I’m looking forward to being able to hug them, weep with them.

Today, Bush performed a music hall turn at the Capitol Music Hall in Wheeling, West Virginia. “I knew that the farther we got away from September the 11th, 2001, the more likely it would be that some would forget the lessons of that day. ... And it’s fine that people forget the lessons. But one of my jobs is to constantly remind people of the lessons.”

Think someone’s trying to tell Bush something with the signs?



But here’s the thing: with all the people involved with planning and preparing for a Bush event like this, did no one look at those signs and say, “Hey, the word ‘plan’ could be read as a noun or it could be read as an imperative verb, in which case bloggers will make fun of it”?

On Al Qaeda: “They subverted a great religion to meet their needs, and they need places to hide.”

“The way I put it is, there is an Almighty God. One of the greatest gifts of that Almighty God is the desire for people to be free, is freedom. And therefore -- (applause) -- and therefore, this country and the world ought to say, how can we help you remain free? What can we do to help you realize the blessings of liberty?” How many of you can we kill when we invade your countries? In round numbers?


He does mention the Afghan on trial for his life, Abdul Rahman, although he says “converted away from Islam” rather than converted to Christianity. That came up again in Q&A, when someone asked, “Do you have an army of sociologists to go over there and change that country”? Chimpy sez, “We have got influence in Afghanistan and we are going to use it to remind them that there are universal values.”

On WMDs: “the intelligence broke down.”



He repeated the lie from Monday’s speech and a million previous speeches about Saddam failing to “disarm & disclose,” and in this one, he charges Saddam with having fired at US aircraft enforcing the “United Nations no-fly zone.” It was the US, not the UN, that declared a no-fly zone.

Also, “He’d invaded his neighborhood.”

“The biggest threat America faces is that moment when terror and weapons of mass destruction come together.” You got your chocolate in my peanut butter! You got your peanut butter on my chocolate! “And if we ever suspect that’s happening, we got to deal with that threat seriously.” If we ever suspect?



Every speech now, he tries to indicate that he understands the price of war. And then, often as not, undercuts the message, as today when he said he would meet the survivors of two dead troops: “I’m looking forward to being able to hug them, weep with them.” He’s looking forward to it? LOOKING FORWARD TO IT?

He keeps saying that he “understands” the concern of Americans over the war, and keeps suggesting that people with those concerns are weak-minded people influenced by the terrorists: “And they’re concerned because the enemy has got the capacity to affect our thinking.”

“Iraq is a part of the global war on terror. In other words, it’s a global war.” Isn’t that the same words, but fewer of them?

He says it’s time for Iraq to form a unity government: “That’s what the people want; otherwise they wouldn’t have gone to the polls, would they have?”

Talking about how we need to use more sweet delicious coal (he was in West VA, remember), sort of as a patch to cure our petroleum addiction: “we get oil from parts of the world that don’t like us, is the best way to put it, which creates a national security issue.” Did he just admit that there are parts of the world that don’t like us? I thought we were universally beloved because we are bringing freedom and liberty and sweet delicious KFC?



And finally, he is dragged kicking screaming back to his bubble-dungeon: “I wish I could stay longer to answer your questions. I can’t, I got to go back to D.C. I’m not necessarily saying I’m rather be in D.C. than here; I’d rather be here than there. But nevertheless, that’s what my life dictates.”