Posted on 12/05/2008 6:15:53 PM PST by silent_jonny
Sunday, December 7, 2008 will mark the 67th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
This morning in the Oval Office, President Bush signed an annual presidential proclamation remembering that Day of Infamy. (Transcript)
President George W. Bush: On December 7, 1941, the enemy nearly destroyed our Pacific Fleet, and the United States was forced into a long and terrible war. A generation of Americans stepped forward to fight for our country.Their message to America's enemies was clear: If you attack this country and harm our people, there is no corner of the Earth remote enough to protect you from the reach of our Nation's Armed Forces.
The President also signed a proclamation establishing a World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument. (Transcript)
The monument will actually be located in 9 different sites:
5 of the sites will be in Hawaii, marking the attack on Pearl Harbor.
3 more sites will be in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, including Attu Island, which is the location of the only land battle that took place in North America during the War.
President George W. Bush: It still retains the scars of the battle: thousands of shell and bomb craters in the tundra; Japanese trenches, foxholes, and gun encampments; American ammunition magazines and dumps; and spent cartridges, shrapnel, and shells located at the scenes of heavy fighting. Attu later served as a base for bombing missions against Japanese holdings.
And the last of the monuments will be located at the Tule Lake Segregation Center in California—the site of the largest Japanese-American internment camp of World War II.
That’s right, Obama voters. US citizens, most of whom were second and third generation Americans—not foreign terrorists like those being held at Guantanomo Bay—were forcibly detained on US soil during the War. Why? Because they looked like the enemy that attacked us.
And who, might you ask, was responsible for this disgrace?
None other than Democrat idol, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
In fact, decades later, it was a Republican president (Ronald Reagan) who formally apologized to those citizens and their families for the way they were treated by their own government. The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 that President Reagan signed into law stated that those Japanese-Americans were detained soley because of "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership". Thanks, FDR.
And it was another Republican president (George H. W. Bush—a man who was shot down in the Pacific by the Japanese) who signed an appropriations bill so surviving internees could receive redress payments.
President George W. Bush: The purpose of the monument is to remind generations of Americans of the sacrifices that Americans made to protect our country. But there's a broader purpose, as well, and that is to remind generations of Americans about the transformative effect of freedom.
Later today, the President made a statement on the economy from the South Lawn of the White House. (Transcript)
President George W. Bush: We are focusing on the root causes of the economic downturn in order to return our economy to health … A root cause of the slowdown is housing, and so we continue to take actions that will avoid preventable foreclosures and speed a return to a healthy housing market. Interest rates help the housing market recover, and interest rates, mortgage rates, are going down. And plus there's a number of programs in place to help Americans stay in their homes, to limit the preventable foreclosures.
Tonight the President delivered a speech on foreign policy at the 2008 Saban Forum in Washington D.C., noting the dramatic changes that have taken place in the Middle East in the past 7 years. (Transcript)
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held a news conference with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen today in Copenhagen.
Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island
Quote of the Day:
President George W. Bush: For the first time in nearly three decades, the people of Lebanon are free from Syria's military occupation.Libya's nuclear weapons equipment is locked away in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Places like the UAE and Bahrain are emerging as centers of commerce.
The regime in Iran is facing greater pressure from the international community than ever before.
Terrorist organizations like al Qaeda have failed decisively in their attempts to take over nations …
Iraq has gone from an enemy of America to a friend of America, from sponsoring terror to fighting terror, and from a brutal dictatorship to a multi-religious, multi-ethnic constitutional democracy.
Photo of the Day:
President George W. Bush salutes attendees as they applaud his remarks on Middle East policy to the Saban Forum at the Newseum in Washington December 5, 2008.
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Hi.
HEADS UP . . .
