Bush Humor and George Bush Updates

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.”

October 24, 2007
President Bush Meets with Cabinet, Discusses Fires in California
Cabinet Room
***
“I wish we could control the wind, because one of the things that’s hampering our joint capability of fighting these fires is the strong westerly winds.”

October 23, 2007
President Bush Visits National Defense University, Discusses Global War on Terror
Washington, D.C.
***
“In this war, we’re on the offensive against the enemy — and that’s the only way to be.”

***
“My administration made a commitment to the American people then that we will defend you against all forms of terror — including the terror that could arrive as a result of a missile. ”

***
“The men and women of the National Defense University understand what is at stake in today’s war. First of all, you understand we’re in war. And secondly, you understand the stakes of this war.”

*** “With the presence — with the passage of time, the memories of September the 11th have grown more distant. That’s natural. That’s what happens with time.”

***
“On 9/11, we saw that oceans which separate us from other continents no longer separates us from danger.”

***
“It’s a new kind of war.”

October 20, 2007
President Bush Signs Executive Order to Protect Striped Bass and Red Drum Fish Populations
The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
St. Michael’s, Maryland
***
“And I appreciate Carlos Gutierrez, he’s the Secretary of Commerce, for joining us as well. He’s in charge of NOAA, as is Conrad Lautenbacher — run NOAA — you’ve got a fancy title, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere. That means he runs NOAA.” (Laughter.)

***
“He proved, as have others here, that if you get together with responsible officials you can help get these fishing stocks back to robust.”

***
“The striped bass — I don’t know if our citizens follow the striped bass, but it’s a good fish to catch.”

***
“Local sales means better local economy.”

October 17, 2007
Press Conference by the President
James S. Brady Briefing Room
***
Q Why are you going to, when China has expressed outrage about it?

THE PRESIDENT: One, I admire the Dalai Lama a lot. Two, I support religious freedom; he supports religious freedom. Thirdly, I like going to the Gold Medal ceremonies

***
“Look, in all due respect to you and Gregory, this is not my first rodeo. And I know where you’re trying to get me to comment. I’m not going to comment on it, one way or the other.”

October 16, 2007
President Bush Meets with Senator Bob Dole and Secretary Donna Shalala on the Commission on Care for Wounded Warriors
The Rose Garden
***
“I appreciate the fact that they are demonstrating the great breakthroughs in technologies that are now available for the wounded. I don’t know if you noticed, two of them came in on a Segway.”

October 15, 2007
President Bush Discusses The Budget
John Q. Hammons Convention Center
Rogers, Arkansas
***
“One of the things the President has to do is travel around the country explaining the situation and why things are happening, at least from my perspective. I’m looking forward to explaining it.”

***
“Give them [veterans] what they need, if they’ve got Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, the help, the mental help.”

***
“One of the things in a complex environment like the presidency is you got to surround your people — surround the President, or surround myself with people whose judgment you trust.”

***
“It’s one of the lessons of September the 11th, is that while we grew up thinking everything was fine, that we could be protected by oceans, the enemy came and killed 3,000 of our people, and others from other nations — on our soil.”

***
“This is a war that we’re not used to in America. We’re not fighting a nation state.”

***
“They know full well that when they destroy innocent life it gets on our TV screens. And we are a nation that believes in life.”