Dubya gaffe alert!

[happygrump]

Looks like George W. is at it again.

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we," he said. "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

from The Independent.

Yea, this'll run on Fox too, I'll bet.

The poor guy is starting to remind me of the scarecrow on the Wizard of Oz: If I only had a brain...

 

[Quest4Less]

The statement makes sense.... in order to stop something from happening, you have to try to think of all the ways it could happen, so you can plan a defense. Seems logical to me.

 

[Manji]

It does make sense if you think about it.
But he should been more careful on how he phrased it and now Bush is going to get humiliated for his badly worded rhetoric.
In this age of soundbites and clips (and comedy news shows); that little gaff is going to explode in the media.
George W. just provided a perfect little segment for a Kerry ad!!

 

[Goober Mcfly]

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we," he said. "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

Not the best sentence structure, but I wouldn't classify this as a true "Bushism".

 

[happygrump]

What I can't figure is, Where are his people? I mean, anyone can make a mistake, so I don't necessarily begrudge the guy a simple grammatical screwup, but jeez... this guy's POTUS. Doesn't he have people to coach him? Doesn't he run rehearsals of press conferences like every responsible public figure? Even his own cabinet just basically seem to roll their eyes whenever he opens his mouth...

The United States of America is the most powerful, richest and most influential country and imperial power in the history of the planet. The people of the US are smart, hard-working, maybe a little isolationist and fundamentalist than I'd prefer, but basically they're decent and honourable people.

Why, fercryinoutloud, do they not have the best and brightest running for the highest office in the land? Where is the legacy of Lincoln, Jefferson, Clinton, Kennedy and FDR???

</goes into corner and cries>

 

[ocean976124]

It can't hurt Bush because every American knows he is not a good speaker. That was an issue in the last election but the Bush camp beat it by embracing it. There's nothing Americans hate more than the guy who says, "Hey look at me, I'm the smartest guy in the class!" By embracing his lack of "polish" he's able to spin his image as a straight shooter who isn't carefully scripted and looking down his nose.
Thus, for the Dems to attack him on it, they look elitist, snobish, and too carefully scripted to be sincere. Gore tried it and found it only made him look bad...

 

[happygrump]

It can't hurt Bush because every American knows he is not a good speaker...

Oh, I don't know about that. Say what you will about Americans, but they're certainly not stupid. IMO, I'd like a leader who can actually use the language without stumbling over himself. After all, the leader is the face of the nation to the rest of the world and at home.

Being a good speaker got Churchill, FDR, Clinton and (yes) Nixon elected, among others. In modern times, the only poor speaker that I know of who ever got elected to national office was Chretien, but that's probably because the opposition (conservatives/reform/alliance/whatever they're called this week), in true conservative "Me-First" style, was too busy stabbing each other in the back to get their act together.

 

[danmand]

I would imagine that people in the US and the rest of the world care less about Bush's speaking abilities than about his intelligence and judgement.

 

[onthebottom]

It can't hurt Bush because every American knows he is not a good speaker. That was an issue in the last election but the Bush camp beat it by embracing it. There's nothing Americans hate more than the guy who says, "Hey look at me, I'm the smartest guy in the class!" By embracing his lack of "polish" he's able to spin his image as a straight shooter who isn't carefully scripted and looking down his nose.
Thus, for the Dems to attack him on it, they look elitist, snobish, and too carefully scripted to be sincere. Gore tried it and found it only made him look bad...

This is spot on, while the NPR crowd will jump on it the swing voter in the Midwest states that matter will both know what he meant and agree with it.

You didn't have to make Gore look bad, he did a better job all by him self that you ever could do (inventor of the internet.....).

OTB

 

[happygrump]

It can't hurt Bush because every American knows he is not a good speaker. That was an issue in the last election but the Bush camp beat it by embracing it. There's nothing Americans hate more than the guy who says, "Hey look at me, I'm the smartest guy in the class!" By embracing his lack of "polish" he's able to spin his image as a straight shooter who isn't carefully scripted and looking down his nose.
Thus, for the Dems to attack him on it, they look elitist, snobish, and too carefully scripted to be sincere. Gore tried it and found it only made him look bad...

OK, help me out here: Both Bush and Kerry are highly educated men. Both are "skull and bones" people. Both aspire to high office. Both make their living by using the language to inspire, encourage and persuade.

So... when Kerry makes a gaffe, the right is all over him like flies on poop. But when Bush screws up, it's seen as a strength?

Double standards: The last refuge of the truly desperate.

This is spot on, while the NPR crowd will jump on it...

By NPR (National Public Radio) crowd, do you mean intelligent?

 

[happygrump]

You didn't have to make Gore look bad, he did a better job all by him self that you ever could do (inventor of the internet.....).

OTB

And he STILL beat Bush, except the election in Florida was rigged. So what does that say??

 

[Manji]

The number of gaffes/slip ups Bush makes is unbelievable.
Remember the "shame on me" gaffe. Anybody remember the exact quote? I thought his head was going to explode trying to figure that saying out.

