On Bolton and the UN
THE PRESIDENT: You know, I thought -- I thought John Bolton was going to get an up or down vote on the Senate floor, just like he deserves an up or down vote on the Senate floor, and clearly he's got the votes to get confirmed. And so I was disappointed that once again, the leadership there in the Senate didn't give him an up or down vote. And the reason it's important to have an up or down vote is because we need to get our ambassador to the United Nations to help start reforming that important organization.
On North Korea
THE PRESIDENT: Well, then let's see -- if it's the wrong -- if diplomacy is the wrong approach, I guess that means military. That's how I view it -- it's either diplomacy or military. And I am for the diplomacy approach. And so, for those who say that we ought to be using our military to solve the problem, I would say that, while all options are on the table, we've got -- we've got a ways to go to solve this diplomatically --
On China
And so China is a fascinating country that is significant in its size. Its economy is still small, but growing. But, as well, I believe we have an obligation to remind the Chinese that any hopeful society is one in which there's more than just economic freedom, that there's religious freedom and freedom of the press. And so, in my meetings with the different Chinese leaders with whom I've had the honor of meeting, I've always brought up issues such as the Dalai Lama, or the Catholic Church's inability to get a bishop into the country, or the need for the country not to fear evangelicals, but to understand religious freedom leads to peace. And so I'll continue doing that so long as I'm the President, and at the same time help deal with this very complex relationship.
So, to the UN, we want to export change via vitrolic heavy-handedness, to North Korea, a plate of stuttering waffles and to China... well, they get religion & evangelicals.
Posted by kerry at June 1, 2005 02:18 AM | TrackBackIt never ceases to amaze me how much Dubya's speeches sound like a bad sixth grade essay. "China is a fascinating country that is significant in its size. Its economy is still small, but growing." We truly are blessed to have a leader capable of such deep insights. What a paragon of wisdom.
And will someone please take that goddamn 'up or down vote' meme out behind the shed and shoot it? Just 'cause Dubya pulls some psycho shit stain out of his Foggy Bottom doesn't mean Congress needs to fall to their knees worshipping it.
Posted by: Peter Dubuque at June 1, 2005 08:14 AMIt's worse when you hear him deliver it. It becomes more 5th grade than 6th grade.
Posted by: kerry at June 1, 2005 09:16 AMAnd then he gets that stupid smirk like a 5th grader who didn't do his homework and got called on in class by the teacher, who can't believe he got away with bluffing his way through instead of being sent to the principal's office.
I can almost see him high-fiving Karl Rove as soon as the cameras get switched off.
Posted by: Peter Dubuque at June 1, 2005 09:51 AM