It depends on what the meaning of ‘unsettled’ is

May 19, 2006

As part of my ongoing series in which Republicans try to explain why [tag]Bush[/tag] is so wildly [tag]unpopular[/tag] with the American electorate, today we hear directly from the disliked man himself, the [tag]president[/tag]. NBC’s [tag]David Gregory[/tag], who is not known for asking softball questions of anyone, sat down with Bush yesterday and asked about his national support (or lack thereof).

Gregory: “In the most recent [tag]survey[/tag], your disapproval rating is now one point lower than Richard Nixon’s before he resigned the presidency. You’re laughing, but …

Bush: “I’m not laughing, I just …”

Gregory: “Why do you think that is?”

Bush: “Because we’re at war, and war unsettles people. We got — listen, we’ve got a great economy. We’ve added 5.2 million jobs in the last two-and-a-half years. But … people are unsettled. They don’t look at the economy and say life is good. They know we’re at war and I’m not surprised that people are unsettled because of war.”

Gregory: “But they’re just not unsettled, sir. They disapprove of the job you’re doing.”

Bush: “That’s [tag]unsettled[/tag].”

So, if the public disapproves of the president’s job performance, it’s our fault? We’re unsettled because the war he’s mismanaged from the start is going poorly?

And if it’s really Iraq that’s dragging Bush’s [tag]poll[/tag] numbers down, why is it that the public also strongly disapproves of the president’s handling of the economy, ethics in government, taxes, immigration, energy policy, and the federal budget deficit?

The video is worth watching to see how just unconcerned the man really is. I’m not in his shoes, but if I had support like this, I wouldn’t be laughing.

But as Karl Rove noted the other day, the polls they (the White House) have indicate strong support for W. It must have been taken at a Cabinet meeting. The bubble is still fully in tact. They whole lot of them are delusional. Maybe a big smack in the face in November will burst the bubble. I’m sure the President laughing in response to how bad he is at doing his job will reassure the masses. Dope.

  • Gregory: “But they’re just not unsettled, sir. They disapprove of the job you’re doing.”

    Bush: “That’s unsettled.”

    I really think this is exactly how Rove is explaining it to Bush inside the bubble. That’s how Bush is able to brush off the polls so confidently – because that’s what he really believes.

  • This must be at least partly a ploy to lull the unthinking masses into believing that things are actually just fine. See, if the president doesn’t seem worried then there must not be anything to worry about and we should all just run along. Nothing to see here, children.

    Typical Rovian thinking. Too bad for them that it just doesn’t work any more and only makes Bush seem more retarded than he did the day before.

    Poor George.

  • This is awesome.

    “Mr. Bonds, every time you come to the plate, you get booed more mercilessly than any player ever has. Why do you think that is?”
    “Well, David, the fans are unsettled. You know, I had a little hiccup in my career with this book that came out and all that says my recent incredible achievements may have been aided by steroids, and I’m on the verge of an historic achievement that may or may not be legitimate. So I’m not surprised they’re unsettled.”
    “But they’re not just unsettled, Barry. They actively hate you.”
    “That’s unsettled.”

  • Unsettled(adj): not determined or resolved.

    Disapproval(n): unfavorable judgment; condemnation.

    I can see why he would prefer “unsettled.” It must be so nice to have the power to order words to procure for themselves new definitions.

  • Let’s admit it–let’s admit that George W. Bush has a messianic complex.

    His supporters (and former supporters) voted for him because they wanted to believe that his leadership was superior (and morally superior) to his opponents; that he could lead America with “compassionate conservatism” to a better place. Kool-aid and delusion were passed all around.

    Now, some conservatives are abandoning ship, doing “the walk-back,” or blaming others (Bill Kristol on Rumsfeld). Conservatives are realizing that their messiah is nothing more that a “Judas goat”–that serious harm is about to fall on (and discrediting) the modern American conservative movement. Who could have prophesied such a fate?

  • They follow the cynical propaganda rules that was followed by the Nazis. Say it enough, and people will believe it. Ignore it, throw in other issues and divert people. The mainstreem media is focused on gay marriage, immigration, etc.

    Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf “give the people only one common enemy, to create more simply confuses them.” I think Karl Rove has that figured out.

