Yesterday, President Bush sat down with Politico and Yahoo! to discuss his golf game, emailing habits, and the Iraq War. Here are some of the highlights from the interviewee-in-chief:
- What if a Democrat is elected? Bush's "doomsday scenario of course is that extremists throughout the Middle East would be emboldened, which would eventually lead to another attack on the United States."
- On sacrifices he's making for the Iraq war? Bush gave up golf. "I didn't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf. I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal."
- On Iraq Intelligence? "Do I think somebody lied to me? No, I don't. I think it was just, you know, they analyzed the situation and came up with the wrong conclusion."
- Does he think that a nasty presidential campaign could turn to race? "My own judgment is, is that race will only enter in if it's provoked by the press."
- And what about email and the google? Giving it up to avoid leaks, Bush said he looks forward to "e-mailing to my buddies. I can remember as governor I stayed in touch with all kinds of people around the country, firing off e-mails at all times of the day to stay in touch with my pals."
To see how Bush answered a question from the online audience about whether he felt he had been misled prior to the invasion of Iraq, read more.
I somehow look forward to seeing what "W" gets up to once he's out of the White House. Will he still make the news cycle? Do you think his popularity will rise, or stay desperately low as he fades into the Texas sunset?
People Tree
But being photographed at the dog show is OK? Come on!
1What a Bozo. I'm thinking his popularity will stay "desperately low" and I hope he fades into the Texas sunset for many news cycles to come.
2You want to respect troops, get them the he!! out of Iraq! Who wants to bet that Bush has one of those mini golf lanes in his office (the one with the little flag); I can picture it.
I can't wait until a democrat gets in office and sets this country on a better path.
3He's such a tool. That's just further evinced by this photograph.
4Yep, its not possible to care about the troops for one second unless you plan on bringing them home.
5Duh cabaker! And it is not like many of the problems we are suffering today is from the last Democrat in office, actually the last two Dems we had in office. But we can just forget about that.
6Cine everyone here was 10 years old when that happened, so of course we don't see those mistakes.
but whatever
7How does not playing golf show respect for the troops if you do absolutely everything else that you had been? I agree with the majority here, not sending them to Iraq shows respect, not playing golf makes me wonder about your score.
8Not everyone was 10 Sy, but I decided not to go off course over whether a reasonable person can blame Carter for the sins of Reagan and Bush 1. Bogus statements about honoring the troops is more important.
9Steph, I did not blame what Reagan and Bush did on Carter, but I do think that Carter and Clinton can take a lot of the burden of what is going on currently. Unlike others, I don't feel all the problems are due to one person or one political party.
10ok well since the average reader on sugar is 27, I'd say most were. If you don't believe me, check out the sugar readership profile.
11I agree with Cine, syako, and cab... as if that's a surprise. lol
and seriously how is not sending troops to do a job they signed up to do respecting them either?
12wow. this is awesome. it's kind of like when i decided i would stop eating cheetos to be in solidarity with the people who are suffering in the cyclone. dear president bush: NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR GOLF GAME. SEND THE TROOPS HOME.
13that's like saying "i'm giving up soda for lent to be a better Christian..." ummmm, really? alcohol yes, soda? not so much...
but hey, it's all about the sacrifices that Bush is making. that's huge for him!
14I respect his decision not to play, and understand what he meant about the appearance, even if several people on here are too blinded with hate to see it.
15I'm not really blinded by hate to see what his "sacrifice" is going to do to show "respect" for the troops. I personally don't know how that shows "respect" for the troops, since a game of golf and what people think about him as a president don't really seem to be related to each other. I don't know, call me crazy, but I think my friend who just got married last year and is on his 3rd tour of Iraq kinda deserves to be at home with his new wife and his freshly-injured, bronze-star awarded, almost-killed-in-Iraq brother. I know he's doing his job, and he knows he's doing his job, and everyone else who knows him knows he's doing his job, but even he's wondering when the hell this is all going to end.
16
yesteryear
17When I first read this, all I thought of was that scene in Farenheit 9/11 that was played to death, the one where that hack Moore spliced together the film of Bush talking about Iraq and playing golf...
Do we really think that Bush himself probably hasn't seen that?
Maybe that has something to do with it! In which case, yes, I can completely understand where he is coming from.
18I voted for the man twice, but even I have to admit that this is just symbolism at a time when real action is needed.
