SELF-DEFENSE

New York Post ^ | 2/09/04 | JOHN PODHORETZ

[kattracks]

February 9, 2004 -- PRESIDENT Bush didn't deliver a peak performance on "Meet the Press" yesterday in the midst of the dreariest days of his presidency. But still, he was very much himself - the same George W. Bush as he was last year and the year before that.

[kattracks]

ping

[Neets]

BTT

[Texasforever]

The man read my mind.

[kattracks]

ping

[lysie]

Good morning. Thanks, Nita.

[MEG33]

FYI

[ambrose]

Here is the short version of Tim Russert's interview with POTUS on MTP:

• You resisted the forming an Intelligence Commission for a long time. Why?
  We're fighting a war on terror. My job is to protect the American people. I' making the hard decisions.

• Why postpone the report til March?
  Don't want to politicize it.

• Will you testify?
  No.

• Is Tenet's job in jeopardy?
  No.

• Will you testify in front of the 9/11 Commission?
  No.

• Submit to questioning?
  Maybe.

• Grassley said we will capture OBL this year. Your reaction?
  Maybe we will.

• Do you know where OBL is?

No comment.

• In March 2003, your administration said there was doubt that SH had lethal weapons. That turned out to be untrue. Your response?

Based on the intel, I expected to find them. Kay said Saddam had the capacity for lethal weapons. I acted to protect America. Saddam had the capacity for lethal weapons. He was dangerous. Can't wait until the threat is imminent. By then it's too late.

• The CIA's reports had lots of qualifiers. You, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell said there was no doubt at all. Your reaction?

No doubt in my mind. Kay said Saddam had the capacity for lethal weapons. He was dangerous. Can't wait until the threat is imminent. By then it's too late.

• Can you launch a pre-emptive strike with less than ironclad assurances?

I acted based on the best intel available.

• You said he could act NOW to attack us. It was not true. Your reaction?

Congress saw the same intel and voted yes. UN voted for 1441. We warned him. Disarm or die. We meant what we said.

• Sense in the US that the CIA intel was ambiguous but you punched it up. The next time you warn the world, will it not be the boy who cried wolf?

[Big pause.] We took the available intel and acted. Saddam was a madman. We got him.

• The world is full of madmen. Why Saddam?

We negotiated all we could. We haven't reached the end of negotiations in NK or Iran.

• The VPOTUS said we would be welcomed in Iraq as liberators. Was that a miscalculation?

We were welcomed.

• Were you surprised at the level of resistance?

No.

• If the Iraqi people choose to become an Islamic extremist government, will that be OK with you?

They won't choose that; Chalabi and the rest of them said so.

• In 2000, you said you were against nation-building. Isn't that what we're doing now?

That's a trick question. The other half of my statement was that we need our soldiers to be trained to fight and win. We are.

• Are you willing to allow the UN to have a central role in the rebuilding of Iraq?

They will not have a central role in spending our money.

• Will the UN be given a central role in the transfer of democracy to Iraq?

They will have a vital role.

• Given what Wolfowitz said was the primary reason to go to war (disarm Saddam), was it worth 500 lives and 3000 injuries to go to war given that there were no WMD?

Yes. To the parents: Saddam was a madman. Kay said he was more dangerous than we thought. A free Iraq will change the world.

• Was this a war of choice or a war of necessity?

[confused by question] No choice. Necessity. Intel said Saddam was dangerous. Kay said Saddam was dangerous. I did the right thing. No choice.

• Terry Mac said you were AWOL? Your reaction?

[big sigh] Political season's here. I was honorably discharged. Don't denigrate the Guard.

• The records show no evidence that you reported for duty in Alabama. Your reaction?

The records are wrong. I reported. I was honorably discharged.

• Yet you left 8 months early. Why?

I was studying for my MBA.

• Will you release all the files? The paystubs, etc.?

Yes. Everyone has already been through the files in Colorado anyway. Besides I released them in 2000.

• Did you support the war in Vietnam?

Yes. But I learned this lesson: When politicians make military decisions, it's bad.

