Bush briefly steps outside the bubble

March 21, 2006

The president’s speech yesterday at the City Club of Cleveland was only mildly newsworthy. Most of the speech focused on military successes at Tall Afar, which in reality, aren’t nearly as encouraging as the president let on.

But the important part of yesterday’s remarks came after the speech, when the president invited questions from an audience that had not been pre-screened, rehearsed, or asked to sign loyalty oaths. One got the impression that Bush didn’t exactly enjoy pointed-but-polite questions when he eventually asked, “Anybody work here in this town?” (As it turns out, in light of the rise in unemployment in Cleveland since Bush took office in 2001, it was probably the wrong question to ask.)

The Q & A produced enough material for a week’s worth of blog posts, but one of the more important exchanges came when someone asked the president how we can restore confidence in this country after so many of the administration’s pre-war claims turned out to be false, including the bogus connections between Iraq and 9/11. Bush responded:

“That’s a great question. First, just if I might correct a misperception. I don’t think we ever said — at least I know I didn’t say that there was a direct connection between September the 11th and Saddam Hussein.”

The answer left out a few details, including the fact that the Bush White House not only made the connection, officials put it in writing.

[T]he president did link Iraq to 9-11 in other ways. For example, in a letter to Congress at the start of the war, Bush said the use of force against Iraq “is consistent with the United States and other countries continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.”

At this point, it’s safe to assume we may not see the president in an uncontrolled public discussion again for a while.

What can I say, other than that the guy is a doofus? He went to Cleveland, for crying out loud. Cleveland is pretty much a bastion of the Democratic party, although they will, on occasion, elect Republicans who can demonstrate some semblance of independence and integrity (George Voinovich is a fairly good example of this). Cleveland is also what some may refer to as “an intellectual hot-spot.” The label of “Democrat” just doesn’t fit the “illiterate” aura that some Republicans would like to have the country believe. Did BushCo think they could use Cleveland as an “example” of what’s wrong with the “barbarous, uncivilized, foaming-at-the-mouth” Democratic side of the coin—or did “Kid George” think he’d have another hand-picked audience waiting for him? It’s pretty obvious that he didn’t expect the competition to be polite—and his “staff” clearly couldn’t pull a “Denver Three” stunt there, as they’d have found it necessary to expel the vast bulwark of the audience….

I live in Ashtabula County, which is to the east of Cleveland. This is a predominantly-Republican county; mainly rural in its makeup. Bush couldn’t win a primary for dog-catcher here right now. Did he “really” expect to do better in Cleveland?

There’s another likely scenario to all of this. By “tolerating” an audience that could be “spun” into being even somewhat anti-Bush, the White House might try to promote this as a “truly bipartisan communication effort.”

  • This just shows what can happen when the grownups leave the children unattended. Kids say the darndest things!

  • My favorite question was …….Is the mid-east building for an apocalypse?
    You could see George caught between two elements of his base…. the faithful and the fearful.
    The result was an awkward tap dance that avoided the question…
    “I’m a practical man, I’ve never thought of it that way.”

  • This is another example of BushCo’s incompetence or brazenness or both.

    BTW, when New England born-and-educated GW Bush tries to execute his “texass swagger” he looks more like a toddler with a full load in his diaper.

  • I was struck by Bush’s tap dance whether he views the conflict in the Middle East in “biblical” terms. He has said in private meetings
    God ordered him to invade Iraq.

    “Abu Mazen, Palestinian Prime Minister, and Nabil Shaath, his Foreign Minister, describe their first meeting with President Bush in June 2003.

    Nabil Shaath says: “President Bush said to all of us: ‘I’m driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, “George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan.” And I did, and then God would tell me, “George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq …” And I did. And now, again, I feel God’s words coming to me, “Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East.” And by God I’m gonna do it.'”

    Abu Mazen was at the same meeting and recounts how President Bush told him: “I have a moral and religious obligation. So I will get you a Palestinian state.”

    Why is shy about talking about the war in religious terms now? Backing away from his “divine mandate” won’t play well to the religious crazies who vote GOP.

  • “Anybody work here in this town?”
    Translation: “Questions…………too………hard……………………..losing ………………consciousness…………………..

  • I’m pretty sure he’s stepped into the wrong bubble now. A little while ago, he commented that an Iraq that’s free of U.S. forces is now something for “future U. S. presidents and Iraqi governments to decide upon.” Way to go, Kid George. You’re really convincing the whole Middle East of your sincerity today. By the way—did his TinkerToy set, by chance, come with plans for building a Middle East Apocalypse?

  • “I was very careful never to say that Saddam Hussein ordered the attacks on America,”

    Translation:
    “We made sure to create an allusion of a Saddam-9/11 connection, but we also made sure it still left us with enough wiggle room to deny ever saying there was a connecton”.

  • It begs the question as to where the grerat majority of the American public got the idea. For a long time 70% believed in such a connection. This notion didn’t arise out of nowhere. The WHIG group was formed to manage this story.

    Then consider what the support for the war would have been if Bush’s team had not fostered that impression. Try selling a $350b war on the basis of just getting rid of a bad guy!

    • Comments are closed.