“I had a sickening feeling every time I thought about it. I still do.” That’s how George W. Bush referred to the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in his new book Decision Points. The quote is featured in Time magazine’s Verbatim section (11/15/10), and has been discussed pretty widely.
This is an interesting claim.When Bush appeared at the Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner on March 23, 2004, his sickening feeling was gone–and replaced by his funny bone . Bush’s speech included a routine where he joked about the fruitless search for Iraq’s deadly weapons, showing slides where administration officials hunted around the White House offices for the weapons. (You can see a partial video of that speechhere or here;both include commentary critical of Bush.)
The media reaction at the time, as FAIR noted (Extra!, 5-6/04), was to defend Bush’s jokes–the L.A. Times had an editorial called “Commander in Comedy.” Washington Post reporter Ceci Connolly said, “You know, trying to be funny at these things is so difficult, and he is quite good at it. I mean, he really is very good at self-deprecating humor. The pictures were funny. I laughed at the photos. I mean, he looks goofy, and he’s got that great deadpan delivery.” You can bet few media outlets will recall this now.
And since they’re emblematic of a corpress in bed with mass murderers (and doing really gross things under the sheets to them), I get a sickening feeling reading Connolly’s comments.
And there’s really nothing you can take for that.
Isn’t it just that he wishes there actually were WMD’s so that it would be even more funny?
Any mention of how he feels about Stephen Colbert?
It is really very, very, very sad to think of the millions of lives lost, maimed and disfunctional because one man was looking for something the corporations and Israel told him to go after. (Not for one second do I believe he did anything rove and cheney didn’t think up first.
What about all the dead , wounded and NUCULAR-CONTAMINATED Iraqi children, women and men, as Ill as Bush’s DUPES? Can no Fair BLOGGER BEAT The Bushs and get the Goods On THEM to put ‘EM AWAY For Good of US ALL?
When does this madman get held responsible for the lives of many thousands of innocent Iraqis? Not to mention the total destruction of the country.
Sickening.
Unfortunately, no, Vic. The Bushes (everyone of them in that massively disfunctional family) can pretty much do what they want, as we have seen. It’s a bad joke, and perfectly illustrates how the major media bend over backwards to either ignore the crimes Dubya committed, or kiss his sorry ass. (Check out the Oprah Winfrey interview, in which either the producers of the show, or likely Bush’s “people,” provided lousy inspirational music and on-screen text snippets of the lies Dubya had his ghost-writer commit to the page.) Bush, Cheney, et. al. will never spend a day in jail, unless they happen to visit a civilized country that takes the laws of men and God seriously. It sure ain’t gonna happen here. It’s sickening to see this lying, sociopathic numbskull pathetically try to re-write history, but there’s nothing we can do, short of protesting outside of the places that he visits. It’ll all be past us in less than a month, his “memoirs” safely ensconced in Borders’ cut-out bins or propping up rickety furniture or old beds, so we have that to look forward to.
Plenty has been written and said about Dubya’a current round of lying, and his justfications for all the law-breaking, so there’s no point in getting into it here. Thanks to FAIR (I think!) for a reminder of that outrageous episode in 2004, when the President made a joke about the mass-murder he started, and the press corp yukked it up, right on cue, his yes-men and women now and forever, amen.
The right thing to do with GW Bush & Co is reopen investigation of 11 Sept 2001, and the 2000 election before it.
In response to TimN: Yes, Amen and Amen!
I wonder when, if ever, some future president will apologise for what the United States did in the name of imperialistic huberous. I queston, considering the current state of the nation, both economically and morally, if, by then, the rest of the world will even give a damn.
Cant think of any jokes, about any wars, that are in good taste.
I recognize a peculiar twisted humor in the ability of Bush, Connelly, the audience at the correspondents’ dinner, and the jailers of Abu Ghraib — that giddiness of drunken fraternity boys on Saturday night that allows them to laugh at deadly serious, morally corrupt situations. Soldiers died looking for the nonexistent WMDs. Real funny. Innocent human beings were humiliated and terrorized and thereby set on lifelong paths of revenge that will cause death and destruction. Hilarious. When Bush says he was “sickened”, what does the slight tremor in the corner of his mouth indicate? That he is lying about his initial response? That he is suppressing the urge to laugh? The problem is these people carry out policy and write columns when they are ostensibly sober.
