Big Lizards:Blog:Entry “Bush Still the Straight-Talker... But Only Behind Closed Doors”

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July 22, 2008

Bush Still the Straight-Talker... But Only Behind Closed Doors

Hatched by Dafydd

Lately, many of President George W. Bush's public comments have been, well, rather "diplomatic" -- by which I mean cryptic, eliptical, and filled with so many multiple-entendres that it's hard to know what he really believes. A far cry from when he was first elected and when he ran for reelection, when we could rely on a candor rare in sitting or running presidents.

But it appears that you can still get the simple truth out of Bush... but only when he believes the cameras are not rolling:

Explaining the current economic downturn to a closed-door fundraiser last week, President Bush said, "Wall Street got drunk."

"There's no question about it," Bush said. "Wall Street got drunk, that's one of the reasons I asked you to turn off the TV cameras. It got drunk and now it's got a hangover. The question is how long will it sober up and not try to do all these fancy financial instruments."

I sure wish he would return to saying such things when he knows America is watching, as he used to do. This is as good and succinct a description of our self-made economic woes as I've ever seen.

For some reason, the Briefing Room piece implies this is some terrible faux pas on the president's part that will hurt him (and McCain) somehow:

Last week, Bush indicated that he fears YouTube moments such as this making it to the web.

After asking a room of 400 supporters gathered for a fundraiser in Tucson, Arizona to turn off any recording devices, Bush said, "I don't know a lot about technology, but I do know about YouTube."

But I think real Americans will be as impressed by his honest assessment as we are. Now if only he would go back to doing the same in his public pronunciamentos.

Hatched by Dafydd on this day, July 22, 2008, at the time of 11:04 PM

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Comments

The following hissed in response by: Roy Lofquist

Dear Dafydd,

I am much encouraged by all of the "confusion" in U.S. foreign policy. If there is to be a peaceful resolution of the Iran situation then there is a lot of face to be saved. Iran has climbed way out on a limb, particularly domestically. We have to give them a way to climb back that will not endanger their regime.

Prepare to be outraged when they seem to "win" the crisis. "Bush gave away the store!" will be the headline. At that point you would do well to look at the results. No nukes. No shooting. The old poker player will be happy to take the chips and let them have the bragging rights.

Regards,
Roy

The above hissed in response by: Roy Lofquist at July 23, 2008 8:33 AM

The following hissed in response by: IanM

The video is missing already... Hmmm.

The above hissed in response by: IanM at July 23, 2008 9:21 AM

The following hissed in response by: GW

Bush has been perhaps the worst communicator we have had in the White House since Johnson. Why is it that he asks for the cameras to go off before he starts doing what he was capable of all along. Christ, why wasn't he doing this 5 years ago in responding to Barbara Boxer and all those who called him a "liar" without response so often it now sticks. Amazing.

The above hissed in response by: GW at July 23, 2008 1:32 PM