THE US, THE UN AND THE IRAQIS THEMSELVES, V. 7.0

That's my Ican.

You're forgetting about George's grin when he claimed his "trifecta".

In February, Bush submitted a budget to Congress that accepted deficit spending. And with the likelihood that red ink will persist until at least 2005, the president has honed the Chicago story into his rather unfortunate "trifecta" joke, which is designed to defuse the issue politically. Here's what he said in Iowa on June 7, for example:

"I remember -- I remember campaigning in Chicago, and one of the reporters said, Would you ever deficit spend? I said only -- only in times of war, in times of economic insecurity as a result of a recession, or in times of national emergency. Never did I dream we'd have a trifecta."

The White House Web site offers 12 other examples of Bush using the trifecta formulation going back to Feb. 27 of this year. It's clear Bush is not referring to some unrecorded private conversation with a reporter. He has described the statement as "what I told the American people ... when I was campaigning."

Questions about the story are growing. Last week, Russert confronted Bush budget chief Mitch Daniels, saying, "We have checked everywhere and we've even called the White House as to when the president said that when he was campaigning in Chicago, and it didn't happen." Daniels avoided the question, saying he's "not the White House librarian" and thus hasn't "made a personal search" himself, but that he's "heard the president say it privately and publicly, over and over, for a long time."

And yet Bush repeated it again during remarks at a White House technology forum Thursday:

"You know, we -- these are extraordinary times. I remember campaigning and somebody said, Would you ever deficit spend? I said, only if there was a war, or a recession, or a national emergency. I didn't think we were going to get the trifecta."

In February, Bush submitted a budget to Congress that accepted deficit spending. And with the likelihood that red ink will persist until at least 2005, the president has honed the Chicago story into his rather unfortunate "trifecta" joke...

Quote:

I remember campaigning and somebody said, Would you ever deficit spend? I said, only if there was a war, or a recession, or a national emergency. I didn't think we were going to get the trifecta."

Main Entry: tri·fec·ta
Pronunciation: trI-'fek-t&, 'trI-"
Function: noun
Etymology: tri- + perfecta
: a variation of the perfecta in which a bettor wins by selecting the first three finishers of a race in the correct order of finish

Wasn't Bush's use of the word "trifecta" merely a play on words for humor's sake?

Quote:

Wasn't Bush's use of the word "trifecta" merely a play on words for humor's sake?

Yes, but the point is twofold:
One, he really DID hit the trifecta; justification for deficit spending AND the war in Iraq he wanted, all in one event.
Two, he really shouldn't be joking about the deaths of thousands.

revel wrote:

Thok wrote:

Just in: Hungary announces withdrawal of troops from Iraq by March 2005.

When were they supposed to withdraw? I hope more follow suit. Sooner.

Way to support the troops.

I just feel that if the US and all the rest of the troops left Iraq; probably more than half of the insurgency problem would go with them. Maybe then Iraqis can try salvage their country.

But it just seems to me that the US being there is drawing more violence into the country like a big magnet and Iraqis and our troops are getting killed and I don't see it ending. No one wants to come in and help us and we just don't have enough troops to do it right and we sure as the world don't have the right leaders managing it.

McTag, and anyone else similarly afflicted: with all due deference it is as well to stay away from subjects whereof one knows nothing - Vietnam, for instance.

Is 1,849 a number to you? Doubt it. After the six people whose remains, collected from an air crash site in Laos in 1995, were finally identified yesterday by the DoD, that's how many men we still have unaccounted for in that war: 1,849.

You want us to fight by your rules - forget it. As the French commander said while watching the charge of the light brigade: "C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre."

To Ican, and anyone else interested, a link on Boyd's legacy, and a quote:

".....For our potential adversaries have surely learned that to challenge our high technology fighters and tanks in a "fair fight" will only produce defeat, but they may also be learning from Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and even Iraq that there are other ways to achieve their goals...."

http://www.d-n-i.net/second_level/boyd_military.htm

We, also, are learning. Oh yeah, and Boyd loved dogs <G>

McTag wrote:

ican711nm wrote:

It's time we assign the blame where it truly belongs. The blame clearly belongs to those who perpetrate murder.

In NYC, 3000 innocents killed.

In Iraq, 100 000 (and rising) innocents killed.

You do the math. No wait, I've just done it for you.

Thank you for "doing the math." Care to make a point that can be addressed? (By the way, I seem to recall another thread for "fuzzy math". Maybe this post belongs there?)

Quote:

But it just seems to me that the US being there is drawing more violence into the country like a big magnet and Iraqis and our troops are getting killed and I don't see it ending. No one wants to come in and help us and we just don't have enough troops to do it right and we sure as the world don't have the right leaders managing it.

Yes, our occupation did and does draw jihadists into the country, but we started the war and we can't go back and undo that mistake. We have to suck it up. I don't think a change of leadership would make much difference. What leader wants to bring down the wrath of Congress and the people by beefing up our forces by 75,000-100,000 additional personnel? (Doing so would imply that the administration had been wrong in its estimates of troops needed, and George Bush has never admitted to a mistake and will not do so now.) It would take that many troops to make all of our forces, as well as the citizens of the country we conquered, safer.