Bubble Boy urges Americans to 'give back'
By Steve Benen Wednesday Nov 21, 2007 8:24amIn his first six years in office, the president has made little mention of Thanksgiving, beyond the ceremonial turkey pardons, but yesterday Bush traveled to Charles City, Virginia, for his first speech devoted specifically to the holiday. “[O]ur nation’s greatest strength is the decency and compassion of our people,” he said. “As we count our many blessings, I encourage all Americans to show their thanks by giving back.”
The problem, in this case, wasn’t with the president’s inoffensive message, but rather with his audience.
You might think that a presidential speech on Thanksgiving would be open to all comers. But no, even when President Bush is talking about something as uncontroversial and inclusive as the essential goodness of our country, he wants his audience prescreened for obsequiousness.
Bush traveled to the historic Berkeley Plantation in southeastern Virginia yesterday for an event carefully calibrated to emphasize his compassionate side. In his remarks, he encouraged “all Americans to show their thanks by giving back.”
But, as usual, he wasn’t talking to all Americans. At least not in person. Admission to the event was tightly controlled by White House and Republican party officials.
Tyler Whitley and Mark Bowes write in the Richmond Times-Dispatch: “President Bush found something to be thankful for yesterday — a friendly, invitation-only Virginia audience. . . . “‘We love you!’ one woman yelled as Bush prepared to deliver a 16-minute Thanksgiving message to a standing-room-only crowd of about 800 people standing at Berkeley under a tent facing the James River.
Yes, it appears Bush can’t even wish Americans a happy Thanksgiving without the comfort of his ever-present Bubble.
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This year I am thankful that we only have one year remaining in the reign of King George.
“[O]ur nation’s greatest strength is the decency and compassion of our people,”
And our greatest weakness is President Bush and the Republican Party. it all makes sense to me!
Steve S @ 1:
I would be more thankful for a fast forward button to get us past this idiot already!
If I was wishing for a button it would be a erase button. I would then wake up from my dream screaming, but releaved that it was only a nightmare.
giving back?
we gave for katrina cuz you didnt show up
families gave to get armor for their sons and daughters in war because you didnt provide
sick of pretending you ever gave anything.
we gave, knowing your draining our pockets on purpose.
Cause people are dying.
thats the game.
that is all.
He probably meant that Big corporations and the richest should now give back to the GOP since the White House has served their interests so well.
p.s. All I want for Christmas is my Habeas Corpus back.
Can we give Bush/Cheney back?
Back to an honest political/judicial system?
Here's a Thanksgiving tip.
No matter how you feel about personal gun ownership, if you care about personal freedom, especially that 'guaranteed' you by the now-slowly-disintegrating Constitution, be sure that you acquire, however you can, surreptitiously (off the record), a weapon of your choice before the Supremes hear the D.C. gun case next spring.
Just on the off chance that at some time in the future, brown (or Bush-colored) shirts come marching down your street, demanding entry to your home or incarceration of you or some member of your family, and you recall the words of one of the patriots who created this nation, 'Give me liberty or give me death', and you decide to not volunteer to give up your rights, but to put your life on the line for a good cause, you'll need the means to do so, to at least have the satisfaction of taking a few of the bastards with you if you have to go.
So get a gun(s), while you still can, just in case.
I think the odds are great that the Bush Supremes will vote to remove all obstacles from the establishment of a Fascist States of America, and private guns will be necessarily prohibited.
Hopefully, pretty soon, if the US keeps awakening to the reality of the depredations of the Bush administration, and The Dummy keeps up his speech-audience-screening policies, he'll be able to deliver his speeches in his bathtub, or the rubber meeting room of the nearest asylum.
Probably not by Christmas, but possibly by next Fourth of July, if he's not incarcerated or interred by then.
Where's Osama when we need him?
It'd be great to see him burst Bush's bubble.
Do you suppose Bush spoke the truth for once?
Do you think he really meant it when he 'asked all americans to give back'?
Does that mean we can all crap all over him just like he'd been shi**ing all over us?
"I encourage all Americans to show their thanks by giving back. And you can start with your military signing bonus."
What I don't understand is how a crowd of 800 people out of 300-odd million can still be deluded enough to support The Dummy.
Another thousand points of bullshit from you, Mr. tax breaks for the wealthy.
Shit, how much more does 'Bubble Boy' want me to give back? I already gave my Medical Transcription's job to someone in India, my laundry money to Big Oil and my lunch money to the pharmaceutical companies!
