Just think if GWB said this....
 

http://www.msnbc.com/news/1000254.asp

I don't think there is much I can add to this, other then to point out its not the only time he made this mistake in the interview.

Can you IMAGINE what would have happened if Bush said the same thing?

wow, how bizarre.

if the President had said this on national television, the publicity from this would be just incredible. we'd get news blurbs from cnn like... "coming up after the break, the french reaction to the fallout from the Bush blunder."

i'm not sure why these things are reported that often when they come from liberals. i'll be very surprised if i see jon stewart even touches this one.

Do either of you mind stating what you perceive to be the problem in the provided quotation?

Yeah are we talking about grammar or a political mistake? If it's the former then wow, he flubbed a few verbs during an hour long interview. We all know that Bush would never make these mistakes because he's incapable of carrying on an open hour-long interview. Bush just cant think on his feet. Note: I'm not calling him stupid, he's not. Doesn't it bother some of you that our president and leader of the free world almost never speaks without a reading from a scripted speech? Isn't the ability to synthesize and generate original thoughts on the spot a quality we should require in a president?

uh, guys, the "soviet union" - nevermind...

I agree, he is not stupid. He may not be the most eloquent President ever, nor the quickest, but he has definitely given non scripted interviews and shown at least some capacity to thinking on his feet (there is most definitely room for improvement in that area though).

A quick Google search shows he has given interviews of at least an hour to the following:

Barbara Walters
Charles Gibson
Scott Pelley

There were also quite a few hour plus interviews detailed to news services or television programs but they didn't supply reporter names. These included Reuters, Czech tv, and several other outlets.

I am sure he was not reading from a script on these occasions. Plenty of appearances by Presidents throughout history were "scripted" because there are certain points he wants/needs to get across. The Gettysburg address was "scripted" but is still quite historically compelling.

There's a difference between an obviously thoughtful and informed man making a slip like this, and listening to someone who clearly has no idea what he is talking about (i.e., Dean probably knows the Soviet Union is defunct and just misspoke, while it wouldn't have been clear had Bush said it, especially a couple of years ago, that he possessed that knowledge). I think the "Bushisms" thing has gotten kind of old and tired - half of them are just slips that most people could make - but the fact is that, at least early in his political career, Bush had no fricking clue what he was talking about when it came to most issues beyond American borders (and a few within the borders), and THAT'S why people jumped all over things. You're right that there's probably a double-standard, and if Bush said this today he'd probably be mocked a bit, but that's because he's created ample precedent and made himself a bit of a target through past blunders.

Thanks for pointing out what was getting their scivvies all bunched up.

Now I don't have to "IMAGINE" what would have happened if Bush made the same blunder; I now know that I wouldn't have given a shit, which is how I feel about this incident and thread.

"When you start with nothing but an article and a single line, don't call me a troll for not discussing as you presented nothing to discuss. " -- Ustwo.

Congratulations, someone caught me! You win an all expense paid trip to the Soviet Union :D

You make it sound hard to do. I'm trying to figure out what is special about this trip. Ignoring the fact that the SU doesn't exist anymore, maybe you're implying that the SU is the former home of total hypocrisy, and since I'm so good at spotting it, my prize is to go there and bask in the warm glow.

I think this was just after his trip to Constantinople. It can get confusing some times. :)

LOL.

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night

Every gal in Constantinople
Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
So if you've a date in Constantinople
She'll be waiting in Istanbul

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way

So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

Istanbul (Istanbul)
Istanbul (Istanbul)

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

Istanbul

:lol:

I was waiting for someone to cue the music.

Why do I have a feeling that a lot of people didn't catch the mistake Dean made? (Clue, it wasn't his poor syntax.)

Because we told you we didn't catch the mistake and asked you to clarify your point.

I think the error isn't that Howard Dean is publically speaking about Shiite Nukes... Rather that Bush isn't. -Aside from a few bellicose statements -Bush obviously isn't concerned about the future of this problem beyond his single term.

If Bush had said this, some people would have rolled their eyes and said "Another boneheaded screwup by the moron" and some people would have been comforted that the President is plain spoken and makes mistakes just like them, same as every other time Bush has made some geographical or political malaprop. That Dean reverted to a term he's used for most of his life is embarassing, but I don't think it's tragic or a sign he's as bad at public speaking as Bush is. Not that I like Dean.

I don't think we need to recall Bush's last hour with Chris Matthews, do we? While I'm on the subject though, an advertisement I saw for his show really burned me today. It went through a bunch of politicians stammering and stuttering between cuts of Chris Matthews asking "tough questions" and ending with Kissinger going "Ummm..."

It's debate tv at its absolute worst/amateurish/childish.

I don't think bush would've said anything like this, he would have just mumbled something about the axis of evil and moved on.
Whatever, maybe you can bring this up again when dean makes enough of these to fill a calendar.