The President Speaks

The President says nothing. Yesterday President Bush gave a speech to the National Endowment for Democracy at the Ronald Reagan Amphitheater in Washington, DC. It was touted as being a major speech giving unprecedented details about Al Qaeda's terrorism against the United States. But this so-called major speech turned out to be a rerun. It was a trip down memory lane to GWB's finest hour, September 11, 2001. One would think the President would want to forget his braggadocio and bombast about bringing Osama in dead or alive. But no. He chose to resurrect that embarrassing moment by mentioning Osama Bin Laden five times. Did he mention the bomb threat to New York's subway system yesterday, which happened in real time and represents a real danger? No. He chose to bask in the glory of a time when he felt he was in control. Which is GWB's modus operandi. His regular radio address on August 27th made no mention of Katrina but focused on the Iraqi constitution. The President's speech yesterday was an empty speech from an empty suit. It was not without a moment of comic relief, however. Albeit, unintended comic relief. The President said, “There's always a temptation in the middle of a long struggle to seek the quiet life, to escape the duties and problems of the world, and to hope the enemy grows weary of fanaticism and tired of murder.” He was cautioning Americans not to become complacent and relax in the war against terrorism. He went on to say, “The enemy is never tired, never sated, never content with yesterday's brutality. The enemy considers every retreat of the civilized world as an invitation to greater violence.” Yes indeedy! Seeking the quiet life is always a temptation. In August, GWB took the longest retreat of any president in 36 years. When he reluctantly cut short his vacation on September 1 to return to Washington to deal with the reality of Katrina he had logged 319 vacation days which is 20 percent of his presidency. We must remember though, a president who needs mechanical devices to aid his off-the-cuff remarks no doubt needs those devices to be up-graded and fine-tuned often and in privacy. Go back and look at the video of GWB's October 5 press conference. He was back to pauses while listening to his earpiece and quick-talk after getting his cue. I'm thinking a cochlear device implant. And the president smiles and smiles. But as Shakespeare's Yorick says to himself (Hamlet Act 5, Scene 1): “You're the reedy smile a hopeless man wears when tragedy kisses him on the forehead.”