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Bush Continues To Issue Medals

by BooMan
Sun Dec 31st, 2006 at 11:39:28 AM EST

Oh no, he...did..not. Oh, yes he did!! George W. Bush snuck one by me by awarding William Safire the Medal of Freedom. Here is what he said:

William Safire joined the White House staff nearly 38 years ago, as a speechwriter to the President. President Nixon once introduced Bill this way: "This is Safire, absolutely trustworthy ... But watch what you say, he's a writer." (Laughter.) Writing has been at the center of Bill Safire's eventful life, going back to his days in the U.S. Army and as a PR man in New York. As a young speechwriter drafting remarks for a New York City official, he used the word "indomitable." When they asked Bill to find a better speech-word, he suggested "indefatigable." (Laughter.) They fired him. (Laughter.) We're a little more lenient about speechwriting here. (Laughter.)
From the White House, Bill moved to The New York Times, where he spent more than 30 years as a columnist who was often skeptical about our government, but never cynical about our country. He always was committed to the cause of human freedom. His wit and style and command of English earned him another spot -- his own page in the Times Magazine every Sunday. Bill has said that his "On Language" column attracts more mail than any of his other work. People write me letters about language, too. (Laughter.) Bill Safire has also written novels and a respected political dictionary. He won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. He's a voice of independence and principle, and American journalism is better for the contributions of William Safire. Congratulations. (Applause.)

William Safire's role in selling the Iraq war dwarfs anything Judith Miller did. William Safire should be wrapped in a burlap sack and beaten with hammers. Medal of Freedom? Bush is such a mutherfucker. And it just cheapens the award for the other worthies, like B.B. King, Buck O'Neil, and Ruth Colvin.

Bush Continues To Issue Medals | 17 comments (17 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Bush Continues To Issue Medals (4.00 / 2)

Bush is a fucking idiot and I can not wait till the jerk is out of office and hopefully in jail!!!

Doing My Part For The Left,Left Of The Rainbow

by refinish69 (refinish69 at gmail dot com) on Sun Dec 31st, 2006 at 11:49:21 AM EST

Re: Bush Continues To Issue Medals (4.00 / 2)

William Safire's role in selling the Iraq war dwarfs anything Judith Miller did.

well, in all fairness, safire at least was always writing on the opinion page. miller, on the other hand, was writing propoganda pieces allegedly as objective news stories. i'm no far on safire, but what miller did was much worse in my book

by upyernoz (upyernoz [at] yahoo [dot] com) on Sun Dec 31st, 2006 at 12:01:38 PM EST

He wasn't quite that clean. (none / 0)

His right wing propaganda was not limited to the editorial page. Safire also used his "On Language" column as a backdoor venue for spewing hatred of Dems. Quite often his negative examples would be selected to emphasize the winger message or put down any progressive alternative. That's editorializing where he was supposed to be presenting informative, nonpolitical stuff. I saw no sign that the Times ever reigned him in.

by Kidspeak on Sun Dec 31st, 2006 at 02:13:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: He wasn't quite that clean. (none / 0)

even if you're right, i don't think that's nearly as bad as judith miller's reporting on WMDs and iraq in the lead-up to the war.

by upyernoz (upyernoz [at] yahoo [dot] com) on Sun Dec 31st, 2006 at 02:21:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: He wasn't quite that clean. (none / 0)

Oh, certainly that's the case. Miller should have been tarred and feathered - along with the guys who let her do what she did!

by Kidspeak on Sun Dec 31st, 2006 at 02:26:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: He wasn't quite that clean. (none / 0)

I disagree. Safire's reporting was far worse than Millers. Far, far worse.

by BooMan on Sun Dec 31st, 2006 at 02:43:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: He wasn't quite that clean. (none / 0)

I was referring to his Language column, not his editorial page stuff. As his opinion column was more widely circulated nationally than Judith Miller's writing, I think you are correct. He got read by people who had liked his On Language writing before it became so politicized, so he got an additional audience.

