Thursday, January 20, 2005

In full: President Bush's speech [with my comments]

George W Bush has been sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States. Here is his speech in full.

At this second gathering, our duties are defined not by the words I use [you can't believe what I say], but by the history we have seen together [you’ve witnessed the history that we’ve fabricated, and allow me to milk 9-11 for my entire presidency].

For a half century, America defended our own freedom by standing watch on distant borders.

After the shipwreck of communism [it came to a natural death in Russia and we seem to be okay fine with communism in China at the moment] came years of relative quiet, years of repose, years of sabbatical [Sabbatical?! Is this a swat at leftist academics? Nevermind Nicaragua, Panama, Guatemala and Bosnia]- and then there came a day of fire [allow me to milk 9-11 for my entire presidency].


The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom [soon we will have forced two elections in Muslim countries, and as of yet neither country is in any sense of the word "free." What exactly are we expanding since it's not freedom? Mayhem and torture? This is the core of his speech, and it brings to mind one of Bin Laden's major beefs with the U.S.--our presence in Saudi Arabia and Israel...and now we're in Afghanistan, then Iraq...] in all the world

We have seen our vulnerability - and we have seen its deepest source [what exactly does he mean by this? Targeting our civilians is our deepest vulnerability? No wonder he doesn't name it, since we're targeting Iraqi civilians right and left.].

For as long as whole regions of the world simmer in resentment and tyranny - prone to ideologies that feed hatred and excuse murder [wow, some of our ideologies feed hatred and we've got a hell of a lot of Americans excusing the murder and torture of innocent Iraqis] - violence will gather [sure does], and multiply in destructive power, and cross the most defended borders [we can], and raise a mortal threat [we're all in there...].

There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom [that might include freedom from...occupations? Regime changes? Captialistic imperialism? I might have chosen a less passive force, like justice. Besides our approach to spreading freedom is anything but passive].

We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: the survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands [If we actually allowed Muslim countries to rule themselves without our intervention, we might know liberty from Muslim terror sooner rather than later].

The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world. [If Iraq, which the President never mentions by name during this speech, as if material specifics don't matter, is his example of how we expand freedom in all the world, every American should wake up and smell the continuing, useless war he's pushing. Saying that you're expanding freedom in the world through war is the very opposite of allowing nations of the world to be free].

America's vital interests [safety, liberty, economic security] and our deepest beliefs [hasn't this always been true?] are now one.

From the day of our founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this earth has rights [except slaves and women], and dignity [except slaves], and matchless value [except women and the poor], because they bear the image of the Maker of Heaven and Earth [how soon we forget this about human beings when we endorse torture].

Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave [the U.S. has felt that way for about five to seven generations, I believe, and what does slavery have to do with self-government, e.g. any form of government that has no occupying nation?].

Advancing these ideals [Anti-slavery ideals? This is a terrible speech...] is the mission that created our nation [let's assume that he's talking about rights, dignity and matchless value here]. It is the honourable achievement of our fathers [couldn't he have said mothers too? Would that have been too "hard", too "liberal?"].

Now it is the urgent requirement of our nation's security [rights, dignity, matchless value, anti-slavery for just us or all the people of the world?], and the calling of our time.

[Okay, to summarize, our country's long-held ideals and beliefs have now become an urgent requirement of our nation's security, and the calling of our time. This really sounds like pull-it-out-of-your-ass speech writing. Is this a joke? It is Bush and his administration that have been a threat to the civil rights of Arab Americans, dissenters, and liberals and to human dignity/matchless value for gays and the countries we occupy (torture victims, civilian deaths).]

Ending tyranny [Udate: just kidding]

So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every [!] nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world. [Even conservatives must be balking at this whopper. Later--Update: they are, they are particularly unconcerned about tyranny in other countries and don't think it's a U.S. job to end tyranny in the world--Bush went off the deep end here]


America's influence is considerable [well, it used to be...], and we will use it confidently in freedom's cause [Is this the most puny, veiled attempt to prevent another Abu Ghraib?]

