John Ray
A vote for the lesser of two evils … is still evil!
Wed Aug 11, 2004 15:16
64.140.158.46

JR: I read the following and again I wonder how someone of this caliber could ever become president of the United States of America. Evidently, intelligence is not a requirement for the presidency. Judging by how and what he says, President Bush Jr. should never have questioned the Pentagon’s (Iraq) intelligence. Its just too bad that after years of programming, Bush can’t develop his intelligence. He can only speak in short phrases, maybe because that is what he is being fed through his micro-ear-phone. His instructions are: Just repeat what you hear through your audio feed … and even that seems to be difficult.

Just read a little bit of what President Bush Jr. says in the following and you will see why I’m having such a problem with White House intelligence and I’m not talking about bad Iraqi intelligence that initiated an Illegal invasion of a sovereign nation.

Frankly, I can’t understand how anyone that claims to have any intelligence can vote for either the Republican or the Democratic presidential candidate.

A vote for the lesser of two evils … is still evil!

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
August 10, 2004

Remarks by the President at "ask President Bush" Event
Okaloosa-Walton College
Niceville, Florida

1:55 P.M. CDT

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/08/20040810-15.html
[snip]
It's an amazing story, isn't it? It's an amazing story how people respond when given a chance to exercise their -- what we believe are their God-given rights as free people. We need to do the same thing here in America. So I'm here to ask you to get your fellow citizens to participate. Of course, once you get them headed to the polls I've got a suggestion of who they might be for. (Laughter.) And that's what we're going to talk about today.

I'm proud of brother, Jeb. I had the honor of spending the weekend with him. His oldest son, George P. got married, and the father of the groom handled his duties perfectly. (Laughter.) He's a great governor and a great brother. (Applause.) And I love him a lot. I love him a lot. And I love the First Lady a lot, too. (Applause.) When I asked Laura to marry me she was a public school librarian. There you go, yes! She didn't care for politics or politicians. (Laughter.) Now, she's the First Lady of the United States and she's doing a great job. She really is. (Applause.) I wish she were here today, but she's campaigning in the Midwest, and she's doing a really neat experience. I like to tell people, I've got reasons why I'd like you to put me back in, but perhaps the most important one is so that Laura is the First Lady for four more years. (Applause.)

I'm going to talk a little bit about what I'd like to do. We've got some citizens here who are going to help me make some points about how America can be a better place. And then I'm going to answer some questions if we've got time.

I first want to say, thanks, to my friend, John McCain. John is a -- (applause) -- amazing guy who -- (applause) -- he's an amazing person. He's a great public servant. He served his nation in many ways. And I'm proud to be traveling with him. It's -- he's a lot of fun to be with. Plus, it helps -- (laughter) -- helps to have him stand by my side. So thanks for coming, friend. Appreciate you being here. (Applause.)

After the ranch, he and I are going to go over to Crawford -- I mean, after campaigning here in Panama City, he and I are going to go over to Crawford, and I'm going to show him the ranch. Then we're going to New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington and Iowa. (Applause.)

I want to thank -- I want to thank Congressman Jeff Miller, who is doing a fine job for the people. (Applause.) You're doing a great job, Congressman. Thanks for coming. Statehouse Speaker Designate Allan Bense, he's with us today. Allan, thank you for traveling. Where are you? (Applause.) He was with us. He probably heard I'm going to talk for about 45 minutes and left. (Laughter.) I'm proud to be traveling, as well, with Bev Kilmer. She's running for the congressional seat right next door to this one. Good luck to you. Thanks for coming. (Applause.) I'm proud to be here at Okaloosa-Walton College. I want to thank Bob Richburg, the president of this fine institution. (Applause.)

I tell people I'm running again because I want to work to make America safer, stronger and better. The biggest task we have in this country is to fight and win this war on terror. The most solemn duty a President has, the most solemn duty -- (applause) -- the most solemn duty those of us who hold high office have is to do everything we can to safeguard our country.

