I don't understand the "comma" thing. What did Bush mean by "commas"?

[Bucky]

Did he mean "astrix" and just not know the word for that punctuation mark? Or does that mean "part of a dependent clause" as in America liberated Iraq to the applause of the throngs, except a few people died in the following years?

[Avalux]

1. It doesn't make any sense, does it?

In context (however loose it may be), it's almost as if he should have said "pause" or "blip" or something to mean delay.....not comma. It's really difficult to know exactly what the hell the idiot meant. :shrug:

[kestrel91316]

2. I thnik you mean "asterisk"?

[Bucky]

9. Oops, Yes. Astrix is this guy

and definitely not these guys:

[Slit Skirt]

3. maybe Iraq is like a "hiccup"

in the grander scheme of things like WWIII

[Newsjock]

4. It's apparently a thinly-veiled Christian reference

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/columns/pressingissues_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003157235

Not surprisingly, this is rooted in current Christian teaching, often in reference to Jesus’s death, or more generally as “Don’t put a period where God puts a comma.”

[BurtWorm]

10. I would say "thickly veiled" since most of us didn't understand it

:crazy:

[Bucky]

21. most of us weren't supposed to understand it, if it's just for them to get

But I doubt it. Christian denominations are no more monolithic in their world views than radical anti-Western Muslims are.

[CoffeeCat]

23. That quote...

"Don't put a period, where God puts a comma" is a slogan that recently originated with more accepting, liberal churches.

There were several ads--for progressive churches--that used that "comma" slogan to stress that people shouldn't judge or be so abrupt in their thinking---because God often means more and does not stop with harsh judgments.

So, that quote probably isn't it.

Bush talks about commas, but his real passion is his colon. ;)

[radfringe]

5. a comma is used

to denote a pause, or offer a visual break in what would otherwise be a long list of things.

a comma also refers to any of several nyphalid butterflies with a silvery comma-shaped mark on the underside of the hind wings. I doubt that bush was refering to butterflies, but who knows.. :shrug:

I think he was trying to say that Iraq is going to be one of many countries he plans on invading/screwing up and it's insignifcant in the larger picture of the Global War on Terror.

This attitude contridicts his previous posturing of Iraq being CENTRAL to the WAR ON TERROR. If it is central then Iraq deserves more than a comma while all this misadminstration deserves a PERIOD after the IMPEACH BUSH

[KansDem]

22. I agree with the poster above. I think he meant to say "asterisk "

As in a "footnote." Perhaps he was saying that Iraq will be a footnote in history. But then, who knows what he was attempting to say...

[radfringe]

24. well, considering he had to read his notes

before answering a question today, I've changed my mind

I am now more inclined to think he was trying to talk about butterflies...

[Chiyo-chichi]

30. I think he was trying to say that Iraq's going to be one of many countries

Iraq comma Iran comma Syraia comma North Korea comma Canada comma Mexico comma...

[Bucky]

6. OK, I found the actual quote, I think. Is this the source of "comma"?

BUSH: Yes, you see - you see it on TV, and that's the power of an enemy that is willing to kill
. . . . .innocent people. But there's also an unbelievable will and resiliency by the Iraqi people....
. . . . .Admittedly, it seems like a decade ago. I like to tell people when the final history is written
. . . . .on Iraq, it will look like just a comma because there is - my point is, there's a strong will
. . . . .for democracy.

What the hell does this mean, tho? Can anyone discern what was going on his goat-addled brain to come up with the word "comma" here? Does he mean "pause in the march toward democracy"? Does he mean "insignificant, but larger than a period"? ARGH!!! :crazy: :silly:

[Cha]

26. Hey America! bush is more than willing

to kill innocent people to make his power grab. bush is the torturer and is no better than osama, sadam, or idi amin. There's some fucking commas for ya.

[npincus]

7. Idiot-Boy probably meant "blip"

[JHB]

12. He meant.....y'know,.....thingy

"Wha'tever the heck it is you call you call somethin' that doesn't matter"

[Jade Fox]

8. He was probably trying to say "footnote"....

as in "a footnote in history". That's the way his brain scrambles things.

[Jacobin]

11. Drunk frat boy excuse for forking up the middle east

Worked for him before.

"Oh dad, that totalled car out front full of beer cans...think nothing of it, just a scratch in the fender."

He's trying to minimize the gargantuan fuck ups he's made in foreign policy

[soothsayer]

13. Lynn Samuels said that was code talk for his bible banging base.

They have some saying that God never uses a period, only commas. She says whenever he doesn't make sense to us, he's prolly throwing code words to them.

[Bucky]

16. Hmm. It's from a slogan for the United C of Christ--a liberal denomination

That doesn't quite track, either. Of course not all UCCs are liberal. I still find the "muddle brain yield muddled thoughts" theory more plausible.

[underpants]

28. Oh just like "Dred Scott" at the debate he is talking in code

Gee that's not scarey :sarcasm:

[jean]

14. on the face of it, a comma separates two things

and I took him to mean the Iraq war is just a comma, between two other major components ... maybe 9/11 and a broader invasion and meltdown of the Middle East.

[WePurrsevere]

15. 'Never put a period where God has put a comma.' It's dog-whistle politics

He was speaking to his base using a Christian quote.

After seeing someone on DU mention it yesterday (http://tinyurl.com/z4d93), remembering the saying from childhood and reading about dog whistle politics I tend to believe they're correct.

[MODemocrat]

17. In Bush's world, everything's a comma

He never finishes anything so there can't be a period, so it goes on as he starts something else he can't or won't finish. That's the story of his whole life; never accepting responsibilty for anything.
I'm offended by his saying that; as I think of the thousands of family members and friend who are so
dearly paying for this unprovked and unnecessary quagmire brought on by George W. Bush.

:evilfrown: :evilfrown: :evilfrown: :evilfrown: :evilfrown:

[rock]

18. It is, er, pointless to ascribe "sense" to what * says

What he says is English-like words with English-like syntax. That is all. There is no underlying meaning.

[oldboy101]

19. Bush is becoming aware that history will judge him.

In his usual manner of denial of anything that he dislikes, Bush hopes that history will regard his total incompetence as nothing but a comma, by which he means an insignificant blip. Oh he is insignificant alright, but that will not protect him from the judgment of history.

He will go down in history as the worst American president ever. Keith Olbermann said he was the worst since James Buchanan, but that is a smear against Buchanan. Buchanan tried but failed to prevent the coming Civil War by trying to appease the South. But at least he was trying to PREVENT a war.

Bush on the other hand could hardly wait to send troops into Iraq to get rid of Saddam Hussein. It did not matter to Bush how many of our troops were killed, not to mention innocent civilians, he WANTED war! Not only history will judge this killer, GOD will judge him too!

[ThoughtCriminal]

20. The comma between "2" and "700"

or maybe the first comma in $1,000,000,000,000.

We don't even know how many commas are in the count of Iraqi deaths.

[maddezmom]

25. I think he meant "footnote"

as in what no one ever reads....nothing.

[ramblin_dave]

27. Ann Telnaes...

[semillama]

29. Perhaps he meant "Coma"

makes more sense to me.