I believe it was the comedian Rich Little who used to do a great impression of Richard Nixon -- his face all scrunched up, his shoulders hunched and his arms spread wide with his index and middle finger spread in Vs -- and then he'd say, "I AM the President." It would break people up ... except maybe the most ungracious of Republicans who, of course, have no sense of humor anyway.
An article in this morning's Washington Post reports that Dubya was "...puzzled..." by the revelation that exit polls confirmed only eleven percent of blacks voted for him. Dubya then said, "It's important for people to know I'm the president of everybody."
Ahem... Well, okay, I've taken the remark out of context and provided the entire article to you, above. But, anyway, Dubya does make me laugh sometimes.
Interestingly, the article also reported that:
On the domestic front, Bush said he would not lobby the Senate to pass a constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage.
While seeking reelection, Bush voiced strong support for such a ban, and many political analysts credit this position for inspiring record turnout among evangelical Christians, who are fighting same-sex marriage at every juncture. Groups such as the Family Research Council have made the marriage amendment their top priority for the next four years.
The president said there is no reason to press for the amendment because so many senators are convinced that the Defense of Marriage Act -- which says states that outlaw same-sex unions do not have to recognize such marriages conducted outside their borders -- is sufficient. "Senators have made it clear that so long as DOMA is deemed constitutional, nothing will happen. I'd take their admonition seriously. . . . Until that changes, nothing will happen in the Senate."
Bush's position is likely to infuriate some of his socially conservative supporters, but congressional officials say it will be impossible to secure the 67 votes needed to pass the amendment in the Senate.
Yesterday morning, the day after the interview, White House spokesman Scott McClellan called to say the president wished to clarify his position, saying Bush was "willing to spend political capital" but believes it will be virtually impossible to overcome Senate resistance until the courts render a verdict on DOMA.
I can just see Dubya sitting down with Scott McClellan and Karl Rove after the Washing Post reports left and working out a "clarification" to what he said about the gay marriage amendment. At least McClellan didn't say Bush "misspoke."
The most amazingly absurd thing, however, that came out of Dubya's mouth was:
President Bush said the public's decision to reelect him was a ratification of his approach toward Iraq and that there was no reason to hold any administration officials accountable for mistakes or misjudgments in prewar planning or managing the violent aftermath.
"We had an accountability moment, and that's called the 2004 elections," Bush said in an interview with The Washington Post. "The American people listened to different assessments made about what was taking place in Iraq, and they looked at the two candidates, and chose me."
Oh, my... This after recent polls show 56% of Americans believe Dubya's war in Iraq was a mistake; a very costly mistake in lives and money and respect around the world.
Which, incidentally, begs the questions how many lives have been lost? Well, we know about our own American servicemen and women, almost 1400. But, what about the lives of innocent Iraqis? Estimates run as high as 100,000.
Lordy, with the South Asia earth quake and tsunami and Dubya's war(s), seems a whole lot of brown and black bodies bein' lost to God's plan.
And, you know, now that I think about it; now that I remember Dubya's confession that he believed God wanted him to be president, I really think that his belief that he is "...the president of everybody..." goes a lot further than just Americans. Messianic? Hmmm...
As a matter of fact, the Washington Post piece noted that:
The president's inaugural speech Thursday will focus on his vision for spreading democracy around the world, one of his top foreign policy goals for the new term.
Uh-oh... See, I worry about this because I think Dubya sees democracy through the narrow perspective of a Christian fundamentalist.
That should probably worry you, too.
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