THE BRILLIANCE OF PRESIDENT BUSH
msnbc.com
Bush beats himself to the punch line
President makes light
of ‘Bushisms’
at media dinner
President Bush holds up a book on "Bushisms" as
he addresses the Radio & Television
Correspondents’ Association annual dinner Thursday
night. Click the button to watch the video.
MSNBC NEWS SERVICES
WASHINGTON, March 30 — When President Bush calls a
news conference, the world listens — and laughs.
‘In my sentences, I go
where no man has
gone before. I’ve
coined new words like
Hispanically.’
— PRESIDENT BUSH
STANDING IN FRONT of many of those who have made an
issue of his trouble with words, he gave a mock-impassioned
defense of “Bushisms” at the Radio & Television Correspondents’
Association annual dinner Thursday night, reciting a hefty
sampling of his past verbal missteps.
His audience loved it, proving perhaps, as Bush deadpanned,
that journalists should be grateful for his presidency.
Those who would poke fun at Bush’s idiosyncrasies first must
beat him to the punch lines, as he demonstrated at the black-tie
media dinner — and earlier Thursday, in the second solo news
conference of his presidency.
Bush said the highbrow journalists who give him a tough time
for mangling the English language — he cited “Is our children
learning?” — just aren’t savvy enough to keep pace with his
linguistic brilliance.
I’VE COINED NEW WORDS
“In my sentences, I go where no man has gone before,” he said.
The new president has creatively given the English language
such gifts as “inebriating,” a new synonym for exhilarating. And
“Grecians,” which can be used in place of the word “Greeks.”
“I’ve coined new
words, like ‘Hispanically.’
I’ve expanded the definition
of words themselves using
‘vulcanize’ when I meant
‘polarize’ ... and instead of
‘barriers and tariffs,’ I said
‘terriers and bariffs.’ And
you know what? Life goes
on.”
He attributed some of
his ingenuity to his strong
religious faith. Bush recalled
the first time he chatted with
Attorney General John Ashcroft. Ashcroft thought he was
speaking in tongues, Bush said.
The speech was Bush’s third attempt in recent weeks to make
jokes about his stumbles. At a dinner sponsored last week by the
Gridiron Club, a 116-year-old media institution, he told the audience
that he is smart enough to map the human genome. Earlier
Thursday, he used the word “misunderestimate” — and then told
reporters he was warming up for his speech.
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And it’s not just his genius as a wordsmith that reporters
should applaud, Bush said. It’s the power of his ideas.
“I know human beings and fish can coexist,” Bush said,
quoting himself. “You see, anyone can give you a coherent
sentence. But this takes things to an entirely different dimension.”
Later, Bush adopted a serious tone, and told the audience to
keep his verbal glitches in perspective.
“My wife and kids still love me. The military still protects our
shores. People still go out and have fun, like we’re doing here
tonight.”
Then he thanked the crowd for their “horspitality.”
IT’S A GAS
At his news conference, in the middle of a long answer about
his $1.6 trillion tax cut proposal and his budget plan, Bush barely
missed a beat when the chirp of a pager intruded.
“One-point-six is the size that I think is right,” he said. “And
we’ve had a lot of discussion here in Washington about whether
it’s too big or too small. Nothing has changed my opinion about the
size of the package I sent. It’s the right size. Don’t worry about the
beeper violation.”
Pagers and cellular telephones are Bush’s pet peeves.
Reporters are instructed to turn them off in advance and Bush
recently chastised an aide for failing to enforce the policy.
“There’s gas in our hemisphere,” Bush declared in response to
a question about possible oil drilling in an Arctic wildlife preserve.
After a pause, he drew laughter when he added: “I’d like it to be
American gas.”
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Bush preferred
talking to reporters informally rather than in the elaborate prime-time
television events in the East Room favored by many of his
predecessors. His father, former President George Bush, also opted
for more informal settings.
“He always reserves the right to come down here on short
notice,” Fleischer said, referring to the briefing room. “The
president continues to be accessible, and that will be his
approach.”
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. |