19If he wants to show support for the troops give them the supplies and medical attention they need. Taking good care of our veterans would be nice too.
20who even cares what he has to say about ANYTHING anymore? he is more irrelevant now than he has been in years. whoops, there goes my hate blinding me again...
21What leadership! What sacrifice! Now watch this drive.
22I kind of find it funny that it's completely possible that we're totally taking this one quote out of context, yet when we do that to Obama, Michelle, Rev. Wright, etc. etc. it's a travesty.
23EVERYONE gets defensive when they feel someone they support is quoted out of context, not just if it's Obama, Michelle, or Rev. Wright. No need to pretend one group is more sensitive than the rest.
24I'm not pretending. I just find it interesting...
25Exactly, Stephley.
26I also agree with hypnoticmix (can I get a drink, too?
) on the comment about
veterans. I can't tell you how many times I've heard horror stories about veterans not getting proper disability after years of service. My ex who was a Marine went through it--he filled out
all the proper paperwork and did everything they asked him to--and they were not giving him as much money as they should have been. A lot of VA hospitals are in horrible shape as well.
27He's a good guy and I think his popularity will rise once he is out of the white house.
28I think it's funny how some say to show respect he needs to take them out of Iraq. Isn't their job to defend our country, should I show doctors respect by telling them not to finish a surgery? Anyone in the military joined or re-enlisted after 911 at this point and knew what they were getting into.
Besides last I checked congress has the power to end this war anytime they want, and the house and the senate are both democrat majority. So perhaps fingers should be pointed in another direction. Which will happen when Bush leaves the white house.
People who signed up after immediately after 9/11 were told they'd be greeted in Iraq as liberators, that the war would pay for itself and that it would last six months tops. They didn't know they'd be stuck in lengthened or repeat tours (even if the small print in the contracts said that, if the war was going to be as quick as the President and Secretary of Defense repeatedly stated, why worry?) and come home with serious brain injuries for which the government would balk over compensating them realistically.
29I question the claim they're defending our country: they're in Iraq now to impose democracy in a manner that many feel is making us far less safe.
I've got no problem blaming the democrats for this too, but Bush sold the war and it's Bush who says not playing golf somehow respects the troops.
I'm pretty sure none of their contracts mention the length of time we would be at war in fact I'm pretty sure they don't mention Iraq at all. But it probably does mention serving and defending your country.
30Besides anyone who signed up prior to 2004 have had to re-enlist at this point. By 2004, it was obvious it wasn't going to only last 6 months.
Him not golfing, is like him mourning for the death of soldiers, like wearing black. He is giving up what he enjoys.
I'm sure he'd appreciate knowing that you believe that.
31"Anyone in the military joined or re-enlisted after 911 at this point and knew what they were getting into."
Actually, they didn't. My friend sure as hell didn't--he knew he'd be serving his country, but he didn't know he'd be on his 3rd tour, at age 26, of Iraq this year.
32And yet people are still signing up to serve....
33I am looking forward to Bush's lecture tour once he's out of office. Okay, I'm sorry, I couldn't keep a straight face even while writing that.
34Gimme a break.
35bellasugar, you said it best!
36"Actually, they didn't. My friend sure as hell didn't--he knew he'd be serving his country, but he didn't know he'd be on his 3rd tour, at age 26, of Iraq this year"
If he's on his third tour then he probably re-enlisted, since they only sign up for four years. He did have the OPTION to get out at four years or sign on to stay in longer.
37The man is just not very intelligent, and relies too much on the influence of others, to his detriment. He repeats the same few soundbite cliches over and over again. Enough with the "embolden the enemy" already.
And you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone, including traditional conservatives, who feel that he has been a good president. William F. Buckley, Jr., even felt that he was not a true conservative. Instead of defensively attempting to shift blame to the presidents before him, why not just simply admit that Bush has been horrible? You can't assess someone's abilities without throwing stones at the others before him?
Geez. Simply defending someone just to tow an alleged party line is not an impressive or intelligent way to argue. I would hope we could all be a little more nuanced in our opinions.
38KJ thanks for keeping it real!
"People who signed up after immediately after 9/11 were told they'd be greeted in Iraq as liberators, that the war would pay for itself and that it would last six months tops."
And how exactly do you know that this is what they were told?
And Em, I have nothing but respect for your friend, but the fact is when you sign up you don't get to say "oh i'll sign up, but only if you deploy me when i think its ok" I mean really? 3 tours before 26 sucks, no doubt, but I know guys who have had 4 tours before 22... there's always someone that's had it worse, so I don't think thats a very strong argument.
