Ethanol Demagogue wrote:

"It is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong," Bush said during his fourth and final speech before Thursday's vote for Iraq's parliament. "As president I am responsible for the decision to go into Iraq.

Say what you will about the man. He has huge balls.

You get those when the country 'mandated' your return to the position by an overwhelming majority against a man whose own party couldn't stand.

Decius wrote:

"It is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong," Bush said during his fourth and final speech before Thursday's vote for Iraq's parliament. "As president I am responsible for the decision to go into Iraq.

Bush's position sounds a lot stronger to me when he acknowledges its weaknesses. This is not a paradox. It shows objective consideration of alternatives.

I agree. This interview boosted my opinion of him.

Elonka wrote:

Decius wrote:

"It is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong," Bush said during his fourth and final speech before Thursday's vote for Iraq's parliament. "As president I am responsible for the decision to go into Iraq.

Bush's position sounds a lot stronger to me when he acknowledges its weaknesses. This is not a paradox. It shows objective consideration of alternatives.

I agree. This interview boosted my opinion of him.

I don't know if it raises my opinion of him, but it's definetly honorable to take responsibility for your actions.

Decius wrote:

"It is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong," Bush said during his fourth and final speech before Thursday's vote for Iraq's parliament. "As president I am responsible for the decision to go into Iraq.

Bush's position sounds a lot stronger to me when he acknowledges its weaknesses. This is not a paradox. It shows objective consideration of alternatives.

It is a paradox... Acknowledging is nowhere near the same as taking responsibility. It's like saying, "Yeah, it was wrong. So what?" For it to strengthen his position it would have to remedy or somehow justify his position. This just says he fucked up but doesn't care to fix it, or resign. In most jobs... this is the sort of stupid mistake you should certainly be fired for. Whether you admit it or not, you're a liability.

Decius wrote:

"It is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong," Bush said during his fourth and final speech before Thursday's vote for Iraq's parliament. "As president I am responsible for the decision to go into Iraq.

Bush's position sounds a lot stronger to me when he acknowledges its weaknesses. This is not a paradox. It shows objective consideration of alternatives.

I can imagine the wonks in the room:

Wonk #1:"We've tried every strategy we could think of and your poll numbers are at an all time low. We've got something revolutionary though. Something radical. We're going to tell the truth."

Dubya[after long pause]:"I like it. When do we start?"

Decius wrote:

"It is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong," Bush said during his fourth and final speech before Thursday's vote for Iraq's parliament. "As president I am responsible for the decision to go into Iraq.

Bush's position sounds a lot stronger to me when he acknowledges its weaknesses. This is not a paradox. It shows objective consideration of alternatives.

I'm somewhat disturbed by the fact that after the coverups and blaming the CIA, he is getting positive feedback on all of this. I'm not going to turn this into a debate on the validity of Iraq, but isn't it kind of sketchy using honesty when all else fails?

Granted, it is pragmatic.