I never thought I'd be having to say this when I ran in 2000 -- John, we campaigned together, I don't remember saying, I anticipate war. Nobody wants to be the war President. People want to be the peace President. People want to be able to say, gosh, the world is peaceful. But that's not what happened under my watch. The country changed on September the 11th, 2001, and it's vital for the President to clearly see the world the way it is. (Applause.) I'll tell you some lessons I've learned that I don't think the country should ever forget. First of all, these people that killed us, they were training for years. They were preparing for years. They're evil people who cannot stand what we believe in. You cannot negotiate with these people. You cannot -- these are not the kind of people you can reason with. You cannot hope for the best. That's just the nature of these people. It's hard for the American people to understand the nature of somebody who's willing to kill an innocent child to achieve an objective. That's not the way we think. Nevertheless, we must be realistic about the nature of these folks.

The second lesson after September the 11th is when you say something you better mean it, in order to make the world a more peaceful place. (Applause.) I recognized right after September the 11th we were in a different kind of conflict. I noticed some World War II veterans who are here who fought a different kind of war. Freedom and liberty were at stake, but it was a different kind of war. This is a different kind of war here. This is a war that said not only must we bring justice to our enemies, wherever they hide, we cannot allow nations to provide them safe harbor or training, or to feed or equip them. We just can't do that. In order to be able to protect ourselves -- (applause.)

So that's why I said to the Taliban -- we gave the Taliban a warning: Quit harboring these people, quit feeding these people, quit providing safe haven so they can train to come and kill. And the Taliban chose defiance. And thanks to the United States and a coalition of the willing, the Taliban no longer is in power. (Applause.) And the world is safer for it. The world is safer for it. You know why? We've now got an ally in the war on terror. Al Qaeda can no longer find -- you know, attack and escape into the confines of a sovereign nation. That no longer is possible. But guess what else happened that is important? We liberated people. (Applause.) We freed people.

You know, I was in Cleveland the other evening. I helped kick off the International Children's Games. And I was standing up giving this welcoming address, and right to my right was a group of young girls from Afghanistan. They were part of a soccer team, a young girls soccer team. Now, that probably doesn't sound like a momentous event, but think about it. These young children couldn't even go to school under the Taliban. Their mothers were often paraded into public squares and humiliated, because this country was under the clutches of a barbaric regime that had evil in their hearts.

Our action in Afghanistan fulfilled a word, it said if you harbor you'll be held accountable; the world is peaceful for it when we keep our word. Our action in Afghanistan has converted an enemy into an ally in the war on terror. And our action in Afghanistan is a part of freeing 50 million people -- 25 million in Afghanistan, 25 million in Iraq. And the world is better for it. (Applause.)

Another lesson of September the 11th -- another lesson of September the 11th is that when we see threats, we must deal with them before they fully materialize. See, prior to September the 11th, we thought if we saw a threat, we could deal with it if we felt like it, or maybe it would go away, maybe it wouldn't happen, because we felt secure. Remember those days? I do. I also know what it's like now to be vulnerable to the attacks of enemies that could care less about the rules of warfare. I mean, these are uncivilized people. And probably the most dangerous -- not probably -- the most dangerous worry that we should have is whether or not these killers are able to get weapons of mass destruction. And where would they get them? Well, they'd get them from people who had the capability of making them, and they'd get them from people that hate us.

So I looked at Iraq and saw a threat. Think -- think about Iraq. This is a country that had -- were firing at our pilots. This is a country with which we'd already had a war. This is a country which had used weapons of mass destruction against its own people and against its neighbors. This is a country that paid families of suiciders. This is a country that allowed terrorist networks to be in and out of their borders. Remember Abu Nidal? He's the guy that killed Leon Klinghoffer. His network was in Iraq. Zarqawi, he's still in there chopping people's heads off. His network was in Iraq. And they were in and out of the country.

And so we looked at the facts, and said, this guy is a threat. That's what we looked at. And then we all looked at the intelligence, as well. And my administration looked at it, and the United States Congress looked at it -- members of both parties in the Congress looked at that intelligence -- my opponent looked at that intelligence -- (applause) -- and we all came to the same conclusion: Saddam Hussein was a threat.

Now, I recognize it's important to rally the world on issues such as these. And so I went to the United Nations and said, we think he's a threat. What do you think? And the United Nations Security Council voted 15 to nothing saying -- and here's what they said. They said, we think you're a threat, so disclose, disarm, or face serious consequences. That's what the world said. By the way, it's not the first time the world had said it, is it? The world had been saying it for over a decade. And every time the world said it, Saddam kind of -- didn't take it very seriously. And he became dangerous.