That’s OK, George. I had a sickening feeling every time I thought about the eight years you were in office. I still do.
While Bush seems to be getting away with his horrific crimes, that’s only an illusion. Those of you who believe only in this physical world, and think that this is the only lifetime we have, will not agree with me that Bush is being severely punished now and for a long time to come. For those of us who know that karma is real and relentless, and that Bush will carry his heavy load into future incarnations, justice is being served, with the punishment exactly fitting the crime. Universal law is being carried out, not just with Bush, but with every one of us, and while there seems to be no justice in this world, rest assured that justice is written into our very DNA. And so, let us be very careful what kind of bread we cast into the waters.
Ceci Connolly, for reasons known only to her, was the Washington Post reporter who did the most to hold Al Gore up to ridicule during the 2000 campaign. So it is hardly surprising that she would have found Bush’s antics regarding missing WMDs to be oh so amusing. If you will recall, it was only a few short years after this that Stephen Colbert made his appearance at the Correspondents Dinner where he, in his deadpan way, flayed the assembled journalists and politicians as being a single organism of inside the Beltway complacency. So the next year, they invited Rich Little to provide the entertainment, much to Ceci Connolly’s relief, I’m sure.
Jack Purdey. Is there any video available for the Steven Colbert appearance at the correspondence Dinner? I’ve heard about it but never seen it. If you, or anyone else knows of a link I’d appreciate it Thanks.
“Thanks to FAIR (I think!) for a reminder of that outrageous episode in 2004, when the President made a joke about the mass-murder he started, and the press corp yukked it up, right on cue, his yes-men and women now and forever, amen.”
This. Completely this. The so-called liberal media has completely failed to call bullshit on his claim, consigning this incident to the memory hole. If C-Plus Augustus gets any kind of “sickening feeling” about the absence of WMDs in Iraq, it’s the very real fear that someday, the American people will catch on, and he’ll have justice inflicted on him in this lifetime. (Meaning no disrespect for generiae, but if the Empty Suit’s at all aware of any karmic penalty accruing from his sins, he bears the discomfort with remarkable fortitude.)
Genierae: While I don’t believe in reincarnation, I do believe in cosmic and divine justice, and agree with you that GWB will have to answer for his actions. It would feel really good to see it happen on this plane. I have no great hope of that, however….
One of the FAIR stories today slaps the hands of the right for wishing bad things to happen to those on the left.What i am hearing on these blogs is that you not only want Bush to pay the ultimate price in this world for what you believe are his crimes….but also in the next.You are the lowest load of hypocrites I have ever seen.
As a hypocrite I resent Michael being so self righteous, but he has a right, right.
Michael, it is not a matter of wanting him to suffer in the next world, it is a matter of karma. What I want is for Bush to face, in this life, the consequences of his actions. His illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq caused the brutal deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, including thousands of children. THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN! He destroyed an entire country because of his ignorance and this is not what I believe, it is reality. He also corrupted and decimated every government department, and deregulation thrived during his administration, leading to our present economic disaster. This is only part of the damage that Bush and co. visited on the American people, there is not enough space here to tell the full story of his crimes. When you support and defend a criminal, you encourage his evil.
More than 1,300,000 Iraqis and more than 600 American GIs died in this armed aggression, but to THE BUSH THAT’S A LAUGHING MATTER, something to joke about, to poke fun at. The bush is one sick puppy, ONE VERY SICK INTERNATIONAL WAR CRIMINAL, and his crime is simply not going to disappear but will haunt America for centuries just as the holocaust has haunted Germany for more than half a century.
The only hope I see rests in some Third World Country that has a leader with moral convictions and the courage to arrest and try our homegrown Nazi: george w bush or the bush. (Vegetative matter)
In our lifetime it is possible to come face-to-face with pure evil, and that dear reader is the bush.
Stephen Colbert at the White House Press Correspondents’ Dinner –
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=stephen+colbert+white+house+press+correspondents+dinner&aq=2
Thanks for the link, Judy. Too true to be funny, but well done.
Actually the WMD is not the only issue to start the illegal war in Iraq. I feel for the common American, who is being drowned with false information from the media and false promos from the Government. It is clear the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were executed by false pretense to loot their natural resources and keep military bases to effectively control the Middle East. These wars are clear examples of state terrorism, by misusing UN. Bush and Blair are war criminals.
