Bester
<font color=blue><B>Grand UberSoke, Sith-jutsu Ryu
After watching Mr. Bush in the last 2 debates, and Mr. Cheney in his excursion, one phrase seems to be the mantra of the Bush Campaign.
"Flip Flop"
Mr. Bush did an excellent job of pointing out many of Mr. Kerrys own 'Flip Flops", but never touched on his own. A local paper that Kaith has quoted from in the past has this article in their most recent issue.
You can read it and many more interesting items online (the archives are in PDF format).
I present
George Bush and "Flip-Flops"
BUSHS TOP FLIP-FLOPS
Artvoice Issue [font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]V3n41 http://artvoice.com Page 19[/font]
BS News,MSNBC,Salon.com and others responding to the constant charge leveled against John Kerry that he is a flip-flopper composed lists of George W.Bush s record of flip-flops and a few of his fantasy facts.We ve selected a few faves.
September 11,2001
Its well documented that President George W.Bush was in a Florida classroom on 9/11 when chief of staff Andrew Card told him a second plane had hit the World Trade Center.But on December 4,2001, invoking memories of Sept.11,Bush remembered watching the first plane hit the World Trade Center while he was waiting to enter that classroom in Florida.I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in,and I saw an airplane hit the tower the TV was obviously on,Bush said.And I used to fly,myself,and I said,Well,theres one terrible pilot.I said,It must have been a horrible accident.Bush repeated the story at another event in January 2002.
The only problem is,it never happened.
The first attack wasn t broadcast live and videotape of it wasn t available until much later.Bush spokespeople have had to admit there s no way he saw what he said he saw.
September 11,Part 2
One morning in May,2002 Bush said:I clearly remember a guy in a hard hat who said,Don t let me down.Later that same day,Bush said:I ll never forget the firefighter that pointed at me and said,Dont let me down.By June,the guy had become a whole group of tired fire fighters and police and rescue workers who said, Don t let us down.By June,it was just a guy again,but Bush couldn t remember which kind:I remember a fireman or a policeman,I can t remember which,looking me in the eyes and saying,Do not let me down.
By July the guy started getting physical. He grabbed me by the arm,Bush said.By late July,Bush said the grabber had tears in his eyes.By that afternoon,the guy had become a fire fighter again,with bloodshot eyes and sweat pouring.
It kept getting better.In early August,Bush said:I don t know if he was a fire fighter or a policeman.I do know that he was looking through the rubble for one of his buddies.
A week after that,Bush said the guy had been searching for a loved one.But this time he said:Mr.President,do not let me down.
And on Sept.14,2004 the third anniversary of the president s visit to ground zero Bush offered up his most vivid memory yet.I remember a guy grabbed me by the arm,a big old burly fire fighter,I guess he was a fire fighter,he said:Do not let me down.
It was,the president said,a day Ill never forget.
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Announcing the invasion of Iraq on March 19,2003,Mr.Bush said,Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised.
We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories.(May 29, 2003)
I recognize we didn t find the stockpiles [of weapons ]we all thought were there. (Sept.9,2004)
Nation Building and the War in Iraq
During the 2000 campaign,George W. Bush argued against nation building and foreign military entanglements.In the second presidential debate,he said:I m not so sure the role of the United States is to go around the world and say,This is the way it s got to be.
The United States is currently involved in nation building in Iraq on a scale unseen since the years immediately following World War II.
During the 2000 election,Mr.Bush called for U.S.troops to be withdrawn from the NATO peacekeeping mission in the Balkans.His administration now cites such missions as an example of how America must stay the course.
The Sept.11 Commission
President Bush initially opposed the creation of an independent commission to investigate the Sept.11 attacks.In May 2002, he said,Since it deals with such sensitive information,in my judgment,it s best for the ongoing war against terror that the investigation be done in the intelligence committee.
Bowing to pressure from victims families, Mr.Bush reversed his position.The following September,he backed an independent investigation.
Free Trade
During the 2000 presidential election,Mr. Bush championed free trade.Then,eyeing campaign concerns that allowed him to win West Virginia,he imposed 30 percent tariffs on foreign steel products from Europe and other nations in March 2002. Twenty-one months later,Mr.Bush changed his mind and rescinded the steel tariffs.Choosing to stand on social issues instead of tariffs in steel country Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia the Bush campaign decided it could afford to upset the steel industry rather than further estrange old alliances.
Homeland Security Department
President Bush initially opposed creating a new Department of Homeland Security. He wanted Tom Ridge,now the secretary of Homeland Security,to remain an adviser.
Mr.Bush reversed himself and backed the largest expansion of the federal government since the creation of the Defense Department in 1949.
Same-Sex Marriage
During the 2000 campaign,Mr.Bush said he was against federal intervention regarding the issue of same-sex marriage.In an interview with CNN s Larry King,he said states can do what they want to do on the issue.Vice President Cheney took the same stance.