"giving back?
we gave for katrina cuz you didnt show up
families gave to get armor for their sons and daughters in war because you didnt provide
sick of pretending you ever gave anything.
we gave, knowing your draining our pockets on purpose.
Cause people are dying.
thats the game.
that is all."
Actually, the president is a very giving man.
He gave tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans.
He gave the people who hate this country more of a reason to.
He gave Pakistan, our so-called allies, billions in aid.
He gave us a fascist government.
So today take a moment to thank Mr. Bush for being so giving, before you wish he dies and burns in hell.
The remaining years of his life will only allow samll screened groups around him. The man is so hated worldwide that he would be off'd.
Bob in Thailand @ 18:
samll = small
I find it amazing that they found 800 Bush supporters in a single state at this point in his disastrous presidency. Oh yes I remember ... it's Virginia. 800 employees of defense contractors aren't that hard to find down there.
from outsde the bubble:
Foreign Fighters in Iraq Are Tied to Allies of U.S. By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.
Saudi Arabia and Libya were the source of about 60 percent of the foreign fighters who came to Iraq in the past year to facilitate attacks.
. . . .
Looks like his friends are showing their gratitude by giving boosh the perpetual war he craves.
Rove.v.Wag @ 20:
Ed Zachry!
flex @ 16:
well, there's always your first-born to another of the boosh wars....
I'd be thankful if someone gave this turkey a big plate of impeachment, followed with a one-way ticket into a cage for dessert.
I'd like to give back. The back of my hand up side his face!
The turkey.
CoIntelPro @ 21:
Well, he did say:
"I am a war president."
BTW: I think the might have had to go outside the VA area to find some of those 800 peeps.
I'm not certain he could find 600 in any state - (except the state of denial).
as for giving back...I'd give him back to the rock he crawled out from under in a heartbeat.
G.W. Bush says thanks to the American People, for all the trust and everything else he could/can steal from them. He, The Commander In Chief thanks the People for theyr willingness to offer theyr sons and daughters to theyr dead on the profit-altars of Halliburton and Bechtel and Blackwater. Thank you, he says, to the people he says thank you, for losing your morals and your sanity, for giving him the power to pillage and rape and torture the "WE THE PEOPLE" CONSTITUTION, he thanks you? YOU THINK?
No, G.W. Bush & Co. cannot do such, he cannot say thanks, he's beyond such, he's to great a liër and a cheat and a psychopath and a criminal and a war-criminal and a Apocalyptic!
So, he urges, he tells you, to "GIVE BACK"!!
Well, give him some, bring him to justice, silly-slap him and his maffia-dominions with indictments for high-treason, for crimes against The American People, for crimes against the law and the CONSTITUTION, for war-crimes, torture-crimes, pillage and rape-crimes, sue that bastard, give him that!
And then, convict him!
yep, and in that tent we also found brian williams, tim russert, chris matthews, charles gibson, katie couric, the entire fox propaganda team, the cnn crew, the msnbc crew minus keith oberman, the corporate heads of the washington post that were selling the tickets and doing the screening, and , best of all, john gibson who was seen compulsively squeaking 'fuck me', 'fuck me' as he was just in front of his furhrer bush, pants down, bent over, ass spread wide open ....... the problems began when williams and russert 'wanted some' and kept trying to kick him out of the way ........
Does that include giving Iraq back to the Iraqis?
Forgive my inappropriate language, but I think we need to call "Bubble Boy" by his right name, which is to say that he's a pussy. No other word will do. He's a coward whose dainty little ego absolutely can't handle criticism. When you compare him to B Clinton, Gore, Kerry and H Clinton, who haven't been merely criticized but slandered, Bush comes off as such a pathetic little weaseal, albeit one with a major sense of entitlement, he keeps reminding me of Frank Sinatra as "Johnny Concho." And even then you have to discount the Sinatra character's few redeeming qualities to make it fit
He's a pussy, I tell you. A pussy.
Bush wants "entitlement reform" against the poor and middle class to help the rich but talks about "giving back"
I would love to give Bush back, in full, what he has given me, but if i did i would either be shot outright or imprissoned for the rest of my life.
Buck Foosh.......I sick and tired of this ..............aghhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!oh and Blue @29...that was good...lol...thanks
Preacher Boob @ 9:
If that's true, why does the NRA nearly always support conservative Republicans? Does the NRA secretly wish for handguns to be outlawed?
Bush passes laws to take away from the people and give to the big corporations, Exxon, Blue Cross, Haliburton etc. and then he asks us to give more. What a guy.