Genierae and frank,,,,first lets not give any strength to the charges you level against Bush, as if what you say can just be taken for granted.It is akin to blaming Roosevelt and churchill for the 50 million deaths of WW2 as if there were no other players.It is true their hands moved forward every death we experienced.To act as if it happened in a vacuum is loony.Historically it is so skewed that you would have us(and your children) believe Bush would next of invaded Switzerland for the hell of it.SAddam…there is a name and Bio you have not read.Please do.You may see what real evil looks like.An evil no longer inflicted on Iraq and the world, because of George Bush.Not that that would add into your thoughts.But consider it.Bush waterboarded up to 10 people(something I was repulsed by).Saddam hacked untold thousands into mincemeat,and in fact used to take his kids to watch- for a Sunday outing.He gassed untold numbers.He and his sons killed million when you factor in Iran.Your moral equivalency is startling.You brand Bush a torturer yet miss good ol Saddam.I understand this sickness of blame America first- but really you stretch the realm of believability in your re-write of history.
THe present economic disaster???Did you leave out Fanny and Freddy.?Something I spoke against for 10 years in countless speeches.I used to end with..”When this liberal socialist nightmare collapses everything will follow…and they will blame you.”Barney Franks told me it was well funded and I called him a liar.Bush(the idiot)tried 27 times to regulate it.The (brilliant)Dems fought him down everytime.This was the match that lit all that followed. Deregulation was the instrument of vultures who came after to feed on the dead.So please…. again you leave out the other side of the coin.
Many today see Obama as the greatest evil the world has ever seen.With a goal of pulling the entire world down.Is it true?No…I would simply say he is wrong as Bush was.And like an elephant in a world/room of eggs they stomp about.
I see that ‘michael e’ is our resident troll.
Moderator: Would you please deal with this asshole!
He adds nothing constructive to the discussion.
He is only here to trot out tired repug talking points.
It is never useful to have a surrogate ‘Frank Luntz” in a discussion.
A lot of electrons are wasted and the topic you write about gets lost
attempting in all earnest to educate this human skid mark.
He is, as are most of his contemporaries, uneducable.
He only wishes to frame the debate.
Isn’t having an unframed debate what this site was purportedly for?
I used to enjoy this forum as place where intelligent discussion could follow the exposure of the
mass media brainwashing. If trolls can not be dealt with effectively, then this forum no longer has any appeal to those of us wishing to get beneath the lies and spin form the PTB and its minions. We are just subjected to more of the same.
If I, and many others, unsubscribe because of this disruptor, then he has accomplished his goal and you have failed to achieve your goal of informing and educating.
It is decision time, you’re at bat, what are you going to do?
Michael E. You are in the wrong neighborhood to spout such ignorance, and I am not going to waste my time trying to enlighten someone who is not open to the truth. Most of the people who subscribe to Fair are not vulnerable to your hate speech, and so you are shouting into the wind, your hate blows back upon you.
I agree that people who come to a website in order to denounce it and those who read it rarely arrive with a sense of openmindedness. But I disagree that they bring nothing to the discussion; it’s my impression that these comment threads have a lot more conversation–including substantive discussion–in them now than they did before the trolling began.
Ben FAIR is not about unframed debate.It is completely framed and hemmed in by a left leaning viewpoint.You call people Trolls and ask “moderators” to silence them because only “your” viewpoint educates.You elitism in showing Ben.And look around you.That viewpoint has been transcended. You can’t just float nonsense and be greeted by acquiescence anymore.
Generieae no hate what so ever intended.I am no Bush fan but these historical retrospectives that are fiction at best -for the sake of hate…….sorry somebody has to speak up.
SAdly most of the Fair bloggers i have read are very vulnerable to hate speech.I have been to 5 Tea party rallies and never heard a word of hatred.Evert blog here usually reeks of it.Classic liberal role playing.
Generieae…Another point. George Bushes book is number one in the world today.Sarah Palin’s Alaska debuted to amazing numbers, and looks like a hit. People are putting aside their hate . Your sides hard wrk at manufacturing that hatred- far and above policy differences has fallen short of your designs. Will you put aside your hate?Will the people in FAIR put aside their derision?People here will read that book. Fodder for their attacks. People here will watch Sarahs show.To better attack her. Which side is it that has this entrenched hatred….please remind me?
