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bushisms: The president's accidental wit and wisdom.

The Complete BushismsUpdated frequently.

By Jacob Weisberg
Updated Monday, April 28, 2008, at 7:14 PM ET

(Continued from page 2)

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 6:22.

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 9:22.

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 56:45.

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 35:11.

"And my concern, David, is several."—Speaking to David Gregory, Washington, D.C., April 3, 2007

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 22:47.

"Suiciders are willing to kill innocent life in order to send the projection that this is an impossible mission."—Washington, D.C., April 3, 2007 (Thanks to Garry Trudeau.)

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 13:13.

"Some call this civil war; others call it emergency—I call it pure evil."—Washington, D.C., March 28, 2007

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 40:05.

"They're innocent, they were doing nothing, and they were summarily plucked out of water."—Discussing British sailors detained by Iran while their ship was on patrol in the Persian Gulf, Camp David, March 31, 2007

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 35:29.

"I'm a strong proponent of the restoration of the wetlands, for a lot of reasons. There's a practical reason, though, when it comes to hurricanes: The stronger the wetlands, the more likely the damage of the hurricane."—Discussing post-Katrina wetland improvements, New Orleans, March 1, 2007

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 13:20.

"Trade is an important subject here at Caterpillar, and the reason why is because a lot of the product you make here, you sell to somebody else, sell overseas to another country. That's trade. And yet it's—it's a topic of hot debate."—Speaking to workers at the Caterpillar equipment company, East Peoria, Ill., Jan. 30, 2007

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 11:21.

"And one thing we want during this war on terror is for people to feel like their life's moving on, that they're able to make a living and send their kids to college and put more money on the table."—Appearing on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Jan. 16, 2007

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 23:28.

"And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it."— Speaking on National Public Radio, Jan. 29, 2007

Click here to hear audio of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 19:21.

"I think that the vice president is a person reflecting a half-glass-full mentality."—Speaking on National Public Radio, Jan. 29, 2007

Click here to hear audio of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 4:30.

"The best way to defeat the totalitarian of hate is with an ideology of hope—an ideology of hate—excuse me—with an ideology of hope."—Fort Benning, Ga., Jan. 11, 2007

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 24:28.

"Because of your work, children who once wanted to die are now preparing to live."—speaking at the White House summit on malaria, Dec. 14, 2006

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 1:29.

"Today I heard from some opinions that matter a lot to me, and these are the opinions of those who wear the uniform."—Washington, D.C., Dec. 13, 2006

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 8:19.

"Make no mistake about it, I understand how tough it is, sir. I talk to families who die."—speaking with reporters on facing the challenges of war, Washington, D.C., Dec. 7, 2006

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 23:16.

"And truth of the matter is, a lot of reports in Washington are never read by anybody. To show you how important this one is, I read it, and our guest read it."—speaking along with Prime Minister Tony Blair about the Baker-Hamilton Report, Washington, D.C., Dec. 7, 2006

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 44:13.

"This business about graceful exit just simply has no realism to it at all."—responding to speculation that American forces could be called back from Iraq, Amman, Jordan, Nov. 30, 2006

"No doubt in my mind, with your help, Dave Lamberti will be the next United States congressman."—speaking at a campaign rally for Jeff Lamberti, Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 26, 2006

"You know, when I campaigned here in 2000, I said, I want to be a war President. No President wants to be a war President, but I am one."—Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 26, 2006

"This morning my administration released the budget numbers for fiscal 2006. These budget numbers are not just estimates; these are the actual results for the fiscal year that ended February the 30th."—referring to the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, Washington, D.C., Oct. 11, 2006

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 0:41.

"One has a stronger hand when there's more people playing your same cards."—Washington, D.C., Oct. 11, 2006

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 44:54.

"You're one of the outstanding leaders in a very important part of the world. I want to thank you for strategizing our discussions."—Meeting with the prime minister of Malaysia, New York, Sept. 18, 2006

"The goals of this country is to enhance prosperity and peace."—Speaking at the White House Conference on Global Literacy, New York, Sept. 18, 2006

Click here to see a video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 5:27.

"You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror."—Interview with CBS News, Washington D.C., Sept. 6, 2006

Click here to see a video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 4:48.

"And I suspect that what you'll see, Toby, is there will be a momentum, momentum will be gathered. Houses will begat jobs, jobs will begat houses." —Speaking with reporters along the Gulf Coast, Gulfport, Miss., Aug. 28, 2006

"And the question is, are we going to be facile enough to change with—will we be nimble enough; will we be able to deal with the circumstances on the ground? And the answer is, yes, we will."—Washington, D.C., July 25, 2006

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 17:44.

"One thing is clear, is relations between America and Russia are good, and they're important that they be good."—Strelna, Russia, July 15, 2006

"We shouldn't fear a world that is more interacted."—Washington, D.C., June 27, 2006.

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 1:21.

"I've reminded the prime minister—the American people, Mr. Prime Minister, over the past months that it was not always a given that the United States and America would have a close relationship."—Washington, D.C., June 29, 2006

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 0:36.

"I tell people, let's don't fear the future, let's shape it."—Omaha, Neb., June 7, 2006

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 8:58.

"I think—tide turning—see, as I remember—I was raised in the desert, but tides kind of—it's easy to see a tide turn—did I say those words?"—Washington, D.C., June 14, 2006

Click here to see a video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 39:16.

Click here to see a video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 50:16.

Click here to see a video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 50:17

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 19:07.
"We have enough coal to last for 250 years, yet coal also prevents an environmental challenge." —Washington, D.C., April 20, 2005

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 19:30.

"Now, there are some who would like to rewrite history—revisionist historians is what I like to call them."—Elizabeth, N.J., June 16, 2003

"I am determined to keep the process on the road to peace."—Washington, D.C., June 10, 2003 (Thanks to Tanny Bear.)

"The true strength of America happens when a neighbor loves a neighbor just like they'd like to be loved themselves."—Elizabeth, N.J., June 16, 2003

"We ended the rule of one of history's worst tyrants, and in so doing, we not only freed the American people, we made our own people more secure."—Crawford, Texas, May 3, 2003 (Thanks to Tony Marciniec.)

"This is a nation that loves our freedom, loves our country."—Washington, D.C, May 17, 2002

"The public education system in America is one of the most important foundations of our democracy. After all, it is where children from all over America learn to be responsible citizens, and learn to have the skills necessary to take advantage of our fantastic opportunistic society."—Santa Clara, Calif., May 1, 2002

"After all, a week ago, there were—Yasser Arafat was boarded up in his building in Ramallah, a building full of, evidently, German peace protestors and all kinds of people. They're now out. He's now free to show leadership, to lead the world."—Washington, D.C., May 2, 2002 (Thanks to M. Bateman.)

"This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating."—as quoted by the New York Daily News, April 23, 2002

"I want to thank the dozens of welfare to work stories, the actual examples of people who made the firm and solemn commitment to work hard to embetter themselves."—Washington, D.C., April 18, 2002 (Thanks to George Dupper.)

"And so, in my State of the—my State of the Union—or state—my speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it, speech to the nation—I asked Americans to give 4,000 years—4,000 hours over the next—the rest of your life—of service to America. That's what I asked—4,000 hours." —Bridgeport, Conn., April 9, 2002

"It would be a mistake for the United States Senate to allow any kind of human cloning to come out of that chamber."—Washington, D.C., April 10, 2002



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Jacob Weisberg is editor of Slate and author of The Bush Tragedy.
Photograph by Rick Wilking/Reuters.
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