George Bush is a piece of shit. His greatest concern is money- NOT the people, health, equality, our environment, foreign relations, or anything else that actually matters. In an interview with ABC's Charlie Gibson, Bush plays hot potato with America's desolation. He passes the fault into the hands of every other person, except his.
BUSH: "I'll be frank with you. I don't spend a lot of time really worrying about short-term history. I guess I don't worry about long-term history, either, since I'm not going to be around to read it -- (laughter) -- but, look, in this job you just do what you can. The thing that's important for me is to get home and look in that mirror and say, I did not compromise my principles. And I didn't. I made tough calls. And some presidencies have got a lot of tough decisions to make --"
Read original interview here
More articles about this interview,
Washington Post article: Bush Discussed His Legacy During Final Weeks in Office
FAIR article: Media Still Letting Bush Lie on Iraq Inspectors
Excerpt 1:
GIBSON: You've always said there's no do-overs as President. If you had one?
BUSH: I don't know -- the biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq. A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein. It wasn't just people in my administration; a lot of members in Congress, prior to my arrival in Washington D.C., during the debate on Iraq, a lot of leaders of nations around the world were all looking at the same intelligence. And, you know, that's not a do-over, but I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess.
GIBSON: If the intelligence had been right, would there have been an Iraq war?
BUSH: Yes, because Saddam Hussein was unwilling to let the inspectors go in to determine whether or not the U.N. resolutions were being upheld. In other words, if he had had weapons of mass destruction, would there have been a war? Absolutely.
GIBSON: No, if you had known he didn't.
BUSH: Oh, I see what you're saying. You know, that's an interesting question. That is a do-over that I can't do. It's hard for me to speculate.
GIBSON: Greatest accomplishment? The one thing you're proudest of?
BUSH: I keep recognizing we're in a war against ideological thugs and keeping America safe.
Washington Post article: Bush Discussed His Legacy During Final Weeks in Office
FAIR article: Media Still Letting Bush Lie on Iraq Inspectors
Excerpt 1:
GIBSON: You've always said there's no do-overs as President. If you had one?
BUSH: I don't know -- the biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq. A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein. It wasn't just people in my administration; a lot of members in Congress, prior to my arrival in Washington D.C., during the debate on Iraq, a lot of leaders of nations around the world were all looking at the same intelligence. And, you know, that's not a do-over, but I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess.
GIBSON: If the intelligence had been right, would there have been an Iraq war?
BUSH: Yes, because Saddam Hussein was unwilling to let the inspectors go in to determine whether or not the U.N. resolutions were being upheld. In other words, if he had had weapons of mass destruction, would there have been a war? Absolutely.
GIBSON: No, if you had known he didn't.
BUSH: Oh, I see what you're saying. You know, that's an interesting question. That is a do-over that I can't do. It's hard for me to speculate.
GIBSON: Greatest accomplishment? The one thing you're proudest of?
BUSH: I keep recognizing we're in a war against ideological thugs and keeping America safe.
Excerpt 2:
GIBSON: Do you feel in any way responsible for what's happening?
BUSH: You know, I'm the President during this period of time, but I think when the history of this period is written, people will realize a lot of the decisions that were made on Wall Street took place over a decade or so, before I arrived in President, during I arrived in President.
I'm a little upset that we didn't get the reforms to Fannie and Freddie -- on Fannie and Freddie, because I think it would have helped a lot. And when people review the history of this administration, people will say that this administration tried hard to get a regulator. And there will be a lot of analysis of why that didn't happen. I suspect people will find a lot of it didn't happen for pure political reasons.
GIBSON: How high do you think unemployment will go?
BUSH: Too high. I mean, anybody unemployed is too much. And I -- I'm not a very good economic forecaster. I do know that we are taking steps to make sure -- see, the most difficult thing about this is that a lot of people out there in Main Street wonder why the government is having to act because Wall Street went on a binge. And I'm one, frankly -- at first. I was the guy that inartfully said, "Wall Street got drunk, and we got a hangover."
And on the other hand, though, when you're the President and somebody says, we better move big, Mr. President, otherwise we could have a depression greater than the Great -- we're moving big. And it is hard for the average citizen to understand how frozen the system became and how over-leveraged the system became. And so what we're watching is the de-leveraging of our financial markets, which is obviously affecting the growth of the economy.
Excerpt 3:
GIBSON: Your successor said right from the beginning, there's only one President. But he's been holding news conferences; he named his economic team. Is he intruding in any way?
BUSH: No, not at all. Look, one of the things that we vowed is to work with the President-elect and his team to have a smooth transition. This is a very unique period in American history where a new President is coming in where we are fighting a two-front war against terrorists and, at the same time, dealing with a very difficult economic situation. And the more we can work together, the better off our country will be.
I called President-Elect Obama with the Citigroup decision. I wanted him to know what we were doing. And he was very appreciative of the phone call. And I --
GIBSON: Did you call him on Tuesday about the Fed putting up $600 billion, and Treasury $200 billion --
BUSH: Yes, yes.
GIBSON: You called him about that, too?
BUSH: I sure did -- oh, no, no, no, I have not on that. But I know his team was briefed. I didn't speak to him personally about that, but I know his team was briefed. We're in touch with the Obama transition team a lot. And I don't feel any -- I don't feel any intrusion whatsoever, because he knows what I know -- I'm -- our administration still will be making the decisions necessary until he becomes the President.
Excerpt 4:
GIBSON: What were you most unprepared for?
