The American Presidency Project

This is a wonderful resource that allows one to search presidential speeches for phrases. I just used it to find phrases that were being attributed to President Bush to make him look stupid or venal or making statements that were false. I found each and every one of the phrases and found they had been taken completely our of context. When placed back into context they hoist the person who quoted them on his own petard.

This is one site that will be permanently bookmarked for me.

My apologies for using the Mac Ping List... but this is such a worthwhile and useful resource for all of us who get into discussions, arguments, or political brawls with Liberals who cite out-of-context quotations attributed to President Bush that I felt it important enough to PING you.

This is a site to bookmark!

The American Presidency Project.

I hope you find it useful... and that more than a few Liberals and DemoncRats are hoist on their own petards by Freepers who use it!

Thanks for the reference. It is quite a site!

bump ...

My apologies for using the Shroud Ping List... but this is such a worthwhile and useful resource for all of us who get into discussions, arguments, or political brawls with Liberals who cite out-of-context quotations attributed to President Bush that I felt it important enough to PING you.

This is a site to bookmark!

The American Presidency Project.

I hope you find it useful... and that more than a few Liberals and DemoncRats are hoist on their own petards by Freepers who use it!

Excellent reference site. Been on my favorites list for several years now. I highly recommend it for all political junkies.

Great site. Thanks.

Thanks for posting this, Swordmaker!

(From a fellow mac user!)

Wow, that's a great site! Thanks for the ping!

Thanks for the reference.

I have it bookmarked also.

Thanks Swordmaker for the topic link and ping. Pharmboy, perhaps pingworthy? It includes speeches from the early presidents. :')

This is one site that will be permanently bookmarked for me.

Ditto. Thanks.

Pretty cool. The documents are searchable. Nice.

Goldmine of info!
Thanks for the ping!

I've bookmarked this, too. Thanks for the ping!!

I just used it to find phrases that were being attributed to President Bush to make him look stupid or venal or making statements that were false. I found each and every one of the phrases and found they had been taken completely our of context.

Share your list with us!

A Liberal going by the handle G-Spank posted these on a Mac forum discussing the bankruptcy of Air America:

I forgot, most neo-con monkeys automatically blot out the truth when it's in front of them. I should have made this bigger.
A FEW QUOTES FROM PRESIDENT BUSH
“But all in all, it’s been a fabulous year for Laura and me.” (Summing up his first year in office, three months after 9/11 attacks.)
— December 20, 2001
“We need an energy bill that encourages consumption.”
— September 23, 2002
“I’m also not very analytical. You know I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about myself, about why I do things.”
— June 4, 2003
“And a political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as your Commander-in-Chief.”
— October 27, 2004
“You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.”
— September 6, 2006

My responses:

From: Swordmaker - Oct 14, 06 - 09:59 pm
G-Spank... it is easy to take quotes out of context and make anyone look stupid.
How about putting your quotes back into context.
The “But all in all, it’s been a fabulous year for Laura and me.” is one sentence, out of context, from a off-the-cuff discussion with reporters that started with a conversation about a new carpet for the oval office on December 21, 2001. Remarks on the New Oval Office Carpet and an Exchange With Reporters.
That conversation did indeed mention the event of 9/11 and in fact covered quite a bit of the details of what had transpired since the attack. The President said such things (also out of context) "We will continue to ask the good Lord's blessings on America during the holiday season, particularly on those who suffered incredible loss," and ". . . our Government has responded to the attacks on America: Got a good strategy in the first phase of the war, to rout terror; held the doctrine that says that we will bring the murderers to justice and we will hold those accountable who help the murderers; responded quickly to threats to our homeland." He also stated, in the same discussion "Every morning I come into the desk, and I would read the threat assessments to America. And it reminds me that my most important job of all is to protect the American people from further attack."
President Bush finished with this, in answer to the question "Are Americans safer today?": "So yes, the country is safer. Is it still - totally safe? No. And that's why, as I've told you, my main job, my main worry for America is to prevent another attack. Every morning at 6:50 a.m. in the morning, I come in here, and I think about the possibilities. And every day I meet with the FBI Director and Tom Ridge and John Ashcroft, along with George Tenet, reminding them that we have an awesome responsibility to do whatever we can to protect the American people."
That's quite a bit different, don't you think?

