Posted on 12/04/2003 12:58:33 PM PST by rogercolleridge
Toogood Reports [Wednesday, December 3, 2003; 12:01 a.m. EST] URL: http://ToogoodReports.com/
When George W. Bush stepped from behind a curtain at a huge mess tent at Baghdad Airport to a standing ovation by six hundred of his loyal troops on Thanksgiving Day, liberals everywhere gagged on their giblets. The awful image of the President interacting with the worshipful men and women he had sent into harm's way was too much for them to stomach. Once again, the boy emperor had eaten their lunch.
Over and over, the news shows replayed tapes of the dreaded W. delighting soldiers of all ages and races merely by his presence. Worse than the actual video was the still shot of the smiling Commander in Chief, brandishing a huge tray containing a sumptuous turkey with all the trimmings, and surrounded by throngs of adoring GIs.
Photographs like these seem to irk liberals. Especially those that depict the CINC actually doing his job. Please recall that in the spring after 9/11, a photo showing the president on the phone aboard Air Force One that day was offered to GOP donors of $150 or more. The howling was shrill and unremitting, which seemed odd coming from the coddlers of Bill Clinton, who, in addition to selling the Lincoln Bedroom for campaign cash, constantly staged phony photo-ops like the one on the hallowed beach at Normandy on the 50th Anniversary of D-Day.
Then came the president's jet-landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln where he thanked the weary crew for accomplishing their mission; "After service in the Afghan and Iraqi theaters of war, after 100,000 miles on the longest carrier deployment in recent history, you are homeward bound." Note the use of the phrase "theaters of war." He knew that, like the D-Day invasion, a major battle had been won; "In the battle of Afghanistan, we destroyed the Taliban, many terrorists and the camps where they trained...The liberation of Iraq is a crucial advance in the campaign against terror."
But he cautioned; "The war on terror is not over, yet it is not endless. We do not know the day of final victory, but we have seen the turning of the tide. Our mission continues. Al Qaeda is wounded, not destroyed." So he thanked the crew for accomplishing their mission and then clearly said that the nation's mission is continuing-pretty easy to understand .
Yet all this was spun by the liberals and their press enablers into some kind of partisan victory lap, which was clearly not its intent. After eight years of parsing Clinton-speak, simple, straight-forward language now seems beyond their comprehension. The USS Lincoln speech, like the Thanksgiving trip was meant to thank and hearten the troops, a responsibility of a commander that is incomprehensible to the left, who are generally mistrustful and contemptuous of the military.
The most visceral contempt however, is reserved for the CINC himself. As is typical of liberals, they gang-tackled the president with nearly identical rhetoric. Just as during the 2000 campaign, the word 'gravitas' was endlessly recited by talking heads, so now has 'Bush bravado' become part of the liberal lexicon. A Yahoo search with the words Bush and bravado produced a staggering 16,000 results. One such gem from the Not In Our Name website in July touts thusly:
He bragged, like John Wayne risen, that U.S. forces are "plenty tough" to deal with any threat. The president then licked his lips with the smug assurance of a frat boy showing the world how tough he is. A cowboy and a frat-boy! Even Ronald Reagan, who played both roles in his movie career was never awarded that twin-accolade. Were I a pointy-headed academia nut, I would say that all this cowboy-bashing smacks of six-shooter envy, but I'm not, so I won't. The comparison to John Wayne though is an oldie but a moldy, demonstrating once again the left's disdain for that which most of America holds dear.
And that is why the majority in this country were able to happily digest their Thanksgiving meal; in admiration for a man who traveled where no U.S. president has ever gone, in a war-zone, in order to cheer and thank our men and women in uniform on our behalf for the blessings we all share.
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"He bragged, like John Wayne risen, that U.S. forces are "plenty tough" to deal with any threat. The president then licked his lips with the smug assurance of a frat boy showing the world how tough he is."
A cowboy and a frat-boy! Even Ronald Reagan, who played both roles in his movie career was never awarded that twin-accolade. Were I a pointy-headed academia nut, I would say that all this cowboy-bashing smacks of six-shooter envy, but I'm not, so I won't. The comparison to John Wayne though is an oldie but a moldy, demonstrating once again the left's disdain for that which most of America holds dear.
Gobble Gobble Gobble
Yeah. I alternate between being ticked pink and thoroughly disgusted. (They ARE Americans, you know).
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