reconmike

How awesome is this?
Bush in Baghdad

Bush flies into Baghdad at night to spend some Thanksgiving time with the troops.
Or he could be checking up on the oil situation

Either way gotta love the rocks on this guy.

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debaser

I am by no means a Bush supporter, but I have to admit that was a very classy move. Props to the CiC.

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BoCo

Bush is a true patriot.

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james t kirk

Nice of him to drop by I agree.

But he is still a fucking moron.

Mephisto2

What an insightful comment.

/sarcasm off

Of course he's a patriot. He's the President!

He also happens to be a clown, in my book.


But, as several people have said already, I think this was a surprising and commendable move. Nice for the troops there to get a Thanksgiving suprise... (even if it was only 600 of them).

Heh... Imagine how pissed off you'd be if you had decided to miss lunch that day!


Mr Mephisto

crewsor

Truly a magnaminous gesture, like him or not, going to Baghdad on Thanksgiving is above and beyond what is usually expected of Commander in Chief. Hats off.

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feelgood

Dam, that's helluva stunt to pull of just to show up for the moral support of the troops in Iraq. Even Clinton or Bush Senior wouldn't have pulled this off...or did they? I get the feeling that this topic is gonna turn into paranoia discussion

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archer2371

Indeed, very classy pr move, especially with serving some of the troops their food. My hat is off to you Mr. President.

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"Hey Grif, Chupathingy...how bout that? I like it...got a ring to it."

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smooth

Evidently they didn't because, according to the reporter I watched, the last time this occurred was Nixon in Vietnam.

Tophat665

That may be the first thing he has ever done that I respect. I suspect it will probably be the last thing, though.

ABBA '04

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splck

Good PR work...

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nice line eh?

Ustwo

Who wants to bet Hilary thinks he did it just to overshadow her?

Really classy move by the president. You might not like the guy, but he really does CARE about people beyond them voting for him.

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HarmlessRabbit

I think it was a great move by Bush, and I think his PR people are finally getting smart about not overpromoting. While he got a lot of mileage out of the story, it wasn't overscripted for the press like the aircraft carrier landing.

On the other hand, I see this as just another stop on Campaign 2004 for Bush.

onetime2

Agree that it was an excellent move and one that I believe is completely sincere.

As far as Bush senior and Clinton, well Bush Sr went to Saudi Arabia right before the first gulf war and I seem to recall Clinton going somewhere as well. Certainly these are not quite equivalent to going to a full on combat zone. As pointed out, Nixon was the last Pres to do the same.

I wonder if he'll make a stop in Afghanistan.

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LewisCouch

A most sincere effort. He really seems to care for the troops. Kudos to GWB.

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lordjeebus

It was a great thing for a president to do.

I wish I could believe that it was sincere. Perhaps it was, but I don't trust any politician today to do anything without consulting their PR people. Following that aircraft carrier stunt, I especially can't extend such trust to Bush.

spived2

I thought it was funny that a british airways pilot recognized Air Force One flying to Iraq and almost busted him out over the radio.

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"This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is it vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished, as the once vital voice of the verisimilitude now venerates what they once vilified. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose vis-à-vis an introduction, and so it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V." - V

ARTelevision

He operates on a solid human level. This disarms those who oppose him on purely theoretical grounds. It is a direct way to approach life. This is his strength and his value to us all.

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aurigus

I generally have a distaste for Bush but I think it was great he went on this trip. I don't think it was in question that he is gung-ho about his troops.

The best "insiders" report of how the trip went down is at the Drudge Report - I thought that was excellent reading!

I love watching the video when he walks in on the troops... they were definately surprised!

Liquor Dealer

It's amazing how those of you who live in other countries lambast our president - Guess it makes no difference what you think since he's our president and not yours. I'm very proud of George Bush, my president. What has yours done for you lately?

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james t kirk

Kept us out of a quagmire.

JBX

I bet the approach angle into the airport was a steep one. I think he's got some balls. Good for him.

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supersteph2747

Kudos to Bush! He has shown more support for our troops in Iraq then our last president (whose name I refrain from mentioning, since he is an ASSHOLE) EVER showed for ANY of our military. I can't wait to see what's going to happen next term after he beats out those Dems!

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Mael

last time i checked, the war was over. or major combat, whatever the difference is.

anyways, i think this was just a BS p.r. stunt for his upcoming re-election campaign, which we, the taxpayers, got to pay for. but i do think it was a good morale booster, and a nice, although insincere (imo) gesture.

so i think it's good he did it, but i think he probably did it for all the wrong reasons.

Mojo_PeiPei

Yeah well according to you guys he can do no good. If you would get past your hatred for the man, you would actually see that he is a nice soft spoken man, who is truly grateful what the troops are doing for this country.

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HarmlessRabbit

Have you read any stories about Karl Rove? Every move Bush makes is carefully planned and set up for maximum political gain. The Bush presidency is the most insincere presidency since, well, Clinton. Everything is done according to polls and planning.

But you're right, I see very, very, very little good in the Bush administration. But I'm not rich, so I wouldn't expect Bush to do anything that I approve of.

feelgood

Legalize pot!

But seriously, just because he went to Iraq doesn't make him a hero. Those who he left behind are the heros

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Looking out the window, that's an act of war. Staring at my shoes, that's an act of war. Committing an act of war? Oh you better believe that's an act of war

Ustwo

I think you are confusing this thread with the fark.com thread on the same subject

I dont' think anyone used the 'Hero' tag here.

