Today Bush signed a bill expanding the Pell Grant program (which has been shamefully eroding in value for years, and this won’t help that much). He spoke repeatedly about helping people “realize dreams.” “I love the fact that this country is dedicated to helping people who want to realize a dream.” Indeed, if you’ve ever dreamed about eating a hamburger bigger than your head, this is the country dedicated to helping you realize that dream.
Actually, I’m not really sure why this speech irritated me; I sort of hoped once I started writing, it would come to me as it usually does, but today not so much. Maybe knowing that if this program were being proposed for the first time now, he would fight it tooth and nail, but instead here he is trying to take credit for it, and expecting gratitude for the grants like they’re acts of personal charity on his part.
He brought out some Pell Grant recipients as props because “We believe it’s important to put a face behind what it means to get a Pell Grant.” So it’s important to see that the people who receive Pell Grants have faces.
Hey, George, can you In Other Words that for us? “In other words, every one of these folks up here is benefiting from the Pell Grant, so he or she can realize their dreams.”
See? They totally have faces.
I haven’t taken on the Bush-Aznar transcript from 2003, because I hate having to rely on the English translation of the Spanish translation of something Bush said in whatever language he speaks. Still, there’s this: “I am an optimist, because I believe that I’m right. I’m at peace with myself.” He is optimistic because he’s the good guy, and the good guy always wins.
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