The Most Inappropriate Bush War Smirk of 2007
Given 2008's inevitably ramped-up analysis of the Bush Legacy by the very serious traditional media, there's one aspect of the president which, staggeringly though not surprisingly, won't be covered. In fact, it's never been covered to my knowledge. The traditional media has never really challenged the president on his grotesquely inappropriate reactions to serious issues -- especially Iraq.
His uncomfortably ridiculous smirks and smiles illustrate his inadequacies as a leader: his fugacious attitude; his vacant stature; and, most strikingly, his apparent inability to grasp the reality of his decisions. It's all right there on the screen -- underlined by those tiny baby teeth.
So as a reminder to the traditional media, I'd like to present the Most Inappropriate Bush War Smirk of 2007. But first, some runners up.
The date: October 17, 2007
The place: The White House Press Briefing Room
The hilarious quote: "But this -- we got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel. So I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding [grinning] World War III [end grinning], it seems like you [begin giggling] ought to be interested in preventing them from have the knowledge [end giggling] necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
The date: April 3, 2007
The place: The White House Rose Garden
The hilarious quote: "That's precisely why I sent more troops into Baghdad."
The date: January 14, 2007
The place: 60 Minutes
The hilarious quote: "There's not enough troops on the ground right now to provide security for Iraq and that's why I made the decision I made."
And now, for the historical record, The Most Inappropriate Bush War Smirk of 2007:
The date: January 16, 2007
The place: PBS's NewsHour With Jim Lehrer
The hilarious quote: "If I didn't believe we could keep the egg from fully cracking, I wouldn't ask 21,000 kids -- additional kids to go into Iraq to reinforce those troops that are there."
Soon after this smirk, the president, as part of his euphemistically nicknamed New Way Forward, ordered an additional 21,000 soldiers into Iraq with the goal of providing military cover for a political solution to the civil war there.
During the intervening 11 months between the above smirk and today, 6,796 American soldiers were either killed or wounded under the president's hap-hap-happy command.
The political solution for which these soldiers gave their lives... never happened.
I don't know who he thinks he is or what he thinks he's grinning about, but for the Commander in Chief of the United States armed forces to smile and giggle while discussing warfare of any form or magnitude is an insult -- not just to the soldiers who followed his orders into battle, but also to basic decency and human morality. From his zany "those WMDs have to be around here somewhere" sketch to his shit-eating grin whilst comparing warfare to wacky-yet-delicious breakfast foods, this extends far beyond the necessary objective distance of a military leader and into the realms of madness.
This is the Bush Legacy, Traditional Media. Please consider this in the coming months. President Bush injected a psycho bomb into the Middle East without any real grasp of the consequences and, nearly five years into the conflict, is so affectless about these consequences as to smirk and laugh at it all.
Or maybe there's an hilarious joke in there somewhere and we're all just dumb about it.
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Very good article Bob. I have never before witnessed such wildly inappropriate behavior from even people with serious problems like mental issues that this 'president' has exhibited over the years. I think you forgot his making a joke about no WMD's under his podium though. A friend of mines' son is doing IED detection and defusing in Baghdad.
he is an abhorrent statesmen, a terrible President and a vile human being. i cannot listen to Bush say anything these days. it's like watching a condemned man weasel his way out of a corner.
Here's a movie Full of Bush and his inappropriateness just oozing with one thing after another.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1656880303867390173
The Deathmonkey (okay, I stole that from another poster) is a textbook sociopath, which means he is incapable of feeling normal empathy with or compassion for other human beings. Hence the inappropriate gestures and smirks. He probably thinks the situation really IS funny.
It’s going to take a lot to right the wrongs of this administration. It’s going to take Americans working together, not fighting amongst ourselves. I still have hope that Americans have not really changed. They have been misled by spin. We need to force the sponsors of mainstream media to report fact not spin We are paying for TV, we need to get our monies worth. If we have to accept spin, they should be paying us!
years ago i lived in wash. d.c. as an event planner and used to do 2-3 events a yr. at the vice pres. residence, this great white victorian house on the naval observatory grounds. geo. senior was the v.p. i remember being invited to a xmas party, and when i walked into the residence, geo. senior was greeting people. after some idle chit-chat with geo. senior, i stood off to the side and watched his uneasyness in talking one-on-one with people. his kid, our pres. is the same way. unless it's scripted, and basically not more than 4-5 words per sentence,
Thank you Bob for recognizing this horrific abnormality exhibited by Bush. I can't stand to look or listen to him anymore - the mute button on my TV control is almost worn out.
