"People should feel comfortable about expressing their opinions about Iraq," the president said. "I heard somebody say, well, maybe so-and-so is not patriotic because they disagree with my position. I totally reject that thought. This is not an issue of who's [a] patriot and who's not patriotic. It's an issue of an honest, open debate about the way forward in Iraq."
November 21, 2005
Well, what do you know?
I am not sure about his motivation here, especially since his VP has continued to pillory opponents, but I am glad to see this:
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8 comments:
Streak
Forgive the cynicism, but before I could stop it my brain jumped to a scene where Bush says this and then leans over to Rove to whisper, "Have Cheney's people take them out."
BB
Streak,
I agree with bootleg. Bush says one thing. Cheney does another. I think they saw their numbers tanking due to their perceived stubborness, the situation in Iraq, etc, and decided they needed to at least give the impression that they are listening to dissenting voices.
kgp
Why do you still hate America?
I am Swiss!
BTW, I don't necessarily disagree with kgp or Bootleg. Bush has done the "right thing" so rarely and used the politics of division and disparagment so often that it is hard not to be cyncial about his motives. But even if it is pure politics, it is better than what he has been saying. Perhaps it will encourage people to challenge him and Cheney further: "You say that dissent is not unpatriotic, yet your VP continues to slander your opponents. why is that?"
Notice that he welcomes a debate about the way forward in Iraq. That is a different discussion from the one that he and Cheney smeared earlier this week, namely a discussion of how the administration made their case for war in 2002 and 2003.
Also, perhaps he realized that there's a problem with trying to encourage a country like China to allow for more internal freedom to dissent while you're slamming people in the US for the same kinds of things.
A little cognitive dissonance at long last? One can dream.
Now about that whole torture thing...
The United States doesn't torture! The President even said so. Please stop saying otherwise or I am afraid that you will be interrogated to the fullest extent of the law or exported to where that law allows for even fuller interrogation. Some restrictions apply. Offer void where prohibted
BB's "take them out" Mafia reference is right on.
To me, it appears to be a pretty clear case of Good Cop/Bad Cop.
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