• Since you took office, we've lost 2.2 million jobs, a surplus of $281 billion is now a deficit of $521 billion and the national debt has gone from $5.7 trillion to $7 trillion. Why should the nation re-hire you as CEO?

I have led the nation through a time of tremendous stress. Recession began just as I arrived; our country was attacked; corporate scandals came to light; the decision on Iraq was made. I acted. I led the way to recovery. Your chart only shows the bad numbers. The recent trends are up.

• You said your first tax-cut would lead to 800 thousand new jobs. You said your second tax-cut would lead to 1 million new jobs. It hasn't happened. Your reaction?

It's happening. I'm encouraging small business and the entrepreneurial spirit.

• The GAO says that the current fiscal policies are unsustainable. To balance the budget by 2040, taxes will either have to double or spending will have to be cut in half. Your reaction?

I don't know what their assumptions are. My budget will cut the deficit by half in five years.

• Rush Limbaugh, the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation call you a big spender. Your reaction?

They're wrong. We have forced discretionary spending down compared to the previous administration. We're at war, remember.

• Every previous war-time POTUS has raised taxes to ensure the success of the war effort. They have not cut taxes. They have not drained the treasury in a time of war. Your reaction?

Our goal is to stimulate the economy by giving people back their own money. My main concern is for the guy looking for a job.

• Will you pledge that you will have no more tax cuts until the budget is balanced?

Hypothetical question. It depends on the state of the economy.

• You came to Washington saying you wanted to change the tone. Yet exit polls show 70% of Democrats and Independents alike are angry at you for being a divider. Your reaction?

I'm working hard to unite the nation. It's a hard job.

• Around the world, you are historically unpopular. Your reaction?

President Reagan was unpopular too.

• Polls show you trailing Sen. Kerry by 5-7%. He was recently quoted as saying that you are a cardboard cutout President. He said he knew you back at Yale and you are the same guy now as you were then. He said you belonged to Skull & Bones together. Your reaction?

I don't remember him. I can't comment on Skull & Bones. He's being political.

[here Russert quotes a number and looks at Bush for a reaction. Anyone know what that was about?]

• Are you prepared to lose? What will you do if you lose?

I will not lose.

• What are the biggest issues as you see them this time around?

Who is best suited to use the power of the POTUS? Who is best suited to deal with a changing world? Who best knows the hearts of the American people? I have shown good judgment on all of these counts.

Thank You, Mr. President.

[ambrose]

source:
http://www.rubyan.com/politics/archives/001656.html

(liberal blog, but I thought the summary was fairly interesting)

[MEG33]

Good synopsis.

[Caipirabob]

... He did not run for president as a small-government conservative, and yet they backed him to the hilt four years ago. So why the enmity today?

Because the alternative was a tree. We simply expected more from someone with articulated limbs.

[Caipirabob]

Wow, Ambrose, sounds like he performed with EXCELLENCE. Thanks for the summary there.

[samtheman]

Things are looking a bit down. For the record, I still support him. Along with 48%-53% of the electorate, according to which poll you read.

[kattracks]

We simply expected more from someone with articulated limbs.

You expected more from a candidate than he live up to his campaign promises?

Because the alternative was a tree.

And the alternative now is much more dangerous.

[Mo1]

I have mix feelings about this article .. First being, the interview the presdient did was fine

However, if only Russert could learn how to ask new questions instead of repeating the same damn ones over and over and over .. it would be nice

[goldstategop]

From Our loveable Israeli cudgemeon, Steven Plaut, on what's amusing about American policy and the War On Terror. Do read on:

Thought this was amusing: Leave it to Robin Williams to come up with the perfect plan. What we need now is for our UN Ambassador to stand up and repeat this message. Robin Williams' plan...(Hard to argue with this logic!) I see a lot of people yelling for peace, but I have not heard of a plan for peace. So, here's my plan:

The US will apologize to the world for our "interference" in the affairs of other countries, past & present. You know, Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, Noriega, Milosovich, Saddam and the rest of those 'good ole boys.' We will never "interfere" again.

