President George W. (for Worst in history) Bush gives a pretty good speech when he’s not outright lying, or starting a war or something. Considering elocution only, His Nibs delivered a decent speech, in his twangy kind of way. He didn’t stumble over many words in his nearly hour-long delivery. He kept most people present awake, most of the time, for his final State of the Union address.
He does after all have degrees from Yale and Harvard, albeit with a C-average. His family sure got their money’s worth out of that deal.
But, oh, you didn’t know that whenever his lips are moving there’s a strong likelihood he’s trying to deceive, or just straight-out lying? You didn’t know that in the two years after Sept. 11, 2001 Pres. Bush made at least 260 separate false statements in public to lead the United States into its invasion and occupation of Iraq? You didn’t know that?
Obviously you did not read the exhaustive study released Jan. 23 by the Center for Public Integrity. The President’s untruths were “part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses,” that’s all. That orchestrated campaign totaled 935 false statements made by Mr. Bush and his top seven advisors, including Vice President Dick Cheney, then Secretary of State Colin Powell, then National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and then Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, among them.
But back to his State of the Union speech, which was short on his customary bravado and bluff, and as a result, not full of policy and grandiose proposals, and therefore not likely to be as full of lies as a typical Bush war speech. Oh he did invoke the soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen fighting the war. He tugged at the strings and got several standing ovations praising the troops. Of course, I’ve always said the Bush foreign policy, or “Bush Doctrine” if you will, can be summed up in three words: “Support the Troops.” That also means never question the mission their commanders assign them. Continue reading