Four year later,this past February, Mr.Bush announced his support for an amendment to the Constitution that de fines marriage as being exclusively between men and women.The amendment would forbid states from doing what they want to do on same-sex marriage.
Citing recent decisions by activist judges in states like Massachusetts,Mr.Bush defended his reversal.Critics point out that well before the 2000 presidential race,a judge in Hawaii ruled in December 1996 that there was no compelling reason for withholding marriage from same-sex couples.
Winning the War on Terror
I don t think you can win it,Mr.Bush said of the war on terror in August.In an interview on NBC s Today show,he said, I think you can create conditions so that those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world. Before the month closed,Mr.Bush reversed himself at the American Legion national convention in Nashville.He said: We meet today in a time of war for our country,a war we did not start yet one that we will win.He later added,we are winning,and we will win.
Campaign Finance Reform
President Bush was initially against the Mc-Cain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill.He opposed any soft-money limits on individuals to national parties. But Mr.Bush later signed McCain-Feingold into law.The law,named for Senate sponsors John McCain,R-Ariz.,and Russell Feingold,D-Wis.,barred both national parties from collecting soft money from individuals.
During the 2000 race, Mr.Bush showed support for the so-called 527 groups right to air advertising.
In March 2000,he told CBS News Face the Nation,There have been ads,independent expenditures,that are saying bad things about me.I don t particularly care when they do,but that s what freedom of speech is all about.
In late August of this year,in an effort to distance himself from controversial anti-Kerry ads by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Mr.Bush reversed his position,announcing he would join McCain in legal action to stop these shadowy organizations..Though it would close the Swift Boat group s funding,court action would also silence well-funded liberal 527 organizations like MoveOn.org and America Coming Together.
Gas Prices
Mr.Bush was critical of Al Gore in the 2000 campaign for being part of the administration that s been in charge while the price of gasoline has gone steadily upward.In December 1999,in the first Republican primary debate,Mr.Bush said President Clinton must jawbone OPEC members to lower prices.
As gas topped a record level of $50 a barrel this week,Mr.Bush has shown no propensity to personally pressure,or jawbone, Mideast oil producers to increase output. A spokesman for the president reportedly said in March that Mr.Bush will not personally lobby oil cartel leaders to change their minds.
While I really do not care for either of the major parties, I feel it is needed that we look at the complete picture. There is the old joke "Hoe can you tell a politician is lying? His lips are moving.". Sadly, it seems all too true this year.
Good luck America.
"Flip Flop"
Mr. Bush did an excellent job of pointing out many of Mr. Kerrys own 'Flip Flops", but never touched on his own. A local paper that Kaith has quoted from in the past has this article in their most recent issue.
You can read it and many more interesting items online (the archives are in PDF format).
I present
George Bush and "Flip-Flops"
BUSHS TOP FLIP-FLOPS
Artvoice Issue [font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]V3n41 http://artvoice.com Page 19[/font]
BS News,MSNBC,Salon.com and others responding to the constant charge leveled against John Kerry that he is a flip-flopper composed lists of George W.Bush s record of flip-flops and a few of his fantasy facts.We ve selected a few faves.
September 11,2001
Its well documented that President George W.Bush was in a Florida classroom on 9/11 when chief of staff Andrew Card told him a second plane had hit the World Trade Center.But on December 4,2001, invoking memories of Sept.11,Bush remembered watching the first plane hit the World Trade Center while he was waiting to enter that classroom in Florida.I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in,and I saw an airplane hit the tower the TV was obviously on,Bush said.And I used to fly,myself,and I said,Well,theres one terrible pilot.I said,It must have been a horrible accident.Bush repeated the story at another event in January 2002.
The only problem is,it never happened.
The first attack wasn t broadcast live and videotape of it wasn t available until much later.Bush spokespeople have had to admit there s no way he saw what he said he saw.
September 11,Part 2
One morning in May,2002 Bush said:I clearly remember a guy in a hard hat who said,Don t let me down.Later that same day,Bush said:I ll never forget the firefighter that pointed at me and said,Dont let me down.By June,the guy had become a whole group of tired fire fighters and police and rescue workers who said, Don t let us down.By June,it was just a guy again,but Bush couldn t remember which kind:I remember a fireman or a policeman,I can t remember which,looking me in the eyes and saying,Do not let me down.
By July the guy started getting physical. He grabbed me by the arm,Bush said.By late July,Bush said the grabber had tears in his eyes.By that afternoon,the guy had become a fire fighter again,with bloodshot eyes and sweat pouring.
It kept getting better.In early August,Bush said:I don t know if he was a fire fighter or a policeman.I do know that he was looking through the rubble for one of his buddies.
A week after that,Bush said the guy had been searching for a loved one.But this time he said:Mr.President,do not let me down.
