Good points of Bush's speech: he didn't mean them.
I had talked a bit about the President's last state of the union speech and had said that there were parts that I acually liked. Too bad he didn't really mean these at least one of these parts. My guess is that he really did mean them, but he was at odds with Cheney.
You know, there was a time when I kind of liked him (see the article about Bush's speaking ability). I voted for Gore, but thought "hey, he is ok; we are still in good hands." I was wrong. But then again, I was remembering the way Bush was prior to becoming "Bush-Cheney".
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=24742&mode=&order=0
I like to think that Republicans are having fun. They're such cards. What a wheeze, what a jape. Talking about energy independence in the State of the Union address! President Bush said "America is addicted to oil" and we will "break this addiction." Oh what a good trick to see if anyone thought he actually meant it!
I'm not going to embarrass the perennial suckers who fell for it by identifying them, but I assure you they include some well-known names in journalism. Boy, I bet they feel like fools, having written those optimistic columns pointing to how Bush had made a fine proposal--cut oil imports from the Middle East by 75% by 2025--and people should take it seriously and stop dissing him.
Of course, the next day the administration trotted out Energy Secretary Sam Bodman and Alan Hubbard, director of the president's National Economic Council, to assure us the president didn't mean it. Bodman explained, "That was purely an example." A "for instance." Like, we could set a goal like that. Actually, we could do that without breaking a sweat: set fuel efficiency standards at 40 miles per gallon in 10 years (hybrids already get higher mileage now), and you save 2.5 million barrels a day, just what we import now from the Mideast.
According to Knight Ridder, "Asked why the president used the words 'the Middle East' when he didn't really mean them, one administration official said Bush wanted to dramatize the issue in a way that 'every American sitting out there listening to the speech understands.' The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because he feared that his remarks might get him into trouble."
Aw. Let's see, Bush lied so "every American sitting out there listening to the speech understands." It's our fault. We're so dumb, if he doesn't lie, we don't get it. Of course, those sophisticates who pay attention to stuff like the budget, where they decide how to spend the money, were already aware that the $150 million (a truly pitiful amount by Washington standards) Bush promised would go to making biofuels more competitive is $50 million less than what was in last year's budget for that purpose.[...]
You know, there was a time when I kind of liked him (see the article about Bush's speaking ability). I voted for Gore, but thought "hey, he is ok; we are still in good hands." I was wrong. But then again, I was remembering the way Bush was prior to becoming "Bush-Cheney".
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=24742&mode=&order=0
I like to think that Republicans are having fun. They're such cards. What a wheeze, what a jape. Talking about energy independence in the State of the Union address! President Bush said "America is addicted to oil" and we will "break this addiction." Oh what a good trick to see if anyone thought he actually meant it!
I'm not going to embarrass the perennial suckers who fell for it by identifying them, but I assure you they include some well-known names in journalism. Boy, I bet they feel like fools, having written those optimistic columns pointing to how Bush had made a fine proposal--cut oil imports from the Middle East by 75% by 2025--and people should take it seriously and stop dissing him.
Of course, the next day the administration trotted out Energy Secretary Sam Bodman and Alan Hubbard, director of the president's National Economic Council, to assure us the president didn't mean it. Bodman explained, "That was purely an example." A "for instance." Like, we could set a goal like that. Actually, we could do that without breaking a sweat: set fuel efficiency standards at 40 miles per gallon in 10 years (hybrids already get higher mileage now), and you save 2.5 million barrels a day, just what we import now from the Mideast.
According to Knight Ridder, "Asked why the president used the words 'the Middle East' when he didn't really mean them, one administration official said Bush wanted to dramatize the issue in a way that 'every American sitting out there listening to the speech understands.' The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because he feared that his remarks might get him into trouble."
Aw. Let's see, Bush lied so "every American sitting out there listening to the speech understands." It's our fault. We're so dumb, if he doesn't lie, we don't get it. Of course, those sophisticates who pay attention to stuff like the budget, where they decide how to spend the money, were already aware that the $150 million (a truly pitiful amount by Washington standards) Bush promised would go to making biofuels more competitive is $50 million less than what was in last year's budget for that purpose.[...]
posted by Harriet at
2/07/2006 06:07:00 PM
1 Comments:
.
Something very strange happened
to me this past week. I was seated
in my library chair, mulling over
current events, trying to make a
few new year's predictions, which
is the custom for commentators.
I was concentrating hard, when
suddenly I saw before my eyes
a headline from the NEW YORK
TIMES. It read, "Congress Votes
to End War; Troops Ordered to
Abandon Iraq."
The view changed. Just as in
Vietnam three decades ago,
I saw Americans clinging
to helicopters, trying to get
themselves out of Baghdad
along with friendly Shiite
Muslims. There was massive
confusion, bombs going
off in the background.
And then, I saw pictures
out of Afghanistan. Al
Qaeda had toppled the
new Afghan government.
Marines and soldiers again
were hurriedly boarding
choppers. It can't be real,
I thought -- but it was.
The next thing I saw was
a picture of Palestine,
where most of the al
Qaeda terrorists had
now gone. The Israeli
government was in
disarray, reeling
under a series of huge
bomb blasts in Jerusalem.
Country after country was
falling to the Islamic fascists:
Saudi Arabia. Turkey. Egypt.
For the most part, the terrorists
simply refused to ship oil, and
what they did ship was priced
at over $150 a barrel. It was
a worldwide crisis. Europe
quickly signed a non-aggression
pact with al Qaeda in exchange
for oil.
Then came the most devastating
picture of all: panic in the streets
of Washington, D.C., as a dirty
bomb exploded not a quarter
of a mile from the Capitol. Huge
sections of the city were cordoned
off, uninhabitable. Even people
with the best protective equipment
suffered serious radiation burns.
Projections were that the area
would be off-limits for years.
Then came the bombing of
the Holland Tunnel, connecting
New York and New Jersey --
then the collapse of the
pillars of the Golden Gate
Bridge.
The government threatened
retaliation, of course -- but
there was no one to retaliate
against. The Islamo-fascists
were spread throughout the
world, and it was impossible
to strike against all the countries
that were harboring them or
being run by them. Osama bin
Laden himself appeared on
Al Jazeera, boasting that
he had known all along that
the Americans wouldn't fight.
By now, most American
television was not operating.
But I could still get one channel.
Talking heads were arguing
frantically over how this could
have happened. One man's
voice stood out when he said,
"It was all so foreseeable.
Once you rule religion a private
matter, and declare all religions
alike, no one in this country could
understand the dimensions of a
great religious struggle.
No one understood the clash of
civilizations or the evil of Islamo-
fascism. We didn't even have the
language to describe religious
beliefs anymore. Destruction
was inevitable."
And that's when I woke up in
a cold sweat.
It was 5:00 A.M. I went
immediately to the front door.
Good -- the newspaper was
there. I flipped it open. There
was nothing in the headlines
except the confirmation fight
over Alito, more quibbling
over Iraq -- all the usual
banter that goes on endlessly
in the press. But as I walked
into the house, my knees
were still shaking.
It was only a dream. We're
okay, I told myself.
Or are we?
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home