I had a sickening feeling the entire time Bush was president. I still do when I think about it. The fact that Bush thought it was funny that he invaded another country by mistake shows how shallow and uncaring he is. Or if he really invaded Iraq for the oil, it’s even worse – trading lives for profit. I’ve never known for sure if he was really that stupid and ignorant or really that evil, but in the end it doesn’t matter. It’s tragic that he was president for 8 years. One of the worst things that ever occured in the history of the United States was when the Supreme Court appointed Bush president. Almost as bad was the lying, voter purging, and vote rigging that kept him in power for another term.
Michael e, come on, you must be joking! The right-wing doesn’t have a monopoly on hate, but it’s pretty close. They are also pro-death in practically every way, except abortion. They love war, hate the environment, love the death penalty, want to get rid of social security and medicare so our older people will suffer and die, they take money from the middle class and poor and give it to the rich, their economic policies always ruin the economy, I could go on and on. What is there to like, I ask you?
Brian utter nonsense.Just as bad as those who believe Obama is a communist plant out to destroy the world.
“thank god for stupid white people.”
I wonder if people like Michael E are educable.It is possible that he read entire articles, except maybe the big words, and was incapable of drawing any meaning from it.
His reliance on polemic talking points, that don’t pass the smell test for logic, reason, or evidence, indicates an inability to discern fact from fiction.
I have a TP/Tin Foil Hat (TFH) brother who believes in things that are not real. Two years of trying to usher him onto this side of the looking glass has not resulted in much movement. He still, like the Queen in ‘Alice in Wonderland’ believes in six impossible things before breakfast.”
Stupid people will be the death of us.
I have no problem having an intelligent debate with reasonable people I disagree with. What I find increasingly difficult to is tolerate the ignorance and immaturity of people like Michael E. Those that believe that they are entitled to their own set of facts are incapable of having an adult conversation. When confronted with their own inability to conduct themselves on this side of the looking glass, like children, they just yell louder and repeat whatever they are saying to make their argument.
This is akin to yelling “F@%k You” in a high school debate competition and then smugly believing that you have won the debate with a salient argument.
Perhaps it is impossible for those of us with an IQ over 80 points to bring these people along. They may simply live out their entire live in abysmal ignorance. I will not debate any points they try to make until I am convinced that they have matured enough to have an adult conversation. Until then, debating them is akin to debating the town drunk or the guy that endlessly talks to himself on the street at high decibel levels with imaginary audiences.
If this seems smug, so be it. I used to be one of these ignorant, gullible rubes. I grew tired of my own ignorance and got an education. I recommend this path to Michael E and anyone else spouting similar TP talking points. Being eternally stupid is not a worthy life ambition.
Ben you may call me Dr instead of a stupid white person.Harvard is a good place to be educated i always thought.IQ is 147…. and sometimes if i am brief it is just exasperation at the angry little perceptions people retread with endless, boundless joy.So in some ways “RIGHT BACK AT YA”would cover my feelings toward you.
Ps expect Rush to get himself into trouble today(see how well i know your side).It will be a repeat of the last situation that got him into trouble with good ol Donavan.Today the Philly press as well as the nation sports press is awash in being stunned at the Mcnabb contract.Many have stated it is a knee jerk reaction to the Redskins being called racists last week in his benching.It is such a stupid argument but as rush did last time……He will report on this….. and HE will be seen as generating the story.He will take all the flak.Lets just see who is right.
If what you say is true, I’m ever so glad that I’ve never bothered to join Mensa. I’ve always known it’s not the brainpower, but how you use it that counts. You use what’s yours for you, it appears; most of US here use what we have for what’s best for all of us now and into the future. I still tend to think that an “intellegent fundamentalist”, in today’s world of Scientific knowledge that any bright mind can comprehend with a little bit of independent research, is a contradiction in terms. Happy Fantisies.
nellevad if what you say is true……..then only hard core libs who walk and think in lockstep are intelligent enough to care about “all of us now and into the future”.Cynical elitism.Do a 180….We need more alternative viewpoints(not only mine)on Fair.WE have enough of this singular thought process that is fundamental progressive clap trap.All the lemmings flowing in one direction…over a cliff