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Post by UniverseSeven on Sept 17, 2005 10:27:23 GMT -5
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Post by jonnygemini on Sept 19, 2005 10:59:45 GMT -5
Clinton Rips Bush
There has always been kind of a gentlemen's agreement that an ex-president doesn't criticize his successor, but Bill Clinton has apparently seen enough of George Bush. The 42nd president was sharply critical of the 43rd president during a televised interview Sunday, accusing the Bush administration of going to war in Iraq "virtually alone and before UN inspections were completed, with no real urgency, (and) no evidence that there were weapons of mass destruction." Clinton also lambasted Bush's handling of the Katrina aftermath, saying the failure to evacuate New Orleans in the face of the coming hurricane was inexcusable. And he had harsh words for Bush's voodoo economics: "What Americans need to understand is that ... every single day of the year, our government goes into the market and borrows money from other countries to finance Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina and our tax cuts. We have never done this before. Never in the history of our republic have we ever financed a conflict, military conflict, by borrowing money from somewhere else."
-- Tony Long
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Post by jonnygemini on Sept 19, 2005 14:39:46 GMT -5
Article published Sep 18, 2005
Gov. Bush & his mystical buddy
After more than an hour of solemn ceremony naming Rep. Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, as the 2007-08 House speaker, Gov. Jeb Bush stepped to the podium in the House chamber last week and told a short story about "unleashing Chang," his "mystical warrior" friend.
Here are Bush's words, spoken before hundreds of lawmakers and politicians:
''Chang is a mystical warrior. Chang is somebody who believes in conservative principles, believes in entrepreneurial capitalism, believes in moral values that underpin a free society.
''I rely on Chang with great regularity in my public life. He has been by my side and sometimes I let him down. But Chang, this mystical warrior, has never let me down.''
Bush then unsheathed a golden sword and gave it to Rubio as a gift.
''I'm going to bestow to you the sword of a great conservative warrior,'' he said, as the crowd roared.
The crowd, however, could be excused for not understanding Bush's enigmatic foray into the realm of Eastern mysticism.
We're here to help.
In a 1989 Washington Post article on the politics of tennis, former President George Bush was quoted as threatening to ''unleash Chang'' as a means of intimidating other players.
The saying was apparently quite popular with Gov. Bush's father, and referred to a legendary warrior named Chang who was called upon to settle political disputes in Chinese dynasties of yore.
The phrase has evolved, under Gov. Jeb Bush's use, to mean the need to fix conflicts or disagreements over an issue. Faced with a stalemate, the governor apparently "unleashes Chang" as a rhetorical device, signaling it's time to stop arguing and start agreeing.
No word on if Rubio will unleash Chang, or the sword, as he faces squabbles in the future.
Compiled from reports by Joe Follick and Lloyd Dunkelberger of the Sun Tallahassee Bureau.
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