Tue 28 Jun 2005
Just watched it. Nothing more than a pep rally speech, and an ineffective one at that. No wonder why the networks were unsure of setting aside time for it.
With public support for the war slipping, President Bush seems desperate to convince people that this was a worthy cause. It won’t work! The speech provided no new information and people will see right through these shallow efforts. And yet he continues to sneak in insinuations of a connection between Iraq and 9/11:
They are trying to shake our will in Iraq - just as they tried to shake our will on September 11, 2001.
He’s talking about terrorists in general, you say? Not Iraqis? Maybe, but the intent is clear: Keep that connection alive in the minds of Americans.
The applause you heard during the speech was initiated by White House people (this was mentioned by Charles Gibson and other mainstream media people, so it’s not like I’m making this up). The list of accomplishments is pathetic in the face of constant reports of instability, the deaths of Iraqi government officials, and an insufficiency of basic services like electricity. He kept insisting that the insurgency consists of foreign fighters when it’s increasingly showing military sophistication that’s best attributed to former Iraqi soldiers.
The full text of the speech, thanks to Daily Kos. Lots of reader comments there and at Huffington Post.
June 29th, 2005 at 2:46 am
I agree with all you say. Bush’s failure to win back support for the war with this speech will disturb the president and his staff greatly. For they have nothing left to stop the erosion of support. As Bush becomes more desperate to salvage his Iraq policy, our bigger worry will be whether he tries something radical to distract the country. A growing majority of the people will soon judge his presidency as a failure, with over 3 years yet to go. A badly wounded and bitter president will present a major obstacle to achieving anything useful for the country. It will a time of great worry. I suspect that neither Bush nor Cheney will complete their terms but will be impeached or forced to resign.
June 29th, 2005 at 7:33 am
I hope you’re right about an impeachment or resignation. I think Bush and Cheney still have the faith of many more people in Congress to undermine before we’ll get to a point when people will agree they should be ousted. But of course, we’re closer now to that time than we were two years ago.
June 30th, 2005 at 11:36 am
I just hope Bush realizes he’s surrounded by evil people… I still work under the assumption that he doesn’t know what he’s doing, and could be persuaded to be progressive if it weren’t for his handlers. I think there’s evidence for it. Paul O’Neill, former Treas. Sec., talked about how in a cabinet (I think) meeting, Bush apparently asked why they needed to be giving the rich another tax cut (after the first one), and Rove immediately started berating Bush, repeating that they needed to stay on message, or something to that effect.
Maybe Bush will do some really great stuff, since he no longer has any personal ambition to worry about. But, sigh, this is doubtful, as the Rovian shield only lets him visit Potemkin town hall meetings. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potemkin_village