# The One and Only Bush Acceptance Speech Thread
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [September 3, 2004, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908 "2004-09-03T03:52:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2004, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908/1 "2004-09-03T03:52:40Z")
Let’s try to keep it all in here and keep the little hamsters happy (although they don’t seem to care about us!). I see DtC has already beat me with a Pit thread. 😃
I don’t know–not that he was going to convert me, but he never really caught fire IMO. The best speech of the convention remains Giuliani’s. Zell Miller, whose speech scares me more and more as I think about it, at least treated us all to some good ol’ deep-fried Come-to-Jesus speechifyin’.
One thing Bush has to many of the people who meet him is charisma. I just didn’t see it. He didn’t annoy me particularly, and he was properly self-deprecating about his struggles with the English language. Some of his ‘new’ ideas showed that at least he was thinking about non-terrorism problems. Some new 9/11 anecdotes delivered with due sincerity. He even mentioned the e-word (it’s the economy, stupid). But overall…meh.
Have at it. And remember there’s a Pit thread already! 😉
---
### Author:  [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2004, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908/2 "2004-09-03T03:54:15Z")
He wore a nice tie.
---
### Author:  [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2004, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908/3 "2004-09-03T04:00:06Z")
That he did.
Kerry’s talking in Ohio or someplace now. He is NOT wearing a tie at all!
---
### Author:  [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2004, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908/4 "2004-09-03T04:04:27Z")
Loved Kerry’s comment: All hat, no cattle.
Also enjoyed the takeoff on you might be a redneck/conservative Bush did.
Enjoyment all around!
---
### Author:  [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2004, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908/5 "2004-09-03T04:12:00Z")
Well, as I said in my RNC thread, I thought it was a decent speech and an interesting departure from the norm of these kinds of things, going in some depth about what Bush will do at least domestically if he’s re-elected.
I thought Bush did a fairly good job laying out his positions and speaking. The second half of the speech was more like what you normally expect from these kinds of things.
Did you catch the 2 protesters (Bush Lied, People Died)…that was, er, interesting.
-XT
btw, did any else catch Kerry’s midnight speech?? That was kind of odd, wasn’t it?
---
### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2004, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908/6 "2004-09-03T04:15:03Z")
Will someone tell me how you save Social Security by taking money out of the system and putting in personal retirement accounts? I understand all the arguments for privatization, but for the life of me, I don’t see how it makes Social Security stronger for those of us who have paid into all our lives, and expect to get something, anything out of it when we retire in a few years. The least he could do is promise to put back all the money that has been looted from the Social Security trust fund surplus to pay for Damn Fool Wars™ and ill-timed tax cuts.
And another thing, I would like to see a cite for this so-called “explosion in frivolous lawsuits burdening small business” in recent years. Sure, there has been news coverage of isolated abuses, but statistically, [tort litigation has remain level for the last decade](http://reclaimdemocracy.org/articles_2004/study_debunks_lawsuit_explosion.html).
The Bush campaign seems to be based on the notion that telling the same lie enough times makes it true.
---
### Author:  [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2004, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908/7 "2004-09-03T04:21:51Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#):
>
> Will someone tell me how you save Social Security by taking money out of the system and putting in personal retirement accounts? I understand all the arguments for privatization, but for the life of me, I don’t see how it makes Social Security stronger for those of us who have paid into all our lives, and expect to get something, anything out of it when we retire in a few years.
It’s too complicated for you to understand! 😉
> [@](#):
>
> The Bush campaign seems to be based on the notion that telling the same lie enough times makes it true.
Well, it’s worked for them for almost 4 years now…It only has to work for another couple of months.
---
### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2004, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908/8 "2004-09-03T04:30:15Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#):
>
> …The Bush campaign seems to be based on the notion that telling the same lie enough times makes it true.
That’s not quite fair. The Bushivik notion is that _selling_ the same lie enough time makes it _just as good_ as being true. Nuanced.
---
### Author:  [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908/9 "2004-09-03T04:55:49Z")
> [@xtisme](#):
>
> btw, did any else catch Kerry’s midnight speech?? That was kind of odd, wasn’t it?
I think it was timed just right. I was watching the goons on msnbc ramble right after Bush’s speech. Everyone was all “golly that speech was a home run. isn’t he swell” until Kerry came on. They switched to Kerry for a bit and when they returned it seemed they HAD to start talking about the issues.
At least on MSNBC it took the fire out of drooling over Bush’s speech.
