On Jul 7, 2005, at 16:23, Carolyn Hastings wrote (in response to
Jean's):
Pity your President didn't offer any (has he got his speech writer
with him?). After Tony Bair's second speech from the G8 talks abouth
the incident, George Bush spoke to the media. Not a word of sympathy
or thoughts of any kind for those involved. Just a statement that
he'd contacted those responsible for homeland security to make sure
that the US was well protected.
I am pretty sure that I did hear President Bush, as well as some
officials
of his administration, offer condolences. I dislike the man intensely
and
think he is thoroughly wrong headed, but I think that your impression
might
just be the chance of which parts of his remarks were broadcast. I
hope so.
Can anyone confirm my impression?
The "chance of which parts" is probably right. Or, to be precise, which
remarks... The NYTimes (on-line edition, updated every hour or so - I
don't listen to the radio, I don't watch TV, and I didn't feel like
waiting till tomorrow) has been concentrating mostly on his *first*
response, which is probably what *Jean* has heard:
In Gleneagles, Mr. Bush drew the comparison between the aims of the
summit and the bombers.
"On the one hand, you have people working to alleviate poverty and rid
the world of the pandemic of AIDS and ways to have a clean environment
and, on the other hand, you have people working to kill people," he
said.
"The contrast couldn't be clearer between the intentions and the
hearts of those who care deeply about human rights and human liberty,
and those who kill, those who've got such evil in their hearts that
they will take the lives of innocent folks." Mr. Bush said. "The war
on terror goes on."
The man never could think on his feet (if he can think at all, which I
sometimes doubt), but he is still capable of learning. He was accused -
at the time of 9/11 - of not reacting quickly enough to the magnitude
of the disaster to US. So, this time, he put the US security forefront,
to avoid a second such accusation. He is also tenacious, and once he
*has* learnt his lines and likes them, he uses them over and over
(that's what makes me wonder if he is capable of thinking for himself)
- he applied them here not because they were appropriate, but because
he had memorised them (possibly for use on another occasion. Perhaps a
bombing in Baghdad; those are happening there daily)
Doubtless, someone in his staff - or even one of the other 6 "heads"
left at the Gleneagle - nudged him towards the idea that it might be
proper to offer condolences and express shock, before pushing his
learnt-by-rote agenda... So, properly primed, he was properly shocked,
and that's probably what *Carolyn* has heard. I'm sure that, tomorrow
morning, all we'll hear is how he's all compassion.
George Orwell, I salute you, even though you got your dates off by 21
yrs...
--
Tamara P Duvall http://t-n-lace.net/
Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland)
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