Callous George

Is George W. Bush the most callous man on the planet? He is a man with absolutely no empathy. Worse than that, he shows absolutely no desire to be at all empathic.

Here are some selected quotes by Bush from Bush 'Not Insulted' by Thrown Shoes:

In response to the shoe throwing incident:

“…it was amusing.”

“…I thought it was unusual to have a guy throw his shoe at you. But I'm not insulted. I don't hold it against the government. I don't think the Iraqi press corps as a whole is terrible. And so, the guy wanted to get on TV and he did. I don't know what his beef is. But whatever it is I'm sure somebody will hear it.”

Would someone please tell Bush the reason for the shoes being thrown. Death and destruction caused by Bush himself. And yet, Bush is merely amused, but not insulted, by this very courageous demonstration of self-expression. It seems that most of the world knows why the shoes were thrown. Why doesn’t Bush? Is he truly that much of an idiot? Or is he that sheltered by his handlers? Bush looks at this incident and sees something like a silly frat party prank, so he is amused and not insulted. Incurious to a fault, will he ever look beyond the simple act of shoes flying through the air to understand the why of the act?

And what is the deal with “I don't hold it against the government. I don't think the Iraqi press corps as a whole is terrible.”? Has he no concept of individual thought, individual expression, and individual actions? And yes, the only motivation to do anything these days is to get on television. Let's ask Hollywood for a new reality series: "The Amazing Shoes."

“Clearly, one of the most important parts of my job because of 9/11 was to defend the security of the American people. There have been no attacks since I have been president, since 9/11.”

This is a totally illogical statement. There were no attacks before 9/11 on Bush’s watch either. He must have been doing something right then. Right?

In response to al Qaeda not being in Iraq until after the U.S. invaded:

“So what?”

Here is more from Bush 'Not Insulted' by Thrown Shoes:

Raddatz: Just let me go back because you brought this up. You said Saddam Hussein posed a threat in the post-9/11 world. They didn't find weapons of mass destruction.

Bush: That's true. Everybody thought they had them.

Raddatz: So what threat?

Bush: Saddam Hussein was the sworn enemy of the United States. He had been enriched by oil revenues. He was a sponsor of terror. I have never claimed like some said that he -- you know, oh, that he was directly involved with the attacks on 9/11, but he did support terrorists. And, uh, Saddam Hussein had the capability making weapons of mass destruction.

How can Martha Raddatz sit through this and not grab Bush by the throat, like Homer Simpson grabs Bart, and scream “Lies, Lies, Lies!”?

Everybody thought they had weapons of mass destruction, except all of the weapons inspectors searching Iraq, who couldn’t find any.

Perhaps Bush never claimed that Saddam Hussein was directly involved with the attacks on 9/11, but people in his administration certainly did, and the American people believed a lie, and Bush didn’t stand up and tell them it was a lie.

From Bush stands by al Qaeda, Saddam link:

Critics have accused the president and other administration officials of falsely inflating the links between Iraq and al Qaeda in the months before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Vice President Dick Cheney, in a speech Monday in Florida, raised eyebrows by reasserting claims that Saddam "had long-established ties with al Qaeda."

From The impact of Bush linking 9/11 and Iraq by Linda Feldmann:

In his prime-time press conference last week, which focused almost solely on Iraq, President Bush mentioned Sept. 11 eight times. He referred to Saddam Hussein many more times than that, often in the same breath with Sept. 11.

Bush never pinned blame for the attacks directly on the Iraqi president. Still, the overall effect was to reinforce an impression that persists among much of the American public: that the Iraqi dictator did play a direct role in the attacks. A New York Times/CBS poll this week shows that 45 percent of Americans believe Mr. Hussein was "personally involved" in Sept. 11, about the same figure as a month ago.

Sources knowledgeable about US intelligence say there is no evidence that Hussein played a role in the Sept. 11 attacks, nor that he has been or is currently aiding Al Qaeda. Yet the White House appears to be encouraging this false impression, as it seeks to maintain American support for a possible war against Iraq and demonstrate seriousness of purpose to Hussein's regime.

From Bush Gang Swore Saddam Was Behind 9/11 In Lawsuit by Evelyn Pringle:

Much to the dismay of President Bush, Americans can remember all on their own, without any coaching from Democrats, that in the run up to war in Iraq, it was top official from the administration who were making the claim that Saddam was in cahoots with bin Laden and that he was secretly involved to 9/11.

The fact that the administration's disinformation campaign was entirely successful is evidenced by an October 2004, Harris Poll, taken three weeks before the last presidential election, which reported that 62% of all voters, and 84% of those planning to vote for Bush, still believed that Saddam had ''strong links" to Al Qaeda, and that 41% of all voters, and 52% of Bush backers, believed that Saddam had ''helped plan and support the hijackers" who had attacked the country on 9/11.

As we now know, the basis for these allegations were false but the saddest part of the situation is that many Americans are just now beginning to realize that Bush knew the stories were false for more than a year when he cited them as justification for taking the country to war.

Read the rest of the ABC News Martha Raddatz interview with Bush here, if for some reason you need your blood pressure to go up to dangerous levels.