George Bush's last press conference Page 2

Quote: SlagA @ January 13 2009, 4:33 PM GMT

I'm too gullible (re: politicians) is my problem.

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In truth we're probably all a bit like that though, that's why they can get away with so much.

I have to admit when New Labour first came into power I really bought into them because of some of the speeches Blair made - they genuinely gave me a fresh, positive outlook on politics and the role of the government.
But they were just words - carefully chosen, impecably delivered, and designed to make me feel axactly as I did.
You probably already know that almost everyone who knew Hitler personally commented on how charismatic and charming he was - perhaps even enough to make them forget what he was actually responsible for.

The quote about shaking hands with a man whose hands had been cut off makes perfect sense when taken in context. Bush was meeting men who had been fitted with artificial hands to replace the ones Saddam had lopped off. A perfect example of the one-sided reporting mentioned at the beginning of this thread.

It's strange - Bush is loved in Africa with 90% approval rating and kids in Darfur being named 'George Bush'. Basically because he's trebled aid and help negotiate peaceful resolutions to conflicts in both muslim and Christian countries. Shame he couldn't have stopped at Afganistan and done the same in the middle east. I guess he had become obsessed with finishing off his dad's work 'because that's why dad lost to Clinton'...

Quote: Moonstone @ January 13 2009, 4:45 PM GMT

I have to admit when New Labour first came into power I really bought into them because of some of the speeches Blair made

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Don't worry, you weren't the only one.

(And I'm certainly not referring to myself.)

Quote: DaButt @ January 13 2009, 8:50 PM GMT

A perfect example of the one-sided reporting mentioned at the beginning of this thread.

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What about all the other quotes?

Quote: Matthew Stott @ January 14 2009, 2:03 PM GMT

What about all the other quotes?

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Malapropos garbage I suspect.

Unless they're perfect examples of the other side of one-sided reporting...

"For every fatal shooting, there were roughly three non-fatal shootings. And, folks, this is unacceptable in America. It's just unacceptable. And we're going to do something about it."

Hee!

The idea that George Bush is actually quite articulate and it's just the beastly press misquoting him is risible. Yes, he has moments of clarity, and can be quite eloquent, but these moments are few and far between. Compare and contrast Obama's statesman like press conferences with Bush's cringingly folksy affairs.

Quote: Matthew Stott @ January 14 2009, 2:03 PM GMT

What about all the other quotes?

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A few slips of the tongue, a few indicators that the man is not the world's finest off-the-cuff orator and a few blatant attempts at outright deception in order to perpetuate the "Bush is stupid" myth.

An example of the last point is this:

"The truth of that matter is, if you listen carefully, Saddam would still be in power if he were the president of the United States, and the world would be a lot better off." - Oct. 8, 2004

This statement came from the 2004 presidential debates. President Bush was clearly stating that Saddam Hussein would still be in power if John Kerry had been president. Whoever included this quote knew this, yet he/she decided to include it anyway.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/debatereferee/debate_1008.html

Quote: DaButt @ January 14 2009, 2:36 PM GMT

This statement came from the 2004 presidential debates. President Bush was clearly stating that Saddam Hussein would still be in power if John Kerry had been president.

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Which would be no bad thing since there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and (b) Iraq is now a breeding ground for extremism and terrorism, which it wasn't before.

Quote: chipolata @ January 14 2009, 2:29 PM GMT

The idea that George Bush is actually quite articulate and it's just the beastly press misquoting him is risible. Yes, he has moments of clarity, and can be quite eloquent, but these moments are few and far between. Compare and contrast Obama's statesman like press conferences with Bush's cringingly folksy affairs.

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I didn't say that the press misquoted him. I said that his words were sometimes taken out of context - as in the prosthetic hands incident. People make mistakes and those mistakes are recorded for posterity when you're the president. Obama is clearly a better orator, but I'll be surprised if the BBC ever decides to collect his gaffes on their website as they did for President Bush:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7809160.stm

How much press coverage did Obama get when he claimed that he's visited 57 states? Every schoolboy knows there are only 50, so can/should we now claim that he's a complete idiot?

"... it is just wonderful to be back in Oregon, and over the last 15 months we've traveled to every corner of the United States. I've now been in fifty .... seven states? I think one left to go. One left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit but my staff would not justify it."

Everybody makes gaffes, but George Bush's Gaff Ratio is considerably higher than most peoples, including Obama.

Quote: chipolata @ January 14 2009, 2:38 PM GMT

Iraq is now a breeding ground for extremism and terrorism, which it wasn't before.

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No, you just got your arms shortened if insurrection was your intention. That's why it didn't happen before.

Quote: Geoff Mutton @ January 14 2009, 2:47 PM GMT

No, you just got your arms shortened if insurrection was your intention. That's why it didn't happen before.

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Nobody's suggesting it was nice place and Saddam was a great guy, just that the justification for going in was based on lies, and that now we have gone in, we've created a hell of a mess that has inflamed extremism across the globe.

Quote: DaButt @ January 14 2009, 2:43 PM GMT

How much press coverage did Obama get when he claimed that he's visited 57 states? Every schoolboy knows there are only 50, so can/should we now claim that he's a complete idiot?

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Yes.