[White House]

Great Moments in Oratory

I know I'm going to the well a lot on the President's speech this morning, but permit me one more. Dan Froomkin caught a section of the speech I missed. It's surreal:

"A clear strategy begins with a clear understanding of the enemy we face. The enemy in Iraq is a combination of rejectionists, Saddamists and terrorists."

At first I thought he was horsing around. Rejectionists, Saddamists? It sounds like it's straight out of SNL. No. Bush is deadly serious, and he expects us to take his taxonomy serious, too. Somewhere, Juan Cole is frowning.

But maybe Bush isn't actually talking about Iraqis. Read a little between the lines, and this section of the speech looks more like a recycled old strategie briefs George found from Karl Rove. When Bush says, "these are ordinary Iraqis, mostly Sunni Arabs, who miss the privileged status they had under the regime of Saddam Hussein -- and they reject an Iraq in which they are no longer the dominant group," I can't help but think he's talking about the Dems.

I've worked it out. See, watch:

"These are ordinary Iraqis Americans, mostly Sunni Arabs Democrats, who miss the privileged status they had under the regime of Saddam Hussein Bill Clinton -- and they reject an Iraq America in which they are no longer the dominant group."

You following me? Read on...

Not all Sunnis Democrats fall into the rejectionist camp. Of those that do, most are not actively fighting us -- but some give aid and comfort to the enemy....

We believe that, over time, most rejectionists swing voters will be persuaded to support a democratic Iraq tax cuts led by a federal government that is a strong enough government to protect minority rights capital gains....

The second group that makes up the enemy in Iraq is smaller, but more determined. It contains former regime loyalists who held positions of power under Saddam Hussein Bill Clinton -- people who still harbor dreams of returning to power...

These hard-core Saddamists Democrats are trying to foment anti democratic sentiment amongst the larger Sunni community. They lack enjoy popular support and therefore cannot stop Iraq's democratic are a danger to our progress. And over time, they can be marginalized and defeated by the Iraqi people and the security forces of a free Iraq Karl's smear tactics.

Apparently Karl was too busy to help Bush out with this speech, and so George did what he used to do back at Yale--crib something together from his roommate. I mean, come on, is there any other way "rejectionists," or "Saddamists" could have gotten into the speech?