Tonight, CSPAN2 will re-broadcast the President’s speech to the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at 10:00 PM EST
http://inside.c-spanarchives.org:8080/cspan/schedule.csp
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TOMORROW, PRESIDENT BUSH WILL ATTEND THE ARMY-NAVY GAME
(12/6/08)
CBS will broadcast the game beginning at 12 PM (noon)
https://www.usna.com/SSLPage.aspx?rss=acad_arch&referrer=&pid=6541
Just finished reading 3 books about the Our Lady of the Angels school fire in Chicago. What a tragedy and could have just as easily have been my former school which was very much like LOA with decades of gook on the floors, no doors at top or bottom of stairwells, etc. Am writing to a lady who lost a sister in the fire. I think we both are going to learn something. BTW, my high school did burn in 1973 but I believe it started at night so no injuries, thank God.
President Bush: Thank you all for coming. I am going to sign two documents -- one a Pearl Harbor Day proclamation, and the other creating the World War II Valor in Pacific National Monument. The National Monument will include nine sites -- five in Hawaii, three in Alaska, and one in California at the Tule Lake Segregation Center, which was where Japanese Americans were detained during World War II.The purpose of the monument is to remind generations of Americans of the sacrifices that Americans made to protect our country. But there's a broader purpose, as well, and that is to remind generations of Americans about the transformative effect of freedom.
President Bush: One of the great stories during World War II was that people fought bitterly to defend our country and way of life, and then worked to help our enemies develop democracies according to their own cultures and their own history. And today, I am so pleased to report that Japan is a strong ally of the United States of America -- an ally in defending our liberties and an ally in spreading liberty as the great ideological alternative to an enemy that still wants to do us harm.And so this monument will help people realize the breadth and the history of World War II and its aftermath.
So I'm pleased to sign both documents, and I want to thank our distinguished visitors for joining me.
(The proclamations are signed.)
Thank you.
Howdy
President Bush: Today's job data reflects the fact that our economy is in a recession. This is in large part because of severe problems in our housing, credit, and financial markets, which have resulted in significant job losses. I'm concerned about our workers who have lost jobs during this downturn, and I'm -- as we work to -- as we work to address the problems of this economy, we've extended unemployment insurance benefits to those who have lost their jobs during this downturn.
Thanks for posting. I’ll be watching with my World WAR II Marine uncle.
President Bush: We are focusing on the root causes of the economic downturn in order to return our economy to health. The most urgent issue facing the economy is the problem in the credit markets. Businesses and consumers need access to credit at affordable rates to spend and invest. And so we're working to stabilize the markets and make credit more affordable and available. We're working with the Federal Reserve and FDIC, and credit is beginning to move. A market that was frozen is thawing. There's still more work to do. But there are some encouraging signs.
Good evening!
President Bush: A root cause of the slowdown is housing, and so we continue to take actions that will avoid preventable foreclosures and speed a return to a healthy housing market. Interest rates help the housing market recover, and interest rates, mortgage rates, are going down. And plus there's a number of programs in place to help Americans stay in their homes, to limit the preventable foreclosures.
President Bush: I am concerned about the viability of the automobile companies. I'm concerned about those who work for the automobile companies and their families. And likewise, I am concerned about taxpayer money being provided to those companies that may not survive. Put out a detailed plan recently that uses money that Congress appropriated last fall for the auto industry -- money that can be used so long as the companies make hard choices on all aspects of their business to prove that they can not only survive but thrive.It is important that Congress act next week on this plan. And it's important to make sure that taxpayers' money be paid back if any is given to the companies.
Thanks jonny. Appreciate the reading of what our President said today, never would have known as not one of the MSM covered any part of the speech or that he is even existing!
President Bush: It's going to take time for all the actions we have taken to have their full impact. But I am confident that the steps we're taking will help fix the problems in our economy and return it to strength. My administration is committed to ensuring that our economy succeeds. And I know the incoming administration shares the same commitment.Thank you very much.
President George W. Bush walks back to the Oval Office after making a statement on the economy, Friday, Dec. 5, 2008, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington.
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