We will withdraw our troops from all over the world, starting with Germany, South Korea and the Philippines. They don't want us there anyway. We would station troops at our borders and allow no one to sneak through holes in the fence.

We will allow all illegal aliens 90 days to get their affairs together and leave this country and will give them a free trip home. After 90 days the remainder will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of who or where they are. I'm sure France would welcome them.

All future visitors will be thoroughly checked and limited to 90 days, unless given a special permit. No one from a terrorist nation would be allowed in. If you don't like it there, change it yourselfand don't hide here. Asylum would never be available to anyone. We don't need any more cab drivers or 7-11 cashiers.

No "students" over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don't attend classes, they get a "D" and it's back home, baby. Energy wise, the US will make a strong effort to become self-sufficient. This will include developing non-polluting sources of energy but will require a temporary drilling of oil in the Alaskan wilderness. The caribou will have to cope for a while.

Offer Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries $10 a barrel for their oil. If they don't like it, we go some place else. They can go somewhere else to sell their production. (About a week of the wells filling up the storage sites would be enough.)

If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world, we will not "interfere." They can pray to Allah or whomever, for seeds, rain, cement, or whatever they need. Besides, most of what we give them is stolen or given to the army . The people who need it most get little or nothing. Ship the UN Headquarters to an isolated island some place. We don't need the spies and fair weather friends here. Besides, the building would make a good homeless shelter or lockup for illegal aliens. All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way, no one can call us "Ugly Americans" any longer.

The Language we speak is ENGLISH.....learn it...or LEAVE... Now, ain't that a winner of a plan. "The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying 'Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses." She's got a baseball bat and she's yelling, 'You want a piece of me?'"

[gobucks]

This is mere noise about Russert - Mommys rule in the end.

He wanted to state his case in his own words, in a forum with a tough interviewer, so that nobody could say he was ducking issues or going into hiding.

Bush, as usual, hit this target squarely - it was the sole purpose of the interview. I watched it - Bush allowed Tim to play interrogator, and it was Tim who ended up looking not very clever. That's a reality I've yet to read about this morning.

Bush, in a nutshell, is not nuts. He doesn't say to Russert "I'm not going to lose" lightly. He says it like a man who knows it.

All this noise about WMD is not going to matter to the voting woman. In America, the average woman who votes is deeply connected as a mother or to a woman who is a mother.

Bush will win the 'mother' vote and he knows it. It's that simple. 9-11 will for a long, long time make the 'mother' voters ask a single question: "which button makes me feel safer about my loved ones"?

"Mommy" may vote straight ticket democrat on all else (and smoothly lie to their relatives), but Kerry's button is going to be a good bit colder on average at poll closing.

Memo to DNC and John Kerry: Bush wins the Mommy battle, has already won it. Expect very few debates. Expect a close election, popular vote, expect landslide electoral college win.

Mothers, not women, are going to be in control of the Presidency for a long, long, time.

[Meldrim]

Our troops left the Philippines many moons ago.

[MarkL]

You know...

Maybe the left is correct on this point... That we shouldn't have gone in and stopped Hussien for not keeping the cease fire agreements that brought an end to the 1st gulf war.

We saw how successful Europe was at stopping Hitler when he publicly violated the treaty of Versailles, and later annexed the Sudatenland. Thank goodness that Neville Chamberlain got that peace treaty signed by Hitler...

And of course, we know how peaceful North Korea is now that they've got nuclear weapons, following the Clinton deal, brokered by Nobel Peace Price winner, Jimmy Carter. Look how much safer the world is now that North Korea has "nucular" (in Jimmy Carter speak) weapons.

Yup... Maybe stopping a leader who has shown the propensity to use weapons of mass destruction before he actually acquired those weapons was a mistake...

Mark

[Broker]

This is a great time to pump up Kerry. His candidacy will eventually become a festering target. Let him carry the democrat nomination. Current polling data is OK. If the truth on Kerry comes out later, the DNC's goose will be cooked in Nov.