| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"stoney" |
| Date: |
20 Dec 2006 10:55:40 PM |
| Object: |
What Has Bush Learned From His Mistakes? Nothing. |
http://www.slate.com/id/2155903/
What Has Bush Learned From His Mistakes?
Nothing.
By John Dickerson
Posted Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006, at 6:43 PM ET
At his press conference Wednesday, the president was asked what lessons
he's learned after five years of war. He's been asked a version of this
question many times since he had such trouble answering it in April
2004. He has tried various responses over the years and none has been
satisfying. This morning's answer also fell short: "It is important for
us to be successful going forward is to analyze that which went wrong,
and clearly, one aspect of this war that has not gone right is the
sectarian violence inside Baghdad."
It is progress of a kind for the president to talk about the need to
examine past failures—there was a time when he didn't even admit
them—but the answer still failed. First, Bush didn't actually answer the
question. He talked about what went wrong, but not what he learned.
Second, Bush seemed to suggest that the sectarian violence in Iraq was
unforeseen—not so much something that went wrong, but a surprise they
didn't anticipate. But war planners did know the sectarian violence was
coming. The State Department, Army War College, and CIA analysts all
predicted that the Shia and Sunnis would go after each other (apparently
they've been at it for a while). The president and his team ignored or
discounted these assessments.
It's hardly surprising that the president didn't answer a question at a
press conference. Bush regularly answers the wrong question at length to
give the appearance of answering without actually doing so. He gives a
response when what we want is an answer. (Even his dodge Wednesday was
familiar.) What's so curious is why Bush is keeping up this avoidance
act while at the same time trying to rebuild his trust with the country.
By not answering this specific question, he trades away perhaps his only
chance to get people to listen to him again.
People don't trust the president on the war, and they don't approve of
the job he's doing. They haven't for a long time. They think he's either
lying to them or that he's out of it. The tricks he has offered to win
them back to his strategy—from scaring the public about Democrats and
their proposals, to hyping the consequences of not following his
policies, to poking his finger in the air—have not worked. This is a
problem for him, because in January he will give yet another Big Speech
on Iraq. In it he will offer his new strategy for completing the
mission.
But why will anyone listen to Bush's new approach?
To win back that portion of the audience that hasn't completely turned
away from him, the White House is employing a two-pronged strategy.
First, Bush's people are trying to show that the president is working
really hard to find the new answer. He has ordered reviews at the State
Department and Pentagon and held repeated meetings with military
officials. He's also studying the Iraq Study Group plan (even though he
has pretty much trashed its major recommendations). Second, the
president and his aides are trying to show that he actually understands
how grave the situation is in Iraq. On Tuesday, he told the Washington
Post that America is not winning in Iraq, matching the candor for which
his incoming secretary of defense was praised during his confirmation
hearings.
It's great that the president is being more candid about the ground
truth in Iraq, but that's not enough to regain support for next month's
big speech. That's only enough to keep people from thinking he's
delusional. It's also not enough to be told that Bush and his advisers
have thought really long and hard about the new way forward. Presumably
they were thinking long and hard over the last several years. Perhaps
they should think less. (As Bush's policies about the war, stem-cell
research, and Social Security reform suggest, public displays of
thoughtfulness are more a public relations effort than a sign of a
vigorous assessment of policy.)
To get people to buy into his solutions, the president has to put candor
into his policy review. He has to prove that the new solutions weren't
cooked up with the same broken process that cooked up the first batch of
bad solutions. Which brings us back to the question of what lessons he's
learned. He's been accused to living in a bubble, so who told him things
during this round of meetings that he didn't want to hear? Whom did he
seek out at the State Department that he would not have in the past? Who
yelled at him? Who talked him out of a bad idea? What gut instinct that
he trusted in the past has he learned to think twice about? He should
answer the question about what he's learned from his mistakes, how he
incorporated those lessons into his new policy process, and how the
strategy he's put forward is the fruit of that new way of operating.
