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bushisms: The president's accidental wit and wisdom.

The Complete BushismsUpdated frequently.

By Jacob Weisberg
Updated Tuesday, July 22, 2008, at 5:31 PM ET

(Continued from page 4)

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 7:55.

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 22:47.

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

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

"And I want those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great British company."—Defending a plan to allow a company from the United Arab Emirates to manage ports in the United States, aboard Air Force One, Feb. 21, 2006

"I like my buddies from west Texas. I liked them when I was young, I liked them then I was middle-age, I liked them before I was president, and I like them during president, and I like them after president."—Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 1, 2006

"He was a state sponsor of terror. In other words, the government had declared, you are a state sponsor of terror."—On Saddam Hussein, Manhattan, Kan., Jan. 23, 2006

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 29:43.

"I'll be glad to talk about ranching, but I haven't seen the movie. I've heard about it. I hope you go—you know—I hope you go back to the ranch and the farm is what I'm about to say."—Explaining that he hasn't yet seen Brokeback Mountain, Manhattan, Kan., Jan. 23, 2006

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 1:36:52.

"You took an oath to defend our flag and our freedom, and you kept that oath underseas and under fire."—Addressing war veterans, Washington, D.C., Jan. 10, 2006

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 4:08.

"As you can possibly see, I have an injury myself—not here at the hospital, but in combat with a cedar. I eventually won. The cedar gave me a little scratch."—After visiting with wounded veterans from the Amputee Care Center of Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas, Jan. 1, 2006

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 0:47.

"If you found somebody that had information about an attack on America, you'd want to know as best as we can to find out what the facts are."—Philadelphia, Pa., Dec. 12, 2005

"I think we are welcomed. But it was not a peaceful welcome."—Philadelphia, Dec. 12, 2005, on the reception of American forces in Iraq

"I mean, I read the newspaper. I mean, I can tell you what the headlines are. I must confess, if I think the story is, like, not a fair appraisal, I'll move on. But I know what the story's about." —Philadelphia, Dec. 12, 2005

"[I]t's a myth to think I don't know what's going on. It's a myth to think that I'm not aware that there's opinions that don't agree with mine, because I'm fully aware of that."—Philadelphia, Dec. 12, 2005

"I mean, there was a serious international effort to say to Saddam Hussein, you're a threat. And the 9/11 attacks extenuated that threat, as far as I—concerned."—Philadelphia, Dec. 12, 2005

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

"Those who enter the country illegally violate the law."
—Tucson, Ariz., Nov. 28, 2005

"We got the best workforce in America—in the world."
—Washington, D.C., Dec. 2, 2005

"As a matter of fact, I know relations between our governments is good."—On U.S.-South Korean relations, Washington, D.C., Nov. 8, 2005

"Let me be very clear about this. Steroids ought to be banned from baseball."—Washington, D.C., Oct. 4, 2005

Click here to see a video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 50:09.

"Bin Laden says his own role is to tell Muslims, quote, 'what is good for them and what is not.' "—Washington, D.C., Oct. 6, 2005

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 15:40.

"I think it's important to bring somebody from outside the system, the judicial system, somebody that hasn't been on the bench and, therefore, there's not a lot of opinions for people to look at." —On the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, Washington, D.C., October 4, 2005

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 48:08.

"We look forward to hearing your vision, so we can more better do our job. That's what I'm telling you."—Gulfport, Miss., Sept. 20, 2005.

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 7:43.

"Listen, I want to thank leaders of the—in the faith—faith-based and community-based community for being here."—Washington, D.C., Sept. 6, 2005.

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism begins the clip.

"If it were to rain a lot, there is concern from the Army Corps of Engineers that the levees might break. And so, therefore, we're cautious about encouraging people to return at this moment of history."—Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2005

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 5:02.

"My thoughts are, we're going to get somebody who knows what they're talking about when it comes to rebuilding cities."—On how the rebuilding of New Orleans might commence, Biloxi, Miss., Sept. 2, 2005

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 5:29.

"And Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."—To FEMA director Mike Brown who resigned 10 days later amid criticism over his job performance.—Mobile, Ala., Sept. 2, 2005

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 4:05.

"Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house—he's lost his entire house—there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch." —Mobile, Ala., Sept. 2, 2005

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 2:26.

"I can't wait to join you in the joy of welcoming neighbors back into neighborhoods, and small businesses up and running, and cutting those ribbons that somebody is creating new jobs."—Poplarville, Miss., Sept. 5, 2005

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 2:44.

"So please give cash money to organizations that are directly involved in helping save lives—save the life who had been affected by Hurricane Katrina."—Washington D.C., Sept. 6, 2005

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 1:07.

"The best place for the facts to be done is by somebody who's spending time investigating it."—Expressing hope that the probe into how CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity was leaked will yield answers, Washington D.C., July 18, 2005

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 10:23.

"I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep on the soil of a friend."—On the prospect of visiting Denmark, Washington D.C., June 29, 2005

"I was going to say he's a piece of work, but that might not translate too well. Is that all right, if I call you a 'piece of work'?"—To Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of Luxembourg, Washington, D.C., June 20, 2005

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 17:30.

"You see, not only did the attacks help accelerate a recession, the attacks reminded us that we are at war."—Washington, D.C., June 8, 2005

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 3:19.

"We're spending money on clean coal technology. Do you realize we've got 250 million years of coal?"—Washington, D.C., June 8, 2005

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 16:28.

"I think younger workers—first of all, younger workers have been promised benefits the government—promises that have been promised, benefits that we can't keep. That's just the way it is."—Washington, D.C., May 4, 2005

Click here to see video of Bush's comments. The Bushism is at 11:08.

"We got people working all their life at hard work, contributing by payroll taxes into a Social Security system."—Washington, D.C., May 13, 2005

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-in-chief of the Slate Group and author of The Bush Tragedy.
Photograph by Rick Wilking/Reuters.
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