It's become more apparent to me since the third debate that Bush truly believes what he says about faith and belief. He clearly acts based on his faith.
The question is how to crystalize my revelation (and one that I think is shared by many others recently) into a clear message to the general public, especially people who still think that Bush's faith is a matter of political expediency or a show. Because it's not.
The concept I'm working on right now is to put together a list of quotes of unimpeachable origin demonstrating his sincere belief. Here (below) is what I have so far. I would love to have more and better.
general quotes
"I was, you talk about one guy in a bubble."
(Dec 2001, from Woodward) (are Woodward quotes still considered fair?)
No mistakes
"I just haven't - you just put me under the spot here, and - maybe I'm not quick, as quick on my feet as I should be in coming up with one."
(2004 press conference)
"'Did you make a mistake going into Iraq?' And the answer is, absolutely not. It was the right decision."
"I made some mistakes in appointing people."
(2004 debate 2)
doubt brings death
"I don't see how you can win in Iraq if you don't believe we should be there in the first place."
(2004, debate 2)
be firm in faith
"Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties."
(Mar 2003, from Pat Robertson) (not sure this one stands up to scrutiny)
"Going into this period, I was praying for strength to do the Lord's will. . . . I'm surely not going to justify the war based upon God. Understand that. Nevertheless, in my case, I pray to be as good a messenger of his will as possible." (source?)
Saddam the threat
"We held to account a terrorist regime in Saddam Hussein." (2004)
"Zarqawi's the best evidence of a connection to al Qaeda." (2004)
I am also looking for relevant quotations to juxtapose against Bush's quotes. So far I have:
juxtaposition
"This happened on my watch. It was a mistake."
(Ronald Reagan, Mar 1987)
(on doubt) (it's not a quote though) Stanislav Petrov, Sept 26, 1983 prevented World War III because he doubted USSR early warning systems.
"Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen."
(Hebrews 11:1)
simon woodside
aka http://simonwoodside.com
BTW I put toghether the Bush guard timeline you may not have seen - http://simonwoodside.com/weblog/2004/09/07