39exactly cab.. that was my thinking as well.
If men and women are signing up thinking they'll never get deployed or that their will never be a war situation, then they're not going in with their eyes open... military personnel are trained for combat for a reason.
my own nephew saw 2 tours in Iraq before he even turnd 21. It's not about who's had it worse, it's a team effort, a brother/sisterhood of comrades who will do whatever is necessary to serve their country.
40*there will never be... -dagnabbit stupid fingers going faster than the brain lol
41Beautifully said Kim.
42Um Cab, did you listen to any of the President's pre-war speeches and news conferences? Did you ever listen to Rumsfeld? I can't blame you if you didn't, but they both said the quick war, liberators, pay for itself stuff. Repeatedly. It's part of the reason people are so angry now.
43Yes I did listen to that, but thats the news thats not recruiters speaking. So I don't think you can say that people who enlisted were somehow tricked into beleiving they would be walking into a great situation. Also the people who wanted to sign up after 9/11 did so with great conviction, not on a whim because conditions sounded good.
Personally I've never heard anyone in the military say "well i only signed up to go over there once, be greated as a liberator and leave"
Servicemembers tend to be far less self centered than the average citizen.
44It is ridiculous for you to try and make the case that what the President of the United States says would have counted for less than what a recruiter might have said. It's not that he tricked - far more cynically, he, Rumsfeld and the others in the Administration whipped people into a phoney patriotic fervor so he could send them to war. I HAVE heard wounded soldiers say that they believed they were going over to liberate a country and that the people would be grateful to them. More than one has expressed surprise at how it turned out.
45Servicemembers are the average citizen. They aren't born into the military - most pop out of the civilian world for a couple of years, serve and then become civilians again. Sometimes they do heroic things. Cops die in the line of duty, teachers have been killed protecting students - self-sacrifice isn't just a military thing.
Uh, my friend's not in the military grudgingly, and he's not a dumbass who was like "OK, I'll do this, but just for 9 months". He's a smart badass who went to West Point, and it's not like he's in the military for the glory. He wants to do it, but I really can't blame him for being a bit sick of leaving behind his family time and time again, especially after his brother almost got killed in Iraq. In fact, his brother jokes about it with him--"Well, step on an IED, and maybe you can stay at home!" Can you blame him for being a little tired of being shipped off? Until you know what that's like, I don't really think you can judge and say "Oh, well he reinlisted, tough toenails!"
Also, America's gonna get attacked again no matter who is in office. It's just going to happen if some dumb moron with a big grudge feels like doing it.
46"It is ridiculous for you to try and make the case that what the President of the United States says would have counted for less than what a recruiter might have said"
and I think it's ridiculous for you to make a case from all these wounded soldier friends of your who were "tricked". It's funny how everyone has a friend who it happened to. My husband is in the military, therefore my neighbors are all in the military, and our friends are in the military, yet somehow I have never come across any of these cases.
You can't make a case with hearsay, that's why it's not allowed in the courts.
47Read more carefully KJ: I specifically said not tricked but rather swept into a patriotic fervor by unscrupulous people. And just because your husband is in the military doesn't mean you know everyone in it or everything about it.
And what the heck does this mean?
48"You can't make a case with hearsay, that's why it's not allowed in the courts." Since hearsay is unverified, unofficial information, part of one's direct knowledge I'm not sure how it applies here.
Are you talking about what the President says publicly being hearsay? Or what wounded veterans say being hearsay?
Historically, the rule against hearsay is aimed at prohibiting the use of a person's assertion, as equivalent to testimony to the fact asserted, unless the assertor is brought to testify in court where he may be placed under oath and cross-examined.
*My point with that is, you can't give me the wounded veterans opinion or what they "believe".
As I would not come on here and tell you that my neighbor who was in Iraq believes bla bla bla. Because like you said I can't know everyone in the military and how they feel, just as you can't.
I do however know it was an option and I believe they are smarter than to have been "swept into a patriotic fervor by unscrupulous people."
49Nothing that you've just said makes any sense - we're not in court.
"I do however know it (it what?) was an option (an option for whom to do what?) and I believe they (they who?) are smarter than to have been "swept into a patriotic fervor by unscrupulous people." (you can't swear anyone on the internet and we can't accept hearsay so what you believe is neither here nor there)
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