"John Hall @ # 17'
You missed a few":
He gave Israel billions of dollars in arms.
Israel has Universal Health Care . America does not.
He had to invade Iraq (instead of paying off Hussein for a few billion)
and has spent so much on that crusade that Washington has trouble
figuring out where most of the money went. I bet there a lot of new
big fat Swiss bank account out there.
America 'is" incredibly compassionate and Generous'
Give thanks.
Give thanks for almost seven years of misrule by the Bush crime family… Give thanks for those loyal Republicans, Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Secretary of State Katherine Harris, who illegally removed some fifty thousand black voters from the voting rolls in 2000 because their names resembled those of Texas felons, and our corporate media who happy covered up this Bit o’ Treason…
Give thanks for the corporate media who continually smeared President Bill Clinton, since Newt Gingrich let his Contract on America loose back in 1994... Give thanks for the corporate media’s smearing of VP Al Gore during the 2000 Presidential campaign… Give thanks for the corporate media’s going very lightly on the Royal Bush during the 2000 Presidential campaign…
Give thanks for five Supreme Idiots on our highest Court how managed to stop our 220-year-old Democracy dead in its tracks, stop the counting of the votes in the Florida Presidential Election and hand the election on a silver platter to the very sore loser Royal Bush in December 2000.
Give thanks for the veritable cornucopia of Bush/Cheney lies, greed, Diebolded-elections, torture, war-mongering, murder, fascism, war crimes, arrogance, stupidity, bullying, cronyism, corruption, smearing, sliming, and treason since that terrible day in December 2000.
May the revolting half-wit choke on a turkey bone. Although he's probably got someone to chew his food for him since the pretzel incident.
Don't you just love these bush pre-screened audience media photo-ops...
George probably raised about two trillion dollars from this event. How can people even want to be near this guy? He must smell like rotten flesh since he and his minions are from the gates of Hell. I think that a year sounds like too long of time for me, Just think about how many more bombs that he could order dropped on innocents and how many more childrens' bodies that he can step over. We are living a real life horror movie.
I encourage all of the beneficiaries of Bush's tax cuts for the rich to give back.
No, Chucklenut, you're not a "war president." You're an "illegally and immorally invaded and occupied a sovereign nation that didn't attack us president."
Think you can remember that line for your next pre-screened "speech"? Didn't think so.
It should be noted that the above yell was switched by CNN from the original "Go to Hell you fascist murderer!" just prior to the event.
Different Anonymous @ 44:
on Netscape there was one Bush supporter called "ILUVthPrez" A bigger Bush brown nose one could never have found. Turns out this person was a truly hardcore GOP supporter and direct GOP party person meaning they had no mind whatsoever. Probably on a cue from the Whitehouse at the proper moment this person voiced her "opinion" Is there a hidden GOP/Bush cult camp we aren't being told about?
Has there ever been a President in American history more isolated and disengaged than this one? Even in the waning days of the Nixon administration, the President engaged the American public -- lovers and haters alike.
Do you get the impression that Bush's presentations are more like KKK rallies?
That is the only way bush can get a receptive crowd. The brown shirts have to come in and screen out anyone that has the capability of thought.
No giving back to poor sick kids, though.
Those kids' parents shoulda never had them and they all need to be punished.
Now watch me eat this turkee. Heh-heh.
Rufus T. Firefly @ 35:
Shoot your best shot. Some things, like government-by-bribery, are, like a Gordian knot, too complex to unwind or understand. All I can say is, my choice is gonna be to shoot, and it's hard to shoot without a gun.
And I stand afraid that as the corporatocracy attempts to shoo-in their next chosen corporate lackey as the next President, in a total perversion of our rights to elect who the nation chooses, from now on all future Presidents will only go before loyalty oath crowds. I fear our nation has become Rome through the psi-ops of Fox News keeping those 28%ers devoid of independent thought. This current pResident is the ultimate example of someone who has fallen up the ladder from his concurrent failure after failure in life. If someone like GWB can be "elected" President for over 7 years and counting, then our nation is truly a banana republic. What is it going to take for our fellow citizens to rip themselves from their reality programs off their ipods and get involved in what is going on in their names???!!???
By the way, the woman who shouted 'We Love You' had skipped her dose of Thorazine, and was stoned on sacramental wine.
How stoned?
