Bush Press Conference

I'm not sure just what this means except that the Democrats had better push the withdrawl button as hard as they can because, if the people think this war will continue into the next administration, they are more likely to vote for a Republican. Especially if that Republican is John McCain who is currently favoured. From this article in WaPo.

President Bush acknowledged yesterday that the war in Iraq is dominating nearly every aspect of his presidency, and he served notice for the first time that he expects the decision on when all U.S. troops come home to fall on his successors.

Then Bush went on to say one of the most stunningly insipid things he has ever uttered.

"Nobody likes war," Bush said. "It creates a sense of uncertainty in the country."

No shit.

He followed with this write-off of Republican critics.

Bush dismissed the rising chorus of Republican criticism as election-year jitters. "There's a certain unease as you head into an election year," he said.

No sir, they are criticizing you because you're an idiot and making stupid decisions. You are destroying everything America stands for, slaughtering thousands of Iraqis in an illegal war, most of whom are innocents, and bringing US closer and closer to a major war if not World War III.

The WaPo article goes on to say.

The offensive [in this news conference] comes as a string of polls have shown that less than 40 percent of Americans approve of the Bush presidency and that a growing number no longer trust him.

Technically you are being generous. The range of polls pretty much average out to the mid-thirty percent range.

Oops. Here comes another stunningly insipid statement.

"I understand people being disheartened when they turn on their TV screen," Bush said, adding that "nobody likes beheadings" and other grim images.

So we just won't show them to you. We're always there to protect you.

By the way, most American's probably don't like beheadings, but al Qaeda seems to love them.

Bush said he disagrees with former Iraqi prime minister Ayad Allawi, a man who had been handpicked by his administration, and others who say that the country is already engaged in a civil war in which dozens of people are killed each day. "The way I look at the situation," Bush said, "the Iraqis took a look and decided not to go to civil war." If a civil war erupts, he said, Iraqi forces will be in charge of ending it, with assistance from U.S. troops.

Obviously Iraq is in a civil war. Nobody stood back and said, “Hey, we don't want no civil war so we just ain't gonna have none.” And it is also obvious the Iraqi forces couldn't contain an outbreak of violence at a football game.

But Bush rejected the notion that his Iraq policy is based on wishful thinking. "I say that I am talking realistically to people," he said.

Bush wouldn't know reality if it was sucking his dick. What is it with this constant "Are you gonna believe your eyes?" shit? Don't fart in my face and tell me the Calla Lillies (picture above) are in bloom.

Moments later, he said the reason U.S. forces went to Iraq was to "make sure we didn't allow people to provide safe haven to an enemy." Since the invasion, Bush has emphasized different rationales for the Iraq invasion, such as the need to topple a dangerous dictator and to eliminate weapons of mass destruction, which have yet to be found.

Thanks for doing your job by not letting that little change of rational go commented.

Surprisingly Bush finally, sort of, admitted he had made a possible mistake. When asked by Helen Thomas about his shifting rationales for the war Bush said.

"I really didn't regret it," he said. "I kind of semi-regretted it."

Then he did two interesting things. He mentioned Sen Russ Feingold's (D-leader) call for censure. This shows, obviously to me, the Republicans are scared of it. Why even mention it if it a trifle? Then he admitted someone has to stop his NSA spying program because he intends to continue it.

He dismissed as "needless partisanship" calls by Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) to censure the president for authorizing the secret National Security Agency spying program, which involves eavesdropping on U.S. citizens. Telegraphing the GOP's election plan to portray Democrats as weak on terrorism, Bush dared his opponents to campaign in the 2006 elections on a platform that includes eliminating the spying program.

"They ought to take their message to the people and say, 'Vote for me, I promise we're not going to have a terrorist surveillance program,' " he said. Bush also taunted those Democrats who opposed the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act, the law that provides the government with broad surveillance powers: "If that's what the party believes, they ought to go around the country saying we shouldn't give the people on the front line of protecting us the tools necessary to do so." No Democrat has made such a statement.

Thanks again for doing your job

With the stock market up and unemployment down, Bush repeatedly said the economy is strong, despite concerns about rising inflation. He blamed the federal debt, which has ballooned from $5.7 trillion when he took office to more than $8.2 trillion under his watch, on mandatory government spending for entitlement programs such as Medicare. He did not mention that his prescription drug plan for Medicare is projected to add hundreds of billions of dollars to the debt, or that federal spending has grown by more than 25 percent since he took office.

Ok, WaPo, you finally blew it. You didn't even mention the illegal war that has added billions directly to the debt and indirectly will add billions more.

(all emphasis mine)