Bush is in Iraq, not Camp David!

The bottom line is that he POTUS took a trip to Iraq, which is a war zone, to meet with the government there.

He is unarguably one of the most powerful men in the world, and it is not a 'common' thing for a leader to do, especially one of his caliber.

This is not a left/right, smart/dumb or ratings issue. It is a trip that no one knew about(security anyone?) and should not have. The only people who would need to know are the flight crew and secret service.

This was not about fanfare, it was about doing the right thing and showing support the only way he can. I mean, do you really think a secret trip to Iraq will help ANY Gallup/CNN/Fox poll?

I think that the recent wave of positive news; Zarqawi's death, the new Iraqi cabinet, Rove's un-indictment, etc., have some here reading the tea leaves and seeing another election go very badly for the Democrats this November.

Originally posted by Gools

Originally posted by jsobecky
... in a very dangerous move.

Say what you will about Bush, he has the guts to go where he is probably in the most danger of his life, ...

Oh pullllleeze!...

The guy chokes on pretzels and falls off his bike more often then I change underwear. He's probably safer there with people to look after him.

Nothing but a PR stunt.
.

so you're telling us that you only changed your underwear 2 times in 7 years...

I only recall one bike "accident" and one pretzel incident with President Bush.



[edit on 13-6-2006 by elevatedone]

Originally posted by esdad71
The bottom line is that he POTUS took a trip to Iraq, which is a war zone, to meet with the government there.

I think one of his objectives was indeed to meet with the government. However, I agree with others who say the more important objectives were a photo op, a ratings attempt and has everything to do with riding the wave of Zarqawi's demise.

I totally agree with the thoughts in the middle of your post.

This was not about fanfare, it was about doing the right thing and showing support the only way he can.

I don't think we can really state the true purpose of this trip unless we're closer to the White House than any of us are. And, boring as it is, I'm sure there are several reasons, fanfare being one of them. And there are many ways he could have shown support over the past 3 years that he has totally neglected to do. Taking a totally surprise, protected trip to be on the ground for 5 hours is the very least he could do for these soldiers. The very least.

And why wouldn't he take advanatage of it? Every politician I know would take advantage of this opportunity as the November elections grow closer, to make points for their team in the wake of Z's death. Freaking mission accomplished!

I mean, do you really think a secret trip to Iraq will help ANY Gallup/CNN/Fox poll?

Yes. Watch.

Who are these people that vote against one day, and FOR the next??? Can we have so many people in this country who can be swayed so easily?

This always baffles me. Such a mindless nation. So many people expect so little.

With Bush out of the country I smell a nuclear conspiracy brewin'.
When is the Murtha or Pelosi trip planned.

[edit on 13-6-2006 by steve99]

jsobecky


How did you know that the President was in Iraq before it was announced on TV within the last hour?

Perhaps he went to Iraq because...it was the right thing to do. I am sure that most here will not agree. Showing his support for the new gov't in Iraq, and just incidently, for the troops there was the right thing to do. Polls are meaningless, unless they are the ones taken in November. Middle of June is a bit too early to be worried about things of this nature, especially given the attention span of alot of Americans.

Oh, before I forget. Since when does simple and straightforward equate with being a simpleton? A lack of sophistication in using ones vocabulary does not equate with stupidity, nor does mixing ones metaphors. I would submit that a clever mixing of ones metaphors is a sign of cleverness. 'Course Mr. Bush mangles his metaphors, but the point remains valid.

Originally posted by jsobecky
I think that the recent wave of positive news; Zarqawi's death, the new Iraqi cabinet, Rove's un-indictment, etc., have some here reading the tea leaves and seeing another election go very badly for the Democrats this November.

Isnt it funny. Here we have a bumbling idiot, who's top man has escaped charges, A terrorist who is dead for at least the second time, another proclaimed one (to of course, keep that terror going), and this is the most positive news we've had in how many years now???

Oh yes. Victories indeed.

How about a REAL victory? Like HAVING A PLAN to get out of Iraq? So many things he could fix if he didnt have that hidden agenda.

Originally posted by dgtempe

Awwwmy Gawwwd, Niteboy, that avatar!!!!! Oh wow!

That's some scarey stuff.

As far as Bush in Iraq, whoever suggested he go on that mission wants Bush out of the way baaaaad. Bush cannot think for himself, nor is he a hero, nor does he have "brass". Try as he may, he's not a man's man, nor is he a woman's man.
He's a chimp's friend. Anything for a photo op.
I for one, am not worried.

