Bush Humor and George Bush Updates

November 15, 2007
President Bush Discusses Aviation Congestion
Roosevelt Room
***
“Holiday travelers faced with the prospect of long delayed and cancelled flights and lost baggage, and other problems have become all too often an occurrence. In other words, there’s a lot of people that are worried about traveling because they’ve had unpleasant experiences when they’ve been flying around the country.”

***
“In other words, part of making sure people are not inconvenienced is there to be — get transmission of sound, real-time information.

November 20, 2007
President Bush Pardons “May and Flower” in National Thanksgiving Turkey Ceremony
Rose Garden
***
“They asked Americans to give thanks for a nation that Benjamin Franklin famously compared to a rising sun. Over the years, Americans have found much to be thankful for. We still see our country the way Franklin did — or, as the poet Carl Sandburg put it: ‘In the crimson light of a rising sun fresh from the hand of God.’”

November 10, 2007
President Bush and Chancellor Merkel of Germany Participate in a Joint Press Availability
Prairie Chapel Ranch
Crawford, Texas
***
PRESIDENT BUSH: I’m now going to go feed the Chancellor a hamburger. (Laughter.) Right here, Crawford, Texas. No, well, I mean back over there. Thank you all.

CHANCELLOR MERKEL: Obviously, for me, as a person who originally came from Hamburg –

PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes.

CHANCELLOR MERKEL: — it’s even more important.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Hamburger.

Thank you.

Chancellor Merkel: Thank you.

END 12:16 P.M. CST

November 7, 2007
Interview of the President by TF1 Television
Map Room
***
Q So to a certain extent, you did contribute to giving greater power to Iran, because it no longer is facing its hated enemy on the other side. So now is there a true threat in Iran, and are you ready now to invade Iran as you did with Afghanistan and Iraq? So it is indeed true that Vice President — is it true that Vice President Cheney has a plan for that?

THE PRESIDENT: I don’t know where you’re getting all these rumors — there must be some weird things going on in Europe these days — because I have made it abundantly clear, now is the time to deal with a true threat to world peace — that’s Iran — and to do it diplomatically and peacefully. And that’s what I’m going to spend a lot of time on with President Sarkozy. But of course we want to solve these problems peacefully.

***
Q But if it doesn’t work, if the sanctions and the threats do not work, what happens?

THE PRESIDENT: We are going to — as I said, all options are on the table. But the objective is to make them work. I’m not so sure I agree with your hypothesis, that “if they don’t work.” I’m the kind of guy that says, let’s make sure they do work.

***
Q In the past we used to say that the American Dream was freedom, but today it seems to be repression, more self-focused society.

THE PRESIDENT: That’s absurd to say the American Dream is repression. Freedom is the absolute we’re helping people achieve. That’s — think about what’s happening with 25 million people in Iraq, or 25 million people in Afghanistan, or the fact that the United States is freeing people from the scourge of HIV/AIDS. We’re spending $30 billion, when Congress passes my budget, to help people on HIV/AIDS — or the fact that we’ve got a $1.6 billion program to help people who are — families who are suffering as a result of a child dying from malaria. In other words, we’ve got a very aggressive freedom agenda. And if you come to the United States, you’ll find that you can practice your religion any way you see fit, that this is an open society and a free society.

***
You’re really not going to know the history of the Bush administration until long after you and I are dead. There’s no such thing as accurate short-term history. It takes a while for people to see the results of decisions having been made.

***
Q We saw a French President spend his summer vacations this year in the United States, so when will George W. Bush spend his vacations in France?

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. As you know, I’m a — I’ve got a piece of property I love in Texas –

Q It’s large.

November 7, 2007
Interview of the President by RTL and N-TV, German TV
Map Room
***
Q Mr. President, in a couple of days the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel will come to your ranch, which I think is a special privilege. What will you do with her on the ranch on a weekend like that?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, we will — if she wants — we’ll do anything she wants. If she wants to go for a hike, I’ll go for a hike. If she — I look forward to showing a piece of property I dearly love.

