Has anyone ever counted how many times Bush mentions September 11th, whether he's talking about terrorism elsewhere, Israel's bombing of Lebanon, hurricanes here, the economy, just about any subject?
Here's just a few examples of the insipid, infuriating repetition of only the past few months. Below the cut...
President Bush Discusses the Economy in Florida, July 31 (today):
"The current crisis is part of a larger struggle between the forces of freedom and the forces of terror in the Middle East. For decades, the status quo in the Middle East permitted tyranny and terror to thrive. And as we saw on September the 11th, the status quo in the Middle East led to death and destruction in the United States, and it had to change. So America is opposing the forces of terror and promoting the cause of democracy across the broader Middle East."
AND
" I know that people don't like to be reminded about the fact that there's still an enemy that lurks and plots and plans. But it's my job, a job that I really understood clearly on September the 11th."
AND
"Since September the 11th, we've provided $700 million in grants to enhance physical security at our ports, and the Port of Miami received about $25 million of those grants."
President Bush and Prime Minister Blair of the United Kingdom Participate in Press Availability, July 28th:
"But beneath the surface brewed a lot of resentment and anger that was manifested in its -- on September the 11th. And so we've taken a foreign policy that says, on the one hand, we will protect ourselves from further attack in the short-run by being aggressive and chasing down the killers and bringing them to justice"
AND Tony Blair helping with this reply:
"And what changed policy was September the 11th. That changed policy, but actually, before September the 11th this global movement with a global ideology was already in being. September the 11th was the culmination of what they wanted to do. But, actually -- and this is probably where the policymakers, such as myself, were truly in error -- is that even before September the 11th, this was happening in all sorts of different ways in different countries."
(FOUR TIMES in one statement!)
President Addresses the National Association of Manufacturers, July 27th:
"I'm sure you still remember the days of recession, stock market adjustment, corporate scandals, the terrorist attack of September the 11th, 2001 that still drives my foreign policy, the response of our government to defend ourselves; natural disaster, high energy prices. We've faced a lot."
AND
"And we'll spend resources to protect this homeland. September the 11th reminded us that we're no longer an island, that we can't assume problems overseas won't come home to hurt us."
President's radio address, July 29th:
"The lack of freedom in that region created conditions where anger and resentment grew, radicalism thrived, and terrorists found willing recruits. We saw the consequences on September the 11th, 2001, when terrorists brought death and destruction to our country, killing nearly 3,000 innocent Americans."
AND "The experience of September the 11th made it clear that we could no longer tolerate the status quo in the Middle East."
President's radio address upon the death of al-Zarqawi:
"Zarqawi had a long history of murder and bloodshed. Before September the 11th, 2001, he ran a camp in Afghanistan that trained terrorists -- until Coalition forces destroyed that camp."
Memorial day 2006, to West Point cadets:
"This weekend, I am visiting some of the brave men and women who will soon take their own place in the defense of our freedom -- the 2006 graduating class at West Point. This was the first class to arrive at West Point after the attacks of September the 11th, 2001."
President Discusses the American Competitiveness Initiative, May 2006:
"And it's important for you all to know that everyday that I wake up I think about the war on terror. I knew that after September the 11th -- and many of the decisions I make are based upon what happened on that day, September the 11, 2001."
May radio address, CIA and security:
"The enemies who struck our Nation on September the 11th, 2001, intend to attack us again, and to defeat them, we must have the best possible intelligence."
AND
" As the 9/11 Commission and others have noted, our government failed to connect the dots in the years before the attacks of September the 11th."
AND
"This terrorist surveillance program makes it more likely that killers like the 9/11 hijackers will be identified and located in time."
April, address, assorted issues:
"Since September the 11th, 2001, the men and women of our military have overthrown a cruel regime in Afghanistan, captured or killed many al Qaeda terrorists, liberated Iraq, and made America more secure from terrorist dangers. We're fighting the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here at home."
And that's just a few...