Letter I'm sending to the paper

Bush famously joked at least 16 times (in poor taste, I might add) that he would not use deficit spending unless there was a recession, war or a national emergency. “Lucky me!” he quipped with a smirk. “I never thought I’d hit the trifecta!” His first “lucky me – trifecta” joke was in min-September 1991 when we were still reeling from the terrible tragedy of 9-11. Harde har har. Let’s add 16 “trifectas” to the “16 words”, shall we?

Voters, we too have joviality to share. Bush lied about Saddam’s alleged attempt to obtain yellowcake from Niger, Bush lied about Saddam’s alleged weapons of mass destruction, Bush lied about Saddam’s link to Al-Qaeda. By golly, we hit the trifecta! It’s time to raid the White House and remove the current nest of vipers. Regime change begins at home.

Comments? Criticism?

It's 2001, not 1991. Second, where did he say the joke at? Include that in the first paragraph with date and place.

Must...check...typing!!! I got it off DubyaSpeak.com and all he says is mid-September 2001. In subsequent versions of the joke, he said "When I was campaining in Chicago, somebody asked me..." so I could probably assume it was in Chicago. Thanks!!

"min" instead of "mid", "1991" instead of "2001," It feels a little too insider to me. Like you're speaking to people who know what the hell you're talking about.

"What's yellow cake? Why does he want to get cake from Niger?"

Hate to say it- but I say dumb it down. Spell it out. Make it clear, simple and concise.

I can't belieeeeeve I got the date wrong! How embarrassing. I figured that since all the pundits have been throwing around "yellowcake", even though the masses may not know what it is, they'd understand it was bad. But I'll change it to uranium from Africa instead. Thanks for the help!

Bush famously joked at least 16 times (in poor taste, I might add) that he would not use deficit spending unless there was a recession, war or a national emergency. “Lucky me!” he quipped with a smirk. “I never thought I’d hit the trifecta!” His first “lucky me – trifecta” joke was in mid-September 2001 when we were still reeling from the terrible tragedy of 9-11. Harde har har. Let’s add 16 “trifectas” to the “16 words”, shall we?

Voters, we too have joviality to share. Bush lied about Saddam’s alleged attempt to obtain uranium from Africa, Bush lied about Saddam’s alleged weapons of mass destruction, Bush lied about Saddam’s link to Al-Qaeda. By golly, we hit the trifecta! It’s time to raid the White House and remove the current nest of vipers. Regime change begins at home.

I like your approach.

I hope I can get the quotes to work out - I'm feeling cantankerous!
You made me feel pretty good! :loveya:

Check the validity of the orignal "joke." I'm sorry that I don't have a link for you, but I recently read that the quip about national emergency, war, or recession was not even uttered by Bush. Although Bush did claim to have said it when he made his "trifecta" remark, the oringal quip was apparently made by Al Gore.

...being so conscientious about getting your facts straight and all, while the right wing media is like a prevaricating machine gun, spewing 250 lies per second.

Now if the use of emoticons weren't beneath me, I'd put in one of those winking thingamajiggs right here. It's admirable that you're trying to get your facts straight and actually inform the general public.

hoping that he/she can provide me with additional information about the quote. You know what's icky? When you emial them, you get a page saying that your email has been sent along with a picture of the vile pink death monkey waving! EWwwww!

Here is another good one...

"I've been to war. I've raised twins. If I had a choice, I'd rather go to war." - George Whopper Bush quoted in The Houston Chronicle, January 2002

He really said that? You've got to provide a link to that one. I want to use it and use it often!

here's your link: http://www.motherjones.com/news/outfront/2003/02/ma_217_01.html

George W. Bush on sacrifice:
"I've been to war. I've raised twins. If I
had a choice, I'd rather go to war."
Houston Chronicle, January 2002

Oh really, what war? Good grief.
It makes sense that his daughters are
alkies in training with a father like that.

Would it be kosher for me to quote this timeline in a letter, or would i need to get permission from Mother Jones first?

I think you'd be in trouble if you quouted anything word for word without crediting the source. You have two options, either quote what you want to word for word and credit the source, or present the facts in your own words (but be prepared to cite sources if the editors ask). Facts cannot be copyrighted, so you are free to write what is factually correct, even if someone else has already published the same set of facts.

I hope you'll find a way to complete your letter. I think this is one of the most important things we can do to bring about the changes we desire.

Thank you for filling me in about that. I knew I probably couldn't quote it verbatim, and I doubt that the paper would publish it if it is derivative of another source. I want to complete that letter - I'm still waiting to hear back from DubyaSpeak. If they can provide me with an exact date and place, I'll run with it. :loveya:

1) False.
2) True.
3) You DID have a choice.
4) Here's your hat, what's your hurry?

I'm going to email the folks at DubyaSpeak and find out if they have more info about the quote. I might just give up on my letter - it's starting to sound bogus.

washingtonpost.com
A Sound Bite So Good, the President Wishes He Had Said It


By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 2, 2002; Page A13


The mystery of the missing trifecta has been solved. Sort of.

In this space last week, it was noted that President Bush often tells
audiences that he promised during the 2000 presidential campaign that he
would allow the federal budget to go into deficit in times of war,
recession or national emergency, but he never imagined he would "have a
trifecta." Nobody inside or outside the White House, however, had been
able to produce evidence that Bush actually said this during the
campaign.

Now comes information that the three caveats were uttered before the
2000 campaign -- by Bush's Democratic opponent, Vice President Al Gore.
The Post's Glenn Kessler found in the archives this promise from Gore:
"Barring an economic reversal, a national emergency, or a foreign
crisis, we should balance the budget this year, next year, and every
year." Gore said that to the Economic Club of Detroit in May 1998, then
repeated it at least twice more, in speeches in June and November of
that year.

There is still no trace of Bush making such a caveat; in fact, shortly
after taking office, he declared that "we can proceed with tax relief
without fear of budget deficits, even if the economy softens." On the
other hand, Bush can fairly argue that his top economic adviser,
Lawrence B. Lindsey, endorsed the caveats during the campaign. When
Kessler asked back then about Gore's three exceptions, Lindsey said the
same caveats would apply for Bush.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11253-2002Jul1.html

(The Washington Post site is unreachable for me at the moment, so I haven't verified the link. Here's the story on BuzzFlash: http://www.buzzflash.com/alerts/2002/07/02_Trifecta.html)

I saw him when he said it. I think he coopted it as one of his crude, cutesy jokes. Here's one example: I'll never forget one time in Chicago when a reporter said, would you ever deficit spend? And I said, well, only -- only if we were at war, only if there were a national emergency, or only if there is a recession. Never did I believe we'd get the trifecta. (Mar. 27, 2002)

I say crude and cutesy, only because of the way he made fun of Karly Faye Tucker when she begged him for her life.

He said it alright -- no denying. The point is that Gore said it first; that Shrubs recollection of having said it was his confusion about actually having heard it first.