Bush fans, Bush whackers, aspiring speechwriters, et al. Rewrite W’s Chirac statement.
It was a pretty good weekend for news: A couple cancer research breakthroughs, Clemens missing at 300 again (even though the Yanks won) and civility coming out of both the Israeli & Palestinian camps.
Speaking of civility, what did you think of the statement President Bush made at a joint Q&A with France’s Chirac
When I heard it on the news this morning, my first thought was, “Hmmm, interesting.”
> It sounds kind of new age (in fact, it’s the title of what appears to be a self-help book by Dr. Suzette Haden Elgin), but not overly sappy.
> It’s has a memorable ring to it, (not as much as “Can’t we all just get along”) but will likely be forgotten after the evening news broadcasts tonight.
> It’s rather pointed (when compared to most diplo-speak), but still rings vague.
> It’s somewhat polite and non-condescending, yet doesn’t gloss over the bitterness.
I guess in the grand scheme of things, some back-bencher in the White House earned their pay this week. I’ve given it some thought and have come to the conclusion I couldn’t write (or plagiarize) anything better. The best I can up with is:
We can have dissent without discountenance.
Or maybe…
Without Franco-American unity, we’d all be stuck with Chef Boy-R-D.
It’s kind of interesting President Chirac didn’t have a public comment. Sometimes silence rings louder than words.
OK all you Bush fans, Bush whackers, aspiring speechwriters, low level political staffers and diplomatic aides, what do you think? What response would you have written for the CiC to the inevitable G7 question.