There will be many exegeses of this week's "Meet the Prez". Here is but one of them.
The first half of the quote is what himself said; the second half is the fantasy slip-up we live to die for.
The Intel Commission: "The commission I set up, Tim, is one that will help future presidents understand how best to fight the war on terror, not a way for me to deflect criticism from my miserable failure in Iraq."
George Tenet: "First of all, I strongly believe the CIA is ably led by George Tenet. The fact that he has pics of me doing lines of coke is immaterial."
The 9/11 Commission: "We have given extraordinary cooperation with Chairmen Kean and Hamilton, except when they got too close to the stuff I'm covering up."
David Kay: " I expected there to be stockpiles of weapons. But David Kay has found the capacity to produce weapons: two air balloon machines, and some metal thingy buried in some guy's backyard."
Imminent Threat?: "I believe it is essential that when we see a threat, we deal with those threats before they become imminent. It's too late if they become imminent. For example, you might punch me in the nose, Tim. Therefore, I will kill you now."
Containment?: "Containment doesn't work with a man who is a madman, at least not for longer than twelve years. We've got 6 years left on Kim in North Korea."
Who Knew?: "I went to Congress with the same intelligence that my predecessor, what's his name, had. And all of us, except 25 Senators and 130 Congressmen and Howard Dean and millions of Americans and Europeans, made the judgment that Saddam Hussein needed to be removed."
Resolution 1441: "You remember U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441 clearly stated 'show us your arms and destroy them, or your programs and destroy them.' Saddam let the inspectors in, but he didn't say pretty please and show me his ass, so I attacked."
Rebuilding Iraq: "There is a lot of participation by the international community in restoring the infrastructure of Iraq that Saddam Hussein and we destroyed, countries like Kuwait."
Dead Soldiers: "For the parents of the soldiers who have fallen who are listening, David Kay, the weapons inspector, came back and said, 'In many ways Iraq is more dangerous than we thought, now that no one is in charge.' "
Why We Go to War: "We have found a responsibility to fight AIDS; oops, my brain just fried."
AWOL?: "I would be careful to not denigrate the Guard, like I did by not showing up for months on end."
Calling Gary Hart: "There may be no evidence on my serving in Alabama, but I did report; otherwise, I wouldn't have been honorably discharged. Go ahead, try and prove that I'm lying."
Balancing the Budget: "The budget I just proposed to the Congress cuts the deficit in half in five years, if you don't include a half trillion for Iraq and a half trillion for making my beloved tax cuts permanent."
Unemployment: "See, I'm more worried about the fellow looking for the job. That fellow is me."
Democrats Eat Babies: "They want to raise taxes of families with children, they want to increase the marriage penalty. They is like one guy from Vermont."
How do you know Bush is lying? His lips are moving.