Monday, December 1, 2008 at 1:21 pm
"I Was Unprepared For War"
So says a candid President Bush, in an interview set to air today with Charlie Gibson of ABC News.
GIBSON: What were you most unprepared for?
BUSH: Well, I think I was unprepared for war. In other words, I didn't campaign and say, "Please vote for me, I'll be able to handle an attack." In other words, I didn't anticipate war. Presidents -- one of the things about the modern presidency is that the unexpected will happen.
GIBSON: You said you were not going to be in the business of nation-building. And so much of what you had to do was nation-building.
BUSH: Well, what I said was, in the course of a debate, I said the military shouldn't be used to build nations. In this case, it turns out the military, in my judgment, was needed to remove threats to our security, and after that removal, the military, as well as our diplomatic corps, needed to help rebuild after tyrannical situations.
GIBSON: That's the second time I've heard you use the word "joyful" about the presidency, and that might take people by surprise. Even in really tough times?
BUSH: Oh, yes. As I said, some times are happy, some not happy. I don't want people to misconstrue. It's not -- I don't feel joyful when somebody loses their life, nor do I feel joyful from somebody loses a job. That concerns me. And the President ends up carrying a lot of people's grief in his soul during a presidency. One of the things about the presidency is you deal with a lot of tragedy -- whether it be hurricanes, or tornadoes, or fires, or death -- and you spend time being the Comforter-in-Chief. But the idea of being able to serve a nation you love is -- has been joyful. In other words, my spirits have never been down. I have been sad, but the spirits are up.
Read the whole thing here.
RSS Feed |
Senior Writer Karen Tumulty has been TIME's National Political Correspondent since 2001, and has also covered the White House and Congress for the magazine. A native of San Antonio, she is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and Harvard Business School, where her career choice has significantly lowered the average salary of her graduating class. But she gets lots of free magazines. Read More »
Follow Karen Tumulty on Twitter
Joe Klein is TIME's political columnist and author of six books, most recently Politics Lost. His weekly TIME column, "In the Arena," covers national and international affairs. In 2004 he won the National Headliner Award for best magazine column. Read More »
Michael Scherer is the White House correspondent for TIME. He previously worked for Salon.com, Mother Jones, and the Daily Hampshire Gazette. A native of San Francisco, he graduated from U.C. Santa Cruz and Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. Read More » Follow Michael Scherer on Twitter
Jay Newton-Small is the congressional correspondent for TIME. Born in New York, she spent time growing up in Asia, Australia and Europe following her vagabond United Nations parents. A graduate of Tufts University and Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, Jay previously covered politics for Bloomberg News. And, yes, despite the misleading name SHE is a she. Read More » Follow Jay Newton-Small on Twitter
Amy Sullivan is a senior editor at TIME magazine, and author of the book The Party Faithful: How and Why Democrats are Closing the God Gap (Scribner, 2008). A Michigan native, she holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Harvard Divinity School. She writes about religion and politics for TIME, but no longer answers to the name "Bible Girl." Read More »
- Obama and Medvedev: Sunshine in the Moscow Drizzle
- Why Sarah Palin Quit: The Five Best Explanations
- Cutting Health-Care Reimbursement Costs by Putting Doctors on a Budget
- Is There Hope for the American Marriage?
- Michael Jackson's Missing Music: More to Come?
- Police Open Fire on Protesters in Honduras
- Do We Need Another Stimulus or Not?