***
“And I’m not going to try to put Angela Merkel in a position that she nor her Bundestag is comfortable with.”

***
“Q But you still have as a last option the military option. Do you think that that could be an option in the future? You even mentioned the possibility, the chance of third world war — you were serious about that?

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, absolutely serious. I said, if you want to avoid World War III. I didn’t say I’m for World War III.

Q Oh, no, I didn’t say that. But you mentioned it in that respect, yes.

THE PRESIDENT: But I said if you — the reason I said that is because this is a country that has defied the IAEA — in other words, didn’t disclose all their program — have said they want to destroy Israel. If you want to see World War III, you know, a way to do that is to attack Israel with a nuclear weapon. And so I said, now is the time to move. It wasn’t a prediction, nor a desire.

***
“And our biggest job is to protect our — see, that’s an interesting difference between, say, Germany and America. We’ve been attacked.”

November 7, 2007
Interview of the President by TF1 Television
Map Room
***
Q So to a certain extent, you did contribute to giving greater power to Iran, because it no longer is facing its hated enemy on the other side. So now is there a true threat in Iran, and are you ready now to invade Iran as you did with Afghanistan and Iraq? So it is indeed true that Vice President — is it true that Vice President Cheney has a plan for that?

THE PRESIDENT: I don’t know where you’re getting all these rumors — there must be some weird things going on in Europe these days — because I have made it abundantly clear, now is the time to deal with a true threat to world peace — that’s Iran — and to do it diplomatically and peacefully. And that’s what I’m going to spend a lot of time on with President Sarkozy. But of course we want to solve these problems peacefully.

***
Q But if it doesn’t work, if the sanctions and the threats do not work, what happens?

THE PRESIDENT: We are going to — as I said, all options are on the table. But the objective is to make them work. I’m not so sure I agree with your hypothesis, that “if they don’t work.” I’m the kind of guy that says, let’s make sure they do work.

***
Q In the past we used to say that the American Dream was freedom, but today it seems to be repression, more self-focused society.

THE PRESIDENT: That’s absurd to say the American Dream is repression. Freedom is the absolute we’re helping people achieve. That’s — think about what’s happening with 25 million people in Iraq, or 25 million people in Afghanistan, or the fact that the United States is freeing people from the scourge of HIV/AIDS. We’re spending $30 billion, when Congress passes my budget, to help people on HIV/AIDS — or the fact that we’ve got a $1.6 billion program to help people who are — families who are suffering as a result of a child dying from malaria. In other words, we’ve got a very aggressive freedom agenda. And if you come to the United States, you’ll find that you can practice your religion any way you see fit, that this is an open society and a free society.

***
You’re really not going to know the history of the Bush administration until long after you and I are dead. There’s no such thing as accurate short-term history. It takes a while for people to see the results of decisions having been made.

***
Q We saw a French President spend his summer vacations this year in the United States, so when will George W. Bush spend his vacations in France?

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. As you know, I’m a — I’ve got a piece of property I love in Texas –

Q It’s large.

November 7, 2007
Interview of the President by RTL and N-TV, German TV
Map Room
***
Q Mr. President, in a couple of days the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel will come to your ranch, which I think is a special privilege. What will you do with her on the ranch on a weekend like that?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, we will — if she wants — we’ll do anything she wants. If she wants to go for a hike, I’ll go for a hike. If she — I look forward to showing a piece of property I dearly love.

***
“And I’m not going to try to put Angela Merkel in a position that she nor her Bundestag is comfortable with.”

***
“Q But you still have as a last option the military option. Do you think that that could be an option in the future? You even mentioned the possibility, the chance of third world war — you were serious about that?

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, absolutely serious. I said, if you want to avoid World War III. I didn’t say I’m for World War III.

Q Oh, no, I didn’t say that. But you mentioned it in that respect, yes.

THE PRESIDENT: But I said if you — the reason I said that is because this is a country that has defied the IAEA — in other words, didn’t disclose all their program — have said they want to destroy Israel. If you want to see World War III, you know, a way to do that is to attack Israel with a nuclear weapon. And so I said, now is the time to move. It wasn’t a prediction, nor a desire.

***
“And our biggest job is to protect our — see, that’s an interesting difference between, say, Germany and America. We’ve been attacked.”