This is sure to one of hundreds of diaries over the next few days taking Bush to task over his dramatically underwhelming speech to the nation on Wednesday eve.
As one of the commenters said on NPR after the speech, "this is 'stay the course' with 20,000 more troops."
But what stuck out to me, among many things, was how Bush avoided responsibility (of course) while trying to make it seem that he was standing up like a big man. But that wasn't all of course.
And we do the jump.
Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me
Note that HE didn't make the mistakes.
He might as well have said, "Well, technically I AM in charge, so it's my responsibility when anyone under my command makes a mistake. Did you hear that? I'm taking responsibility! Where's my pat on the back? Dad?"
There were not enough Iraqi and American troops to secure neighborhoods that had been cleared of terrorists and insurgents, and there were too many restrictions on the troops we did have. Our military commanders reviewed the new Iraqi plan to ensure that it addressed these mistakes. They report that it does. They also report that this plan can work.
Let's divy this up into its two natural parts. "...not enough Iraqi and American troops..." Got that? By slipping the Iraqis in there, it brings in something perceived to be out of his control, a random element. It's not just "not enough American troops," that would be his fault. Throw the Iraqis in there and well, those crazy brown people, they're so hard to manage. Not my fault!
The sesond part? Our military comanders reviewed the plan and THEY said it would work. So if it doesn't, NOT MY FAULT!
Oh yeah, a little BS alert served on the side for you!
Prime Minister Maliki has pledged that political or sectarian interference will not be tolerated
Really?! How the hell is he going to do that? Fiat? Bad sectarian interference!
And in the "So you're telling me that this hasn't been done?" department.
the government will reform de-Baathification laws and establish a fair process for considering amendments to Iraq's constitution.
But I thought we already reformed the de-Baathification crap! And "establish a fair process for considering amendments??" What? Are you telling me that the miraculous and amazing constitution didn't already provide for this?? It wasn't fair before?? So George, it's either new and improved? So the previous version sucked? Is that what you mean George?
Okay, ultra, ULTRA BS alert!!
America's men and women in uniform took away al Qaeda's safe haven in Afghanistan
Exsqueeze me?? Did you get this out of the Anne Coulter "Afghanistan is going swimmingly" school of I DON'T HAVE A FREAKIN CLUE??
Oh, oh oh, here's one of my FAVORITE Bushisms!!
"Countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and the Gulf states need to understand..."
Yeah, THEY gotta understand! Cause well, GW understands everything and is infallible, and if someone doesn't agree with him, then they obviously DO NOT UNDERSTAND!! Keep an ear open for that one. He uses it a lot. I really loved it when after the torture photos emerged, he said that the "Iraqis have to understand..." Yeah, that's great George. They love the lecture. First we torture, then we lecture. Works great!!
Okay, okay, and here we have revisionist RIGHT NOW!
From Afghanistan to Lebanon to the Palestinian territories, millions of ordinary people are sick of the violence, . . . They want to know: Will America withdraw and yield the future of that country to the extremists - or will we stand with the Iraqis who have made the choice for freedom?
Actually NO George. They want us the fuck out of the Middle East. Pretty plain as day.
Snark alert.
Let me be clear: The terrorists and insurgents in Iraq are without conscience
Right, and they have horns and tails and actually laugh when their parents, children and friends die. Yup, one dimensional villians. Gotta love 'em.
Oh, and in the Joseph Heller, Catch 22 tradition, we have!
If we increase our support at this crucial moment, and help the Iraqis break the current cycle of violence, we can hasten the day our troops begin coming home.
You see, if we keep our troops there longer, we'll get them home sooner. Or perhaps you could look at the possible inverse. If we brought them home sooner, they'd have to stay longer! ???
And I gotta tug at the heart strings. Hmmmm. Oh yeah, mention the sacrifice of noble Americans. You got that? Good. So George, where is Jenna these days?? Partying it up? Shopping for that new ranch-o-exile in South America?
Oh and how do we wrap this up?
I encourage you all to go shopping more.
Oh sorry, wrong speech.