Bush's Speech: A Small Favor .....

In a half an hour, President George W. Bush will deliver yet another address to the American public on the war in Iraq. I would appreciate if DUers could do me a small favor. I am hoping some of you will be willing to watch the speech, and try to imagine what those people that are considered "mainstream Americans" think.

I am thinking of those Americans who tended to support the invasion of Iraq because they believed the president and vice president's position that Iraq played a role in 9-11, and posed a threat to our safety with those huge supplies of WMD.

Since then, these Americans have learned that: {1} there was no 9-11 connection; {2} there were no WMDs; {3} the administration had information indicating the WMD stories were false; {4} the administration engaged in a conspiracy to expose Valerie Plame; {5} they lied about Rove and Libby's role; {6} the VP is connected to the Plame scandal; {7} the majority of other Americans do not think Bush is being honest with us about Iraq; {8} the war is going badly; {9} the republican machine viciously attacks patriots like Murtha when they disagree with Bush/Cheney; and {10} the president is becoming isolated from all but a small circle of advisers, and sees the war in religious terms.

For example, two guests on Imus this morning discussed how the president's father has asked Jack Welch to reach out to the president. Bush1 recognizes that his son is too isolated. He was described as being more isolated than LBJ or Nixon. One guest said that Bush's "messiah" beliefs make him hard to reach.

I am requesting that you put yourself in the shoes of the average voter/potential voter. How will today's speech sit with them? How will they view Bush, in terms with being in contact with the reality of the war in Iraq? What does the democratic party leadership need to do to get these people to take the next logical step to rejecting Bush? And what do grass-roots activists need to do to encourage the party leadership to be brave enough to "lead"?

Thank you for any assistance.

I don't think it will make any difference; they aren't going to be saying anything different. Just we have to stay the course and we will be able to bring the troops home soon (maybe).

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

if Bush says the same old same old. His advisors are trying to keep him in safe, day-time avenues. I am hoping the pressure leads him to go off script, and to try to explain what is really on his mind.

To hang or not to hang? He is about to pull the heavy martyr shit I am sure. Because of course HE IS ALWAYS THE VICTIM & NEVER WRONG!

That's it. If George begins to express what is really on his mind, it will do harm to the neocon cause. I hope he speaks from the heart.

Or in other words..."It's My Party And I Will Cry If I Want To." If he spins this vinyl he is attaching his tail to a very BATTERED KITE!

Do it George!

"...I'll Cry If I Want To." Indeed, George had a small but significant emotional break at the end.

Prior to reading your post, I had decided not to listen to Bush`s speech today. Honestly, I feel as though I can`t take one more minute of his BS or the death and destruction his policies have caused.

Okay. On reread, I`ll try.

that Binka is right. Bush is seeing the opposition to the war as a test of his religious resolve. He will speak in tongues.

I still got the DUI! Arrghlet smifton buffler cillmod xoally sezzdghly pujrrlaw. Translation...Really officer I only had two beers!:evilgrin:

it is US (anti-war Americans)

This policy of DISUNITING our nation is what will destroy us. Not the "terrists"

that the fellow sees things in such black and white terms. It is, however, true that he views those who oppose him as un-American .... as well as anti-God. That leaves little room for growth in his thick little skull.

But I'm waiting for the day when B*** has a meltdown in front of the cameras. He teetering and if things don't improve for him, I believe he will face a real crisis with himself. Reality finally penetrating his chosen one miasma. It may take something like that happening before the cameras for people to finally get it.

thought of him being as trapped as LBJ in having to speak only to military audiences, people who have to clap. He brought up the image of ex-democrat Joseph Liberman. As was pointed out on Imus this morning, Joe couldn't travel about Iraq on his recent visit. In fact, even in the safety of the Green Zone, the senator needed a large group of guards.

Bush is likewise being kept in the relative comfort of a cocoon. His handlers want to keep him on a strict speech-by-route presentation. Still, at some point he will be forced out into the open, where he has to address people who can interact with him.

His little melt-down towards the end of his speech, when he became blubbery, he showed he wasn't on firm ground emotionally.

The song refrain "turn out the lights, the party's over" is stuck in my head.

When I can stomach them, I watch *'s speeches as if he had credibility. I will try and do the same with this, but I fear (hope?) he will stumble down the same path as always, for it is the only road he knows.

If he does, well, then..

"turn out the lights..."

after seeing his speech has resulted in having Jim Morrison singing, "Turn out the lights!" in my mind. As William Blake said, "If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is: Infinite." Perhaps The Doors can help erase the strench of Bush's decaying logic!

but it's tough! I've only sworn twice aloud (so far)
I keep looking at the cross (anchor) by his head,

He keeps getting worse here. Rejectionists now, have they replaced insurgents?

