Bill's Big Diamond Blog

Today's Bushism— Re-definitions

"We want to develop defenses that are capable of defending ourselves and defenses capable of defending others." - Washington, DC, March 29, 2001

The Wikipedia currently defines a Bushism as a”word, phrase, pronunciation, or other linguistic configuration unique to the public speaking style of President George W. Bush. It is unplanned, occurring most commonly when the president strays from his prepared text, or has no relevant notes to which he can refer. Quite often the meaning is different from the intended message…”

In today’s Bushism, we deviate slightly from that definition to bring you a Bush bite that actually incorporated a more Rovian trait, bridging back to your own agenda. In this Bushism, we see the President mangling the language to create a new definition of “defend.”

While the quote predates September 11, one wonders whether the President was even then thinking of “defending” others in Iraq, without yet having discovered the fig leaf of checking under Iraqi rocks for Osama bin Laden.

A hat tip to The Progressive Society Blog for the quote. With this remark, we mark three years of bloodshed in Iraq and no end in sight. Maybe the word that should have been redefined was “capable.”

Some Final Bushisms— and Joe Klein on Bush

"I'm confident he will be brought to justice."
- George W. Bush, 3/1/2006

"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."
- George W. Bush, 3/13/2002

"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him."
- George W. Bush, 9/13/2001

We’ll give these a rest for a while. Perhaps if he comments on Jon Stewart at the Oscars, we’ll have to run that… meanwhile, I’m sure bin Laden is afraid, very afraid.

While we’re still running one last Bushism, it seems only right to throw in one of the best of the idiot punditry on Bush as well. This hummer is a finalist over at Firedoglake in last night’s 'Joe Klein: In His Own Words' competition.

"I've never seen George Bush lose a debate. He is a brilliant minimalist.”
—Joe Klein

If anyone ever once felt compelled to quote Joe Klein, this line should set them at ease in the future.

Welcome to Iraq: Today's Bushism

"I think we are welcomed. But it was not a peaceful welcome." —George W. Bush, on Vice President Cheney's assertion that the United States would be welcomed after invading Iraq, Dec. 12, 2005

…Perhaps it’s all just been Iraq’s way of saying, “Thank you.”

Today's Bushism— The Pool Boy Will Be Paid by FEMA

"Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house—he's lost his entire house—there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch." —Mobile, Ala., Sept. 2, 2005, where the President spent time at Lott’s vacation home after skipping New Orleans, which he flew over in Air Force One.

Apparently it's not the homeless who the President is most concerned about. According to Andy Borowitz, it’s the second-homeless.

How Could We Have Known?

Well, of course we all knew the President was lying about having no idea that there was a potential breach of New Orleans’ levees during Katrina. He issued his ridiculous denial of responsibility last September, like a Hail Mary pass— hoping to avoid being caught having vacationed and played while Americans died.

I guess he figured there was no downside. I posted about the levees this morning in anger, but never could have guessed that by the day’s end, “Today’s Bushism” would be nailed to the proverbial wall by a video leaked to the AP. The AP video proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the President sat through a dramatic meeting, listening to disaster experts, while asking not a single question, hearing them list the possible consequences of a Category 5 hurricane hitting New Orleans. Yeah, like a breach of the levees.

Is this enough for the country to throw over the yoke of an idiot dictatorship of moral weakness, intellectual dishonesty, a near total lack of concern for the average person, and rampant status quo elitism? You’ve got to hope so. I’m not holding my breath, but I think I begin to hear the fat lady warming up for impeachment hearings.

UPDATE- 3/2/06 WaPo on video here

Today's Bushism

"I don't think anybody anticipated the breech of the levees."

— Bush, on "Good Morning America", six days after repeated warnings from experts about the scope of damage expected from Katrina, Sept. 1, 2005.

It’s been six months now. Let’s hope he’s learned to anticipate some of the needs of people still displaced from their homes in New Orleans.

Today's Bushism

The latest CBS News poll has Bush at a 34% approval rating, coming in a little higher than Saddam Hussein, but still trailing Skippy the Chimp.

And so, let’s look at today’s Bushism, which I call Brokeback Bush, in honor of the poll:

"I'll be glad to talk about ranching, but I haven't seen the movie. I've heard about it. I hope you go—you know—I hope you go back to the ranch and the farm is what I'm about to say."—Explaining that he hasn't yet seen Brokeback Mountain, Manhattan, Kan., Jan. 23, 2005

Today's Bushism

"Wow! Brazil is big." —George W. Bush, after being shown a map of Brazil by Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brasilia, Brazil, Nov. 6, 2005