Lisa Beamer. Oh boy, here come the tears…
That was Bush Jr.'s Gettysburg Address.
a rather good speech. although he forgot someone…canada. how do you forget the first country to come to your aid!!! and how did jennings miss that?
Yeah, I wondered that, too. Sorry, guys…
I was wondering the same thing about his forgetting about Canada.
It sounds a little hokey, but did anyone else get the feeling that we are watching the beginning of a huge chapter in future high school history books?
I rather had that feeling back on the 11th…
I was a little upset he forgot Canada, but hell, we didn’t help so we could get a footnote comment in his speech. We helped because it’s the right thing to do. We aren’t owed a spot in the credits.
All in all, it was a good speech and it was true to his style and approach.
Yeah…I understood the attention to the UK with Blair there, but he should have mentioned Canada. Other than that, though, I thought it was a damn good speech.
(Well, ok, he called Robert Byrd the “President Pro-Temporary,” but other than that it was fine.)
I seriously hate different time zones. Does anyone know if the address has been loaded onto any web sites yet. I’ve been looking around and can’t find it anywhere. I don’t want to have to wait till tonight to see it. So if anyone knows where I can read it I’d appreciate a link.
A friend said that Bush’s speechwriter deserved a house in the Caymans for this effort.
Li
Maybe I wasn’t clear enough, but when I said “the beginning” I was referring to everything from the 11th until this speech.
Is Bush MAD at us or something?
He mentioned casualties from every nationality, except mine… I lost countrymen too.
He mentioned help from every country but mine… the wait to give blood in my city is still 2 hours or more, unprecedented in my lifetime. We babysat hundreds of people displaced and traumatized. All our flags are still at half mast, but the brits are suddenly his best ally because they sang the anthem?
Hey, I teared up to see them sing it too, but c’mon…
That hurt my feelings, it really did.
I still cant beleive it. The americans are our friends, our nieghbors, our family, and we didnt merit a mention.
Its true we didnt help out to GET a mention, but when he makes a point to mention every single country but ours, he makes a point alright.
Ouch.
I thought it was a wonderful speech. The part about the badge really made me cry. Again.
Great speech, but I agree. Canada should have been mentioned.
I thought the speech itself was very good, and that Bush did better delivering it, though I felt some of his hand gestures were… forced. But he didn’t appear to be reading the speech which was nice and I noticed emotion in his voice. Some of what he said worried me, but I won’t go into that now.
Hey – did anyone else notice him wink at someone during one of the applause pauses?
I agree about Canada- it should have been mentioned prominently. Other than that, I thought a good speech, very good.
Sorry to be the lone dissenter on this thread, but I thought that Bush’s speech wasn’t that great. Admittedly it had some good points, but overall, I wasn’t impressed. I was expecting something more along the lines of that Churchill speech where he said, “I have nothing to offer you but blood, toil and tears.” I thought that he focused too much on the UK as well, since not only Canada, but China and Russia have signed on as well to the deal. Still, I’m sure he meant no ill will towards anyone. Let’s hope the rest of the world over-looks the UK focus.
I thought it was a great speech and will serve as a very good starting point for the future. It was a little “Ameri-centric”, but it was a speech to rally the US people more then the rest of the world. I hope that in the near future he (and the rest of the world leaders) clearly define the opposition (terrorists) and the goal (freedom from them).
The next thing I would like to see is a Unilateral Condemnation of Terrorism. Something that not only we can sign, but countries like Iran and Iraq and other Islaminc countries can sign that says terrorism will not be tolerated and we will flush these people (and the people who support them) out and destroy (and I use the word on purpose) them. If we put half the passion into THAT as we have into something (that seems almost trivial) as the Kyoto Protocal, bin Laden’s in a heap of trouble.
A couple things about the speech I didn’t like though:
-
A request like above for a universal condemnation of terrorism. He alluded to it with the “for us or against us” touches, but I wanted something a little more concrete.
-
I’m not real happy about the “Department of Homeland Security”. Not that I don’t think its not needed, I just don’t like the name. Sounds like something Hitler might have; maybe that word “homeland” bothers me. My first thought was replacing it with “Internal”, but then visions of Stalin leapt to mind. I think we need a better name.
-
Tom Ridge? Not that I don’t think he will do a good job, but he couldn’t deliver PA during the last election. I wonder if Bush really wanted Rudy? I think he would have been a better choice and certainly a more vocal, visionary, and emotional leader.
All and all, though a great speech, but only the second best I saw today. If you have never seen the Daily Show on Comedy Central, or if you have, please check it out tonight at 1 am ET or tommorow. Tape it if you hafta. You will not regret it.
You’re probably right. But Guiliani’s going to have his hands full from now on. Catch-22: the guy who’s best equipped for such a mission is the one hit to hard to accept it.
Anyway, I’m from PA and I voted for Ridge, so bleah.