I woke up a little late this evening but managed to catch the re-broadcast of Bush’s press conference (thanks C-SPAN!).
I’m sure most of you were paying attention to Bush’s remarks on the elections. I however noticed in his speech something that’s been bothering me for 5 years.
The election has changed many things in Washington, but it has not changed my fundamental responsibility, and that is to protect the American people from attack.
-Bush, 11/8/2006
That’s definitely not the first time I’ve heard him say this. I did a little Googling and found dozens of examples. Here are some 40 more:
The most solemn duty of the American President is to protect the American people.
-Bush, 10/30/2004
The most solemn duty of the American President is to protect the American people.
-Bush, 10/29/2004
The most solemn duty of the American President is to protect the American people.
-Bush, 10/23/2004
My most solemn responsibility and the most solemn duty of the federal government, as a matter of fact governments at all levels, is to protect the American people.
-Bush, 9/28/2006
Above all else, President Bush never loses sight of his most fundamental duty — to defend the nation and to protect the American people.
-Cheney, 05/23/2006
The most solemn duty of the American President is to protect the American people.
-Bush, 10/31/2004
And we’re at war now. And therefore, part of my mission and goal is to protect the American people. It is the most solemn duty of any President — is to never forget the lessons of the immediate past, in our case, September the 11th, 2001, and to do everything we can to secure the homeland.
-Bush, 01/09/2004
My job is to keep America secure. That’s my job. I’ve got a solemn duty to do everything I can to protect the American people.
-Bush, 12/15/2003
I believe the most solemn duty of the American President, the most solemn duty, is to protect the American people.
-Bush, 10/23/2004
My first responsibility as your President is to protect the American people.
-Bush, 03/27/2002
The most solemn duty of the President and the Congress is to protect the American people.
-Bush, 10/18/2005
[George Bush’s] first and most solemn duty is to protect our country and to protect the people of the United States.
-Laura Bush, 10/19/2004
My most solemn duty is to protect this nation and its people against further attacks and emerging threats.
-Bush (inaugural speech), 01/20/2005
My most important job is to protect American life, to protect innocent life.
-Bush, 10/22/2002
I will use every asset at our disposal to do our most important job, which is to protect the American people.
-Bush, 05/18/2004
The most solemn duty of the American President is to protect the American people.
-Bush, 11/01/2004
See, our most solemn duty is to protect the American people. That’s our most solemn duty.
-Bush, 07/23/2004
Our job is to secure the American homeland, to protect the American people.
-Bush, 10/01/2003
There’s going to be a lot of domestic issues we’ll work on, but there’s no issue more important than protecting the American people. It’s the calling of the 21st century. The most important job for the federal government is to protect you.
-Bush, 10/04/2006
And we’ve got a big difference when it comes to protecting the American people. The most important job of the American President is to protect the American people.
-Bush, 11/02/2004
I’ve got a job to make this country a safer country. My job is to do everything in our power to protect the American people from an enemy which is cold-blooded, an enemy that has no conscience, an enemy which struck us on September the 11th.
-Bush, 05/04/2004
And I believe we have a solemn duty, whether or not people agree with it or not, to protect the American people…
…And there’s no need to rehash my case, but I did so, I made the decision I made, in order to protect our country, first and foremost.
-Bush, 11/04/2004
My most solemn duty, and the most solemn duty of those of us in government here in Washington, is to protect the American people.
-Bush, 06/14/2005
That’s our most important job, is to protect you and your families from further attack.
-Bush, 10/31/2002
It’s — these are serious times that require serious thought and serious purpose in order to do our most important duty, which is to protect the American people.
-Bush, 02/23/2006
Our biggest challenge in Washington is to protect the American people. That’s the biggest calling we have. It’s the most important responsibility. When somebody says, name your most important responsibility, Mr. President, it’s easily: to protect you.
-Bush, 05/19/2006
Our most important duty is to protect the American people from a future attack.
-Bush, 09/29/2006
My most solemn duty is to protect our country.
-Bush, 08/02/2004
Above all, President Bush never loses sight of his most fundamental duty — to defend this nation and to protect the American people.
-Cheney, 02/09/2006
The most solemn duty of the American President is to protect the American people.
-Bush, 11/01/2004
I have the duty to work with you all to protect this country. That’s our most solemn duty.
-Bush, 07/20/2005
My most solemn obligation is to protect the American people. That’s my most important duty as your President.
-Bush, 07/15/2005
Our most important duty is to protect the American people from these cold-blooded killers.
-Bush, 05/17/2005
The number one priority of this government and the future governments will be to protect the American people against terrorist attack…
…Protecting American citizens from harm is the first priority, and it must be the ruling priority of all of our government.
-Bush, 07/26/2002
It is — the most solemn duty of government is to protect American people.
-Bush, 01/23/2004
Our most solemn duty in the federal government is to protect the American people.
-Bush, 08/15/2006
And I am also very mindful of my job as the American President to do everything we can to protect the American people from future attack.
-Bush, 10/10/2002
The most solemn duty of the American President is to protect the American people.
-Bush, 03/31/2005
Our most important job is to protect America.
-Bush, 05/30/2002
And so on, ad infinitum….
But what exactly IS the President’s “most solemn duty” or “most important” obligation?
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
-Presidential Oath of Office, U.S. Constitution, Article 2, Clause 8
A terrorist can destroy buildings and take lives, but it takes a President to harm the Constitution of the United States.
Pax
This is excellent, Soj. I can imagine how much sewage you had to wade through to find these quotes.
