Bush believes we should be ‘considerate’ of different points of view

May 23, 2006

In his speech to the [tag]National Restaurant Association[/tag] yesterday, [tag]Bush[/tag] was asked about his brother’s possible political future (Jeb, not Neil). The president said he’d let others speak for themselves, but added that he wished the political environment in DC didn’t discourage participation.

“[T]here’s too much [tag]politics[/tag] in [tag]Washington[/tag] these days. There really is. And so my worry is, not so much about Jeb, but when people take a look at Washington and say, why mess with it? Why do I want to put my family through it all? And my advice to them is, one, it’s worth it. But my advice, also, to all of us in public office is not to [tag]demean[/tag] somebody because you don’t agree with them. At least, in the debate, be considerate of the other person’s point of view.”

Yes, [tag]George W. Bush[/tag] suddenly believes in [tag]tolerance[/tag] for [tag]opposing beliefs[/tag]. It’s wrong to “[tag]demean[/tag]” political opponents, he said. We can disagree without being disagreeable, the president suggested.

It’s not that I disagree with the sentiment; it’s that I find it hard to believe Bush has the gall to make the argument in the first place.

This is, after all, the president said in 2002 that Senate [tag]Democrats[/tag] are “not interested in the security of the American people” because they disagreed with him on a labor issue, and then refused to apologize. Indeed, it’s quite a list. When Dick Durbin questioned the administration’s gulags, Team Bush has accused Democrats of being [tag]traitors[/tag]. When [tag]Jack Murtha[/tag] unveiled a redeployment plan for [tag]Iraq[/tag], Team Bush said Murtha has endorsed “the policy positions of Michael Moore” and suggested Murtha wants to “surrender to the [tag]terrorists[/tag].” When [tag]Patrick Leahy[/tag] questioned no-bid contracts for [tag]Halliburton[/tag], Bush’s VP told him to go f*** himself. And, of course, lengthy books are available on Team Bush’s vicious smears of John [tag]McCain[/tag] and Al [tag]Gore[/tag] in 2000, and of John [tag]Kerry[/tag] in 2004.

And now the president wants us to believe it’s wrong to “demean somebody because you don’t agree with them,” and asks us to be “considerate” of other people’s views.

Somehow, Bush managed to offer the comments with a straight face. He’s is a better actor than I give him credit for.

Bush-to-English translation: “i’m havin’ a rough year, so y’all reporters and blogerators and librul candidates should stop sayin’ such mean things about me. my momma said so.”

  • Like all bullies and cowards, the Bushites can sure dish it out, but they can’t take it. Suddenly recognized as buck naked in the public square, even by those hopelessly myopic, Bush pleads for civility, as if he ever extended it.

  • Perhaps he suddenly realizes that he’s about to lose at least one House of Congress. He is laying the ground work for paint any investigation of his administration as “bad manners”. There is also the possibility that he realizes that he is about to loose Rove to an indictment which will put him at a sever disadvantage in any street fight. Of course, these possibilities are not mutually exclusive. Both of them, as well as other tactical considerations, my be in play.

  • I’m inclined to believe that the walls of his bubble are so thick that he has completely (and sociopathically) disassociated himself from the actions of Rove et al.

    He doesn’t need to be a good actor to deliver this BS with a straight face – I think he actually believes it.

  • Was it yesteday’s WaPo where the Republicanites and Bushites are getting ready to defend against a Democratic House of Representatives’ subpeonas?

    Notice, “defend against”, not “comply with”.

    Apparently, stonewalling is already their plan.

  • yeah it really is too bad that we won’t have President Bush III because Jeb can’t bear to expose his family to the nastiness of the beltway. BOOOOO HOOOOO!

    I bet he was thinking that if this were a dictatorship his job would be a whole lot easier!

  • Who does Karl Rove work for and what does the president think that Karl has been doing all of these years? Does Bush actually think that the Swift Boaters were a grass roots committee and that the rumors about McCain in the South Carolina primary came from the people?

    I would say ‘live by the sword, die by thte sword’, but Bush isn’t even complaining about secretly sourced lies and innuendos, he is complaining about up front critical assessments of his competence and results.

  • Bush yesterday:At least, in the debate, be considerate of the other person’s point of view.”

    Zell Miller speaking about Bush in 2004: He is not a slick talker but he is a straight shooter and, where I come from, deeds mean a lot more than words.