I don't think we'll see that meltdown today (shit!) (Whoops, a written swear) He thinks he is on a mission from God.

Argh-I don't think people hear anything new-if they even care enough to watch it this morning. They'll wait for the sound bites on Faux tonight.

blah blah blah

It actually started yesterday, with Donald Rumsfeld insisting that Americans stop calling Iraqis "insurgents," and begin using some Orwellian "enemies of _____." Bush took that same tactic today.

There is an easy one for a good democrat to use for a 15-second spot on the news: if the president thinks changing the name he calls people in the US will change the reality in Iraq, he doesn't have a grasp of what problems our military is facing.

wanting to throw a hammer at the tv when he is on.

I though the guy was going to say something different. It was the same old crap. From the beginning, he was trying to tie his invasion of Iraq in with 9-11. Like David Gregory said afterward, things have changed since 9-11, and Americans are not inclined to support Bush's quest to remake Iraq in his own image.

so all the facts you have mentioned that WE learned are still just talking points for traitors, as far as they are concerned. Sure they are a minority, but by hook or CROOK they are in charge. We are mere spectators at a "massacure" others are engineering and maintaining.

number of people are willing to be mere spectators, and allow Bush and friends to drive our country into the ground in some diseased religious ritual. Later for being spectators. Let's roll!

A date, a timetable, a benchmark, SOMETHING MORE than "whenever it's done."

He offered nothing new. He merely repackaged it, like a re-release of a movie that failed to meet expectations.

Americans HATE reruns, expect new storylines from our government.

thanks joe, one of the very few democratic PNACers/Neocons. :grr:

I am back from my walk and thought he would be done. I read this thread and decided to honor your request. Hard though it is.

I have to say emphasizing Lieberman's words is not helpful. :(

He is such a disappointment. As Imus said after Joe was on his show this morning, "No wonder Gore won't talk to him anymore." And Chris Matthews said that Imus easily won the debate with Joe on the war this morning.

As I listen, I keep hearing enemy, enemies, terror, rejectionists, etc. I think an "average" listener could get pretty confused as to who * thinks the enemy is. IMO, it sure sounds like he's speaking of the Iraqis themselves. There's a big blurring now in all this spinning!
Complete bullshit-shame on congress for speaking out against his holy war!

I would be pondering what exactly he means by freedom.

I think the word "freedom" is bandied about so much at this point, so these "new" words stood out - at least for me.

I think his report gives you just what you were looking for. :)

edit: woopsies, that was meant for H2OMan

Didn't see DG. Thanks.

that the president had nothing new for the American public. He spoke of the emotional strain that was clear during the speech.

I was also struck by the nonsense about terrorists, etc. We could use a democrat that has some pie charts. Maybe some funny-looking guy with big ears could say, "Now lookie here ...." and point out that at very most, only 7% of the enemies in Iraq come from other countries. That mean at least 93% are Iraqis.

No Iraqis attacked America on 9-11, or at any other time to date. Thus, we are not fighting the same folks that brought 9-11 to our country, despite Bush's cheap insistence that they are.

The next chart should say what is obvious to almost all DUers: the more Iraqis that we train, the more organized the Iraqi resistence to the US becomes. The more institutionalized it becomes, the clearer it is that we are occupying Iraq, and that there is a growing civil war. Older DUers will recognize this as being exactly what happened in Vietnam: we are training a significant group of our enemies. Friends by day, enemies at night.

If we are making real progress, it would seem unlikely the violence against American forces would be growing more entrenched.

a non bush supporting republican would be thinkg after watching that speech. He said the strategy was a repackaged speech with the same talking points. He talkied about the use of the word freedom and just what does that mean. He also pointed out that the reality on the ground does not match bush's sunny rhetoric. The new Iraqi Forces are not trutsed by many Iraqis because there are so many militias with their own agendas in the forces.

H2OMan mentioned something aout bush's belief that Gregory said and I missed. I wonder if it was in regard to his religion clouding his judgement?

It was the writer, not Gregory, who made the comment about Bush's religious beliefs making it hard for him to be objective about people with opinions different than his own.

gotcha! I thought I had missed something david said. Sorry for the confusion. Did you catch David gregory's commentary? It was devastating.

I also just heard a woman on CNNI say that the chimp has painted himself into a corner with "The troops will not come home until we have achieved complete and total victory". She pointed out that he did not explain what that total victory would require. Very interesting!

And H., you said something upthread about Americans not wanting to take responsibility for what is happening with this country, that they'd rather rip van winkle through it, or words to that effect. I totally agree and wonder just what it is going to wake them up. Will it be cumulative, a pile up that finally lowers the kaboom on their attention. Will it be a single event, or will it be the 3 leaf clover?