And so I had a choice to make. I had a choice as to whether or not to trust this madman, to trust whether or not we would be more secure with him in -- in his own country, defying the demands of the free world once again. This is a guy who had used weapons of mass destruction. Do I forget the lessons of September the 11th, or do what I think is necessary to protect this country? Given that choice, I'll protect America every time. (Applause.)

You know, they ask you, they say, well, you haven't found the stockpiles you thought were going to be there. And they're right. We thought there would be stockpiles of weapons there. But we do know that he had the capability of making weapons. And we do know that he had the capability of passing that knowledge on to an enemy which hates us. He was dangerous. Knowing what I know today, I would have still made the same decision. The world is better off, and America is safer. (Applause.) No question about it.

Let me tell you something. I want you all to think about a world in which Saddam Hussein was still in power. He was an enemy out there. He'd have been stronger if he had been in power still. The world is safer, and America is safer, because he sits in a prison cell.

I want to share a story with you about seven Iraqi citizens who came to see me in the Oval Office. The Oval Office is a powerful place. It's the kind of place where my mother walks in and feels so overwhelmed, she won't tell me what to do. (Laughter and applause.) That's powerful. In walk seven Iraqis. They had -- they had all had their right hands cut off by Saddam Hussein. You know why? Because they -- the dinar had declined in value -- that was his currency -- and he was looking for a scapegoat. And he found these seven small merchants, small business people. I asked one guy, why you? And he said, well, he happened to sell dinars on that particular day to buy -- I think he said euros, so he could buy gold to make jewelry. And he just sold on the wrong day, because he got plucked out of the population, and like his other six friends there, had his right hand cut off and an "X" branded into his forehead.

And these fellows walk into the Oval Office -- the reason why is, is there was a fellow named Marvin Zindler, he's a newsman out of Houston -- there you go -- who heard of their plight. He had done well, set up a foundation, flew them over to Houston so they could outfitted with new hands. (Applause.) The contrast between a society where one person gets to decide the fate of somebody's right hand, and a society that's willing to raise people who contribute to heal the hands is the difference between Iraq and totalitarianism and tyranny, and a free country like America. (Applause.)

It's hard work. It is hard work to go from a society in which somebody can cut your right hand off just like that, to a society that adopts the responsibilities and habits of a free country. And that's what you're seeing. You're seeing that conversion. And it's hard. I'm telling you, it's hard. But we've got some strong allies, staring with the Prime Minister of Iraq, Prime Minister Allawi. They tell me the story of him. He was in London, England. He was in exile from his country because Saddam hated him. He wakes up one night and an ax-wielding group of men tried to hatchet him to death, or ax him to death. I guess, you don't hatchet somebody with an ax. (Laughter.) And you don't ax them with a hatchet. (Laughter.) He wakes up, the glint of the blade coming at him, and he gets cut badly, escapes. The guy hit his wife who never recovered, really. So he's seen what it means to be chased down and tried to kill by a tyrant. He -- this guy believes that Iraq can and will be free.

See, step one is for there to be leadership. We need leadership in this world. We need people who believe in principles and are willing to stand on those principles and lead. (Applause.)

More and more Iraqis are now stepping up to defend their country against these killers, and that's -- that's what's going to happen. They got the choice to make: Do they want to be a free society, or do they want to be a society where mothers and dads cannot raise their children in a hopeful world. We believe -- I believe -- that moms and dads all over the world want to raise their children in peace and hope. That's what Americans believe. And therefore, it's important for us to stay side-by-side with these Iraqis, as they assume more responsibility to bring freedom to their country.

And a free Iraq and a free Afghanistan is a big step toward making the world more peaceful. See, all this action that's taken is to do two things: One, to defend ourselves, is to deal with the realities of the 21st century, is not turn a blind eye to the lessons of September the 11th; and to bring peace. I want these little kids in this audience in this hall to be growing up and going to college in a peaceful world. We got hard work to do, but peace is possible. (Applause.)

A couple of points I want to share with you about my philosophy. We'll work with allies and friends. Remember, we got 60 nations involved in what they call the Proliferation Security Initiative -- that's to help interdict weapons of mass destruction and technologies and equipment. We got nearly 40 in Afghanistan, nearly 30 in Iraq. But I'm not going to turn over national security decisions of this country to leaders of other -- other countries. (Applause.)
[snip]
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Q Why do kids my age have to pay taxes -- — Office of the Press Secretary, Wed Aug 11 15:22