- How Bad Are Auto Sales? 10 Questions and Answers
- HBO's Next (I Hope) Great Drama
- Why Obama's Afghan War Is Different
- Obama Travels to Russia
- Photos: U.S. Marines Open a New Offensive in Afghanistan
- Photos: Inside Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch
- Violence Erupts During Honduras Protests
- The History of the Bikini
- Photos: India's Contraband Wildlife
- Photos: A Madoff Family Album
- Michael Jackson: The Last Photos
- Public Enemy: The Extremely Brief and Violent Life of John Dillinger
- Photos: Sacha Baron Cohen's Outrageous BrÜno Promotions
- ABC News’ The Note
- Andrew Sullivan
- CBN’s Brody File
- Ezra Klein
- Foreign Policy’s The Cable
- Juan Cole
- Lynn Sweet
- Marc Ambinder
- Matthew Yglesias
- MSNBC’S First Read
- Nate Silver
- NRO’s The Corner
- NYT’s The Caucus
- Politico’s Ben Smith
- Powerline
- Ross Douthat
- Talking Points Memo
- The American Prospect’s Tapped
- TNR’s The Plank
- Tom Ricks
- Washington Monthly’s Political Animal
- WashPost’s 44
- WashPost’s The Fix
- WSJ’s Washington Wire
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 1:25 pm
And the President ends up carrying a lot of people's grief in his soul during a presidency.
.
Some people cry when they feel grief. President Bush, he jams his thumb up his ass and spins 'til he gets dizzy.
.
F--k this guy.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Wasn't prepared to start a war, prosecute it or for its after math. And this is news to the rest of us how? How many more days until this doofus leaves office and can get back to his finger painting?
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Oh well. Crap happens.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 1:37 pm
"Dick never told me it was gonna be hard. They all said it'd be a cakewalk!"
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Bush looks and acts as if he checked out of the White House months ago.
He seems to have no relish for the job. He might be "joyful" to be president, whatever that means, but he hasn't appeared in charge of the country for a long time.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Scherer
.
Uhmm seriously, If you had been able to do whatever you damm well please with out anybody ever punishing you for it, had nobody looking into your illegal activities so you never even had to defend them, and you were still working over time to install your own agenda and phuck over the country as your last acts in the Oval Office, wouldn't YOU feel joyful?
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 1:55 pm
I doubt if Charlie Gibson asked any questions about the administrations illegal activities. This interview is part of the establishment's attempt to brush aside the messy details of what actually happened during the Bush years.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 2:04 pm
I'm surprised the press never followed up on this one. Here's Jay Garner:
Garner: So then I briefed the president the second week in March on what our organization was like and what--
PBS: What were the president's concerns? What kind of questions was he asking?
Garner: The first thing he asked me, he wanted me to tell him about myself. I told him my background, and Secretary Rumsfeld told him my background.
Then he began asking me questions. "OK, what are you going to do during reconstruction?"...
This was THE SECOND WEEK IN MARCH. Date of the invasion: March 20.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Let's try this again...
.
I'm surprised the press never followed up on this one. Here's Jay Garner:
This was THE SECOND WEEK IN MARCH. Date of the invasion: March 20.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 2:06 pm
I'm surprised Bush didn't blame the war on the Clinton administration. Don't the Republican who preach personal responsiblility ever take any responsibility for their actions.
.
If Bush said, "I screwed up", I might have a modicum of empathy, but he is clearly the worst president since James Buchanan.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Not just brush aside, mccainfluffer; completely rewriting history. Like the recent self-serving Rumsfeld op-ed, the Bush admin is busily spinning as they walk out the door. Why even have this interview with Gibson otherwise?
.
Bush acts surprised that war should crop up on the agenda, but from day one he was trying to instigate circumstances to justify regime-change in the Middle East. Thus, the critical appointments of Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, and all their neo-con underlings.
.
Now that things have gone badly, he is wide-eyed with surprise. War was foisted on me, he claims; how could I have known? Fortunately, the public is wise to him. We aren't buying the revisionist crap he's selling.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 2:18 pm
The clueless, self-serving ramblings of a booze-addled psychopath. What idiot would want to "read the whole thing"? I mean, besides Scherer?
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 2:25 pm
"And the President ends up carrying a lot of people's grief in his soul during a presidency."
Good thing for Bush (bad thing for us) that Bush doesn't have a soul.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 2:57 pm
"Well, I think I was unprepared for war."
-
Such a torrent of snarky comments spring to mind, I can't decide which one to post.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Michael, if you were posting to give us something to sound off about, this will do nicely, thanks!
