Postscripts: Bushspeak Update, First Half of 2008

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Bushspeak Update, First Half of 2008

QUOTABLE QUOTES

Apparently recognizing that his second term would soon run out, President George W. Bush made fewer public appearances during the first six months of 2008 and thus made fewer public-speaking gaffes. One might hope that this was a sign that he was listening more and speaking less. He was true to form, however, in the unintelligibility of those of his words expressed in Bushspeak during the first six months of 2008.

THE ECONOMY
"Let's make sure that there is certainty during uncertain times in our economy." Washington, D.C., June 2, 2008.

"We got plenty of money in Washington. What we need is more priority." Washington, D.C., June 2, 2008.

"And so the fact that they purchased the machine meant somebody had to make the machine. And when somebody makes a machine, it means there's jobs at the machine-making place." Said while visiting the Silverado Cable Co., Mesa, Ariz., May 27, 2008.

"We want people owning their home—we want people owning a businesses." Washington, D.C., April 18. 2008.

"Business leaders from many backgrounds, along with current and former senators, congressmans, mayors, diplomats, national security council people, Cabinet members from both parties—I emphasize, from both parties—support this agreement." Jacksonville, Fla., March 18. 2008.

POLITICS
"I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office." Washington, D.C., May 12, 2008.

"Let me start off by saying that in 2000 I said, 'Vote for me. I'm an agent of change.' In 2004, I said, 'I'm not interested in change—I want to continue as president.' Every candidate has got to say 'change.' That's what the American people expect." Washington, D.C., March 5, 2008.

"A lot of times in politics you have people look you in the eye and tell you what's not on their mind." Sochi, Russia, April 6, 2008.

DISASTERS
"And I, unfortunately, have been to too many disasters as president." Said while discussing flooding in the Midwest, Washington, D.C., June 17, 2008.

DEMOCRACY
"There is some who say that perhaps freedom is not universal. Maybe it's only Western people that can self-govern. Maybe it's only, you know, white-guy Methodists who are capable of self-government. I reject that notion." London, June 16, 2008.

HISTORY, IMPORTANCE OF "One of the things important about history is to remember the true history." Washington, D.C., June 6, 2008.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS
"We've got a lot of relations with countries in our neighborhood." Kranj, Slovenia, June 10, 2008.

"Take the Middle East seriously because that's the center of—that's the place where people get so despondent and despair that they're willing to come and take lives of U.S. citizens." On the advice he would give the next president, Washington, D.C., May 12, 2008.

"How can you possibly have an international agreement that's effective unless countries like China and India are not full participants?" Camp David, April 19, 2008.

"Oftentimes people ask me, 'Why is it that you're so focused on helping the hungry and diseased in strange parts of the world?' " Washington, D.C., April 18. 2008.

"Afghanistan is the most daring and ambition [sic] mission in the history of NATO." Bucharest, Romania, April 2, 2008.

"The United States has suffered terrorist attacks on its soil, as have Russia."Sochi, Russia, April 6, 2008.

"I thank the diplomatic corps, who is here as well." Washington, D.C., March 12, 2008.

"I'm oftentimes asked, ‘What difference does it make to America if people are dying of malaria in a place like Ghana?’ It means a lot. It means a lot morally, it means a lot from a—it's in our national interest." Accra, Ghana, Feb. 20, 2008.

"A clear lesson I learned in the museum was that outside forces that tend to divide people up inside their country are unbelievably counterproductive." Said after touring a genocide memorial, Kigali, Rwanda, Feb. 19, 2008.

"I can press when there needs to be pressed; I can hold hands when there needs to be—hold hands." On what he can contribute to the Middle East peace process, Washington, D.C., Jan. 4, 2008.

IRAQ WAR
"Removing Saddam Hussein was the right decision early in my presidency, it is the right decision now, and it will be the right decision ever." Washington, D.C., March 12, 2008.

MILITARY AFFAIRS
"Soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, and Coastmen—Coast Guardmen, thanks for coming, thanks for wearing the uniform." The Pentagon, March 19, 2008.

"And so, General, I want to thank you for your service. And I appreciate the fact that you really snatched defeat out of the jaws of those who are trying to defeat us in Iraq." Meeting with U.S. Army Gen. Raymond Odierno, Washington, D.C., March 3, 2008.

CULINARY PRAISE
"The German asparagus are fabulous." Said at Schloss Meseberg, in Meseberg, Germany, June 11, 2008.

"First, "I want to tell you how proud I am to be the president of a nation that--in which there's a lot of Philippine Americans. They love America and they love their heritage. I am reminded of the great talent of the--of our Philippine-Americans when I eat dinner at the White House. . . . And the chef is a great person and a really good cook, by the way, Madame President." Said in Washington, D.C., June 24, 2008, to Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo about Philippine-born White House Chef Cristeta "Cris" Comerford, a natualized American citizen who studied culinary arts in the Philippines, Austria and the U.S.

A complete collection of all Bushspeak articles can be found at the following links: