First things first.
My buddy is a beautiful human being, a devoted husband, a wonderful dad, and someone I’d trust with my child’s life. No shit.
So, with all that in mind, here’s why he’s completely full of shit. 🙂
(I tried posting this in reply to your post, big guy, but LJ wouldn’t let me. Like QT, I wrote something much too long for a single setting, so I have to put it in my own journal… I wrote 5 times the amount of characters allowed in a reply.) 🙂
So, here it is:
This reply must be in two parts.
“First off, no one’s called you a traitor, nor does anyone care if you’re a Christian or not. You know that’s bullshit and just drama talking.”
No, I don’t know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered as patriots. This is one nation under God.
— George W. Bush, to American Atheists’ reporter Robert Sherman
“If you honestly believe that Bush is making decisions based on what he reads in Revelations, than you need to see a Shrink, and fast. :)”
I wish it was that easy… 🙁
I urge all Texans to answer the call to serve those in need. By volunteering their time, energy or resources to helping others, adults and youngsters follow Christ’s message of love and service in thought and deed.
Therefore, I, George W. Bush, Governor of Texas, do hereby proclaim June 10, 2000, Jesus Day in Texas and urge the appropriate recognition whereof,
In official recognition whereof,
I hereby affix my signature this
17th day of April, 2000.
— George W. Bush, “Jesus Day 2000” Proclamation
(ahem. let me quote the Constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof)
(and with that second part about “prohibiting the free exercise thereof” in mind…)
I don’t think that witchcraft is a religion. I wish the military would rethink this decision.
— George W. Bush, earlier remark, June, 1999
(and if that weren’t enough…)
I do not think witchcraft is a religion, and I do not think it is in any way appropriate for the U.S. military to promote it. — George W. Bush, second remark, October 15, 2000
(this is classic Bush; redefining words to fit his own viewpoint. “Witchcraft” isn’t a religion, therefore, it isn’t protected by the First Amendment. Unborn fetuses are “children,” and therefore, abortion is “child abuse.” Let’s move on…)
[I] appreciate that question because I, in the state of Texas, had heard a lot of discussion about a faith-based initiative eroding the important bridge between church and state.
— George W. Bush, January 29, 2001, quoted from Jacob Weinberg, “The Complete Bushisms”
(Um… George. There’s a wall between Church and State… not a bridge between them.)
They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it’s some kind of federal program.
— George W. Bush, St. Charles, Missouri, November 2, 2000
(um… George… it is a federal program.)
There ought to be limits to freedom.
— George W. Bush, complaining about a website (www.gwbush.com) critical of him, at an Austin Press Conference, May 21, 1999
Every nation in every region now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.
— George W. Bush, quoted in and adjectives lifted from Matthew Rothschild, “War Whoop of Folly,” in The Progressive (September 21, 2001)
(in other words, either you agree with the methods Bush is using to root out terrorism, or you are a terrorist.)
The course of this conflict is not known, yet its outcome is certain. Freedom and fear, justice and cruelty, have always been at war, and we know that God is not neutral between them.
— George W. Bush, September 20, 2001
(again, you are either with the United States and God or you are against the United States and God. Why is God always on our side?)
Tyrants and dictators will accept no other gods before them. They require disobedience to the First Commandment. They seek absolute control and are threatened by faith in God. They fear only the power they cannot possess — the power of truth. So they resent the living example of the devout, especially the devotion of a unique people chosen by God.
— George W. Bush, blaming the Holocaust on godlessness, rather than on Christian anti-Semitism of Martin Luther, St. Paul, and the Jesus of Matthew’s and John’s Gospels, and ignoring the fact that Adolf Hitler repeatedly called himself a Christian, pretended to be obeying Christ, and cannot be shown to have been an atheist, at the National Commemoration of the Days of Remembrance at the U.S. Capitol on April 19, 2001, quoted from Freedom From Religion Foundation, “Bush’s Holocaust Remarks Distort History, Scapegoat Freethinkers” April 25, 2001
I really appreciate leaders from around the globe who have come to share in prayer with us today. It reminds me that the Almighty God is a God to everybody, every person.
— George W. Bush, making a welcoming gestu– er, uh, claim, in which he speaks on behalf of you and I — on behalf of everybody, every person — even though the very Supreme law of the land progtects us from such abuse at the hands of our elected leaders, during his speech before the 51st Annual Congressional Prayer Breakfast, quoted from “President Bush Addresses the 51st Annual Prayer Breakfast” (February 6, 2003)
It is fitting that we have a National Prayer Breakfast. It is the right thing to do, because this is a nation of prayer. I know, from firsthand knowledge, that this is a nation of prayer. See, I work the ropelines a lot, and I hear all kinds of things on the ropelines. But the thing I hear the most, the comment I hear the most from our fellow citizens, regardless of their political party or philosophy, is, Mr. President, I pray for you and your family, and so does my family. That’s what I hear. I turn to them without hesitation and say, it is the greatest gift you can give anybody, is to pray on their behalf.– George W. Bush, although the Encarta World Dictionary of the English Language displays noknown meaning for the word ropelines, this is where our President tells us he obtains his “Statistics of Small Numbers” with which he backs up his claim that such a large percentage of the populace practices the religious ritual of prayer to such an extent and with such fervance as to justify describing the United States as “a nation of prayer,” during his speech before the 51st Annual Congressional Prayer Breakfast, quoted from “President Bush Addresses the 51st Annual Prayer Breakfast” (February 6, 2003) ††
Scripture says: “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.” I call on every American family and the family of America to observe a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance, honoring the memory of the thousands of victims of these brutal attacks and comforting those who lost loved ones. We will persevere through this national tragedy and personal loss. In time, we will find healing and recovery; and, in the face of all this evil, we remain strong and united, “one Nation under God.”
— George W. Bush, directing the religious exercises of his constituents and proclaiming a strange unity which omits at least ten percent of the population: “National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for the Victims Of the Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001” (September 14, 2001)
God’s signs are not always the ones we look for. We learn in tragedy that his purposes are not always our own. Yet the prayers of private suffering, whether in our homes or in this great cathedral, are known and heard, and understood.
There are prayers that help us last through the day, or endure the night. There are prayers of friends and strangers, that give us strength for the journey. And there are prayers that yield our will to a will greater than our own….
On this National Day of Prayer and Remembrance, we ask almighty God to watch over our nation, and grant us patience and resolve in all that is to come. We pray that He will comfort and console those who now walk in sorrow. We thank Him for each life we now must mourn, and the promise of a life to come.
— George W. Bush, “President’s Remarks at National Day of Prayer and Remembrance” at the The National Cathedral (September 14, 2001)
And I strongly support the faith-based initiative that we’re proposing, because I don’t believe it violates the line between the separation of church and state, and I believe it’s going to make America a better place.
— George W. Bush, making a muddled reference to the Establishment Clause, quoted from Conrad Goeringer, AANEWS #889 (February 28, 2001) from American Atheists
Take the life issue. This issue requires a president and an administration leading our nation to understand the importance of life. This whole faith-based initiative really ties into a larger cultural issue that we’re working on. It begins to affect the life issue, as well as the human dignity issue, because when you’re talking about welcoming people of faith to help people who are disadvantaged and are unable to defend themselves, the logical step is also those babies.
— George W. Bush, unaware that a press microphone was on, telling Roman Catholic “faith-based” subsidy supporters that they are “vital allies” because they won’t “be eroded by political correctness or whatever,” and assuring them that his scheme to give tax money to religious groups will help them promote opposition to legal abortion, at the White House on January 31, 2001, quoted from Margaret Sykes, “Bush Caught on Tape — Again: Says he’ll use tax dollars to help religious groups oppose abortion,” About Pro-Choice Views, February 1, 2001
We’ve got a cultural issue in America. We’ve got to change the whole way the issue is looked at. That’s the mission. Some in the political process don’t have enough patience for that, and I probably don’t either.
— George W. Bush, unaware that a press microphone was on, while telling Roman Catholic “faith-based” subsidy supporters that his scheme to give tax money to religious groups will help them promote opposition to legal abortion, at the White House on January 31, 2001, quoted from Margaret Sykes, “Bush Caught on Tape — Again: Says he’ll use tax dollars to help religious groups oppose abortion,” About Pro-Choice Views, February 1, 2001
Faith crosses every border and touches every heart in every nation.
— George W. Bush, with a slap in the fact to the ten percent of Americans who are not religious, at the annual National Prayer Breakfast, for which organizers refused to release a full list of attendees, February 1, 2001, quoted from Conrad Goeringer, “Bush Promotes Faith at Prayer Breakfast: Bipartisan Support for New White House Office,” AANEWS 881, February 2, 2001, from American Atheists
Our plan will not favor religious institutions over nonreligious institutions. As president, I’m interested in what is constitutional and I’m interested in what works.
— George W. Bush, promoting his scheme to funnel tax dollars into religoius “charities” which will not be held accountable for discriminating against nonreligious and other-religious workers, and the validity of which religious groups are worthy of being funded will be decided by the government (Bush has already stated that the Nation of Islam will not qualify), at the annual National Prayer Breakfast, for which organizers refused to release a full list of attendees, February 1, 2001, quoted from Conrad Goeringer, “Bush Promotes Faith at Prayer Breakfast: Bipartisan Support for New White House Office,” AANEWS 881, February 2, 2001, from American Atheists
And this is my solemn pledge: I will work to build a single nation of justice and opportunity. I know this is in our reach because we are guided by a power larger than ourselves who creates us equal in His image.
— George W. Bush, showing gross insensitivity to the constitutional principle of government neutrality on religion, as well as showing that he’s oblivious both to the diversity in the nation he now leads and to the very concept of unity, in his Inauguration Address, January 20, 2001
In every instance when my administration sees a responsibility to help people, we will look first to faith-based institutions, to charities and to community groups that have shown their ability to save and change lives.
— George W. Bush, at a rally in Indianapolis, Indiana, July 22, 1999, quoted from Americans United press release titled, “President Bush And ‘Faith-Based’ Initiatives: AU Report And Answers to Frequently Asked Questions”
I don’t see how we can allow public dollars to fund programs where spite and hate is the core of the message. Louis Farrakhan preaches hate.
— George W. Bush, reneging on the above promise, on being asked by a reporter if the Nation of Islam would be eligible for federal money, but failing to distinguish between the “hate” that he says Farrakhan preaches and the hate (against atheists and other non-Christians) that many Christian churches preach, while speaking with reporters on March 1, 2000, as quoted in the Austin American-Statesman, March 2, 2000, p. A-9, quoted from Americans United press release of January 29, 2001, titled, “President Bush And ‘Faith-Based’ Initiatives: AU Report And Answers to Frequently Asked Questions”
I support voluntary, student-led prayer and am committed to the First Amendment principles of religious freedom, tolerance, and diversity. Whether Mormon, Methodist, or Muslim, students in America should be able to participate in their constitutional free exercise of religion. I believe it is wrong to forcefully expunge any mention of religion, or dilute its impact and importance, when discussing world affairs. Religion is a personal, private matter and parents, not public school officials, should decide their children’s religious training. We should not have teacher-led prayers in public schools, and school officials should never favor one religion over another, or favor religion over no religion (or vice versa). I also believe that schools should not restrict students’ religious liberties. The free exercise of faith is the fundamental right of every American, and that right doesn’t stop at the schoolhouse door.
— George W. Bush, responding to an October, 2000, Associated Press questionnaire, quoted from AANEWS #831, October 9, 2000, from American Atheists
I believe God did create the world. And I think we’re finding out more and more and more as to how it actually happened.
— George W. Bush, interview, U.S. News, “George W. Bush: Running on his faith,” December 6, 1999
After all, religion has been around a lot longer than Darwinism.
— George W. Bush, quoted from Aaron Latham, “How George W. Found God,” George Magazine, September, 2000
In spite of conflicting signals — and in spite of a popular culture that sometimes puts down their innocence — most of our kids are good kids. Large numbers do volunteer work. Nearly all believe in God, and most practice their faith. Teen pregnancy and violence are actually going down. Across America, under a program called True Love Waits, nearly a million teens have pledged themselves to abstain from sex until marriage.
— George W. Bush, during a November, 1999, campaign stop in Gorham, New Hampshire. Bush stated later that under his presidential administration, funding for Christian chastity outreaches will soar from $80 million to $139 million per year, sending public money to Bible fundamentalist groups such as True Love Waits, a Christian chastity advocacy group which conducts “Bible studies, discipling experiences, worship services, ring ceremonies, retreats, DiscipleNow weekends, campus club Bible studies and other experiences to prepare students for a commitment to purity.” Quoted in AANEWS #861, December 24, 2000.