HAHA Dgtempe "He's a chimp's friend" to funny, to funny. Yeah it's PR .. If he wanted to talk to the Iraqi leader the Iraqi leader could fly to washington. I find the Super Embassy to be very odd... why exactly do we need such a massive embassy in such a dirty backwards country that is not even a pure ally yet as they have no secure gov??

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The fortress-like compound rising beside the Tigris River here will be the largest of its kind in the world, the size of Vatican City, with the population of a small town, its own defense force, self-contained power and water, and a precarious perch at the heart of Iraq’s turbulent future.

any one else find that odd? Who cares if Bush wants to waste our money and attention to watch him frollock to Iraq to give a short showing to the troops, when he walks down the streets of bahgdad WITHOUT security and wearing nothing but his suit.. il respect his "Courage".

P.S. Niteboy that new avatar is SEXY!!

[edit on 6/13/2006 by Rockpuck]

Originally posted by esdad71
The bottom line is that he POTUS took a trip to Iraq, which is a war zone, to meet with the government there.

That is the top line, not the bottom.

Originally posted by esdad71
He is unarguably one of the most powerful men in the world, and it is not a 'common' thing for a leader to do, especially one of his caliber.

You mean the caliber of an organized crime boss? Everything he does is "unarguable" because if you argue you "hate America" yet everything this Administration does practically urinates on the US Constitution.

Originally posted by esdad71
This is not a left/right, smart/dumb or ratings issue.

Tell the right that.

Originally posted by seagull
Perhaps he went to Iraq because...it was the right thing to do. I am sure that most here will not agree.

When was the last time he did something because "it was the right thing to do"?

Originally posted by seagull
Showing his support for the new gov't in Iraq, and just incidently, for the troops there was the right thing to do.

Bring 'em home then. That'll show support.

Originally posted by seagull
Polls are meaningless, unless they are the ones taken in November. Middle of June is a bit too early to be worried about things of this nature, especially given the attention span of alot of Americans.

How many primaries are being held this month? My State's primary is today. Polls are open right now. How short are our attention spans? Will I forget all this in the 20 minutes it takes me to drive from here to the Poll?

Originally posted by seagull
Oh, before I forget. Since when does simple and straightforward equate with being a simpleton?

It doesn't. Since when is being the sort of person who can't pronounce "nuclear" referred to as "straightforward"? In my neck of the woods that's called STUPID.

Originally posted by seagull
A lack of sophistication in using ones vocabulary does not equate with stupidity, nor does mixing ones metaphors.

An inability to form coherent thoughts and sentences has a direct correlation with intelligence.

Originally posted by seagull
I would submit that a clever mixing of ones metaphors is a sign of cleverness. 'Course Mr. Bush mangles his metaphors, but the point remains valid.

I would submit that to use "clever" and "Bush" in the same sentence is a mixed metaphor itself... and not a very clever one.

Originally posted by MagicaRose
jsobecky


How did you know that the President was in Iraq before it was announced on TV within the last hour?

He called me and asked if he should go.

He asked me not to say anything until he was inside the Green Zone.

[edit on 13-6-2006 by jsobecky]

I am surprised that he has a blue tie on. Iraq has a multitude of religions within it. One of the larger 'unusual' religions are the Yezidi a people from the north that have a pre-islamic ancient religion. They loathe the color blue, its a great symbol of ill-omen amoung them.

I don't know how sophisticated their population is. I don't know if they see bush with his blue tie and think 'OMG 666!!!', or if they say 'bah, thats an old supperstition', or if they perhaps say, 'how rude and stupid to not even bother researching the various peoples of iraq and recognize that we'd take this as an insult'.

Originally posted by jsobecky
I think that the recent wave of positive news; Zarqawi's death, the new Iraqi cabinet, Rove's un-indictment, etc., have some here reading the tea leaves and seeing another election go very badly for the Democrats this November.

Excuse me, positive news?...try pre-emptive strike, or more precisely, a little housekeeping for the presidential national suite otherwise known as Iraq. Zarqawi, and the story that was manufactured around his hit, could have been taken out earlier were he truly strategic. Having him alive during a visit like this would have been like Cinderella showing up at the ball with everything the fairy godmother gave with one exception - a face full of zits. And the metaphor was meant to be a direct one relative to our unlikely president.

Besides the fact that now the Whitehouse finds it has to do a stand-up, on location reassurance of the Iraqi people, (which personally could have been done by strong leading from the Whitehouse itself were our leader more than just a political crashtest dummy...) BUT now we have to put up with what is obviously just as much a military objective as it is a PR hail mary.

