Bushisms

Rich stuff this week from Bush. His press conference was amazing. Take for instance his comment on gasoline:

"Wait, what did you just say? You're predicting $4 a gallon gasoline?" Bush responded. "That's interesting. I hadn't heard that ... I know it's high now."

Sounds like his father did - out of touch. Of course, I'm not surprised. If, as Ann Richards noted, his father was born with a silver foot in his mouth, the son was born with two in his mouth and snorting coke from a silver tray. Then came this comment from the press conference:

"What's lost by embracing a tyrant who puts his people in prison because of their political beliefs?" Bush asked rhetorically. "What's lost is it'll send the wrong message. It'll send a discouraging message to those who wonder whether America will continue to work for the freedom of prisoners. It'll give great status to those who have suppressed human rights and human dignity."

Like this country has never put people in prison for their political beliefs? Like they still don't? I mean, yesterday it was reported that a staggering 1 in 100 adults are incarcerated! Oh, and next week Bush is going to meet with the leader of China - a country that regularly locks people up for their political beliefs and suppresses human rights. From Amnesty International's 2007 report:

An increased number of lawyers and journalists were harassed, detained, and jailed. Thousands of people who pursued their faith outside officially sanctioned churches were subjected to harassment and many to detention and imprisonment. Thousands of people were sentenced to death or executed. Migrants from rural areas were deprived of basic rights. Severe repression of Uighurs in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region continued, and freedom of expression and religion continued to be severely restricted in Tibet and among Tibetans elsewhere.

But, it's OK for Bush to meet with leaders who suppress human rights. Why? Because he talks with them about the abuses:

Bush stressed the need to remain engaged with China and said he regularly talked to Chinese President Hu Jintao "about religious freedom and the importance of China's society recognizing that if you're allowed to worship freely, it will benefit society as a whole."

And so did Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush the Dad, and Clinton. Little has changed. Yet talking with Raul Castro and Chavez or Kim Jong Il would bring the wrong message?!!? WTF?

Finally, we have this gem from last week. Bush was touring a genocide memorial in Rwanda. He was moved by what he saw and offered this thought:

A clear lesson I learned in the museum was that outside forces that tend to divide people up inside their country are unbelievably counterproductive.

Great. The fucker learned that in the final year of his presidency. Wouldn't we have been better off if he had this knowledge going in?