Your last sentence is truly quoteworthy. Thanks for all your hard work.
soj, I thought you opposed torture.
You nailed it!
You know what has always bothered me is his use of the word “homeland”. It’s creepy. It’s fascist and it makes my skin crawl. The guy is so full of crap. I am one grateful lady and I am ready to let my Senators know it. I want Feinstein to remember who put her there and why.
Just special for u, here’s a quote to make you puke:
-Bush, 06/19/02
Pax
Then there is this one from alternet.com story 10/16/2006
“Homeland: It may be an ugly word, with overtones of Nazi Germany (and perhaps the World War II-era Soviet Union as well), but now it’s ours, a truly un-American replacement for “nation” or “country.” Like a number of Bush-era terms, it was lurking in the shadows before 9/11. Now, we have a homeland as well as “homeland security,” and even a Department of Homeland Security, a giant and, as Katrina demonstrated, remarkably ineffective new bureaucracy. By its very name, the “Defense” Department should, of course, be our Department of Homeland Security. But its focus is now on dominating the rest of the planet (and space), so instead we have two Defense Departments, both quagmires of civilian bureaucratic ineptitude, both lucrative as anything, neither going anywhere soon. If this isn’t an attempt not just to redefine American reality, but to bankrupt it, I can’t imagine what is. George Bush has been our Katrina.
Chalmers Johnson: “Part of empire is the way it’s penetrated our society, the way we’ve become dependent on it… The military budget is starting to bankrupt the country. It’s got so much in it that’s well beyond any rational military purpose. It equals just less than half of total global military spending. And yet here we are, stymied by two of the smallest, poorest countries on Earth. Iraq before we invaded had a GDP the size of the state of Louisiana, and Afghanistan was certainly one of the poorest places on the planet. And yet these two places have stopped us.”
Another thing to put on the to-do list:
Rename the “Department of Homeland Security” the “Department of National Security.”
Or better yet, once the unconstitutional portions of it are removed, and only the necessary parts like FEMA and the Coast Guard remain:
the “Agency for Emergency Response.”
Or the choices you offered – All great and so much better than Dur Furher’s choice.
I have been telling my delegation for years that this is not a trivial matter. But then again neither are the nukes Cheney slid in there or the new bioweapons lab (already being built) at Ft. Detrick.
Anyway, it’s nice to have some company on this issue!
P.S. If we already have a Department of DEFENSE, why do we need another? (Rhetorical question, of course, since it really is the Department of Empire. At least until we can do what the Europeans keep telling us and stop the adventuring and nation building around the world. Foreign policy? HA! Time for a Constitutional Amendment to write the two jobs of the president into stone (since no one apparently reads Article II anymore) and make sure that it also include a nation-building/imperialism/adventuring prohibition.)
Bingo.
Olbermann did a whole thing on this exact point a few weeks back. (When C&L has their archives up again, we can find it).
That’s exactly the point. The job of the president is to defend the Constitution of the United States. Defend the freedoms and rule of law and underlying principles on which the country was founded…
After that, defending the people will take care of itself.
Thanks for compiling these links. Each speech is like watching the same train wreck of empty rhetoric over and over and over again.
By the way, just as a search tip, its often difficult to find quotes on the White House website by using their search feature.
The easiest way to search it (and many other sites, including BMT) is to go to Google. To search the WH website for the phrase “Habeas” you type in this (on Google’s search):
habeas site:www.whitehouse.gov
To do it for the Frog Pond, go to Google and type this:
habeas site:www.boomantribune.com
Etc etc. It doesnt work for some independently archived places such as the Congress LOC database etc but works just about on any blog for sure.
Pax
What do you suppose W was thinking of when he swore that oath in the Lord’s name? He clearly wasn’t listening to what he was reading.
Reading?
That’s right! He only had to repeat what the Chief Justice said. Kinda what he does not with Cheney.
My new Pledge of Allegience
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the rights and responsibilities of a citizen of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Everytime I’ve heard him say this, I physically cringe and my stomach roils.
Longtime reader, new poster here.
Thank you so much! I grit my teeth every time he spouts this nonsense. (A self-governing people does not need a daddy. But we do need a leader who lawfully abides by his Constitutional oath.)
I always urge my friends to either read the Second Article and the history behind it or let me fill them in, because this is just another example of using war and foreign policy (with the excuse that Congress stops at the shoreline) to grab power that does not exist.
If we can recover our republic, I want so much to have us add a constitutional amendment to do three things: Make all TWO of the duties of the executive crystal clear, outlaw imperialism (which is actually there, but not in Article II), and provide for a citizen initiative through the states that does more than “urge” our representatives to impeach. (Which would have come in handy when the Repubs went batsh*t.)
That said, I hope this new Congress does IT’S Constitutional duty and proceeds with the investigations that are necessary to shut Cheney’s “unitary executive” nonsense down. (And for goodness’ sake get us out of IRAN!) We probably won’t get to impeachment, but if we “take it off the table,” the deterrent effect intended by the founders – who went for years with a unicameral Congress and no executive for fear of another reality-challenged dictator like King George III- will be lost to history. One of the best democratic tools ever created, a means to effect emergency democratic change bloodlessly, regardless of who might screw around with our votes, could be lost due to stupidity and pettiness in some of its previous uses, making everyone afraid to use it when it’s really needed.
That makes dictatorship up for grabs. But thanks to posts like yours, maybe we can help raise awareness and avalanche our delegations with the need to make checking the imperial unitary executive a tie for most important first priority with Iraq, lest we leave ourselves open in the future for another Cheney-Rove-Bush gang. One can only hope.