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Happily it does not appear that the majority of American's will buy into this line of self-surving bull. The powers that be have finally acknowledged that we have been in a recession for a year now. That makes two recessions during W's tenure. Is he feeling joyful about that too?
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 3:36 pm
"... unprepared for war."
.
What utter horsesh**. He is either lying or clueless (and, frankly, both are possibilities with Bush).
.
Everyone in Washington knew that Cheney's band of neocons (Rumsfeld, Feith, Wolfowitz, Bolton, Wurmser, Perle, et. al.) were going into Iraq in Bush's first term, 9-11 or no 9-11. They made no secret of this fact. Hell, PNAC had been trumpeting its plan to take down Iraq, Iran and Syria since its inception in 1996 and long before that as simply lunatic fringe neocons.
.
Richard Clarke and John O'Neill said as much in their books. Cheney and company were making plans (and looking for excuses) to invade Iraq before Bush was even inaugurated in 2001. The events of 9-11 simply gave these lunatics a jumping-off point.
.
Of course, the foreign policy establishments of BOTH parties long viewed the neocons as lunatics and idiots whose dream of installing democracies in these three countries was ludicrous on its face.
.
And Cheney and company have made a monumental mess, just as predicted by the old, steady hands.
.
Remind me, again, why The New York Times provides a platform for Bill Kristol, a man who has been egregiously wrong about everything from Iraq to Sarah Palin?
.
So is Bush a liar or clueless? Or both?
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 3:50 pm
NBC and McCaffrey's coordinated responses to the NYT story
.
Following up on yesterday's post regarding NBC News' suppression of the "military analyst" scandal and its ongoing reliance on the deeply conflicted Barry McCaffrey: I have obtained, from a very trustworthy source, emails sent last week between NBC News executives and McCaffrey (which cc:d Brian Williams), reflecting the extensive collaboration between NBC and McCaffrey to formulate a coordinated response to David Barstow's story. The emails are re-printed here.
.
Rather than honestly investigate the numerous facts which Barstow uncovered about McCaffery's severe conflicts, NBC instead is clearly in self-protective mode, working in tandem with McCaffrey to create justifications for what they have done. As these emails reflect, both this weekend's story about McCaffrey and the earlier NYT story in April have caused NBC News to expend substantial amounts of time, effort and resources trying to manage the P.R. aspects of this story.
.
But remarkably, this "news organization" has still not uttered a peep to its viewers about these stories; has not reported on any of the indisputably newsworthy events surrounding the Pentagon's "military analyst" program; and continues to present McCaffrey to its viewers as an objective source without disclosing any of the multiple connections and interests he has that would lead any reasonable person to question his objectivity.
.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/?source=rss
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 3:56 pm
now watch this drive.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 4:15 pm
.......Bush also said he's going to do a lot of thinking once he leaves the White House. If only he had that idea 8 years ago, may be things could have been different.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 4:18 pm
I hear he's going to ask Obama to ghostwrite his book.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 4:33 pm
So even the "candid President Bush" lies his @ss off. Go figure.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 5:14 pm
OK, everybody, it's time for "Pick the Least Surprising News!"
.
Contestant #1: Bush was unprepared for the war he started!
.
Contestant #2: We're in a recession!
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 5:28 pm
FlownOver:
.
I'm not sure this is fair. It's like putting a donkey exactly between two equally sized bowls of oats.
.
And you know how that one turned out...
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Flown Over: Contestant #3: Hillary Clinton tapped to be next Sec'y of State.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 5:32 pm
What I really wonder is why GWB is trotting out his regrets one at a time.
.
Is he playing for sympathy? Mercy? Maybe the list is so long that he can't do it in a day or a week?
.
My biggest fear:
.
What's he going to be sorry about tommorrow ?
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 5:34 pm
I wrote this in Jay's recession thread earlier, suggesting that Swampland create a new sub-site, "News of the Obvious":
.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 5:34 pm
jacula1:
.
