Besides President Bush's reference to Osama bin Laden as "Saddam," the most grating trope of today's press conference was his insistence that he "understands" every disagreement and criticism that has been levelled at him. In a wonderful example of the practice of feigned responsiveness, Bush would say "I understand" or "I fully understand" various concerns before dismissing, ignoring or caricaturing them:
Now, I can understand you asking these questions and if I were you, I'd be asking me these questions, too. But it is a shameful act by somebody who has got secrets of the United States government and feels like they need to disclose them publicly.
...I can fully understand why members of Congress are expressing concerns about civil liberties. I know that. And it's -- I share the same concerns.
...We have been talking to members of the United States Congress. We have met with them over 12 times. And it's important for them to be brought into this process. Again, I repeat, I understand people's concerns.
...Now, I recognize there is a debate in the country, and I fully understand that, about the nature of the enemy. I hear people say, because we took action in Iraq, we stirred them up, they're dangerous. No, they were dangerous before we went into Iraq.
...You know, there's an interesting debate in Washington, and you're part of it, that says, well, they didn't connect the dots prior to September the 11th -- "they" being not only my administration, but previous administrations. And I understand that debate. I'm not being critical of you bringing this issue up and discussing it, but there was a -- you might remember, if you take a step back, people were pretty adamant about hauling people up to testify, and wondering how come the dots weren't connected.
...And, again, I understand the press and members of the United States Congress saying, are you sure you're safeguarding civil liberties. That's a legitimate question, and an important question. And today I hope I'll help answer that. But we're connecting dots as best as we possibly can.
...I still want to make sure, though, that people understand that I care about them and that my view of the future, a bright future, pertains to them as much as any other neighborhood.
...Now, if you don't think there's an enemy out there, then I can understand why you ought to say, just tell us all you know. I happen to know there's an enemy there. And the enemy wants to attack us.
...David, my job is to confront big challenges and lead. And I fully understand everybody is not going to agree with my decisions. But the President's job is to do what he thinks is right, and that's what I'm going to continue to do.
The real question: does he "fully understand" how condescending this is?
And do you understand anything else he said? Obviously not, because I mean, why else would you go for the cheap below-the-belt?
Posted by: Taylor | December 19, 2005 at 06:11 PM
The understanding works for me. It implies that my position is understandable, which is good to hear even when the way he describes it is calculated to keep other people from understanding it.
Posted by: Noumenon | December 20, 2005 at 06:14 AM
Ouch, do you have to quote Bush so much? It really hurts when I try and understand what he's speachifying about!! You could put a baked potato in front of that microphone and it would make more sense than that man!
Posted by: JoeTx | December 20, 2005 at 05:07 PM