"Wall Street Got Drunk": 'Banned' Bush Video Surfaces

An ABC-TV outlet in Houston, and now the Houston Chronicle, have posted a video taken at a political fundraiser for Pete Olson, featuring George W. Bush last week -- capturing some embarrassing/revealing moments after, he noted, he had asked cameras to be turned off.

The first moments form the July 18 event find him speaking almost incoherently in admitting, for once, that his friends in big business had screwed up: "There's no question about it. Wall Street got drunk ---that's one of the reasons I asked you to turn off the TV cameras -- it got drunk and now it's got a hangover. The question is how long will it sober up and not try to do all these fancy financial instruments."

Then, making light of the foreclosure crisis, he said: "And then we got a housing issue... not in Houston, and evidently not in Dallas, because Laura's over there trying to buy a house. [great laughter] I like Crawford but unfortunately after eight years of sacrifice, I am apparently no longer the decision maker."

No one is saying how ABC's Miya Shay got the video or how it emerged. UPDATE: The YouTube version of the video is now axed, but it is easily viewed at ABC site here:

Greg Mitchell's new book is So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits -- and the President -- Failed on Iraq. It has been hailed by Bill Moyers, Glenn Greenwald, Arianna Huffington, even Bruce Springsteen. He is editor of Editor & Publisher.

Comments

[csavage]

09:36 PM on 07/27/2008

Houston is the heart of "W" country-I applaud KTRH for showing the video, in it's entirety, on it's 6 pm broadcast. It showed a lot of courage on their part-I know most of you find that hard to believe,but, if you want to find the 28% that support Bush, they live here.....

[luziannagirl]

04:20 PM on 07/27/2008

Paraphrasing the famous/infamous Louisiana populist Huey P. Long, to the Robber Baron industrialists and "free market" capitalists ruling America in 1920's:

"You got into the banquet room first, ahead of everybody else, and you ate all you could hold. You got plenty to take home to your children, and even to your children's children. But then you loaded up all that leftover food, way more than you could possibly eat, or your children could eat, or your children's children could eat [pause for effect], or WEAR, or USE, or LIVE IN, and you left with it! And you left an entire room of people hungry!

Now you go back into that room and you put some of that food back on the table for the rest of us."

Wise free marketeers will see the parallels between current times and the 1920's, and unless we want another Huey P. Long - style strong arm dictator (not altogether a good thing...take my word for it), will hasten to make amends no matter which party takes the White House and Congress in '08.

[mmtwain]

03:40 PM on 07/27/2008

To reference an earlier posting, Wall street got their money from the unsuspecting, bought a Maserati, got falling down drunk, crashed, hurt people and we're stuck with the clean up, paying for the vicitms, paying for the car and the Wall streeters walk away. Hmm, the W life story, get wasted, screw up, and someone else cleans up the mess. No wonder he makes that comparison. (Note, I didn't say "use that metaphor" because that's a fancy word W would not understand.)

[bassface49]

01:53 PM on 07/27/2008

He sounded so 'prepared', I think he first gave this speech at his 'AA' group session and so impressed himself that God told him to take out the ' I'm 'W' and I'm a alcholic', part and 'go national'!
hey, maybe a screenplay....

Seriously, I used to think I was watching a 'dry drunk' but its hard to argue with this

[jnratliff]

02:17 PM on 07/26/2008

yes and bush the GOP and some of the dems supplied the deregulation booze and the encouragement to help the drunkin party along!

[terris]

12:41 PM on 07/26/2008

Finally Bush is using words that he can understand

[confuseddemocrat]

11:08 AM on 07/27/2008

LOL

[funwithwarcrimes]

12:26 PM on 07/26/2008

Wow...that's one of the most coherent and accurate statements of his presidency.
not sure what the big "hush hush" is -- he's just stating the facts.
stop on over and see him on trial for war crimes if ya like that sort of thing.
http://www.funwithwarcrimes.com

[Midnightrain]

09:44 AM on 07/26/2008

Dubya's presidency is a case study. Really.

[truthbrigade]

01:34 PM on 07/26/2008

The people of the US put this c r i m i n a l i d i o t in the W/H twice, yes twice. What does it say about your fellow citizens?

[Darsan54]

07:32 AM on 07/27/2008

Well, once really. The other time the Supreme Court stole the election for him.

[Pleidian]

04:58 AM on 07/26/2008

That's not entirely wrong, but when the White House laxed the banking and lending laws, didn't they provide the potent booze?

[GayGrandpa]

01:19 AM on 07/26/2008

If you are looking for brilliance on a dark night from the White House; I suggest you wait until 2009!

[SJeffH]

09:18 PM on 07/25/2008

Forgive me, but I don't see why this video is banned. The point that George Bush is trying to make is at least somewhat valid. His English is obviously awful but I don't see where a ban would be necessary.

[Darsan54]

07:38 AM on 07/27/2008

Because W. is a total hypocrite and unable to be honest with the country. He will work save the big bankers from their irresponsible behavior and damn the little guys to homelessness and poverty. In public he will blame those irresponsible little people for making the wrong choices; he will say how they have to live with the consquences of their actions. But his "show" will point the press in the wrong direction and again the country will suffer. This video shows him attacking his base.

[dadw5boys]

02:24 PM on 07/25/2008

HE JUST NAMED THE VERY REASON REUGLATIONS ON THE FINANCIAL MARKETS EVER EXISTED AND NEED TO BE REINSTATED!!!!!!!!!!

BUSH FINALLY CAUGHT SAYING SOMETHING RIGHT!!!!!!!!!

[IndependentMynd]

10:55 AM on 07/26/2008

Exactly! The Republicans have lead this country to think that regulations are all bad. If we had better regulations in place, this debacle with the financial markets would not have taken place. If we had better regulations we would have been able to track down exactly which food had been tainted with salmonella (tomatoes or jalapenos or cilantro or whatever). Did the lack of regulations *really* help the tomato growers??? How long will it take for their businesses to bounce back from this? Maybe they should ask the spinach growers. If we had better regulations (and the inspectors to enforce them), maybe we would not have had lead tainted toys for American children to play with. Regulations help businesses not just consumers. Just saying.

[dbaileyire]

11:04 AM on 07/25/2008

typical bush he makes it sound like a frat party who had a hangover , but its not a hangover , wall street got drunk on greed and then got into the car afterwards and crashed it and we're all living with the consequences as do victims of most drunk drivers

[dbg2]

10:26 AM on 07/25/2008

Wall street is as sober a Laura Bush, they new exactly what they were doing, and they know exactly what they are doing now ... getting bailed out and buy oil and gas futures. Bush is the drunk.

[milliband]

01:52 AM on 07/25/2008

I was a bar tender and worked for a large wall street firm. Memo to George - when someone is falling off the bar stool its past time to cut him off, not serve him another. George's administration was so
adverse to any regulation that Wall Street just kept bellying up to that sub prime bar without ever have to worry about being cut off.