It’s about time Kerry started going after them. He’s been pretty quiet on some of the things they’ve been saying about him. It was nice to see him get fired up a little.
I think this is going to start getting interesting now.
---
### Author:  [@Soapbox\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soapbox_Monkey)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908/10 "2004-09-03T05:04:49Z")
At this point would anyone be surprised if a fist fight breaks out at one of the debates?
---
### Author:  [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2004, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908/11 "2004-09-03T05:12:37Z")
> [@](#):
>
> “The contrast between the president’s hopeful, optimistic vision for the future that is laid out in his acceptance speech versus John Kerry’s politics of anger and pessimism will be totally clear to the American people,” Mr. Schmidt [a spokesman for Bush’s campaign] said.
(See [here](http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/03/politics/campaign/03kerry.html).)
Un-fuckin’ believable! You can’t make stuff like this up! Could someone wake me up from this and just tell me it’s a dream?!?!
---
### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2004, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908/12 "2004-09-03T06:13:11Z")
> [@vanilla](#):
>
> Loved Kerry’s comment: All hat, no cattle.
A trite, old joke…
Anyway, I thought the speech was mediocre at best. He should not have said one word about Kerry. It was very undignified they way he mocked him. Not a good speech for Bush at all.
---
### Author:  [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2004, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908/13 "2004-09-03T06:50:29Z")
> [@John Mace](#):
>
> It was very undignified they way he mocked him (Kerry).
Well, it’s not as if Bush can run on his record…
---
### Author:  [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2004, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908/14 "2004-09-03T06:58:47Z")
I only caught excerpts, but read the transcript.
To be fair, I’m not on his side of the aisle. But I was really surprised that there wasn’t more of a “here’s where I want to take America! Chaarge!” feel to the speech. The policy proposals were either weak tweaks or recycled first-term items.
Doesn’t GWB have some place he wants to pilot this ship in the next four years?
Maybe a partisan on the other side of the aisle will be along soon to read the tea leaves and interpret for me. Really – I do want to know what vision I missed in this speech.
And this:
“Anyone who wants more details on my agenda can find them online. The web address is not very imaginative, but it’s easy to remember: [georgewbush.com](http://georgewbush.com).”
In an instant he’s reduced his own policy proposals to a web pop-up ad. “Click here to find out more about GWBush! You may have already won!” Is this the best his staff could muster?
---
### Author:  [@mrunlucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrunlucky)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2004, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908/15 "2004-09-03T07:33:48Z")
It felt to me like yet another SOTU speech. It felt like he was given “talking points” and it didn’t matter whether or not he made up facts or repeated himself for the millionth time or just said quaint, pointless things, as long as he made sure to mention each talking point. It felt like it didn’t matter what he said as long as he just kept reminding people of 9/11, as though nothing else he’s done has mattered or even happened since then, that as long as people remember 9/11, they’ll get all teary-eyed and vote for him again based on cheap emotional appeal. And the few times I caught him winking, and giving that creepy smile, I just got the jim-jams. At least I didn’t get the anxiety attacks caused by those vile, hate-spewing, rants Zell and Cheney gave last night. But still, nothing said could possibly convince me that anyone in the country would be better off with 4 more years of these people at the helm of our government. If anything I feel even less secure with these people still in charge.
---
### Author:  [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2004, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908/16 "2004-09-03T13:18:45Z")
> [@John Mace](#):
>
> Anyway, I thought the speech was mediocre at best. He should not have said one word about Kerry. It was very undignified they way he mocked him. Not a good speech for Bush at all.
And, the claims against Kerry were just one old tired lie after another. I must admit that Kerry didn’t have his best moment when he tried to his $87 billion vote on Iraq. But, for the President to make fun of a vote that Kerry made in large part in response to Bush’s lies and deceptions (in this case, his not telling or even hinting to Congress that this much supplemental appropriations would be needed until after they passed the tax cuts) is the ultimate in “chutzpah”! I mean, this guy doesn’t have a decent bone in his body. I have sometimes tried to excuse G.W. as just being a puppet. I think the Republican convention was good in reminding me what a really unprincipled, lying, vile, reprehensible human being our president is.
---
### Author:  [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2004, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908/17 "2004-09-03T13:40:46Z")
I don’t like the way Bush smiles. Now, I can’t stand the guy–and I think the depictions of him as a chimp are funny–but I think he’s cute and back in the day, he probably belonged in the “fine” category. Except, that is, when he smiles in that scary, plastic-face way of his. I’m not talking about the signature smirk. I’m talking about the smile he kept giving whenever he gave shout-outs to certain people in the audience. It’s a practiced smile. It’s the smile a sour-faced kid will give when a scolding parent tells them to “fix their face”. It’s a Pennywise grimace.
