If I Were Bush's Speechwriter....
Somehow I don't think that Andy Rooney will be writing speeches for President Bush anytime soon, but he just might add a bit of honesty that is sorely missing these days....
Years ago, I was asked to write a speech for President Nixon.
I didn't do that, but I wish President Bush would ask me to write a speech for him now.
Here's what I'd write if he asked me to - which is unlikely:
My fellow Americans - (the word "fellow" includes women in political speeches):
My fellow Americans. One of the reasons we invaded Iraq was because I suggested Saddam Hussein had something to do with the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. No evidence that's so, I wish I hadn't said it.
I said we were going to get Saddam Hussein. To be honest, we don't know whether we got him or not. Probably not.
I said we'd get Osama bin Laden and wipe out al Qaeda. We haven't been able to do that, either. I'm as disappointed as you are.
I probably shouldn't have said Iraq had nuclear weapons. Our guys and the U.N. have looked under every bed in Iraq and can't find one.
In one speech, I told you Saddam Hussein tried to buy the makings of nuclear bombs from Africa. That was a mistake and I wish I hadn't said that. I get bad information sometimes just like you do.
On May 1, I declared major combat was over and gave you the impression the war was over. I shouldn't have declared that. Since then, 215 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq. As the person who sent them there, how terrible do you think that makes me feel?
I promised to leave no child behind when it comes to education. Then I asked for an additional $87 billion for Iraq. It has to come from somewhere. I hope the kids aren't going to have to pay for it - now in school or later when they're your age.
When I landed on the deck of the carrier, I wish they hadn't put up the sign saying MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. It isn't accomplished.
Maybe it should have been MISSION IMPOSSIBLE.
I've made some mistakes and I regret it. Let me just read you excerpts from something my father wrote five years ago in his book, “A World Transformed.”
I firmly believed we should not march into Baghdad...To occupy Iraq would instantly shatter our coalition, turning the whole Arab world against us and make a broken tyrant, into a latter-day Arab hero…
This is my father writing this.
...assigning young soldiers to a fruitless hunt for a securely entrenched dictator and condemning them to fight in what would be an unwinnable urban guerrilla war.
We should all take our father's advice.
That's the speech I'd write for President Bush. No charge.
That's about four years worth of honesty in a single speech, and about four years more than we're likely to get out of this President. It would be a nice change, though, wouldn't it??
The truly sad thing is that I initially supported the war effort. Given the "evidence" we were presented with at the time, going to war against Iraq seemed the right thing to do. I was very open about my support for the war effort(albeit with mixed feelings). Now I feel as if I've been duped, and Conservatives seem to have a good deal of difficulty in understanding my anger at being deceived and misled. Conservatives screamed and ranted and cried for blood when Bill Clinton lied, even though his lies didn't result in anyone dying. So, what's the message here? That lying is only wrong if you're a Liberal Democrat?
Where are the Democrats screaming for Bush to be impeached? If Bill Clinton were still in office, you can bet that Republicans would be spinning in paroxysms of self-righteous fury about the diabolical treachery and dishonesty. When one of their own commits an even worse abortion of the truth, it's pooh-poohed as "leadership". And still no elected Democrat has the balls to call for Bush to be impeached.
At least no one died when Bill Clinton lied....
