Faced with a mildly hostile Congress, record disapproval ratings and leading a war that is going miserably, what is a President to do? Well, if you are George Bush you might want to say something stupid to deflect people from the problems you've created. There are plenty of "bushisms" out there already, but he decided to add another. Here's today's quote and to be fair, the context of it as well.
From RawStory:
REPORTER: Mr. President, you came down so hard on Burma and other nations for their crackdowns on pro-democracy demonstrators, yet you seem to be giving Musharraf a pass. So, the question is: Why are you going so soft on Musharraf? Is there a double-standard?
BUSH: I spoke to President Musharraf right before I came over here to visit President Sarkozy, and, uh, my message was that we believe strongly--in elections, and you ought to have elections soon. And you need to take off your uniform.
You can't be the president and the head of the military at the same time.
So I had a very frank discussion with him. Look: Our objective is the same in Burma as it is in Pakistan, and that is to promote democracy. There is a difference, however: Pakistan has been on the path to democracy. Burma hadn't been on the path to democracy, and it requires different tactics to achieve the common objective. And, uh, as I told you, I just spoke to President Musharraf before I came here and my message was very plain, very easy to understand, and that is: "The United States wants you to have the elections as scheduled, and take your uniform off."
Not only did he create a new Bushism, he continued to lie about the double standard between Pakistan and Burma. He also demonstrates he has no idea about who is on what path to democracy in either country. Supporting a dictator with a billion dollars a year to do almost nothing is Bush's idea of someone who respects the rule of law (even though Musharraf doesn't give a damn) while the U.S. does next to nothing to help free the immensely popular Aung Suu Kyi.
People call him stupid, moronic and incompetent, but it takes real skill to say and do all the terrible and stupid things throughout his Presidency. Oh and by the way, having the office of President entails the job of being the Commander-in-Chief in case you didn't know.
|