Tuesday, April 13, 2004

The CfromC Awards

President responds to questions The CathiefromCanada award-winning moments from the press conference tonight:
Best inadvertent Admission - ". . . prior to 9/11, the country really wasn't on a war footing. And the, frankly, mood of the world would have been astounded had the United States acted unilaterally in trying to deal with al-Qaida in that part of the world [Afghanistan]. It would have been awfully hard to do, as well, by the way. . . . we hadn't got our relationship right with Pakistan yet. The Caucus area would have been very difficult from which to base. It just seemed an impractical strategy at the time. And, frankly, I didn't contemplate it." So much for Hill Republicans trying to blame Clinton for not acting against Afghanistan before 2000.
Runner-up - "In order to secure the country, we must do everything in our power to find these killers and bring them to justice before they hurt us again." Oh, so the much-criticized law enforcement approach is really the right one after all?
Shortest Non-Answer - Asked twice why is he bringing Cheney with him to the 9.11 commission, he replied "Because it's a good chance for both of us to answer questions that the 9/11 commission is looking forward to asking us. And I'm looking forward to answering them."
Understatement of the Night - "Nobody likes to see dead people on their television screens"
Most Astounding Bald-Faced Lie - "if I tried to fine-tune my messages based upon polls, I think I'd be pretty ineffective"
Runner-up - "It's easy for a president to stand up and say, now that I know what happened, it would have been nice if there were certain things in place. For example, a Homeland Security Department." Ah, yes, the department the Hart commission began promoting in January 2001, which you and Cheney resisted for more than a year AFTER 9.11?
The Blues Brothers 'We're On A Mission From God' Statement - "I also have this belief, strong belief, that freedom . . . is the Almighty's gift to every man and woman in this world. And as the greatest power on the face of the earth, we have an obligation to help the spread of freedom. . . . And we have an obligation to work toward a more free world. That's our obligation. That is what we have been called to do, as far as I'm concerned."
Up-is-Downism Statement - "When I say something, I mean it." Well, except for the Latino immigration initiative, and the steel tariffs, and the Mars landing, and the cost of the drug benefit, and the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act and a few dozen other things announced but not followed up on.
The Daily Show Moment - "I don't want to sound like I have made no mistakes. I'm confident I have." And so are we all. Thank you, Mr. President.

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