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feelgood

Just because I mentioned the word hero doesn't imply a connection between TFP and Fark.com.

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Looking out the window, that's an act of war. Staring at my shoes, that's an act of war. Committing an act of war? Oh you better believe that's an act of war

Stare At The Sun

Couldn't have said it better myself...so i'll quote you.

seretogis

I think this was a Good Thing ™ for our troops, and it was certainly not something that every president would do. Kudos to Bush, but I'm still not going to vote for him. :P

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Mephisto2

Good for you being proud of him. I have no problem with that.

However, just as you can be proud of him, I retain the right to consider him an insecere, dangerous, unilateral, unintelligent, arrogant buffoon.

It's nothing against you personally.

And for the record, my President has no executive power. She is the titular head of State and her only real power lies in accepting the resignation of a Government that has lost the confidence of the Dail (our Parliament).

Mr Mephisto

lalakill

Presidents have done it before, did it help their political agenda though? ie: getting re-elected.

onetime2

Combat zone does not necessarily mean war. But anyway...

I have little doubt that he would have done the same thing if this were his second term.

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Ratman

GWB had the opportunity to go to a war zone in Vietnam, which he avoided by joining the ANG, which service he further avoided by going AWOL. I still think he has little shriveled raisins where his brass balls should be.

Edit- For what it's worth, when GWB was commissioned as an officer in the Air Guard, he swore an oath which, in my opinion, he had no intention of honoring. When I joined the army, when my friends joined the army, when my brother joined the army, we all swore the same oath.

I was on active duty during Panama, Grenada, and Iraq I. I was not required in combat zones because my MI MOS and languages weren't pertinent to those conflicts. However, I had friends that were Hispanic and Spanish linguists that went into Panamanian prisons, as prisoners, to get intel. Spending months in a South American prison to serve their country. THAT is brass balls.

GHWB had a huge pair. He flew into the hell of combat, got shot down, and survived. He upheld the oath he took. Every serviceman and woman who has taken that oath, and upheld that oath, deserves our respect. My brother and friends, your family and friends, that are serving in Iraq deserve our respect. Most of them have spent thousands of times more hours in a combat zone than the CIC has spent in ANY combat zone. And all to uphold the oath they took when they joined the service. The same oath that GWB took when he was commissioned, the oath that, in my opinion, he had no intention to honor.

GWB took a similar oath again when he became President and CIC. But when it comes right down to it, I don't believe that he would put his life on the line for this country, or it's citizens, or it's glorious constitution. Not any more than he did during Vietnam. He must have gone through cases of Depends during this daring and dangerous campaign trip to Baghdad. After all, we all know that those absentee votes CAN make all the difference.

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prb

Bush deserves some credit for the trip, but don't give him too much. This is the guy who ran away from his Guard duty, flew away from Washington D.C. on 9/11, and who only made it to Ground Zero after Bill Clinton beat him to the site. How much you wanna bet this trip got booked after Karl Rove found out Hillary was making her own trip to Iraq?

onetime2

Well, let's see, there was a possible threat to the Pres and the first thing he should have done is get out of the crosshairs. To criticize him for that is ridiculous. I suppose you would have stood atop the White House, let a plane crash on you, and let the VP become Pres.

As far as him not going to ground zero immediately, that's also ridiculous. I'd prefer the Pres to be formulating strategies, getting an understanding of the scope of the threat, and implementing responses.

As far as the guard duty goes, that was how many years ago?

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yournamehere

I believe it was 30 years ago.
What's the statute of limitations for desertion?

Which leads me to what would have been my original comment:
Good move.
30 years too late, but good move.

And in an election year - how convenient.

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lordjeebus

There is no statute of limitations for desertion, but the military loses its jurisdiction when the individual is discharged, as Bush was.

According to http://www.buzzflash.com/mailbag/2002/10/29.html

Questions still remain, of course. Why did the military let him skip town without punishment? Why are those who criticized Clinton for draft-dodging so willing to defend Bush?

Questions for another thread -- perhaps one that already exists.

Tophat665

It is unfortunate, but there are certain excellent human qualities that George W. Bush and, more importantly, Carl Rove know exactly how to take advantage of.

Let's take honor, for instance. If you're truly honorable, then, in the absence of very ironclad evidence that the man is a truth impaired moral cripple with delusions of adequacy, you have to believe him when he says, under oath, that he has the welfare of the country in mind and not some globally hegemonic domination fantasy dreampt up at the <strike>Legion of Doom</strike> PNADC. Doesn't necessarily mean that the total accumulation of little bits of evidence won't eventually sway you, and cause you to doubt some and then all of what the man says, but it does mean that it'll take you longer.

Fortunately, I am willing to condemn a politician of any party on circumstantial evidence. The way things are now, they already come to power with a heavy load of guilt. This one, in particular, seems every bit as corrput as a 1980s tinpot Latin American dictator, and every bit as honest as a $3 bill. He looks remarkably like a preemptive strike from the obscenely wealthy in the class war, such as it is. If only in a "Methinks the lady doth protest overmuch" sort of a way.

And, of course, I have raw hatred on my side, so if you don't have the capacity for that, you might feel bad about feeling good every time he makes an obvious screwup or not feeling good when he does an exquisite PR job like this. But that's what it takes to generate the kind of emotion it is going to take to remove this stain on the oval office carpet back to Texas where he belongs: all the time, not just 4 months out of the year.

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Set a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life.