This is not primarily the task of arms, though we will defend ourselves and our friends by force of arms when necessary [and also whenever we, the elite, feel like putting our poor and middle class citizen soldiers at risk to fuel our re-election and military-industrial complex interests].

Freedom, by its nature, must be chosen [ur, except in Iraq, although I guess we'll be able to say they chose freedom after they vote in the election we arranged...], and defended by citizens, and sustained by the rule of law [the rule of law, which Bush and co. manipulate to trap and destroy political enemies, like in Ohio right now...] and the protection of minorities [just remember that like the U.S., minorities in Democratic nations should not expect to vote without enduring hardship].

And when the soul of a nation finally speaks, the institutions that arise may reflect customs and traditions very different from our own. [He's talking about Iraq! Freedom (or in this case imperialism in order to spread democracy) is like a box of chocolates for President Bush...]

America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling [just our removal of nasty dictators, guns, our construction businesses, and our new worldwide campaign against tyranny].

Our goal instead is to help others [who are assumed to be just like us] find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way.

The great objective of ending tyranny is the concentrated work of generations.

The difficulty of the task is no excuse for avoiding it [what are you willing to have us sacrifice for this utopian goal, President Bush? I really hate how you've sacrificed our young fighters thus far].

America's influence is not unlimited, but fortunately for the oppressed, America's influence is considerable [he keeps thinking we're still rich and influential], and we will use it confidently in freedom's cause.

My most solemn duty is to protect this nation and its people against further attacks and emerging threats [Nice, although I get the feeling that great Americans are hard at work protecting us with or without Mr. Bush's support].

Some have unwisely chosen to test America's resolve, and have found it firm [we're proudly stubborn in our incompetence].

We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation: the moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right [This sounds like Jewish prayers! This is serious theology here...].

America will not pretend that jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women welcome humiliation and servitude, or that any human being aspires to live at the mercy of bullies [no one aspires to live at the mercy of Cheney and Rumsfeld--so fire the latter bully ASAP--of course Cheney is safe since the election confirmed that America likes bullies that cuss on the Senate floor].

We will encourage reform in other governments by making clear that success in our relations will require the decent treatment of their own people [Let's talk about Saudi Arabia, George. The long-held Bush relationship with the Saudis proves that this utopian dream to end tyranny is all bull shit--but they are again telling us not to believe our lying eyes].

America's belief in human dignity will guide our policies, yet rights must be more than the grudging concessions of dictators; they are secured by free dissent [HA! Just not around him or on Fox news] and the participation of the governed [except in minority districts].

In the long run, there is no justice without freedom [this is a crap line that no one in that adminstration any longer aspires to (maybe Powell did)], and there can be no human rights without human liberty.

Some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty [another, even laughable, crap line, questioned? Let's just try to observe and describe reality, George.] - though this time in history, four decades defined by the swiftest advance of freedom ever seen, is an odd time for doubt [the doubts are about your policies, President Bush].

Call for freedom

Americans, of all people, should never be surprised by the power of our ideals [what is he thinking here, "I ran into Madge the other day and she looked surprised that Amerians want to promote liberty?"].

Eventually, the call of freedom comes to every mind and every soul [this is so vague and uninspiring].


.. the allies of the United States can know: we honour [and need it back again] your friendship

We do not accept the existence of permanent tyranny because we do not accept the possibility of permanent slavery [here he goes setting us up to end tyranny all over the world again, and making a clumsy rhetorical nod to his pro-life supporters who equate abortion to slavery, even as they work to make pregnant women slaves to the states].

Liberty will come to those who love it.

Today, America speaks anew to the peoples of the world:

All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors [Let's start with Saudi Arabia!! Oppressed folks, you know not to hold your breath on this guy's utopian promises...].

When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you [in spirit, like in Sudan...].

Democratic reformers facing repression, prison, or exile can know: America sees you for who you are: the future leaders of your free country [or at least, those leaders will think like you did before you died or rotted away in jail while we're busy chasing oil and strategic interests--hey, we could use some of these leaders ourselves, especially among the press corps...].

The rulers of outlaw regimes can know that we still believe as Abraham Lincoln did: "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and, under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it." [Again, idealistic and no beef, at least we really hope for our sake that there's no beef...]