I have to admit, in terms of comedic value; I love seeing George W. speak. Whenever he ad libs some sort of statement/comment; you can tell he is so proud of himself and that silly ass grin comes out.
I laugh every time.

In regards to Kerry and Bush being treated differently, its just the amount of money that are at their disposal. The Bush team has so much money to put into the media that they can spin anything and Bush comes out smelling like roses.

Look at the past four years. Why were there no special investigations into Bush's shenanigans as there were for Clinton?
If Clinton (and his cabinet) did anything close to what the Bush team did they would have been impeached or charged without delay.

Some of the stuff Bush and his cabinet got away with:
Neglecting Osama Bin Laden, The false statements of Weapons of Mass Destruction, the mishandling of post-war Iraq, the handing out of contracts to Halliburtion and other corporations close to the Bush and his cabinet, the cover-up regarding Bush's cocaine use; the cover up regarding Bush's military service, Bush's relationship with Ken Lay (or Kenny Boy) .....

That's just the ones that I can think of right now!!!

 

[Flower]

Manji!

I have to admit, in terms of comedic value; I love seeing George W. speak. Whenever he ad libs some sort of statement/comment; you can tell he is so proud of himself and that silly ass grin comes out.
I laugh every time.

LMAO ~ I agree! And with the rest of your post too! Alas, I shouldn't be laughing as it's really sad

 

[onthebottom]

By NPR (National Public Radio) crowd, do you mean intelligent?

No, just left leaning elitist - but hey I spend more time listening to NPR then I do watching TV so I guess that applies to me as well. It takes a certain amount of fortitude to listen to Terry Gross introduce a guest as a Conservative..... after every break but never use the L word when introducing someone - oh well.

OTB

 

[onthebottom]

And he STILL beat Bush, except the election in Florida was rigged. So what does that say??

Ah, no, you will recall there was a recount in FLA and Bush won by a staggering 500 or so votes.

OTB

 

[happygrump]

Ah, no, you will recall there was a recount in FLA and Bush won by a staggering 500 or so votes.

OTB

Yes, there was a recount, under Jeb his brother and what's-her-name his campaign manager, which eventually ended up going to daddy's appointed Supreme Court. Oh, and by the way, thousands of eligible voters were left off the voters lists, thanks to Republican-passed electoral laws. Now, call me crazy if you wish (it's been done before), but I go by the "duck" theory. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck. Just replace the word "duck" with the word "fraud."

BTW... I can't get NPR here, just CBC, which, I suppose, is relatively similar. Both insist that listeners have a brain. However, when the term "liberal" is used here, it usually refers to a specific party. Same with "conservative." Both are used with a sense of pride, as they should be, regardless of whichever end of the political spectrum one subscribes to at the moment.

 

[ocean976124]

Oh, I don't know about that. Say what you will about Americans, but they're certainly not stupid. IMO, I'd like a leader who can actually use the language without stumbling over himself. After all, the leader is the face of the nation to the rest of the world and at home.

True, but as I was trying to say: its an old issue. Americans already know this about Bush. The fact that it happened again won't matter to most people. I can't see an American voter saying, "Gee, I knew Bush was a horrible public speaker and was going to support him but since he made a gaffe today I've changed my mind."

 

[ocean976124]

So... when Kerry makes a gaffe, the right is all over him like flies on poop. But when Bush screws up, it's seen as a strength?

Double standards: The last refuge of the truly desperate.

Huh? I never mentioned Kerry. So, I think attacking a strawman is the last refuge of the truly desperate.
BTW, when Bush screws up it is jumped on by the left. So that game is basically even, when each candidate screws up the other side jumps on it.
I never said Bush's speaking inability is a strength. What I said was it doesn't hurt him. Then I said that since Bush has embraced his lack of speaking ability and actually has made public comments making fun of himself its a dead issue. For the Dems to go after him on it makes them look snooty in the eyes of the public. Is that right? No, but its the way things are...

 

[ocean976124]

Yes, there was a recount, under Jeb his brother and what's-her-name his campaign manager, which eventually ended up going to daddy's appointed Supreme Court. Oh, and by the way, thousands of eligible voters were left off the voters lists, thanks to Republican-passed electoral laws. Now, call me crazy if you wish (it's been done before), but I go by the "duck" theory. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck. Just replace the word "duck" with the word "fraud."

Please, grand conspiracy theories require grand proof. The people according to the law conducted the recount and those people had also been previously elected by the people of Florida to hold those positions...

 

[onthebottom]

Yes, there was a recount, under Jeb his brother and what's-her-name his campaign manager, which eventually ended up going to daddy's appointed Supreme Court. Oh, and by the way, thousands of eligible voters were left off the voters lists, thanks to Republican-passed electoral laws. Now, call me crazy if you wish (it's been done before), but I go by the "duck" theory. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck. Just replace the word "duck" with the word "fraud."

...

And then after the Supreme Court ruling there was an unofficial recount (by a news paper I think) and Bush still won.

And as for election laws in Florida, the Democrats are working to get convicted felons on the voting rolls - the party of criminals?

OTB