She thought Bush was the second coming of the vestal virgin, because the soup he spilled on his tie looked to her like stigmata
BushCo, give back to the troops and families by sending them home. Put your oil projects on hold until the next republican presidency in 2017. And give back by telling us the truth.
As much as I despise the politics of George Bush and his bubble speaking strategy, this is arguably the one place where it is ok to employ the bubble. The message is one that's wholly accepted and non divisive. Don't let such a message be the target of a possible disruption.
That said, is it 2008 yet?
The part in this article about invitation only may have an ounce of truth to it, but the invitations were not pre-screened, at least not according to this email my wife received. I live a half hour away from Berkeley Plantation and my wife received this broadcast email from a neighbor friend, a registered Democrat no less.
Ladies, a former colleague and friend of mine is putting on this event with President Bush on Monday, Nov 19th and has offered some extra tickets..it is in a heated tent so should be fine even if it's chilly. If anyone is interested in going (and feel free to bring a friend) just e-mail me your names and I'll make sure you are on the list. Regardless of your politics could be an interesting chance to hear a sitting President speak (I'm told there should only be abour 300 people)
It really is unbelievable the crap that gets printed in the press these days. And even if it were true, blame it on the Code Pink and the hard-core leftist, so-called champions of free speech, who make idiots of themselves at these events every chance they get.
Aside from that, Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Imichael @ 47:
I,ve had the strong feeling for years that they are more a-kin to the political rallies that Hitler orchestrated while he was running for the Chancelorship of Deutschland. His Brownshirts, scattered throughout the attending crowds were dressed in civies (under-cover) and if ANY individual would try to disrupt Hitler's message of show any resistance... he would be shouted down immediately. If the resistor was persistant, he or she would be dragged outside the hall... and beaten in a back alley. THAT's what I'm reminded of when I hear about Bush's reluctance to speak before a PUBLIC gathering. THAT's what I think about when the Republicans establish FREE SPEECH ZONES that are BLOCKS AWAY from Bush's speeches. THAT's an abomination on our First Amendment.
Aren't the majority of his public addresses carefully screened and/or by invitation only? It doesn't matter. It's pretty well known his heart of hearts lacks the the gene for compassion. No matter if all goes well, the eight year nightmare of the Bush Administration will be over. Then we'll have the beginning of a new nightmare. I can't help thinking the next president will be even worse, considering all the power this monster has accumulated into the Executive Branch.
What an ironic thing to be saying to a crowd that supports invasion, occupation, and theft of a country's resources.
Not agreeing with Bush prescreening his audience means you want the terrorists to win.
i suggest we give bush back, do you think barbara bush has
room in the womb? this family is used to having things shoved
up their bums, surely she can accommodate him in one opening.
we insist..........
I keep posting this video at youtube. Unless you're a cream-your-jeans-glad Bush supporter, you can't comment. I keep checking, but my comments don't appear, so I give the comments there thumbs down. He is very much in a bubble!!!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OGvnZskX5Yc
Steve S @ 1:
We hope.
You might think that a presidential speech on Thanksgiving would be open to all comers. writes Froomkin.
Is this guy on crack? Who would ever think anyone but the hand picked would attend and be pre-screened on Thanksgiving or any other day?
That bubble will not be pierced at any time, at any cost, of his disastrous leadership and inability to manage a corner hot dog stand, much less this nation.
The man can barely remember his lines, what would he do in front of a hostile audience on a national holiday? Or any other day?
Melt like a snowcone in a microwave.
giving to domestic charity enables social program cutters. THe amount of charity given in any disaster is symbolic compared to what is eventually needed.
Mr. President, why don't you give back? Give us back our country N^Z!.
“[O]ur nation’s greatest strength is the decency and compassion of our people,”
So now, Bush is claiming he was a Democrat all along.
I have this theory that Bush is popular with a certain segment because he looks like the Good Christian Guy in those Chick Publications pamphlets.
http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0079/0079_01.asp
The perpetual bratty child has had his entire life handed to him on a silver platter and he asks us to give. The only thing he's ever given was grief and bankruptcy to everyone and everything he had influence over. He is the worst example of a human being I can think of. At least Dick Cheney has actively pursued success, even in a completely evil way. I guess I can say that I'm thankful that the vast majority of the people in this world can recognize an absolute failure when they see one.
I'll be damned.
I never before realized the reason for the male White House intern's theme song,
'I'm forever blowing bubbles..............'
"it appears Bush can’t even wish Americans a happy Thanksgiving without the comfort of his ever-present Bubble."
of course not, haven't you heard about the pink activists?
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