The leaders of governments with long habits of control need to know: to serve your people you must learn to trust them [I like this a lot! But no one distrusts his subjects more than King Bush does--President Ford walked among the people...until got shot at...okay, where are we with this trust idea?].

Start on this journey of progress and justice, and America will walk at your side [spiritually speaking].

And all the allies of the United States can know: we honour your friendship, we rely on your counsel, and we depend on your help.

Division among free nations is a primary goal of freedom's enemies [wow, and we've helped them!].

The concerted effort of free nations to promote democracy is a prelude to our enemies' defeat [I'm fairly sure that democratic nations promote democracy, what else does this man want from them?].

Today, I also speak anew to my fellow citizens:

From all of you, I have asked patience in the hard task of securing America, which you have granted in good measure [yeah, we're asleep, actually].

Our country has accepted obligations that are difficult to fulfil, and would be dishonourable to abandon [but we might anyhow, unless we can get Allawi in and figure out some way to control the oil].

Yet because we have acted in the great liberating tradition of this nation, tens of millions have achieved their freedom [nevermind the hundred thousand who gave their lives for it].

And as hope kindles hope, millions more will find it.

By our efforts, we have lit a fire as well - a fire in the minds of men.

It warms those who feel its power, it burns those who fight its progress, and one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world [I can't believe they used fire as a metaphor for terrorism and freedom in the same speech--as in the fire of 9-11 right at the beginning of this speech].

Courage triumphs

A few [a few?!] Americans have accepted the hardest duties in this cause - in the quiet work of intelligence and diplomacy... the idealistic work of helping raise up free governments... the dangerous and necessary work of fighting our enemies [he mentioned our fairly useless diplomats before our soldiers?!].


... life is fragile, and evil is real, and courage triumphs

Some have shown their devotion to our country in deaths that honoured their whole lives - and we will always honour their names and their sacrifice.

All Americans have witnessed this idealism [let's ignore the realism], and some for the first time.

I ask our youngest citizens to believe the evidence of your eyes [without context].

You have seen duty and allegiance in the determined faces of our soldiers [but we've been actively making sure that you haven't seen the coffins and the injuries they'll always live with].

You have seen that life is fragile, and evil is real [forget that serious theological and rational differences and questions arise over seemingly simple comments like this], and courage triumphs.

Make the choice to serve in a cause larger than your wants, larger than yourself [yeah, like he did during Vietnam, oh, but this is different, and my husband adds that while he's asking young people to potentially sacrifice their lives for his militaristic vision, he's not asking older folks to sacrifice one penny of higher taxes for it...]- and in your days you will add not just to the wealth of our country, but to its character.

[It is absolutely frightening and a chilling red flag that he put wealth before character, or frankly, wealth at all, into this statement. I think it shows the Bush administrations true colors and I can't believe he's asking for military and not tax sacrifices to build American wealth. He has specifically hurt American wealth and character through his misapplication of the military and our economic policies.]

America has need of idealism and courage, because we have essential work at home - the unfinished work of American freedom [I don't think he means what I mean here...what does he mean?]. In a world moving toward liberty, we are determined to show the meaning and promise of liberty.

In America's ideal of freedom, citizens find the dignity and security of economic independence, instead of labouring on the edge of subsistence [oh, he's talking about freeing us from social security and other social safety nets].

This is the broader definition of liberty that motivated the Homestead Act, the Social Security Act, and the GI Bill of Rights.

And now we will extend this vision by reforming [eliminating] great institutions to serve the needs of our time.

To give every American a stake in the promise and future of our country, we will bring the highest standards to our schools [tests and insufficient and inequitable funding], and build an [on your] ownership society.

We will widen the ownership of homes and businesses, retirement savings and health insurance - preparing our people for the challenges of life in a free society [let's check out his record on these issues thus far...].

By making every citizen an agent of his or her own destiny [since when is the govt endowed with the powers of our Creator? They can't make what is already true for each of us], we will give our fellow Americans greater freedom from want and fear, and make our society more prosperous and just and equal [we just haven't moved in this direction for the poor, minorities, gays and women yet, and by the way, if you're not advocating Christianity talk to the hand...].