That might—might—persuade some Americans to give him one more chance.
White House officials and Bush supporters have always thought questions
about mistakes and lessons learned are merely press attempts to make
Bush whip himself in public. But Bush and his aides should get over it.
If they don't, his speech in January will have the same dismal result as
all the Big Iraq Speeches that came before it.
/end
--
Fundies and trolls are cordially invited to
shove a wooden cross up their arses and rotate
at a high rate of speed. I trust you'll
be 'blessed' with a plethora of splinters.
.
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| User: "Steve" |
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| Title: Re: What Has Bush Learned From His Mistakes? Nothing. |
28 Dec 2006 02:57:14 PM |
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Bush doesn't care about America or Americans. If he did, he'd step down
and allow someone more competent to take his place.
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| User: "Syd M." |
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| Title: Re: What Has Bush Learned From His Mistakes? Nothing. |
29 Dec 2006 02:40:52 PM |
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Steve wrote:
Bush doesn't care about America or Americans. If he did, he'd step down
and allow someone more competent to take his place.
He does care.. About power.
Aint no way he's giving that up.
You watch.
PDW
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| User: "johac" |
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| Title: Re: What Has Bush Learned From His Mistakes? Nothing. |
21 Dec 2006 12:13:26 AM |
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In article <qm4ko2p8bmped39jnmbf75lim8brjulra5@4ax.com>,
stoney <stoney@the.net> wrote:
http://www.slate.com/id/2155903/
What Has Bush Learned From His Mistakes?
Nothing.
The only thing that Bush seems to learn from his mistakes is how to make
bigger ones.
By John Dickerson
Posted Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006, at 6:43 PM ET
At his press conference Wednesday, the president was asked what lessons
he's learned after five years of war. He's been asked a version of this
question many times since he had such trouble answering it in April
2004. He has tried various responses over the years and none has been
satisfying. This morning's answer also fell short: "It is important for
us to be successful going forward is to analyze that which went wrong,
and clearly, one aspect of this war that has not gone right is the
sectarian violence inside Baghdad."
<snip>
--
John Hachmann aa #1782
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities"
-Voltaire
Contact - Throw a .net over the .com
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| User: "MarkA" |
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| Title: Re: What Has Bush Learned From His Mistakes? Nothing. |
21 Dec 2006 08:23:40 AM |
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On Wed, 20 Dec 2006 20:55:40 -0800, stoney wrote:
http://www.slate.com/id/2155903/
What Has Bush Learned From His Mistakes? Nothing.
Bush?? Learn????
BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
When I was in training (as a surgeon), we had monthly conferences where we
presented all the 'mistakes': deaths, complications, etc. The attending
physicians delighted in making sure it was a memorable experience for the
resident in the 'hot seat'. We developed a three-point system for
avoiding complications:
1. Careful patient selection
2. Meticulous surgical technique
3. Steadfast refusal to acknowledge complications when they occur.
Bush is a master of #3.
--
MarkA
(still caught in the maze of twisty little passages, all different)
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| User: "Syd M." |
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| Title: Re: What Has Bush Learned From His Mistakes? Nothing. |
21 Dec 2006 08:31:13 AM |
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stoney wrote:
http://www.slate.com/id/2155903/
What Has Bush Learned From His Mistakes?
Nothing.
By John Dickerson
Posted Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006, at 6:43 PM ET
Is anyone really surprised? I asked a colleage at work about that
NEWSWEEK article last week, "Will Bush listen?". Her responce: "Not a
chance."
PDW
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| User: "stoney" |
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| Title: Re: What Has Bush Learned From His Mistakes? Nothing. |
28 Dec 2006 11:26:47 AM |
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On 21 Dec 2006 06:31:13 -0800, "Syd M." <pdwright42@yahoo.com> wrote in
alt.atheism
stoney wrote:
http://www.slate.com/id/2155903/
What Has Bush Learned From His Mistakes?