And on Sept.14,2004 the third anniversary of the president s visit to ground zero Bush offered up his most vivid memory yet.I remember a guy grabbed me by the arm,a big old burly fire fighter,I guess he was a fire fighter,he said:Do not let me down.
It was,the president said,a day Ill never forget.
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Announcing the invasion of Iraq on March 19,2003,Mr.Bush said,Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised.
We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories.(May 29, 2003)
I recognize we didn t find the stockpiles [of weapons ]we all thought were there. (Sept.9,2004)
Nation Building and the War in Iraq
During the 2000 campaign,George W. Bush argued against nation building and foreign military entanglements.In the second presidential debate,he said:I m not so sure the role of the United States is to go around the world and say,This is the way it s got to be.
The United States is currently involved in nation building in Iraq on a scale unseen since the years immediately following World War II.
During the 2000 election,Mr.Bush called for U.S.troops to be withdrawn from the NATO peacekeeping mission in the Balkans.His administration now cites such missions as an example of how America must stay the course.
The Sept.11 Commission
President Bush initially opposed the creation of an independent commission to investigate the Sept.11 attacks.In May 2002, he said,Since it deals with such sensitive information,in my judgment,it s best for the ongoing war against terror that the investigation be done in the intelligence committee.
Bowing to pressure from victims families, Mr.Bush reversed his position.The following September,he backed an independent investigation.
Free Trade
During the 2000 presidential election,Mr. Bush championed free trade.Then,eyeing campaign concerns that allowed him to win West Virginia,he imposed 30 percent tariffs on foreign steel products from Europe and other nations in March 2002. Twenty-one months later,Mr.Bush changed his mind and rescinded the steel tariffs.Choosing to stand on social issues instead of tariffs in steel country Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia the Bush campaign decided it could afford to upset the steel industry rather than further estrange old alliances.
Homeland Security Department
President Bush initially opposed creating a new Department of Homeland Security. He wanted Tom Ridge,now the secretary of Homeland Security,to remain an adviser.
Mr.Bush reversed himself and backed the largest expansion of the federal government since the creation of the Defense Department in 1949.
Same-Sex Marriage
During the 2000 campaign,Mr.Bush said he was against federal intervention regarding the issue of same-sex marriage.In an interview with CNN s Larry King,he said states can do what they want to do on the issue.Vice President Cheney took the same stance.
Four year later,this past February, Mr.Bush announced his support for an amendment to the Constitution that de fines marriage as being exclusively between men and women.The amendment would forbid states from doing what they want to do on same-sex marriage.
Citing recent decisions by activist judges in states like Massachusetts,Mr.Bush defended his reversal.Critics point out that well before the 2000 presidential race,a judge in Hawaii ruled in December 1996 that there was no compelling reason for withholding marriage from same-sex couples.
Winning the War on Terror
I don t think you can win it,Mr.Bush said of the war on terror in August.In an interview on NBC s Today show,he said, I think you can create conditions so that those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world. Before the month closed,Mr.Bush reversed himself at the American Legion national convention in Nashville.He said: We meet today in a time of war for our country,a war we did not start yet one that we will win.He later added,we are winning,and we will win.
Campaign Finance Reform
President Bush was initially against the Mc-Cain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill.He opposed any soft-money limits on individuals to national parties. But Mr.Bush later signed McCain-Feingold into law.The law,named for Senate sponsors John McCain,R-Ariz.,and Russell Feingold,D-Wis.,barred both national parties from collecting soft money from individuals.
During the 2000 race, Mr.Bush showed support for the so-called 527 groups right to air advertising.
In March 2000,he told CBS News Face the Nation,There have been ads,independent expenditures,that are saying bad things about me.I don t particularly care when they do,but that s what freedom of speech is all about.
In late August of this year,in an effort to distance himself from controversial anti-Kerry ads by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Mr.Bush reversed his position,announcing he would join McCain in legal action to stop these shadowy organizations..Though it would close the Swift Boat group s funding,court action would also silence well-funded liberal 527 organizations like MoveOn.org and America Coming Together.
Gas Prices
Mr.Bush was critical of Al Gore in the 2000 campaign for being part of the administration that s been in charge while the price of gasoline has gone steadily upward.In December 1999,in the first Republican primary debate,Mr.Bush said President Clinton must jawbone OPEC members to lower prices.
As gas topped a record level of $50 a barrel this week,Mr.Bush has shown no propensity to personally pressure,or jawbone, Mideast oil producers to increase output. A spokesman for the president reportedly said in March that Mr.Bush will not personally lobby oil cartel leaders to change their minds.
While I really do not care for either of the major parties, I feel it is needed that we look at the complete picture. There is the old joke "Hoe can you tell a politician is lying? His lips are moving.". Sadly, it seems all too true this year.
Good luck America.