We need to have mentoring programs energized by government, paid for by government, but who exist not because of government. Teen Challenge is a way to get people off drugs and alcohol. Teen Challenge is a faith-based program that changes people’s hearts.
— George W. Bush, in a campaign speech, quoted from AANEWS #915 from American Atheists, May 25, 2001. Teen Challenge executive director John Castellani testified before Congress on May 23 that many of the Jews who complete the Teen Challenge program become “completed Jews,” a phrase common in fundamentalist circles to refer to Jews who later convert to fundamentalist Christianity — strongly implying that regular Jews are somehow “incomplete.”
Our priorities is our faith.
— George W. Bush, Greensboro, North Carolina, October. 10, 2000, quoted from Jacob Weinberg, “The Complete Bushisms”
There’s Adam Clymer, major league asshole from The New York Times.
— George W. Bush, to running mate Dick Cheney, who replied, “Oh, yeah, big time,” at a campaign rally in Naperville, Illinios: both were unaware that the podium microphone was on, quoted from CNN, “Bush uses expletive to describe Times reporter,” September 4, 2000. Karen Hughes, the communications director for the Bush campaign said, “It was meant to be a whispered aside to his running mate. It was not intended to be a public comment.” Duh!
Religious freedom and tolerance is a protected right. I am committed to the First Amendment principles of religious freedom, tolerance, and diversity.
Whether Mormon, Methodist, Jewish, or Muslim, Americans should be able to participate in their constitutional free exercise of religion.
I’ve coined new words, like, misunderstanding and Hispanically.
— George W. Bush, plugging (and unwittingly providing material for the second edition of) Weinberg’s book, The Complete Bushisms, at the Radio-Television Correspondents Association dinner, Washington, D.C., March 29, 2001. Bush probably meant to say “misunderestimating,” a word that he has used in public speech. Quoted from Jacob Weinberg, “The Complete Bushisms.”
We’re now interested in finding those who may attack America and arrest them before they do. We’ve had over nearly a thousand people have been detained in America and questioned about their motives and their intentions.
— George W. Bush, in his speech, “President Bush on Retaliation and State of the Economy” (October 26, 2001)
I suspect that had my dad not been president, he’d be asking the same questions: How’d your meeting go with so-and-so? … How did you feel when you stood up in front of the people for the State of the Union Address — state of the budget address, whatever you call it.
— George W. Bush, interview, Washington Post, March 9, 2001, quoted from Jacob Weinberg, “The Complete Bushisms”
You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.
— George W. Bush, Townsend, Tennessee, February 21, 2001, quoted from Jacob Weinberg, “The Complete Bushisms”
(… and finally…)
I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe — I believe what I believe is right.
— George W. Bush, visiting Rome, July 22, 2001
(a non-Bush quote)
“The very first act of the new Bush administration was to have a Protestant Evangelist minister officially dedicate the inauguration to Jesus Christ, whom he declared to be ‘our savior.’ Invoking ‘the Father, the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ’ and ‘the Holy Spirit.’ Billy Graham’s son, the man selected by President George W. Bush to bless his presidency, excluded the tens of millions of Americans who are Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Shintoists, Unitarians, agnostics, and atheists from his blessing by his particularistic and parochial language.
“The plain message conveyed by the new administration is that George W. Bush’s America is a Christian nation and that non-Christians are welcome into the tent so long as they agree to accept their status as a tolerated minority rather than as fully equal citizens. In effect, Bush is saying: ‘This is our home, and in our home we pray to Jesus as our savior. If you want to be a guest in our home, you must accept the way we pray.'”
— Alan M. Dershowitz, in “Bush Starts Off by Defying the the Constitution,” Los Angeles Times, January 24, 2001
“I’d like to be a Libertarian, but until they decide to field normal, sane candidates, my vote goes to the GOP.”
Amen.
“And yes, given the appeasement position vis a vis terrorism of the leadership of the Democratic party, they are evil.”
Not all Democrats thought appeasement was the answer, and not all Republicans thought a military response was neccessary.