Nothing.
By John Dickerson
Posted Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006, at 6:43 PM ET
Is anyone really surprised? I asked a colleage at work about that
NEWSWEEK article last week, "Will Bush listen?". Her responce: "Not a
chance."
Surprised? Not at all. The cretin has yet to master elementary level
language.
--
Fundies and trolls are cordially invited to
shove a wooden cross up their arses and rotate
at a high rate of speed. I trust you'll
be 'blessed' with a plethora of splinters.
.
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| User: "Syd M." |
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| Title: Re: What Has Bush Learned From His Mistakes? Nothing. |
28 Dec 2006 02:37:04 PM |
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stoney wrote:
On 21 Dec 2006 06:31:13 -0800, "Syd M." <pdwright42@yahoo.com> wrote in
alt.atheism
stoney wrote:
http://www.slate.com/id/2155903/
What Has Bush Learned From His Mistakes?
Nothing.
By John Dickerson
Posted Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006, at 6:43 PM ET
Is anyone really surprised? I asked a colleage at work about that
NEWSWEEK article last week, "Will Bush listen?". Her responce: "Not a
chance."
Surprised? Not at all. The cretin has yet to master elementary level
language.
I must admit I was so supremely not surprised, that it ain't even
funny.
Aren't you just shaking in your boots waiting for Shrub's desicion
regarding Iraq. I know I am.. (Sarcasm alert)
PDW
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| User: "stoney" |
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| Title: Re: What Has Bush Learned From His Mistakes? Nothing. |
31 Dec 2006 08:31:31 PM |
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On 28 Dec 2006 12:37:04 -0800, "Syd M." <pdwright42@yahoo.com> wrote in
alt.atheism
stoney wrote:
On 21 Dec 2006 06:31:13 -0800, "Syd M." <pdwright42@yahoo.com> wrote in
alt.atheism
stoney wrote:
http://www.slate.com/id/2155903/
What Has Bush Learned From His Mistakes?
Nothing.
By John Dickerson
Posted Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006, at 6:43 PM ET
Is anyone really surprised? I asked a colleage at work about that
NEWSWEEK article last week, "Will Bush listen?". Her responce: "Not a
chance."
Surprised? Not at all. The cretin has yet to master elementary level
language.
I must admit I was so supremely not surprised, that it ain't even
funny.
Aren't you just shaking in your boots waiting for Shrub's desicion
regarding Iraq. I know I am.. (Sarcasm alert)
Shrub's decisions are indicisions. Whoever gets their hand up his arse
first is the decider.
--
Fundies and trolls are cordially invited to
shove a wooden cross up their arses and rotate
at a high rate of speed. I trust you'll
be 'blessed' with a plethora of splinters.
.
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| User: "Syd M." |
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| Title: Re: What Has Bush Learned From His Mistakes? Nothing. |
01 Jan 2007 09:40:25 AM |
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stoney wrote:
On 28 Dec 2006 12:37:04 -0800, "Syd M." <pdwright42@yahoo.com> wrote in
alt.atheism
stoney wrote:
On 21 Dec 2006 06:31:13 -0800, "Syd M." <pdwright42@yahoo.com> wrote in
alt.atheism
stoney wrote:
http://www.slate.com/id/2155903/
What Has Bush Learned From His Mistakes?
Nothing.
By John Dickerson
Posted Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006, at 6:43 PM ET
Is anyone really surprised? I asked a colleage at work about that
NEWSWEEK article last week, "Will Bush listen?". Her responce: "Not a
chance."
Surprised? Not at all. The cretin has yet to master elementary level
language.
I must admit I was so supremely not surprised, that it ain't even
funny.
Aren't you just shaking in your boots waiting for Shrub's desicion
regarding Iraq. I know I am.. (Sarcasm alert)
Shrub's decisions are indicisions. Whoever gets their hand up his arse
first is the decider.
Heh..
Lord, save us from having the Shrub make a decision..
PDW
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