George Bush is scheduled to deliver a 22 minute speech (can you say scripted?) at the U.N. He is not expected to acknowledge any problems or failures of his Iraq policies. I want to know what the hell he is going to say for 22 minutes and how will he be able to maintain a straight face for that long.

Never mind how he's going to say something for 22 minutes, think about poor Rummy with his hand up W's ass the whole time as the puppeteer!
This "speech" should be hilarious to watch (full of cliches and usual "down home" Texas-speak bullshit) -- I can't wait for Saturday Night Live to get this on the new season. George W Bush -- what a dumbass! Faux News will probably trumpet this as something bigger than the Second Coming.

[ September 22, 2003, 01:36 PM: Message edited by: bobby78751 ]

For the record, and as a liberal.....
I hope that Mr Bush does what Ive had to do many times in my life. Admit that I was 100% convinced that I was right in what I was about to do, but in hindset, my reasoning was wrong.
I hope to hell that he can turn this around, and get the world on our side( again).
I can not think of anything Mr Bush could do at this point for me to support his reelection. I disagree with him on too many policies. But for the sake of our troops, the people of Iraq and for the sake of world peace- I hope he can pull it off tomorrow.

This morning, reports from the White House are that Bush will admit NO wrongdoing and place no fault on himself or his administration. More cowboy politics bullshit on his part. This arrogant administration that thinks it can do no wrong HAS to go! 406 days until our regime change.

"Well howdy everybody and welcome to Murika. Its been a great war, we're winning that war on terra. People in Iraq are dancin in the street and throwing flowers at the liberators. Now its time to pass the hat..."

Well, p2insdca, you're a more hopeful man than I am - not that I want Bush to anger the world community more and make matters worse with Iraq, but I am beyond hope that the man can do anything to repair our foreign position. As noted in the MSNBC report on the speech:

This whole thing could turn into a chance for the world community to do a big \"I told you so\" and spend the time bashing the administration. I highly doubt such an outcome would increase the chances that any country will help pick up the ever-growing tab in Iraq (and for the record, I don't think we can withdraw from Iraq - I have said since the invasion that we could not screw the Iraqi people again).

MSNBC also had this to say about Bush's strategy:

Could he be more condescending? I mean, this is a man who seemed to be ready, just a couple of weeks ago, to sincerely engage the world in the effort to repair and rebuild Iraq. Now he seems like the schoolyard bully who can't admit he needs help - aargh!

MSNBC report on the UN Speech

Arrogance is a curse of the Bush boys.

I really hoped that he would eat a bit of crow, admit that some errors were made and ask for assistance from other countries in rebuilding Iraq.

Personally, I don't fault any country that doesn't assist. At this point, this administration has made so many "human relations" errors that if I were the leader of another country, I would sit back and watch them further self destruct.

A little humility at this point would go a long way....

I also fear that if he plays the cards wrong it will convince Iran, who now has American troops on 2 borders it requires nukes. And if Iran goes down that path then so will the Saudis.

To underscore what p2insdca said about Iran, that country has decided to roll back its cooperation with the IAEA following the UN's 10/31 deadline for Iran to prove its nuclear programs are peaceful. Spekesmen from Iran said they had been going beyond the required oversight "beyond our obligations but from now on we will act according to the current regulations only." Since the US believes Iran is running a clandestine nuclear weapons program, this action will make it easier for the US to saber-rattle.

~Adam

So from what I heard on the tube, the arab network translated part of Mr. Bush's remarks to mean that we will install democratic goverments in the middle east one nation at a time. Meaning PRO American....sigh

[ September 23, 2003, 10:18 AM: Message edited by: p2insdca ]

So how many more enemies has he created for us?

Eat crow?! Admit error?! Humility?! George W. Bush? Please.

If that's what the diplomats at the U.N. were hoping for, well . . . they don't understand the ideological certitude of this administration. The conventional wisdom was that Bush, in a much weaker position diplomatically & politically than last March, would need to offer some sort of mea culpa, however small, or at least make some concession to reality or acknowledgment that mistakes were made. But why should America give anything, he figures, when the cause is so righteous? Basically Bush has presented the U.N. with the same thing it rejected last March--a demand that the U.N. endorse the American project. What Bush said, in essence, was, "We are doing good in Iraq. You have a duty to help us & support this with your money & your troops. Get on board. Endorse the American occupation. And cough up some dough! If you're not with us you're with the terrorists."

But why should any of the countries that opposed this from the get-go "get on board" now, after they have been proved more-or-less right? France, Germany, Russia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Pakistan & Turkey, to name just a few, tried to talk us out of this, warned that it would be destabilizing to the region, decrease security, increase terrorism & might turn into a costly quagmire. To all this we responded with threats & insults. George W. Bush plunged us into war, foolishly & recklessly & against the wishes of most of the world. He made this mess; he deserves to stew in it.

Gee, what a deal he is offering them--sink money & send troops into the Iraqi quagmire; assume some of the burden & risk, while the U.S. keeps all the power & any profits. Bail W. out of this mess so that he can get his sorry ass re-elected. Talk about chutzpah! One suspects that W. is expecting that all these countries to surrender as readily as the Democrats in Congress. They should drive a hard bargain.

Unfortunately Bush might be correct in his assessment however. It is entirely possible that Canada & Germany, eager to repair relations with the U.S., will break ranks with war opponents & pay their tribute, & that Russia & Turkey will be bought off (the former with concessions on the issue of Chechnya & on the ground in Central Asia & an honoring of Iraqi debts & contracts, & the latter with billions in cashola & guarantees on Iraqi Kurdistan).

[ September 24, 2003, 05:00 PM: Message edited by: BillyBones ]

This "speech" by Bush was purely for the folks at home. He couldn't care less about what the UN, Europe or Asia thinks about this country.

With the introduction of Wesley Clark, the rumblings of Howard Dean and the insinuations of the Clintons, this speech was orchestrated by his handlers for no other reason but to re-assert himself as the President of the US.

As a politco myself, I would expect additonal "Head of State" stagings in the coming months from the Bush Administration: high profile events like visits to China, Russia, Europe, etc.

I don't recall there ever being such a huge negative regard for a sitting President ... since Jimmy Carter.