    Arabs are The Enemy and liberals support terrorists. They have been saying that on Fox for the last year, the mindless dittoheads believe them.
    They follow the dictates of the corporate management.
    Maybe that’s why Bush is laughing. Between the corporate media and Diebold voting systems, those people can’t lose. They could care less what we think.

  • Gregory: “But they’re just not unsettled, sir. They disapprove of the job you’re doing.”

    Bush: “That’s unsettled.”

    I think here Boy George II is trying to be clever. In this sentence, unsettled equals unstable equals insane.

    He’s trying to say the American people are insane not to approve of the great job he is going.

  • “Because we’re at war*, and war unsettles people. ”

    Yeah, look at how unpopular FDR was

    *Well, not enough at war to not pass the recent rounds of tax cuts, or expect sacrifices from most Americans not in uniform, or still pay huge amounts of taxpayer money for weapon systems decades away that were either designed to fight the Soviets 16 years ago or some imaginary future superpower (China is not going to risk war with their biggest customer).

  • I think people are pretty well goddamn settled on Bush doing, and having done, a shitty job as president.

    Unfortunately, Bush seems pretty well settled in the White House, free of the pressure of an accountability moment. That’s one of the key things that bugs me about Lieberman and the “oooh, we can’t talk about impeachment!” consultified Democrats – Bush has been changing the accountability moments and goalposts *CONSTANTLY*, and *SOME* Democrats are all too happy to go along with him as he does, thus helping enable his continuous non-accountability.

  • Well, in a way he is right. If the war in Iraq was going great people woud be a lot less unsettled and Bush would be more popular. So the only reason that people don’t support him is because he’s done a crummy job.

  • Once again, the party of personal responsibility blames others for their own failings. It’s some sort of neurological disorder I think.

  • I disagree NeilS. When Bush was reelected, his approval rating was around 60%, we were STILL at war, if you want to call it that, and the “war” was going badly then, as it is now. So, what Bush is saying is total BS. (which stands for BushSpeak, also)

  • Let’s face it, this guy has NEVER given a rat’s ass what the vast majority of Americans think – about him or anything else. He has no concept of how most of the citizens of this country live or what’s important to us. His arrogance is boundless and he seems barely able to conceal the contempt he feels for anyone outside of his bubble.

    Add that to the fact that his campaigning days are over and you get a man who has no problem laughing at a 29% approval rating. I don’t even think he cares too much one way or the other what happens in the midterms; I don’t think W is capable of anything approaching actual party loyalty. If Dems do take control, well, he’s stacked the Supreme Court and is pretty sure they’ll keep him out of any real trouble.

    W’s most important work is done – he’s taken care of his “base” (his REAL base – now that they’ve served their purpose the fundies can go screw themselves as far as he’s concerned) and once he’s out of office he’ll be able to clear brush on HIS ranch and catch fish on HIS stocked lake and never have to work another day in his life. As slip kid points out, because he has a messianic complex, he truly believes his “legacy” will take care of itself.

    George W. Bush is a shallow, empty, pathetic excuse for a human being.

  • This may come as a surprise. We are NOT at war in Iraq. The conquest ended over three years ago (1 May 2003) – “Mission accomplished”. We are bogged down in a never-ending, ever-deepening quagmire. The public is beginning to sense this, even if neither party has the guts to say so.

  • Same point I was making indirectly, Ed. You can call it war, if it suits your purposes, but now, it’s simply an ugly occupation.

    And gypsy moth, I think you are on to something – the only base that matters is the monied base. This is why I really think what we are up against is corporatism/fascism.

  • Not that I approve of anything about Bush, but in his view, he’s got God on his side, he has stacked the judiciary from bottom to top, he got all his rich friends their tax breaks, and by getting re-elected he accomplished something that his father couldn’t. On balance, that probably looks pretty good to him. Anyway, what else was he going to say?

  • I’m “unsettled”? Gee, and all this time I was so sure I hated the little bastard . . .

  • The last time this nation had a King George, he exclaimed, ” My, the colonies seem a bit unsettled.” But alas, it is the obligation of any despot to deny revolt until the bitter end. W, the scrapheap of history awaits…

  • The delusional antics of this idiot continues to lead me to a somewhat ominous query: To what lengths (and depths) will the Kid George team go to retain power? And, to what levels of counteraction with the American People go to bring this tyrant down from his pedestal?

    Two words—REGIME CHANGE.

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