Bob, I did a little research and here's what I found on Wikipedia :
"Among humans, [smiling] is customarily an expression of pleasure, happiness, or amusement, but can also be an involuntary expression of anxiety, in which case it can be known as a grimace. Happiness is most often the cause of a smile. Among animals, the exposure of teeth, which may bear a resemblance to a smile, is often used as a threat or warning display - known as a snarl - or a sign of submission. In chimpanzees, it can be a sign of fear."
So, when Bush is smiling while talking about war, maybe it's an unconscious expression of anxiety or fear on his part... or he's just a sadist who likes war!
We have lost our democracy because of the foolishness of the American people and because of the failure of every single member of Congress, right or left (as they have all been neutered), to impeach the traitor and his cabal. The cabal has destroyed America in 7 short years. What a shame for all of the men and women who fought so valiantly for hundreds of years to defend our democracy...and then Bush Corp. quietly sold America out. All the news networks that are OWNED by a grand total of 5 corporations...all Neo-con right wing corporations that give millions to the Bush people REPORTED NOTHING on our televisions because we have lost our freedom of press and they are loyal to the Capitalists. We the people have to wake up and realize that we have been overtaken by a capitalistic coup that makes money off of never-ending war and arms deals, and by taking away our freedom. The military, as defenders of our Constitution, needs to take them out but fast.
Has anyone else noticed how George reminds you of your towns idiot???? Every town has at least one who isn't operating on all 6 cylinders provided it's a 6 cylinder vehicle. Who is a few brinks shy of a full load. They don't totally comprehend the way the world works. They live in a little vacuum void of any large amount of knowledge. They manage to scrape by daily putting on their mask of normalcy on before they walk out the door every morning. But, most people are not fooled by the facade for long. Eventually that mask comes down to expose the town idiot all over again. How we ever managed to scrape the bottom of the barrel and elect this guy twice will go down in the history of this country as a mystery. I lost every last bit of faith I ever had the American people the day after the 2004 when they reelected the 'town idiot'! He was not suited to the job when he was Governor of Texas. He was a loser then. In fact, it's been the story of the man's life! He has failed at everything he has set out to do. The sad part about this tale is that he is doing it to our country! It will be a miracle if he doesn't bankrupt us in the meantime. He doesn't seem to comprehend throwing more money at a wrong war isn't going to instantly make it right!
I've read through all of the comments thus far and see no reference to the fact that Condi Rice has the same mannerism: shit-eating grin while referring to death and destruction of innocents abroad, trying to justify a failed foreign policy, etc.
Which prompts me to wonder who got this sickening gesture from whom?
I guess the only reason Shooter Cheney doesn't do it is because he finds it impossible to grin under any circumstance, preferring to use that patented, crooked-mouth grimace as a catch-all facial response to the mayhem he's responsible for.
In any event, we're stuck with an Administration composed of pathological liars, ignoramuses, and unabashed law breakers until we, perhaps, vote in (or have voted in for us) another criminal enterprise.
Mistah Bush? He would be the first to tell you that he sometimes goes too far. Oh you are looking at the heads and the bodies? Well sometimes he loses himself with his people. You see his mind is clear but his soul has gone mad. Or is that vice versa? Whatever. I mean what are they going to say when he is gone? That he was a wise man? That he was a kind man? Wrong man.
Watch out for those monkeys they do bite. Don't get off the boat. The Company clerk has a few things to explain.
His "smirk" is one of the leading causes of terrorism against this nation, and for the hatred that billions have for us. Thanks George, you flippin' little traitorous putz.
My fondest wish is to see him and his cohorts judged in court before the world for their crimes, and with a swift punishment. Our failure to bring them to justice will tell the world that we Americans are nothing but weak willed hypocrites.
there is something organically wrong with gw's wiring......for other people to recognize this is not a fluke that takes special training.
there is some bad wiring here which was (is) exacerbated by his sheltered life.
Serious question: if he was not a bush, would he even be capable of a middle management position?....considering his severe lack of empathy and people skills....and in the corporate world, making up words is not a plus.
I tellyou are right on about grin, I thought that I was the only one who saw that, It is just a said commentary that this man has to represent us while he is talking with other world leaders. I truly don,t beleive tha they take him serious. It is truly sad indeed
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