    I’d add to CB’s list of BushCo.’s Greatest Moments in Slander Zell Miller speech to the 2004 Republican National Convention. You can listen to it here or read it here.

    Here are some noteworth slanders from the speech.

    Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today’s Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator.[…]
    No one should dare to even think about being the Commander in Chief of this country if he doesn’t believe with all his heart that our soldiers are liberators abroad and defenders of freedom at home.

    But don’t waste your breath telling that to the leaders of my party today. In their warped way of thinking America is the problem, not the solution.

    They don’t believe there is any real danger in the world except that which America brings upon itself through our clumsy and misguided foreign policy.

    It is not their patriotism — it is their judgment that has been so sorely lacking. They claimed Carter’s pacifism would lead to peace.

    They were wrong.

    They claimed Reagan’s defense buildup would lead to war.

    They were wrong.

    And, no pair has been more wrong, more loudly, more often than the two Senators from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry.[…]
    This is the man who wants to be the Commander in Chief of our U.S. Armed Forces?

    U.S. forces armed with what? Spitballs?[…]

    Senator Kerry has made it clear that he would use military force only if approved by the United Nations.

    Kerry would let Paris decide when America needs defending.[…]
    John Kerry, who says he doesn’t like outsourcing, wants to outsource our national security.

    That’s the most dangerous outsourcing of all. This politician wants to be leader of the free world.

    Free for how long?[…]

    George Bush wants to grab terrorists by the throat and not let them go to get a better grip.

    From John Kerry, they get a “yes-no-maybe” bowl of mush that can only encourage our enemies and confuse our friends.

    Right now the world just cannot afford an indecisive America. Fainthearted self-indulgence will put at risk all we care about in this world.[…]

    Straight shooter, deeds mean more than words. That Zell he’s a funny guy.

  • mmmm, rege. You know that Bush always uses surrogates so that he can pretend to be the nice guy we all want to have near beer with.

  • I wonder in light of a prior thread if Bush has shared this important new philosophy of etiquette with his new friend Senator McCain and his staff?

  • Just like Gingrich is suddenly interested in bipartisanship — from the bastard who almost single-handedly is responsible for the viper-pit that is now D.C and the brutal dictatorship that the Rethugs have used for 12 years to freeze out the Dems and the more than half of all Americans they represent — Bush now wants us to believe he wants to hear all contrary opinions.

    I call DOUBLE BULLSHIT… what a load of crap. First, we know that the Royal Buffoon always says one thing (or two or three) and does the complete opposite. Second, these bastards are scared shitless that the inmates (i.e., the Dems) are about to take over the asylum… and the first ones on the revenge hit list are the former custodians.

    I can’t wait for the (expected? hoped-for?) bloodbath this November!

  • It’s only rude rhetoric that corrodes our national debate if it disagrees with the President. Otherwise, it’s perfectly fine. Haven’t you been paying attention?

  • All I can say to Kid George is this:

    “Payback’s a real bitch, ain’t it, cowboy?”

  • GREAT LEADERS OF FUTURE WON’T BE FROM AMERICA — Weak, Mediocre Men Lead the USA”
    And our mediocre dissolute leaders will act like all bankrupt aristocrats. They’ll start selling state assets for private gain.

    “A friend of mine once told a college class that nobody ever woke up in 476 A.D. (the date historians define as the fall of the Roman Empire) and said, “Gosh, I’m in the Dark Ages.” His point is plain enough. Transitions happen gradually, and the people who live through them never realize what is happening.
    So it is with Americans. We are living in the ruins of a once-great republic. Now an empire utterly devoid of moral authority, the United States has nothing left but its military power and its capacity to consume on credit.”
    Nor do I agree the people living “through them never realize what is happening.” Oswald Spengler realized what was happening. Adolf Hitler could see “what is happening” in 1919. Plenty of others in all western countries have recognized what is happening all through the 20th Century. It’s the people who don’t realize what is happening who both mock the foresighted and resist changes necessary to stop or alter “what is happening”. They serve as a ready pool of useful idiots for evil minded folks who not only realize what is happening but profit from it, assist it, and speed it along.

  • I dont know what to day as this Adminstration diving this county to the dirty. I believe there will be a day to trial Bush in the public court. I cant wait for that day to come..

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