War? What war?

How can we live with this fool?

Bushie delivered a major address to the Japanese Diet on February 21. A few seconds into the speech* he said:

My trip to Asia begins here in Japan for an important reason. It begins here because for a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times. From that alliance has come an era of peace in the Pacific. And in that peace, the world has witnessed the broad advance of prosperity and democracy throughout East Asia.

I learned of this first from Reno's performance rant last night and found it online today. Reno suggested that his handler, Condy Rice, standing in the wings, must have thrown her hands to her head in astonishment, saying, "we coached him up through the thirties; we thought he knew about World War II!"

And I can't imagine what the Japanese who were there thought.

Note: All official or unofficial transcripts I have been able to locate edited the written text to change our records of what was said, perhaps thus hoping we would sleep better at night.


* go to the WATCH/LISTEN video link on the right, "US President George Bush" for the full visual and audio record.

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Published on June 1, 2002 1:46 PM.

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