> <Lori said> Even his "axis of evil" comment - which you could almost > believe Bush might've coined - wasn't his own; it was David Frum's. Jenny replied:
> I just read an interview with Bush's ex-speechwriter this week - I > can't remember where. He actually wrote "axis of terror" and there > was debate over whether North Korea should be included or not. And > by the time the speech left Bush's lips it had been changed to Axis > of EVIL (and included N. Korea) - the idea was to make the phrase > more biblical sounding, since Bush has had success w7th biblical > rhetoric in the past . Interesting ... I wonder if the change was really to make it sound more biblical, or to make it sound more like something Reagan would've said? (Remember the "evil empire"?) Also interesting is that David Frum - who is the speechwriter in question - was just on the Today Show this week. David did not dispute Matt Lauer's suggestion that David coined "axis of evil." And, when asked, David did not deny that his wife (Danielle Crittenden Frum) more or less got him into trouble by writing an email to one of her friends in which she exclaimed how proud she was of her husband. The email was of course forwarded all over the place, and the subsequent embarrassment to the Administration apparently contributed to David's departure, although David claims to have already handed in his resignation prior to the speech. I'm not disputing the interview you read though, Jenny. I have no doubt there is more than one version of the story, even from David himself -- who, btw, I used to work for directly. He left the Manhattan Institute (where we both worked at its DC satellite office) just after Bush was elected, to become one of Bush's three speechwriters. David was supposed to be writing speeches about economic policy ... but ... well, he is rather verbose, to say the least. Lori, who never should have worked for the Manhattan Institute (http://www.manhattan-institute.org) and the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation (http://www.edexcellence.net) - it was a package deal - but who is glad she did for the opportunity to experience how the "other side" thinks ... although god knows those 14 months drove me damn near CRAZY!!
