Truespeak

As Georgieboy blathered, babbled, and contradicted his way through his monthly press conference today, he gave the bloggers plenty to feast on. From his contradictions about Social Security's solvency to his nonsensical answers concerning the legislative process, George is a blogger's wet dream. Every time he opens his mouth he gives us something we can make fun of even if it's nothing more than his "why do you guys keep asking me these hard questions" tone.

But today I thought the defining moment came in one of the less memorable moments. When asked about John Bolton's status as the UN nominee, Bush replied in a way that really summed up everything that is wrong with his administration. He said:

BUSH: You know, I thought -- I thought John Bolton was going to get an up or down vote on the Senate floor, just like he deserves an up or down vote on the Senate floor, and clearly he's got the votes to get confirmed. And so I was disappointed that once again, the leadership there in the Senate didn't give him an up or down vote. And the reason it's important to have an up or down vote is because we need to get our ambassador to the United Nations to help start reforming that important organization.

As I mentioned to you I think at the press conference in the East Room, that the reason I picked Bolton is he's a no-nonsense kind of fellow who can get things done. And we need to get something done in the United Nations. This is an organization which is important. It can help a lot in terms of the democracy movement; it can help deal with conflict and civil war. But it's an organization that is beginning to lose the trust of the American people, if it hasn't already, and therefore, we need to restore that trust. We pay over $2 billion a year into the United Nations, and it makes sense to have somebody there who's willing to say to the United Nations, let's -- why don't you reform? Let's make sure that the body works well and there's accountability and taxpayers' money is spent wisely. And it's important that people in America trust the United Nations, and Bolton will be able to carry that -- that message.

Now, in terms of the request for documents, I view that as just another stall tactic, another way to delay, another way to not allow Bolton to get an up or down vote. We have -- we've answered questions after questions after questions; documents were sent to the -- to the intelligence committee; the intelligence committee reviewed the NSA intercept process and confirmed that Bolton did what was right. And so it's just a stalling tactic. And I would hope that when they get back that they stop stalling and give the man a vote. Just give him a simple up or down vote.

Q: What about the filibuster as a tactic, in general, sir?

BUSH: Well, it's certainly been a tactic that's been used on judges and Bolton, if this is a filibuster. I don't know what you call it. I'm not sure they actually labeled it, filibuster. I'd call it -- thus far, it's a stall -- stall headed toward filibuster, I guess. All I know is the man is not getting a vote, and it's taking a long time to get his vote. And we've -- he's been through hearings and questions and questionnaires. And it's pretty obvious to the American people, and to me, that you can tie up anything in the United States Senate if you want to. But it also ought to be clear that we need to get an ambassador to the United Nations as quickly as possible. And so I hope he gets a vote soon.

If you disregard the fact that he said "up or down vote" six times (remember what he said about why he repeats himself), you might have noticed that he seems to be criticizing the Democrts for trying to do the right thing. He doesn't like the fact that they are taking their time to make sure they do the right thing. You also might have noticed over the last four years that this seems to be the modus operandi for Georgieboy's entire tenure in office.

Ever since he was first installed by the SCOTUS, it's been hurry, hurry, hurry. He doesn't wait for anything. Right after taking office, he pushed through tax cuts. Had he waited he might have seen the economic ramifications those tax cuts would bring. But no...Can't wait! Soon thereafter came September 11 and we had to hurry up and pass the Patriot Act to give law enforcement the necessary tools to effectively fight the war on terror. Had we waited, Congress may have had time to review the constitution-destroying piece of garbage before approving it sight-unseen and we could have then passed a more equal and effective piece of legislation. But again...Gotta' hurry! Had we taken the time to let the weapons inspectors on the ground in Iraq complete their job, we probably would have known that Saddam Hussein did not possess the weapons of mass destruction that we thought he did and thousands of soldiers would still be alive and unhurt. However...No time to spare! And now Georgieboy is telling us to hurry up. After all, we need to get an ambassador to the UN and we need it quickly.

The truth is, the Democrats are waiting on information that just might save the country from rushing into yet another mistake. Confirming the wrong person to the post could have future consequences that would be hazardous to our future foreign relationships. In other words, they're trying to get it right the first time. For four years now, we've been watching an administration that has taken the attitude that any idea is a good idea. You know, just because you have an idea doesn't necessarily make it a good one. Take Social Security for instance. The administration's idea involves private accounts that nearly two-thirds of the American public opposes. But all we hear is "Well, at least we have a plan." Yeah, they've got one alright. It's a shitty one, but they've got one. However, that doesn't mean that congress should rush right out and pass it. As the old saying goes, "If you can't find the time to do something right today, when are you going to find the time to fix it tomorrow?"

George wants the Democrats to hurry up and confirm John Bolton. He wants them to hurry up and pass his Social Security plan. He wants them to hurry up and... Well, you get the idea. Unfortunately for him, the Democrats are trying make sure that they get it right the first time so they don't have to fumble around in the future trying to correct another mistake. We've already seen it with the tax cuts, the Patriot Act, the invasion of Iraq, and countless other blunders from the current administration. Excuse us for trying to learn from past mistakes.

So Georgie's just going to have to be patient. We Democrats are going to do our best to make sure that he doesn't screw up anymore than he already has.