Most average US voters did not watch it, they were WORKING to support themselves and their families.

By tonight, it will be a few soundbites, unless a bus runs off a cliff..in that case, no soundbites at all.

So, nothing changes much, IMO.


On edit, people are also too busy to DL a boring PDF document when they have flu in the house, supper to get ready, homework with kids, Xmas shopping to do, laundry, watching TV etc etc etc.

Big mistake by George to not give it during prime time.

Still sticking to the nothing changes line of thought.

His handlers are afraid of allowing him to do a serious address to the public in the evening hours. And if he were really a brave leader, he would be calling the shots. He'd be debating the issues in a manner that allowed the public to evaluate the positions the president is taking.

B*** & Brave LEADER

invading Iraq, and average voter might have never changed their support for him. I think there will be little difference in opinions save for the media who will whore for Bush continuously.

to make his "smoking gun = mushroom cloud" speeches to bring the nation to war. Most polls indicate that there are significant differences in the public support for the war in the past six months. But for that change, it seems highly unlikely Bush would be making this speech.

has a lot of people gaaga-eeyed.

I think it goes to a kind of father-worship. How do you get past that? I do think that this war worship is fizzling out with or without Bush's speeches though.

I surfed the Freeper site, here is a sampling.

"""""I am Grinning.. And I know my MARINE in Iraq is grinning with the support our leader is showing.

This is just what was needed to properly inform the American people what is going on over there and counter the Libs BS about Iraq.

Decisions about troop levels will be made according to ground conditions in Iraq by the commanders in the field, NOT artificial timetables established by politicians.
Oh, quoting Lieberman!


America will not run.....so long as I am your Commander-in-Chief. Love it!!!!!!"""""

to a certain segment of the population, no matter what. He could even give a speech as weak as ... well, today's ... and about 20% of the population is going to approve of it. I note that on the opinion polls on MSNBC and CNN showed around 20% approval.

The important group in terms of increasing pressure to end the war is the 20% that had believed Bush, but now find that their trust was betrayed. Some may recognize that he was dishonest; others will think he is sincere, but was misled by Cheney. But they want the war to end.

Out of 80,806 total votes, 76% voted that the speech either lowered or didn't change their opinion of B*'s Iraq strategy, and 65% did not believe that there will be victory in Iraq. The questions aren't that great, but typical of AOL. CNN had a poll this morning, but it was taken down rapidly, after it disfavored B* so much. I didn't vote in that one but I saw threads on it. Most who voted thought that B*'s speech was mostly spin. I'll try to find the link.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5484253

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20051129175309990006

How has Bush's speech affected your opinion of the U.S.' Iraq strategy?

There's been no change 45%
My opinion has lowered 31%
My opinion has improved 24%

Do you think the U.S. will ultimately achieve victory in Iraq?

No 65%
Yes 35%

Total Votes: 80,806

for B*, and all polls were prematurely aborted, with the possible exception of the MSNBC poll. IMO, this is so the spin meisters can take out specific soundbites for the nightly news, and keep the results of these polls from the viewing public in the evening. Watch for a new batch of polls this evening after millions watch B* 'tear-up' and reiterate ad nauseum his 9/11 crapola. This seems to be a pattern of theirs (if polls are unfavorable, repeat them after additional spin)...Oh, but hey, these people pay no attention to polls, right?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5485428

CNBC Poll:

Satisfied with President Bush's strategy in war on terror?

Yes 24%
No 76%

Total Votes: 273

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5483023

CNN Poll:

Are you impressed by the White House victory strategy for Iraq?

Yes, it's a good plan - 22% - 14734 votes
No, it's more spin - 78% - 52405 votes

Total: 67139 votes

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5483413

MSNBC Poll:

Pres. Bush's Plan For Victory: Is it a step in the right direction?

Yes 24%
No 76%

Total: 10978 votes

blah blah blah.. freedom.. blah.. democracy.. blah blah.. stay the course.. blah blah.. victory...blah..critics are bad...blah...

Boy he sure has gone to a lot of trouble with that photo-op, fancy looking stage.

nothing new, shut it off. sigh.

Nancy Pelosi endorsed Murtha, thats good.

Sure would like to see bush give a speech in front of a real crowd. He needs to be booed, get a dose of reality. would probably send him over the edge

to describe him

like H20 man described. reacting to the speech as Mr/Ms average not-so-political citizen might.

people want to hear that something competant, something new is happening, most people don't want to have to think bad things all the time about their government, I think people would like to believe that there is a possibility that bush will be reasonable and do the right thing.

Viewing the speech from this perspective I came up with my response - that bush is becoming tiresome in his lack of credibility and sameness, - and also that the setting of the speech looks extremely staged and fake (Katrina photo-op flashbacks)