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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You know Bob, there is no winning for Bush as far as you people are concerned. I understand that the Huffington Post is a leftist/liberal site and that Bush and Cheney are primary targets. But now we have been reduced to haranging these two characters for facial expressions, speech patterns, and heck, if we can't find any more stuff on these two, let's slam their children.
I'm coming your direction as far as voting is concerned but I tell you, this is not how you win friends and influence people.
And BTW, you commentors who toss around the terms sociopath, psychotic and other medical terms related to Bush and Cheney, I'd like to see your credentials and learn how you came about this diagnoisis.
All this stupid name calling does is cheapen the very real debate and discussion that should be going on in this country. Liberals and leftist democrats, you claim to be the educated thinkers of politics and not the nasty name callers that pollute the right wing, how about living up to that standard.
I think I have found the source of the smirk...
http://the
Does Esquire magazine still give out its annual Dubious Distinction Awards? They used to ask, "Why is this man smiling?", typically next to a picture of Nixon flashing a weird grin.
First, let me state on record that I detest George W Bush's corruption, arrogance, ignorance, and incompetence and I regard him as the Worst President Ever.
That being said, I have to point out that there may be an alternate explanation for the wildly inappropriate smirks: Anxiety.
When humans are under extreme stress, they sometimes sublimate the tension by smiling and/or chuckling. I've even caught myself doing it, in a few stressful instances, but immediately forced a more sober expression -- which was surprisingly difficult.
Bush's smirks may well be yet another manifestation of his ignorant hubris. On the other hand, they may be due to a common psychologi
In any event, as the POTUS, he really needs to learn to control it -- exactly because of how it can be perceived. Of course, I have no doubt that a man who insists on mispronouncing "nuclear" because it is what he's used to saying will have little awareness of his problem and no interest in correcting it.
Self-centered sophomoric twit, that he is.
In any event, I say we make the matter academic: Impeach.
Impeach now.
Bush and Cheney are simply sociopaths. They smirk because they know the evil they do in your name, and to them it's simply a joke. Remember as a kid knowing a secret and you couldn't keep your face from showing it? They never grew up.
Here's the real definition of sociopath from "Snakes in Suits" by Dr. Robert D. Hare: "intraspecies predators who use charm, manipulation, intimidation, and violence to control others and to satisfy their own selfish needs. Lacking in conscience and in feelings for others, they cold-bloodedly take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without the slightest sense of guilt or regret."
That's the definition in use at GreatRedDr
One thing, Bob...he never said "nuclear" threat in that October 17th quote...
He said "nook-you-ler", as he always does. Six fucking years in office; every single damned speech and press conference, he says, "nook-you-ler".
Don't you think anyone has told him how to say this so he doesn't sound like an idiot?
This is perhaps the MOST OBVIOUS piece of evidence in existence, that this stubborn, arrogantly ignorant fool of a figurehead takes constructive advice from nobody, unless it directly serves a personal need.
My Bush Countdown Calendar screensaver says 388 days and 16 hours as I write this. How much more will we have to endure--from the ridiculous to the tragic--before we can finally see some light?
For those of you who are not from Texas, this is normal behavior for the Geeks that eat live chickens in the side show at the annual Texas State Fair in Dallas. Use to be 25 cents to see them, now it's $7 Billion a month !
Nice focus, Bob. You're absolutely right about the facial and behavioral responses we often see in Bush. They do not fit the context of the discussion, and are often downright inappropriate under any rationale.
For several years while completing college, I worked as a drug and alcohol counselor in Washington State. The act of smiling when something is decidedly not funny is very common among those who have built a life-style around drug and/or alcohol dependence. It is often part of a lifestyle of denial and deception.
The motivation can be complicated, and there is probably more current research with which I am not familiar. But in many instances, it is a rote reaction by someone who has become accustomed to hiding certain behaviors they believe to be socially unacceptable.
I cannot say that explains why Bush often smiles when the context of a situation is anything but amusing.
Personally, I don't believe the president's shi* eating grin is directly related to the inappropriate smiles. He has often been described as "mischievous" or "cocky" and the smirk is probably a reflection of that kind of attitude. But I doubt that the smiles are directly related to the same thing.
By comparison to the smirk-look, I worked with a fellow for several years who often held private conversations with others during meetings, workshops, and in ordinary office settings. He always looked at the speaker or at someone other than whomever he was speaking to, but would twist his mouth to the left as if that ensured that he would look both attentive to other things around him and mask the sound of his side conversations.
This person could only do that with someone on his left, so he would sometimes have to change his seat or walk to the other side of a person to hold the side conversation. By the time he was in his fifties, his mouth and facial lines all slopped to the left of his face.
Firstly, I'm totally against this stupid war and this stupid President, but what is the point in using the statistic of 6796 "killed or wounded"? These are two completely different states: killed or wounded. What does it mean? 6000 dead 796 wounded? 6 dead 6790 wounded? When I read about the Civil war in the US, and historians would say a figure like 20,000 killed or wounded at Gettysburg, I found that statement equally meaningless. Did you know that there are 124,567,356 women in the USA that are pregnant or not?
While I admit I have not read all the comments here, I have to ask myself, what does it take?
What does it take to inspire all those at HuffPo, and across this nation to rise up, take to the streets and the airways to demand impeachment?
The worst President in our nation's history is still at large and unimpeded by our legislature.
We, as a nation, are lost, addicted (ourselves)to writing and reading our emails, blogs and news letters, posting our pathetic comments and guiding our own children and grandchildren into an era of dangerous complacency.
Keep speaking truth to power, Bob!
We all could go on and on and on talking about this mass murderer..
I wish I could slap Bush and every republican for every person who died in Iraq. And then look at them and give them a smirk.
"that wont convince many people that you are not in denial over Iraq" (to Bush) Reply: Its bad in Iraq.snigg
Don;t let this one slip away. It is awful and it should be kept in view as a 'shocker' Bob.
The smirking chimp quote that may well have been the most appalling was prior to our troops ever setting foot in Iraq. As tens to hundreds of thousands protested the potential invasion of Iraq in several world capitols, Tom Brokaw asked Bush how he viewed such open and massive opposition.
Bush smirked and said, "They'll come around".
Every aspect of the Bush foreign policy hinged upon the remainder of the free world "coming around" - and they did not. It was the squandering of support from a world that appeared sympathetic toward the United States after the attacks in September of 2001. The move into Iraq was and opportunistic attempt to grab control of valuable resources - all the while believing a grateful nation of Iraqis would welcome the opportunists as liberators - even though the history of Iraq and TransJordan taught a different lesson.
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