In America's ideal of freedom, the public interest depends on private character - on integrity, and tolerance toward others, and the rule of conscience in our own lives [I often ask myself where the Bush family conscience is on Iraq, the environment, and needy children, as well as members of his cabinet, the pentagon, and the people who believe his bull-shit and voted for him again].

Self-government relies, in the end, on the governing of the self [this is a crap line that misuses the concept of self-government again].

That edifice of character is built in families, supported by communities with standards, and sustained in our national life by the truths of Sinai, the Sermon on the Mount, the words of the Koran, and the varied faiths of our people [he completely ignores agnostics and atheists, he could have just slipped in ethics after faiths].

Americans move forward in every generation by reaffirming all that is good and true that came before - ideals of justice and conduct that are the same yesterday, today, and forever. [This has a particularly regressive tone--a "fundamental" difference between conservatives and liberals is that conservatives idealize our checkered, violent past while progressives desire to improve on what has come before.]

Heart for the weak

In America's ideal of freedom, the exercise of rights is ennobled by service, and mercy, and a heart for the weak [this is a good thought but not poetic].


We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom

Liberty for all does not mean independence from one another.

Our nation relies on men and women who look after a neighbour and surround the lost with love.

Americans, at our best, value the life we see in one another, and must always remember that even the unwanted [gees!] have worth.

And our country must abandon all the habits of racism [it's really good for him to say this], because we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time.

From the perspective of a single day, including this day of dedication, the issues and questions before our country are many.

From the viewpoint of centuries, the questions that come to us are narrowed and few. Did our generation advance the cause of freedom? And did our character bring credit to that cause? I doubt that historians will find few and narrow questions about this generation, and the answer to Bush's questions are no and no.

These questions that judge us also unite us [together, like the character issues of the Abu Ghraib incident], because Americans of every party and background, Americans by choice and by birth, are bound to one another in the cause of freedom [no we're not bound to his vision of "freedom"].

We have known divisions, which must be healed to move forward in great purposes - and I will strive in good faith to heal them [I'm holding my breath].

Yet those divisions do not define America [He can ignore the divisions, but they do define America's philosophical markers which consume my mind as I try to bridge them--you can't bridge them if you ignore them. Also, debate should define America. And dissenters better have a hand in defining America because we are the only ones who seem to be fighting for civil rights, equality, and a moral and intelligent foreign policy].

We felt the unity and fellowship of our nation when [the] freedom [to be irresponsibly chummy with Saudi Arabia and Israel] came under attack, and our response came like a single hand over a single heart [our fear driven response seemed much more confusing and deadly than that simple gesture].

And we can feel that same unity and pride whenever America acts for good, and the victims of disaster are given hope [thank G_d for disasters we can feel good about helping...], and the unjust encounter justice, and the captives are set free [he's sounding Jewish-prayerbook again--what plagarism!].

We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom.

Not because history runs on the wheels of inevitability; it is human choices that move events [just don't ask us to take responsibility for those choices].

Not because we consider ourselves a chosen nation; God moves and chooses ["He really does choose us, I'm just being humble"] as He wills.

We have confidence because freedom is the permanent hope of mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul.

When our founders declared a new order of the ages; when soldiers died in wave upon wave for a union based on liberty; when citizens marched in peaceful outrage under the banner "Freedom Now" - they were acting on an ancient hope that is meant to be fulfilled.

History has an ebb and flow of justice, but history also has a visible direction, set by liberty and the Author of Liberty.

When the Declaration of Independence was first read in public and the Liberty Bell was sounded in celebration, a witness said, "It rang as if it meant something." [what a meaningless quote!]

In our time it means something still.

America, in this young century, proclaims liberty throughout all the world [we proclaim liberty for the whole world? This is just hot air!], and to all the inhabitants thereof.

Renewed in our strength - tested, but not weary - we are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom [the 27th appearance of the word freedom in this speech, he uses the word like he means something].

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/americas/4192773.stm

Published: 2005/01/20 17:43:35 GMT

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