BUSH: Well, I think I was unprepared for war. In other words, I didn't campaign and say, "Please vote for me, I'll be able to handle an attack." In other words, I didn't anticipate war. Presidents -- one of the things about the modern presidency is that the unexpected will happen.
Excerpt 5:
GIBSON: Was there a time when you thought, if I do this I will be compromising my principles --
BUSH: Yes.
GIBSON: -- some decision where you really thought that that was at issue?
BUSH: Yes.
GIBSON: What?
BUSH: The pullout of Iraq. It would have compromised the principle that when you put kids into harm's way, you go in to win. And it was a tough call, particularly, since a lot of people were advising for me to get out of Iraq, or pull back in Iraq, or -- and rather than listen to -- I mean, I listened to a lot of voices, but ultimately, I listened to this voice: I'm not going to let your son die in vain; I believe we can win; I'm going to do what it takes to win in Iraq.
Read original interview at ABCnews.com
GIBSON: Do you feel in any way responsible for what's happening?
BUSH: You know, I'm the President during this period of time, but I think when the history of this period is written, people will realize a lot of the decisions that were made on Wall Street took place over a decade or so, before I arrived in President, during I arrived in President.
I'm a little upset that we didn't get the reforms to Fannie and Freddie -- on Fannie and Freddie, because I think it would have helped a lot. And when people review the history of this administration, people will say that this administration tried hard to get a regulator. And there will be a lot of analysis of why that didn't happen. I suspect people will find a lot of it didn't happen for pure political reasons.
GIBSON: How high do you think unemployment will go?
BUSH: Too high. I mean, anybody unemployed is too much. And I -- I'm not a very good economic forecaster. I do know that we are taking steps to make sure -- see, the most difficult thing about this is that a lot of people out there in Main Street wonder why the government is having to act because Wall Street went on a binge. And I'm one, frankly -- at first. I was the guy that inartfully said, "Wall Street got drunk, and we got a hangover."
And on the other hand, though, when you're the President and somebody says, we better move big, Mr. President, otherwise we could have a depression greater than the Great -- we're moving big. And it is hard for the average citizen to understand how frozen the system became and how over-leveraged the system became. And so what we're watching is the de-leveraging of our financial markets, which is obviously affecting the growth of the economy.
Excerpt 3:
GIBSON: Your successor said right from the beginning, there's only one President. But he's been holding news conferences; he named his economic team. Is he intruding in any way?
BUSH: No, not at all. Look, one of the things that we vowed is to work with the President-elect and his team to have a smooth transition. This is a very unique period in American history where a new President is coming in where we are fighting a two-front war against terrorists and, at the same time, dealing with a very difficult economic situation. And the more we can work together, the better off our country will be.
I called President-Elect Obama with the Citigroup decision. I wanted him to know what we were doing. And he was very appreciative of the phone call. And I --
GIBSON: Did you call him on Tuesday about the Fed putting up $600 billion, and Treasury $200 billion --
BUSH: Yes, yes.
GIBSON: You called him about that, too?
BUSH: I sure did -- oh, no, no, no, I have not on that. But I know his team was briefed. I didn't speak to him personally about that, but I know his team was briefed. We're in touch with the Obama transition team a lot. And I don't feel any -- I don't feel any intrusion whatsoever, because he knows what I know -- I'm -- our administration still will be making the decisions necessary until he becomes the President.
Excerpt 4:
GIBSON: What were you most unprepared for?
BUSH: Well, I think I was unprepared for war. In other words, I didn't campaign and say, "Please vote for me, I'll be able to handle an attack." In other words, I didn't anticipate war. Presidents -- one of the things about the modern presidency is that the unexpected will happen.
Excerpt 5:
GIBSON: Was there a time when you thought, if I do this I will be compromising my principles --
BUSH: Yes.
GIBSON: -- some decision where you really thought that that was at issue?
BUSH: Yes.
GIBSON: What?
BUSH: The pullout of Iraq. It would have compromised the principle that when you put kids into harm's way, you go in to win. And it was a tough call, particularly, since a lot of people were advising for me to get out of Iraq, or pull back in Iraq, or -- and rather than listen to -- I mean, I listened to a lot of voices, but ultimately, I listened to this voice: I'm not going to let your son die in vain; I believe we can win; I'm going to do what it takes to win in Iraq.
Read original interview at ABCnews.com
2 comments:
This is interesting. Firstly, his speech is about equivalent to that of a 10th grader. Mediocre. But then, that's what a C student is.
Secondly, Bush is undoubtedly the most unpopular President in recent history. However, I can't throw salt on everything he says in this interview. Specifically when he speaks about not abandoning his principles. What I hope he means, is that he examined a situation (Iraq pullout) to the best of his ability, and through his own judgment and with the interest of this country in mind, he made a firm decision and stuck to it. This doesn't mean that I agree with his decision. It doesn't mean I think he made the RIGHT assessment. But as President, you have to be able to make firm, concrete decisions and stick by them, despite warnings of failure. Do I think his judgment was off? Way off. Do I think his though-process and the processes of his administration should have been coordinated differently? Of course. But do remember, just a few weeks ago, skeptics told President-elect Obama the same thing concerning his election. And he kept on. Bush did the same, despite the severity of the consequences we all suffer based on his decisions.
20 January 2009!
I'm all for sticking with your own principles...but when your principles are completely inconsiderate of the people who will be effected by them, then it's not a principle to stand by....
I can't stand looking at this man's face, he disgusts me.
Post a Comment