Gee, I thought the biggest mistake was invading a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 and, even though Saddam was an ass, he was an ass who was fully supported by the US during almost all of his worst actions. Hell, the who’s who list of US Saddam supporters in the 1980’s is practically identical to the list of members of the current Bush administration.

Make no mistake...ha ha ha...Remember that one.

Make no mistake, if Bush says anything like that, it’s because his advisors have told him to do so.

No offense to him but I think most politicians work like that. They don’t even write their own speeches.

Parse his words, there was NO apology made. His regret was that his words were “misinterpreted” meaning it was the fault of the listener, not his. About the atrocities committed at Abu Ghraib he says “We’ve been paying for that for a long period of time”. Come on now fellers, cain’t ya jes let bygones be bygones, it was jes a lil’ torture. I mean the indignity of being reminded constantly that you are perpetrating torture like some monster ruling his dictatorial regime, most of whom happen to be our PARTNERS now, good grief has the president not suffered ENOUGH? He IS an American after all…

Bush gets NO CREDIT from me for this ludicrous staged event designed to win points before a doomed mid-term election! Check his post speech ‘contrition smirk’ to the audience here.

He IS an American after all…

He looks more Stalinist to me…

I do doubt his sincerity.

I agree with Serge; The Republican party needs to distance themselves from Bush fast in order to be appealing themselves to the public throughout 2008. That means forcing him to sound more moderate and apologetic so that the republican party can tear into him now that he’s lost almost all public support. Then they keep the status quo and start all over again.

I feel like I should branch off into a lecture here, but I suppose there are a few things I keep in mind about politics. First, the general public is gullible and wants people who will play their apologist. Second, that truth is controvertible. To win in politics, it has to be all bullshit, all the time, and oft repeated. Third, everything in politics happens for a reason. If Bush is apologizing, we need to be asking where the information is going, who the audience is, whom that benefits and how.

A couple of hours ago I saw that Q&A gathering on the Jim Lehrer News Hour.
We all know it was a rehearsed session.
I want to know who the ‘reporter’ was that asked that Dorothy Dixer (Wiki).
It gave Bushit a very convenient means to win back some support for GOP.

Les, excuse me for calling you a dumbf*ck, but I think strong language is warrented. You’re reacting in exactly the way they WANT you to react:

“Oh, well, hey, he apologized, he must be an okay guy.”

An apology has two parts.

The first is, you admit the mistake.

The second is, you DO SOMETHING to make it right.

If you don’t do the second part, there is no apology. There’s just empty hot air, a sort of distracting lie which is yet another part of the original transgression. 

Bush has done nothing to fix the mistake. Rummy is still safely in his job, kids are still dying in Iraq, and the U.S. and the world is in MUCH worse shape than it was before Bush entered the office.

The man is still an eternal fuckup, too stupid or vile to get even an apology right.

I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted

He’s not really apologizing - he’s offloading the responsibility to the people who “misinterpreted” his real meaning.

that sent the wrong message to people

That “tough talk” sent just the message they wanted - at the time. Whip people up. Make ‘em feel good. Short war. Of course, now that all of that is a distant media memory, he needs to make nice with the larger public who are starting to see guys who can’t salute properly ‘cause they have missing arms.

So now less bravado. Because it looks futile and the last thing he needs to contribute to is the appearance of futility. I notice more news stories about the economy with the President’s name mentioned in an active sense, which is really where people can see that these guys have screwed up. It’s not like people really care that dozens of people a day are getting killed in Iraq. That’s so 2003. The price of gas is up. It feels like stuff costs more, because it does. There aren’t as many good jobs. People can’t help but make a connection to the war and America’s weakened economy. It’s certainly fucked your government’s budget.

Somebody has to be responsible on a certain level. They can’t claim victory forever what with everything so shitty. They tried that. And now that the polls are reflecting the public’s distaste for the head retard, why not offer up a little straight talk from the guy with the lowest approval ratings in the party who also convenienty will never again run for any kind of public office. Isn’t stuff like that what Presidents are for? What do they care? They’re in the White House for a couple years more. Congress and the Senate are their playtoys. They’ve passed dozens and dozens of laws they never thought in their wildest dreams they could pass without the public knowing or caring. Why not start to acknowledge reality just a little bit since an election is nearing and it’s now clear that alarming (at least to RepubliCons) numbers of voters are calling bullshit on what, 6 years of life under the reactionary Neo-Con agenda? It’s not like they need to admit to anything big to get the ball rolling…

“[Abu Ghraib is] the biggest mistake that’s happened so far, at least from our country’s involvement in Iraq ... We’ve been paying for that for a long period of time,�? he said.

Who made the mistake? Who’s paying for it? It just “happened” I guess. Oh no I forgot, it was just overzealous low-ranking soldiers who made the mistake. Careful, don’t get that confused with the White House’s wider policies and attitudes on torture! I must be careful not to “misinterpret” the meaning of what happened…

Well are you over your self-indulgent be nice to Bu$hCo moment?  We already knew you were OK, now, however, I feel a creeping midwestern nice syndrome is occurring.  Get over it.  He’s a lying bastard.
Did you note the picture of his face just after he made his phoney mea culpa?

I must join the ranks of the skeptical here. I interpret Bush’s remarks as little more than an attempt to fill congressional seats with more Republican asses come November.

One of the comments at the Crooks and Liars link Eric kindly provided says it all, in my opinion:

When in college, one of my friends went out to her car and saw the window busted in and a body in the back seat.

She called the cops. They picked him up. He turned out to be a drunk frat boy. The police called her down to the station. She said she wouldn’t press any charges as long as he replaced the broken window.

He just smirked at her and walked away. Never apologized. Never said thank you for her leniency.

A total Bush move. I totally know the type: they kiss up to get something they want (to get an A, to get laid, to get out of a possession charge, etc.), resent having to do so, and then talk about with their friends like they think they are con-artist/players. But they can turn really nasty in a second. Can’t handle criticism. Refuse to accept consequences.

The sad thing is that the GOP has built it’s strategy largely around this pathology.
-BigTobacco

OK let me clear something up here. I’m in no way suddenly a dyed-in-the-wool new found Bush supporter. Nor do I believe for a second that this in anyway exonerates Bush’s idiocy. It is, at best, far and away inadequate in making up for all the damage he’s done.

That said it’s a rare moment of reflection that’s been too long in the coming that I feel deserves an acknowledgment. Doesn’t mean I’m suddenly in danger of voting for him or his successor. Doesn’t mean all is forgiven.

Les, for too many people politics is an all or nothing proposition, or worse yet, an excuse to insult and degrade anyone who doesn’t believe exactly what they believe. ANY anknowledgment that someone on the other side of the fence might not be the absolute personification of evil is worthy of attack.

As far as I’m concerned, every single President during my lifetime (1968-present) has had their good qualities and their bad. In most of them, the bad outweighs the good. Still, I think every single one of them (Bush included) has done what they THOUGHT was best for the country at the time, however misguided they may have been.

I think every last one of them had serious faults and every last one of them were probably nice guys that I’d enjoy sitting around a dinner table and chatting with.

It’s why I try (an I emphasize try, I’m as human as the next guy) to keep my political arguement to ideas and away from the people that hold them.

Just my 2 cents.....

Les: Bush does deserve kudos for being honest about his bullheadedness.

I just can’t put Bush and Honest in the same sentence, without smiling.

I applaud your optimism on Bush’s moral learning curve. You have the ability to find more faith in that than I can.