"If you keep the POTUS in motion, it could be harder to hit him" - thinks the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The man is clumsy in every sense of the word. Double down on your bets and make sure nobody knows where he's gonna be. Next stop, Paris, France for a three week stay and reconcilliation with the entire French population. If you keep the POTUS jib-jabbering in front of a background of political islanders (read Iraqi people) who are all dying for a drink of water, both as a nation and on individual levels, then you're bound to put makeup on the embarassment Bush has created for himself. If Bush wastes this opportunity to regain public support for this war (and so far, all he's been managing to do is flood the engine), then that attempt to apply makeup may be successful, but you won't be able to find anything to get it off...and he will be crying "Get it off, get it off!"

I am so disillusioned by this president, I can't believe anything he does or says as being genuine anymore.

And that is what makes me the most disappointed and saddened for our country.

Not being comfortable speaking in front of millions of people via television is a sure sign of stupidity all right. If that's your measure of intelligence, than alot of people are surely idiots.

So, did you forget the topic in the 20 minutes it took you to drive to the polls? Glad to hear you voted though, good for you!

Originally posted by dbates

Originally posted by ed 209
There's a very big distinction between having legitimate complaints about some government and making stuff up about people in that govt. as if it is true, so other than in some comedic way it makes no sense at all some of the stuff that people write about him

Exactly. Apply this logic to any other topic and the playground name calling becomes obvious. For some reason it's expected that jokes like this be taken seriously in politics. It's great when people jump straight to the core issues like that.

Example: "I think Jessica Simpson is a good singer. I've heard her in person before and she sounds really good."
Politicized reply: "But she can't operate a washing machine."

You know, I don't have a problem with Jessica not being able to operate the washing machine, or with GWB not being able to do the same, or with Jessica falling of a bike or GWB choking on a pretzel. I really don't give a flying toss. If GWB was a quadruplegic who would throw up on himself on occasion and needed to be cleaned up by an army of attendant nurses, I'd still wouldn't have a problem with that.

However, I do have a problem not with washing machines or hard pretzels, but with the fact that a group of highly influential people with all sort of agendas, which are different from the American Dream agenda, have set the course which is very harmful to my country.

I (and I hope I am an intelligent person) have a problem with an apparent lack of integrity of GWB and his clique when it came to manipulated intelligence on Iraq. I have a problem with the fact that the budgetary disaster which is stratospheric national debt, and all sorts of deficits, is not addressed but exacerbated by this administration.

You see, they don't care. The rich and connected don't care if the rest of us folks will be paying interest on the huge debt they accrued with the Iraq affair. They will always have cash to buy gas,caviar and champagne and sent their kids to good schools so they can be the next generation of ultra corrupt elite. They don't care about our failing education system or the astronomical cost of healthcare or medication. They don't.

So don't give me your "irrational". I am an American who loves his country to bits and I care, and I think Bush is America's enemy.


[edit on 13-6-2006 by Aelita]

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic

I think one of his objectives was indeed to meet with the government. However, I agree with others who say the more important objectives were a photo op, a ratings attempt and has everything to do with riding the wave of Zarqawi's demise.

Not much difference between this trip to Iraq and the last one, except the fake turkey is in a suit this time.

Seriously, it's a stunt, but a good stunt. Even though I think the guy is a Smirking Chimp, that doesn't mean he doesn't occasionally do something right.

However, putting 2,500 American troops in coffins, 17,000 in the hospital and destabilizing the region pretty much outweighs the small number of 'right' things.

He, he, Bush is in Iraq because his over grown ego can not keep him away from seen the face and body of Zarqawi in person death in front of him.

He has to take a peak so he can get more inflated about accomplishing perhaps the first good thing in a long . . . long time. . . killing the incredible, dangerous and elusive man number two after the infamous Bin laden.

Just a joke people.

Originally posted by seagull
Not being comfortable speaking in front of millions of people via television is a sure sign of stupidity all right. If that's your measure of intelligence, than alot of people are surely idiots.

There's no shortage of them that's for sure. However you innacurately characterized my statement. I didn't say he was "uncomfortable speaking"... I said he in inable to pronounce words correctly. That's a big difference. If he mispronounced "nuclear" once because he was nervous in front of a room full of demonspawn reporters, then I'd cut him a break, but there are several words (that one leaps to mind) that he mispronounces every time he uses them. That's not an issue of "comfort" it's an issue of "intelligence".

Originally posted by seagull
So, did you forget the topic in the 20 minutes it took you to drive to the polls? Glad to hear you voted though, good for you!

What topic?