"...Bush also said he's going to do a lot of thinking once he leaves the White House."
.
No.
.
He said he's going to do a lot of drinking once he leaves the White House!
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Palinatowel:
Was that July of 2006, 2007, or 2008?
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 5:38 pm
He said he's going to do a lot of *drinking* once he leaves the White House!
Why wait?
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Andy,
.
It's not clear. It may have been July 2002. The stress of 9-11 made him want to hang out at the club again, in the 19th Hole, drinking shots and telling dirty jokes.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 5:40 pm
"...Bush also said he's going to do a lot of thinking once he leaves the White House."
.
Bush was unprepared for thinking when he became president. Twice. Figured the second time around he would get a clue there was more to do than riding around on neat areo plane and eating hot dogs while the guy with the pacermaker did all the heavy lifting.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Um, ...simple syrup and regional bitters.
.
With ingredients like these, I would have to agree with you JJ.
.
Except I'd strike that word 'regional' and replace it with 'global'...
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 5:47 pm
gysgt213:
.
Maybe he did do the "heavy lifting". To wit:
.
"In other words, my spirits have never been down. I have been sad, but the spirits are up."
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Are those the spirits in the liquor cabinet 53_3?
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 6:36 pm
He may have been unprepared for war, but he's make one hell of an Auto Czar.
.
Just my two cents.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 6:41 pm
I know I'm going to hell - while I'm here, I'm just trying to save a nickel on a one-way ride - but the really sad part is there will be jackasses like Bush, Cheney, et al, there as well. That'll just totally ruin all the great parties they supposedly have, there.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 6:45 pm
That'll just totally ruin all the great parties they supposedly have, there.
.
I'm not so sure they'll ruin them. After all, they might bring some members of the Interior Department.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 6:48 pm
The best tap-dancing president in history sounds like a positive genius when compared to Sarah Palin.
That she is not VP-elect was the reason I was thankful this year.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Well duh.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 7:21 pm
So. Bush maintains his record of having never said, nor saying now, anything worth listening to. I agree with Andy up at #10, that it would stir my interest if he admitted a screwed up administration and tried to analyze it to prevent further screwups. But he can't do that because he has not a clue. How many days until he goes away? Not soon enough.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 7:22 pm
He says he was unprepared for war.
No kidding!!
I am counting down the days until he leaves and Obama is sworn in. It's far too long.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Hey, where's Mike Murphy at? Seems like we could use a post or two on what the GOP is doing besides blubbering like a school child.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Cliff, thank you for the very first comment. Given the topic, what more can one really say. And the imagery fills my mind with disturbing images.
.
btw, OT but it appears ole Saxby may be a bit of a pervert? Bob Cesca says: "keep a close eye on Sexby's -- I mean Saxby's -- right hand at the end:"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_3T6q88QF4&eurl=http://crooksandliars.com/&feature=player_embedded
.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Cliff, I add my compliments to wvng's for your first comment, which pretty well sums it up.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 9:09 pm
As LBJ might have said, "He can't chew gum and fart at the same time."
.
To say nothing about, you know, being a responsible leader.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Hey, I do what I can, and every so often I manage to say what everyone else is thinking.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Cliff, I have to say that, without your help, I never would have thought: "Some people cry when they feel grief. President Bush, he jams his thumb up his ass and spins 'til he gets dizzy."
.
Again, thank you. I am in your debt, and still laughing.
.
Now if he would simply just go away.
.
Forever.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008 at 1:16 am
What? Doesn't Bush know that conspiracy theorists like Richard Clarke, Ron Suskind, Time, Newsweek, ABC, CBS, NBC, MSDNC, PBS, CNN, NPR, et al., all insisted that Bush "planned" what NBC so-called "News" likes to call the "civil war" in Iraq during the 1990's, long before he was "selected" (or what the thinking, pro-America community calls "won the election")?
Tuesday, December 2, 2008 at 10:31 am
In the corner opposite texte (which means the corner where reality lives): Big News Orgs Help Bush Whitewash History Of Iraq War