spent the U.S. surplus and bankrupted the US
Treasury.

I shattered the record for the biggest annual
deficit in history (not easy!).

I set an economic record for the most personal
bankruptcies filed in any 12 month period.

I set all-time record for the biggest drop in the
history of the stock market.

I am the first president in decades to execute a
federal prisoner.

In my first year in office I set the all-time
record for most days on vacation by any president in
us history

After taking the entire month of August off for
vacation, I presided over the worst security failure
in US history.

I set the record for most campaign fund raising trips
by any president in US history.

In my first two years in office over 2 million
Americans lost their jobs.

I cut unemployment benefits for more out-of-work
Americans than any other president in US history.

I set the all-time record for most real estate
foreclosures in a 12-month period.

I appointed more convicted criminals to
administration positions than any president in US
history.

I set the record for the fewest press conferences
of any president, since the advent of TV.

I signed more laws and executive orders amending
the Constitution than any other US president in
history.

I presided over the biggest energy crises in US
history and refused to intervene when corruption was
revealed.

I cut healthcare benefits for war veterans
I set the all-time record for most people worldwide to
simultaneously take to the streets to protest me (15
million people), shattering the record for protest
against any person in the history of mankind.

I dissolved more international treaties than any
president in US history.

I've made my presidency the most secretive and
unaccountable of any in US history.

Members of my cabinet are the richest of any
administration in US history. (The poorest
multimillionaire, Condoleeza Rice, has a Chevron oil
tanker named after her.)

I am the first president in US history to have
all 50 states of the Union simultaneously struggle
against bankruptcy.

I presided over the biggest corporate stock market
fraud in any market in any country in the history of
the world.

I am the first president in US history to order a
US attack AND military occupation of a sovereign
nation, and I did so against the will of the
United Nations and the vast majority of the
international community.

I have created the largest government department
bureaucracy in the history of the United States,
called the "Bureau of Homeland Security"(only one
letter away from BS).

I set the all-time record for biggest annual
budget spending increases, more than any other
president in US history (Reagan was tough to beat, but
I did it!!).

I am the first president in US history to compel
the United Nations remove the US from the Human Rights
Commission.

I am the first president in US history to have
the United Nations remove the US from the Elections
Monitoring Board.

I removed more checks and balances, and have the
least amount of congressional oversight than any
presidential administration in US history.

I rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant.

I withdrew from the World Court of Law.

I refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners
of war and by default no longer abide by the Geneva
Conventions.

I am the first president in US history to refuse
United Nations election inspectors access during the
2002 US elections.

I am the all-time US (and world) record holder
for most corporate campaign donations.
The biggest lifetime contributor to my campaign,
who is also one of my best friends, presided over one
of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in
world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron
Corporation).

I spent more money on polls and focus groups than
any president in US history.

I took the world's sympathy for the US after 9/11, and
in less than a year made the US the most resented
country in the world (possibly the biggest diplomatic
failure in US and world history).

I am the first US president in history to have a
majority of the people of Europe (71%) view my
presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and
stability.

I changed US policy to allow convicted criminals
to be awarded government contracts.

I set the all-time record for the number of
administration appointees who violated US law by not
selling their huge investments in corporations bidding
for gov't contracts.

I have removed more freedoms and civil liberties
for Americans than any other president in US history.

I entered office with the strongest economy in US
history and in less than two years turned every single
economic category heading straight down.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES: I have at least one
conviction for drunk driving in Maine (Texas driving
record has been erased and is not available).

I was AWOL from the National Guard and deserted the
military during time of war.

I refuse to take a drug test or even answer any
questions about drug use.

All records of my tenure as governor of Texas have
been spirited away to my fathers library, sealed in
secrecy and unavailable for public view.

All records of any SEC investigations into my
insider trading or bankrupt companies are sealed in
secrecy and unavailable for public view.

All minutes of meetings of any public corporation
for which I served on the board are sealed in secrecy
and unavailable for public view.

Any records or minutes from meetings I (or my VP)
attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in
secrecy and unavailable for public review.

[Tommy_Douglas]

23. Amen...

to that...

[spindoctor]

24. I am somewhat recovered now

Although still plagued by spastic chuckles.

I'd like to start with the term "more free".
Coming from the man who (also yesterday) used the word 'suiciders' in reference to people who commit suicide, it is clear that this President has a vivid imagination when it comes to the English language.
Being foreign-born and often struggling with language issues myself, I truly sympathize with the poor fellow. I also think better of the American people for granting him these little slips. After all, we all know that the proper comparative adjective for free is freer and that there is no such thing as a suicider, but because we know what he intents to say, we let it slide.
What bothers me is that whatever member of the White House staff is in charge of the transcripts is not as forgiving. This person relentlessly copies these silly little sins against the English language in the annals of our history.
But then I think "Why not?”
After all, American moved away from 'the Queen's English' centuries ago. And if the Common World has their 'Queen's English', then we are bloody well entitled to our 'President's English'. By Jove, if our President says its 'more free' then 'more free' it is and anybody who disagrees with that can go suicide.

But there is one thing that I find hard to understand. When the world becomes more free, how less free was it first and how much more free will it have to become before it is all the way free.
And when we compare the freeness of this world, what do we compare it to?
Certainly we are the freest world considering the fact that we are the only world. Granted, that makes us the least free world at the same time, but that is a glass-half-full glass-half-empty judgement on the approach of the issue.
Most likely (although who knows), President Bush compares the world’s freeness on a time scale, and when he says “the world is more free”, he compares it to a previous state of free, that the world was in at some time in the past.
This time of freelessness is defined by the President as the time before his leadership. To not overcomplicate the issue any further, I will assume that the leadership he refers to is the leadership of the Administration of the United States and not the cheerleadership that Mr. Bush practiced during his college days, even though being captain of the team made him a cheerleader-leader, which was, from a linguistic point of view, twice the leadership he practices today.
This means that the world was a less free world during the time that William Clinton was President of the United States, but also that the world was less free during the presidency of George (Herbert Walker) Bush. More so, when dinosaurs dwelt the earth, this world’s freeness was nothing compared to the freeness that we experience today.

Now surely members of the Administration will argue that the President was referring to the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan. I am not so sure, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt.
Yes, the Afghanis are freer today then they were four years ago. Four years ago they were forced to follow the rule of the Taliban, today they are free to follow the rule of the US. Four years ago they were forced to be Muslim, today they are free to be Muslim. Four years ago, they were forced to burn down their poppy-fields. Today they are free to grow whatever agricultural product will give them the biggest return on investment, poppies or cannabis.
Four years ago, a woman was executed in public for screwing around on her husband. Today, the women of Afghanistan are free to screw around on as many husbands as they want.
Four years ago, Afghanis were certainly less free than they are today.
They owe that all to the King of Free, the Majesty of Liberty, the Don of Freedom, the Voice of Choice, George Whatever Bush.

Yes folks, you people in Europe may think that the fall of the USSR made Germany freer, that people in Bosnia are freer now then they were under Chauchesku or that removal of internal borders has made your life freer, but nothing….nothing ever raised the level of freeness of this world, like that glorious day when Mullah Omar, riding shotgun with his evilness Osama Bin Laden, rode off in the sunset, never to be seen again.

…

Next week, boys and girls, we will talk about how father Bush made the world a more peaceful place. Sweet dreams for now.