Yep. I felt early on that Dubya was a really good person.I was happy to vote for him as Governor in 1994 and 1998
(and in 2000 and 2004 for Prez, of course).
It was a no-brainer voting for him to kick this beech out of the Governor's mansion.
Posted on 02/22/2005 7:33:39 AM PST by Flightdeck
"It's over!" Or: "Worlds are colliding! Unfastened is Pandora's box, and it heralds apocalyptic days of doom - the end of the Republican reign." Or even: "Hell hath no fury like Bush's unbridled tongue: Tapes of President Bush speaking unedited, uncoached and unchecked are loosed to do their bidding!"
This is what one would expect to hear from mortified Bush supporters after just such a bombshell announcement - the release of private presidential tapes.
From a president who has coined (and I use this word as disdainfully as possible) words such as "misunderestimate," "Hispanically," and "the Internets" in rehearsed stump speeches and - Heaven help us! - an actual presidential debate, news that The New York Times has heard nine hours of unabridged and unaided Bushspeak is surely a conservative dystopia.
Doug Wead, an author and former aide to George H.W. Bush, provided the Times this series of a dozen tapes which captured Bush's thoughts, ideas and candor on every issue from his faith and quasi-blemished past to Cabinet appointees and gay marriage.
The disaster that conservatives crossed fingers in hopes of avoiding never came, much to the chagrin of the circle-and-slash W. crowd. One relieved Free Republic blogger put it best: "Thank God... [Bush] is what he is, has been and will always be: himself."
This guy got it exactly right: Bush is always Bush. Just imagine the incrimination that would come from nine hours of off-the-cuff, "private" recordings between Clinton and a trusted friend. Remember the 18-minute mystery gap that "happened" into Nixon's secretly taped conversation with his chief of staff? Or what about Lyndon Johnson's confidential tape stash? For a president, secret tapes are about as damning as it gets. But, these tapes don't incriminate or condemn: Bush in private is Bush in public. He is himself.
I admit it: Having never met the president, I find it difficult at times to defend him or his thoughts (or lack thereof). And I can't trust the explications he or his press secretary or Cabinet members put forward to the public as guiltless, spin-free and veritable. Now, enter secret tapes.
No preparation, no politicking, no putting the best foot forward; if you want real, this is it. The tapes are full of Bush genuineness like misused words, a Texan patois and that occasionally braggart swagger. It's a complete package; Bush is always Bush, and that's inclusive of those idiosyncrasies that make him the object of vituperative, filthy mudslinging.
Here's a sampling of W., unplugged:
Speaking about prominent evangelical minister James Robison, Bush told Wead, "I think he wants me to attack homosexuals. [I told him], 'Look, James ... I'm not going to kick gays, because I'm a sinner. How can I differentiate sin?'" But he added, "Gay marriage, I am against that. Special rights, I am against that." Hardly anti-gay, yet consistent with his religious roots. (A bit of clarification on the motives behind a constitutional amendment.)
Though he's made mistakes, Bush is keenly aware that one of his duties is national role model: Bush told Wead about his past, "I wouldn't answer the marijuana questions. You know why? Because I don't want some little kid doing what I tried." In Bush's words, "Baby boomers have got to grow up and say, 'yeah, I may have done drugs,' but instead of admitting it, say to kids, 'don't do them.'" I doubt any ambitious politician's desire to conceal a past (shameful or not) is entirely altruistic; however, when the unguarded stance to which he defaults in private is setting a meritorious example, that's certainly a start. Let's assume Clinton and Gore initially denied marijuana use for the same reasons.
His faith brings balance and pushes him to be a better man: He lists five life-defining moments: "Accepting Christ. Marrying my wife. Having children. Running for governor. And listening to my mother." He said of his experiences as a Christian, "I've sinned, and I've learned." And, "I read the Bible daily. The Bible is pretty good about keeping your ego in check."
Many in conservative circles are harboring enough ire at Wead to sink an anchored ferry, insisting he released these tapes to get publicity. In his defense, Wead says he withheld the juiciest and most intimate bits of tape. (He incidentally has a new book, "The Raising of a President," available.)
These tapes do Bush more justice than a passel of fawning NewsMax stories. They are uncensored and true. They define the president's uncontrived, unpretentious staidness more than any biography ever will. Never have secret recordings of a president done anything but bring dishonorable ignominy and reprehension to the highest elected office. In these tapes, Bush is his himself when he didn't have to be.
But what did I expect? After all, Bush is Bush.
Rainey is a journalism junior
Let's have chapter and verse of some factual basis for the charges you've made! Otherwise, shut your pie-hole and take your rubbish to another site!
I might have been a bit harsh with my comments to your post, let me just say this. If you really believe what you wrote, then you don't know much about Christians, sinners, and forgiveness.
Trajan88; TAMU Class of '88
The kid may have some stupid beliefs, but since he has intellectual honesty, he may be salvageable eventually.
Put him on the list of candidates for deprogramming.
The only disaster of this sort I prayed to avoid and did not come was that somehow Bush would lose the re-election.
THAT woulda been a disaster.
Yep. I felt early on that Dubya was a really good person.I was happy to vote for him as Governor in 1994 and 1998
(and in 2000 and 2004 for Prez, of course).
It was a no-brainer voting for him to kick this beech out of the Governor's mansion.
yeah, agreed. Libs like this, I could work with (they'd still be wrong, but this guy is young, and brings to mind Churchill's axiom; "Anyone who is not a liberal at age twenty has no heart; and anyone who is not a conservative at age 40 has no brain")
LOL! Equating gay marriage with special privilege is exactly the opposite of "closet tolerant". Gays who wish to marry challenge us to honor the equal rights amendments in our federal and state constitutions. Most gay bashers want to either repeal or ignore equal rights for gays and other minorities.
Since when do these apply to sex acts?
You've just won my Rick Santorum Republican Intellectual of the Day award, for making only 2 references to various forms of sex in your posts on a topic having nothing to do with sex or bestiality.
I love how libs act like before old George W. came along, why anybody could marry anybody else.
That's how y'all talk and act. Like he is standing in the way of something that until now was accepted, instead of the fact that he's upholding centuries of precedent.
BTW, how come the "tolerant" dems like Kerry always take care to say how they're against gay *marriage* and you don't stamp your tiny feet over that? Hmmmmmmmm?
"Gays" are defined because of their sex acts.
Your inability to have a intelligent discussion about sex acts is your problem.
I will try again.
Since your support Gay marriage rights, Why not "rights" for those that practice bestiality?
"Gays" are defined because of their sex acts.
Your inability to have a intelligent discussion about sex acts is your problem.
I will try again.
Since your support Gay marriage rights, Why not "rights" for those that practice bestiality?
Oh nooooooo. Our favorite troll, greetings.
When commenting on another's intellectual and personal honesty, the author should be similarly honest. It isn't he President's "idiosyncrasies" that make him the object of vituperative, filthy mudslinging, it's the fact that he's a conservative Republican. Were GWB exactly the same man, except for having a (D) after his name, the same people who vilify him now would heap praises on him -- or at least hold their tongues.
Time the media noticed that the President has come a long way from the above BushSpeak. His SOTU address was spectacular. He has learned to relax more during his public speeches and has progressed nicely.
Seems the media are all upset that the tapes didn't reveal some deep dark secrets they could use against him!!!
TROLL
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