Next one:

From: Swordmaker - Oct 14, 06 - 10:17 pm
G-Spank, Let's look at another one of your "suspect" quotation from the President: "We need an energy bill that encourages consumption." which was not only taken out of context but converted phrase in a complex sentence to a simple declarative sentence. The phrase actually appears in a couple of Bush's speeches... both in sections talking about creating jobs. An example of how our of context your quotation is seen in the following section from a larger speech:

"Yesterday we learned we've created 1.9 million new jobs in the last 13 months. We're on the move. The national unemployment rate is 5.4 percent. That is lower than the average of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Farm income is up. Small businesses are flourishing. The entrepreneurial spirit is strong. Homeownership rates are at an alltime high in America.
There is more to do. To make sure jobs stay here in America and this economy grows, we need less regulations on our job creators. We need legal reform in America. We need to make sure we have an energy plan that encourages consumption, that works with renewables, that explores for coal by using technologies to protect our air. To make sure jobs are here in America, America must be less dependent on foreign sources of energy."

Another:

From: Swordmaker - Oct 14, 06 - 10:37 pm
Next one: “I’m also not very analytical. You know I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about myself, about why I do things.”
Again, completely out of context. The President was responding to a question about how he conducts meetings and what he does DURING those meetings... particularly with foreign diplomats. Source - Interview With Members of the White House Press Pool
Another: “You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.” This was taken from an off-the-cuff response in an interview with Katie Couric:

"COURIC: You have said we can't cut and run on more than one occasion. We have to stay until we win. Otherwise, we'll be fighting the terrorists here at home on our own streets. So what do you mean exactly by that, Mr. President?
BUSH: Well, I mean that a defeat in Iraq will embolden the enemy and will provide the enemy – more opportunity to train, plan, to attack us. That's what I mean. There – it's – you know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror. I believe it. As I told you, Osama bin Laden believes it. But the American people – have gotta understand that a defeat in Iraq – in other words, if this government there fails - the terrorists will be emboldened, the radicals will topple moderate governments.
I'm worried, Katie, strongly worried about a world if we – if – if we lose, you know, our confidence and don't help – defeat this ideology, I'm worried that 50 years from now they'll look back and say, "How come – Bush and everybody else didn't see the fact that these – this group of people would use oil to affect our economy?"
Or, "How come he didn't confront the Iranian threat and its nuclear ambitions?" Or, "Why didn't you support the moderate governments there in the region?" And – I – I truly believe this is the ideological struggle of the 21st century. And the consequences for not achieving success are – are dire."
Again, very different from the simple declarative sentence taken out of context from a complex answer.

And finally:

From: Swordmaker - Oct 14, 06 - 10:43 pm
And finally, G-Spank, your quote: “And a political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as your Commander-in-Chief” was taken, again completely out of context, from a series of campaign speeches by President Bush on October 27, 2004 where he was speaking about Senator Kerry.

"Now, the Senator is making wild charges about missing explosives, when his top foreign policy adviser admits he does not know the facts. He said, quote, "I don't know the truth," end quote. But think about that. The Senator is denigrating the actions of our troops and commanders in the field without knowing the facts.
Our military is now investigating a number of possible scenarios, including that the explosives may have been moved before our troops arrived. This investigation is important. It's ongoing. And a political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as Commander in Chief.
Unfortunately----
Unfortunately, that is part of a pattern of a candidate who will say anything to get elected."

G-Spank never responded to my rebuttal of his quotations... instead he posted more cut-and-paste quotations:

From: G-Spank - Oct 15, 06 - 11:18 am
Some More Retarded Quotes from G. W. Bush
“Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?”
— January 11, 2000
“Will the highways on the Internet become more few?”
— January 29, 2000
“Border relations between Canada and Mexico have never been better.”
— September 24, 2001
“There’s an old saying in Tennessee—I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee—that says, fool me once, shame on—shame on you. Fool me—you can’t get fooled again.”
— September 17, 2002
“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”
— August 5, 2004
“I like my buddies from west Texas. I liked them when I was young, I liked them when I was middle-age, I liked them before I was president, and I like them during president, and I like them after president.”
— February 1, 2006
“That’s George Washington, the first president, of course. The interesting thing about him is that I read three—three or four books about him last year. Isn’t that interesting?”
— May 5, 2006
It all makes sense now, why the stupid people of America love this guy. You finally got one of your own in office.

I haven't bothered to rebut these. It's a waste of time.