Did anyone count how many liberties and freedoms were sprinkled in the speech? I meant to, but I forgot.
Overall, I thought the speech was dry and uninspiring (to be fair, I wasn’t expecting much to begin with), but generally non-offensive. One thing he said, however, did give me much pause:
> [@George W. Bush](#):
>
> [I believe that America is called to lead the cause of freedom in a new century. I believe that millions in the Middle East plead in silence for their liberty. I believe that given the chance, they will embrace the most honorable form of government ever devised by man.
>
> I believe all these things because freedom is not America’s gift to the world; it is the almighty God’s gift to every man and woman in this world.]([http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/09/02/gop.bush.transcript/index.htm](http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/09/02/gop.bush.transcript/index.htm))
It’s arrogant to presume our way is the best way. Not all free countries in the world practice our form of government. Our form of government is not synonomous with freedom and liberty, as this country itself has demonstrated for centuries.
It’s frighteningly arrogant to presume we are on a mission from God. All this God rhetoric is what has gotten us in the situation we’re in, and I say this as a Christian who believes God actually cares about us. Just as it infuriates us when Islamic fundamentalists proclaim to be on Allah’s side, it does the same thing for everyone else when _we_ do it. By evoking God once again, he is making TWAT a religious war…the last thing he should be doing (especially since he keeps assuring Muslims that this isn’t about Islam, it’s about terrorists.)
I’m a Christian, but I feel just as alienated as if I were an atheist. I wish we had a president who respects that not every American shares his brand of religion, and even many of those people who do would appreciate him NOT bringing God into his errant diplomacy.
I think the above quote contrasts sharply with what he said in 2000 during the 2nd presidential debate (can we say "flip flop?):
> [@George W. Bush](#):
>
> [Well, I think they ought to look at us as a country that understands freedom where it doesn’t matter who you are or how you’re raised or where you’re from, that you can succeed. I don’t think they’ll look at us with envy. It really depends upon how our nation conducts itself in foreign policy. **If we’re an arrogant nation, they’ll resent us.** If we’re a humble nation, but strong, they’ll welcome us. And it’s – our nation stands alone right now in the world in terms of power, and that’s why we have to be humble. And yet project strength in a way that promotes freedom. So I don’t think they ought to look at us in any way other than what we are. **We’re a freedom-loving nation and if we’re an arrogant nation they’ll view us that way, but if we’re a humble nation they’ll respect us.**](http://www.debates.org/pages/trans2000b.html)
Bolding mine.
We haven’t been “humble” in four years. And lookit! They _don’t_ respect us. At least Bush was right about that one!
If you click on the above link and read the rest of the debate, you’ll see that even back then, Bush was obsessed with Saddam Hussein. It’s clear to anyone with half a brain that bringing down SH has always been at the top of his priority list. 9/11 provided the perfect ruse. Those who believe otherwise need to wake the hell up.
---
### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2004, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908/18 "2004-09-03T13:46:36Z")
> [@Monstro](#):
>
> Did anyone count how many liberties and freedoms were sprinkled in the speech?
That’s the part that pissed me off the most. There were 34 of them.
---
### Author:  [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2004, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908/19 "2004-09-03T14:28:28Z")
Going from Bush’s [speech](http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/09/02/gop.bush.transcript/index.html)
> [@](#):
>
> My opponent recently announced that he is the candidate of “conservative values,” which must have come as a surprise to a lot of his supporters.
Did Kerry really say that?
---
### Author:  [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2004, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908/20 "2004-09-03T15:01:31Z")
> [@squeegee](#):
>
> “Anyone who wants more details on my agenda can find them online. The web address is not very imaginative, but it’s easy to remember: [georgewbush.com](http://georgewbush.com).”
>
> In an instant he’s reduced his own policy proposals to a web pop-up ad. “Click here to find out more about GWBush! You may have already won!” Is this the best his staff could muster?
To be fair, Kerry said something similar his acceptance speech:
> [@](#):
>
> I’ve told you about our plans for the economy, for education, for health care, for energy independence. I want you to know more about them. So now I’m going to say something that Franklin Roosevelt could never have said in his acceptance speech: go to [johnkerry.com](http://johnkerry.com).
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-and-only-bush-acceptance-speech-thread/262908.md?page=2)