Soon it will be over. Gradually, the United States will move toward competence. Obama will make mistakes, but like Joe Biden once said, the president-elect is articulate. The V-P-elect was criticized for calling Obama articulate in comparison to other African-Americans. He should have explained that he meant "articulate" in comparison with other presidential candidates, and used himself as the first example. The point is that we will see far fewer gaffes from the new administration.
The BBC recently looked back at some of the misstatements that led to the coining of a new word: "Bushism." Under the new administration, we will have to fall back on Congress for comedy relief. For nostalgia's sake, I have reprinted the BBC article below (forgive their spelling of "labor," Britain has a surplus of vowels).
The
'misunderestimated' president?
Wednesday,
7 January 2009
All
politicians are prone to make slips of the tongue in the heat of the moment -
and President George W Bush has made more than most.
The
word "Bushism" has been coined to label his occasional verbal lapses
during eight years in office, which come to an end on 20 January.
Here
are some of his most memorable pronouncements.
ON HIMSELF
"They misunderestimated
me."
Bentonville, Arkansas, 6 November, 2000
''I know what I believe. I will continue to
articulate what I believe and what I believe - I believe what I believe is
right."
Rome, 22 July, 2001
"There's an old saying
in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me
once, shame on... shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again."
Nashville, Tennessee, 17 September, 2002
"There's no question
that the minute I got elected, the storm clouds on the horizon were getting
nearly directly overhead."
Washington DC, 11 May, 2001
"I want to thank my
friend, Senator Bill Frist, for joining us today. He married a Texas girl, I
want you to know. Karyn is with us. A West Texas girl, just like me."
Nashville, Tennessee, 27 May, 2004
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
"For a century and a
half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances
of modern times."
Tokyo, 18 February, 2002
"The war on terror
involves Saddam Hussein because of the nature of Saddam Hussein, the history of
Saddam Hussein, and his willingness to terrorise himself."
Grand Rapids, Michigan, 29 January, 2003
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful,
and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and
our people, and neither do we."
Washington DC, 5 August, 2004
"I think war is a
dangerous place."
Washington DC, 7 May, 2003
"The ambassador and the
general were briefing me on the - the vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a
peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to
justice."
Washington DC, 27 October, 2003
"Free societies are
hopeful societies. And free societies will be allies against these hateful few
who have no conscience, who kill at the whim of a hat."
Washington DC, 17 September, 2004
"You know, one of the
hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror."
CBS News, Washington DC, 6 September, 2006
EDUCATION
"Rarely is the question asked: Is
our children learning?"
Florence, South Carolina, 11 January, 2000
"Reading is the basics for all
learning."
Reston, Virginia, 28 March, 2000
"As governor of Texas, I have set
high standards for our public schools, and I have met those standards."
CNN, 30 August, 2000
"You teach a child to read, and he
or her will be able to pass a literacy test.''
Townsend, Tennessee, 21 February, 2001
ECONOMICS
"I understand small business growth.
I was one."
New York Daily News, 19 February, 2000
"It's clearly a budget. It's got a
lot of numbers in it."
Reuters, 5 May, 2000
"I do remain confident in Linda.
She'll make a fine Labour Secretary. From what I've read in the press accounts,
she's perfectly qualified."
Austin, Texas, 8 January, 2001
"First, let me make it very clear,
poor people aren't necessarily killers. Just because you happen to be not rich
doesn't mean you're willing to kill."
Washington DC, 19 May, 2003
HEALTHCARE
"I don't think we need to be
subliminable about the differences between our views on prescription
drugs."
Orlando, Florida, 12 September, 2000
"Too many good docs are getting out
of the business. Too many OB/GYN's aren't able to practice their love with
women all across the country."
Poplar Bluff, Missouri, 6 September, 2004
TECHNOLOGY
"Will the highways on the internet
become more few?"
Concord, New Hampshire, 29 January, 2000
"It would be a mistake for the
United States Senate to allow any kind of human cloning to come out of that
chamber."
Washington DC, 10 April, 2002
"Information is moving. You know,
nightly news is one way, of course, but it's also moving through the
blogosphere and through the Internets."
Washington DC, 2 May, 2007
OUT OF LEFT FIELD
"I know the human being and fish can
coexist peacefully."
Saginaw, Michigan, 29 September, 2000
"Families is where our nation finds
hope, where wings take dream."
LaCrosse, Wisconsin, 18 October, 2000
"Those who enter the country
illegally violate the law."
Tucson, Arizona, 28 November, 2005
"That's George Washington, the first
president, of course. The interesting thing about him is that I read three -
three or four books about him last year. Isn't that interesting?"
Speaking to reporter Kai Diekmann, Washington DC, 5 May, 2006
ON GOVERNING
"I have a different vision of
leadership. A leadership is someone who brings people together."
Bartlett, Tennessee, 18 August, 2000
"I'm the decider, and I decide what
is best."
Washington DC, 18 April, 2006
"And truth of the matter is, a lot
of reports in Washington are never read by anybody. To show you how important
this one is, I read it, and [Tony Blair] read it."
On the publication of the Baker-Hamilton Report, Washington DC, 7 December,
2006
"All I can tell you is when the
governor calls, I answer his phone."
San Diego, California, 25 October, 2007
"I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures
out what happened inside this Oval Office."
Washington DC, 12 May, 2008