I should have been clearer-headed in my response - shouldn't write right after taking a nap!

by Kidspeak on Sun Dec 31st, 2006 at 02:56:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: He wasn't quite that clean. (none / 1)

and i disagree with that. because safire wasn't claiming to do "reporting." he was writing an opinion column and he was writing a language column. the former was clearly expressing the opinion of safire (although he also manipulated the facts that he cited in his pieces) and the latter was essentially an ostensibly non-partisan fun column which he often used to make partisan swipes.

i don't approve of either, but that's not in the same league as what miller did. she, unlike safire, claimed to be reporting, not opining or noting curiosities about language. it is because she put on airs of objectivity, when really all she was doing is parroting the propoganda fed to her by chalabi and people in the bush administration, is what made her so dangerous and influential.

by upyernoz (upyernoz [at] yahoo [dot] com) on Sun Dec 31st, 2006 at 03:03:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: He wasn't quite that clean. (none / 0)

follow the links, Safire was reporting.

by BooMan on Mon Jan 1st, 2007 at 05:28:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: He wasn't quite that clean. (none / 0)

are you referring to this link?

safire hasn't have a news column since 9-11. all he had was an opinion column and his "on language" column. i realize that he was sometimes using both columns to assert things as "facts" that were, in fact, bullshit, but at least they were under the opinion section of the paper, or the semi-fluffy general interest language column.

just to be clear, i'm not disagreeing that safire helped the bush admin sell the war to the public. i just disagree where you wrote that his role dwarfed that of judith miller. because judith miller was writing ostensively news articles, i think her role was a lot worse and was a lot more deceptive.

by upyernoz (upyernoz [at] yahoo [dot] com) on Tue Jan 2nd, 2007 at 10:01:35 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: He wasn't quite that clean. (none / 0)

Judith Miller reported on WMD, which was largely irrelevant. If Saddam had them or didn't have them, it did not tie him to 9/11, Al-Qaeda, or bin-Laden.

Safire relentlessly pimped the Czech-Atta angle, which would have made a direct link between Saddam and 9/11. And he also reported that he had inside sources. His columns are filled with fake scoops and faux reporting. Safire was part of four continent coordinated propaganda campaign against Iraq.

I see no comparison to what Miller did. Miller has not necessarily even a witting participant in all that she reported falsely. Safire surely was witting.

by BooMan on Tue Jan 2nd, 2007 at 10:08:34 AM EST
[ Parent ]

credibility (none / 1)

in a sane world, no advocate of the Iraq war should be credible anymore. It is important, anywhere possible, to remind people of how wrong this dickwads were.

Even if they are trying to backpedal, like Francis Fukuyama (who was an advocate for the ideology that brought us the Iraq war), they need to be taken to task for their intellectual dishonesty.

As for the medal of freedom... the neocons are playing an RPG, using reality as a platform. I hope reality bites them in the ass sooner rather than later, because they're fantasy world actions affect the rest of us.

Happyness is not virtue's reward, but virtue itself Spinoza

by caribeyandino on Sun Dec 31st, 2006 at 11:57:33 AM EST

Re: Bush Continues To Issue Medals (none / 0)

William Safire should be wrapped in a burlap sack and beaten with hammers.

...and thrown into the Mississippi.

I finished that thought.

An untypical Negro

by blksista (gab1954@gmail.com) on Sun Dec 31st, 2006 at 12:01:56 PM EST

And you thought I was visceral (none / 1)

when I told Libby Copeland she was a shrew and then proceeded to inform her that she was an old trout, I wake up this morning and here you are wrapping William Safire in a burlap sack and beating him with hammers ;).

PMS Purchase More Shoes

by Militarytracy on Sun Dec 31st, 2006 at 12:45:08 PM EST

Re: Bush Continues To Issue Medals (none / 1)

I was quite surprised to see that on Meet the Press today , I guess next Judy Miller, or has she spoken out too much already.

Click here to step into the Village Blue2

by diane101 (dianed101 @ yahoo.com) on Sun Dec 31st, 2006 at 01:30:36 PM EST

Re: Bush Continues To Issue Medals (none / 0)

Well, Safire is the only literate member of Bush's circle, so I suppose Bush feels it necessary to give a medal so it looks like he understands what Safire is saying. Now that the American presidency has been reduced to nothing more than a worldwide object of ridicule and alarm it might be wise to end the farce of allowing holders of that office to "honor" anybody. Honor is no longer part of the White House dictionary.

Bush is "the first President to admit to an impeachable offense." --Former Nixon counsel John Dean

by DaveW on Sun Dec 31st, 2006 at 01:34:37 PM EST

Re: Bush Continues To Issue Medals (none / 0)

At least he didn't give one to Lynne Cheney for her literary output!

by Kidspeak on Sun Dec 31st, 2006 at 02:15:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Bush Continues To Issue Medals | 17 comments (17 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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