The mid-term elections are now only weeks away in the US, and President Bush is out stumping for his fellow Republican senators. Here he delivers a speech at a fund-raising dinner for Tennesee Republican senator hopeful Bob Corker.
During the speech, Bush returned to talking about American citizens as "souls" not "people".
He dropped the use of the world "terrorist" to describe the militias and insurgencies of Iraq.
He ramped up what is bound to quickly become the foundation stone of the Republican campaign to hold onto its Senate majority - The War On Terror as a War On New Fascism - and then Bush ranted incoherently about God and converting the entire world.
So, nothing too unusual for Bush.
Here's a selection of key curious, bizarre, weird and downright ugly quotes from the speech (in italics), with our added commentary :
"We face an enemy that has an ideology; they believe things....they think the opposite of the way we think."
"The enemy we face doesn't believe in dissent. They don't believe in the freedom to worship. They got a narrow view of freedom. But this enemy is particularly lethal because they're willing to use whatever tactic is necessary to achieve their objective."
"...the natural tendency for our country would be to hope that the lessons of September the 11th would be faded memory. "
The lessons may or may not be "faded memory", but a recent poll claimed that more than 30% of Americans can't even remember what year September 11th occured.
"The United States of America must understand that freedom is universal, that there is an Almighty, and the great gift of that Almighty to each man and woman in this world is the desire to be free."
"You know, amazing things have happened in Iraq, when you think about it. Oh, I know the news is full with terrible suiciders, and it shakes our will."
"(In Iraq) There are Saddamists, al Qaeda, extremists, militia -- all attempting to stop the advance of democracy. "
But no terrorists? The key new word is "extremists".
"If we leave (Iraq) before the job is done, it will shred the credibility of the United States of
America."
Unlike the whole WMD thing, which only splashed a few specks of mud on the credibility of President Bush and the the US.
"If we leave before the job is done, it will have meant incredibly brave souls will have given their lives for nothing."
Given their lives for NOTHING? Nice. That should make the families of 2600+ dead Americans feel real good. Even if the US left Iraq today, all those dead soldiers would not have given their lives for NOTHING. Saddam is gone, Iraqis had free elections. But Bush won't allow them to even take credit for those achievements. It's all or nothing.
The US went into Iraq to disarm Saddam. Then the war became about deposing Saddam and finding WMDs. Then it became about free elections.
Now Saddam is gone, there are no WMDs and free elections have been held, the US still can't leave Iraq until "the job is done." But like the Australian prime Minister Howard and British PM Blair, Bush can't clearly spell out what "the job" actually is, or how it will be achieved. This vagueness, of course, is essential to keeping the War On Iraq going for as long as possible.
"Here's what we know: We know that when a soul has more of his own money to spend, save, or invest, the economy grows. "
70% of the American economy is now based on what Americans spend on consumer goods, not what they produce. Which is fine, for a while. But Americans, on average, now spend more than they actually earn, and they're using the equity of homes they haven't paid off (brought with mortgages when interest rates were barely 1%) to go on the biggest spending spree in US history.
The more Americans spend, the more shit they buy, the more the economy grows, the more Bush can say, "Hey, look, our economy is still growing." But someone has to pay. A lot of someones. And they're going to start paying real soon. Interests rates in the US, and Australia, are rising, and the value of homes across both countries is plunging.
"You see, the real challenge facing this country is to make sure we're the economic leader of the world. I'm not interested in being second place."
The US will be lucky to be in fifth place by the end of the Bush Co. reign. Russia and China are now already far more cash and asset rich than the US.
"...America's souls are saved one person at a time."
"America can change one heart and one soul and one conscience at a time. Government should not fear faith..."
That's downright creepy.
According to Bush, the government should not fear faith, but the people should fear a government that sees no need to amplify the seperation between church and state.Go here for the full Bush speech.
