Bush Takes Aim at Democrats
by Rush Limbaugh
 
November 11, 2005
 
RUSH: This whole speech was: We're going to keep doing what we've been doing. We are winning. It is working. This whole speech was, without saying so, an attempt to refute the lies and the revisionist history that is being put out by the left. The whole speech was. It was just three paragraphs where the president took direct aim -- and if you're just joining us and if you haven't heard this, let's go to cuts 21 and 22, Mike. These are the three paragraphs that the president took direct aim at critics and the history revisionists in his speech today in Pennsylvania.

 THE PRESIDENT: Our debate at home must also be fair-minded. One of the hallmarks of a free society and what makes our country strong is that our political leaders can discuss their differences openly, even in times of war. When I made the decision to remove Saddam Hussein from power, Congress approved it with strong bipartisan support. I also recognize that some of our fellow citizens and elected officials didn't support the liberation of Iraq. And that is their right, and I respect it. As president and commander-in-chief, I accept the responsibilities and the criticisms and the consequences that come with such a solemn decision. While it's perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began. (Applause.) Some Democrats and anti-war critics are now claiming we manipulated the intelligence and misled the American people about why we went to war. These critic's are fully aware that a bipartisan Senate investigation found no evidence of political pressure to change the intelligence community's judgments related to Iraq's weapons programs. They also know that intelligence agencies from around the world agreed with our assessment of Saddam Hussein. They know the United Nations passed more than a dozen resolutions citing his development and possession of weapons of mass destruction. And many of these critics supported my opponent during the last election, who explained his position to support the resolution in the Congress this way: When I vote to give the president of the United States the authority to use force, if necessary, to disarm Saddam Hussein, it is because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a threat and a grave threat to our security. That's why more than a hundred Democrats in the House and the Senate who had access to the same intelligence voted to support removing Saddam Hussein from power.
 
RUSH: Okay. Yes. (Clapping.) Right on. Right on. Didn't name names but his former opponent is obviously John Kerry. He could have gone on. He could still be talking quoting Democrats if he wanted to be. He could still be talking quoting Democrats. There are a whole bunch of them in the US Senate that said essentially what John Kerry said. He could quote President Clinton. He could go back and quote ex-Senator Tom Daschle. He could quote any number of people. He didn't. He simply quoted Kerry, and in this next bite, he takes a stab one more, and this is the last of the three, at saying the stakes are too high and the war is real for all of this BS to be circuiting out there.

THE PRESIDENT: The stakes in the global war on terror are too high and the national interest is too important for politicians to throw out false charges. (Applause.) These baseless attacks send the wrong signal to our troops and to an enemy that is questioning America's will. As our troops fight a ruthless enemy determined to destroy our way of life, they deserve to know that their elected leaders who voted to send them to war continue to stand behind them. (Applause.) Our troops deserve to know that this support will remain firm when the going gets tough. (Applause.) And our troops deserve to know that, whatever our differences in Washington, our will is strong, our nation is united, and we will settle for nothing less than victory! (Applause.)

RUSH: Pretty forceful there, pretty forceful there in the conclusion. So that was the long-awaited presidential response to his critics today, and as I mentioned immediately after this, the media that I had a chance to check out was downplaying this thing: "It just proves that he lied. President forced to defend himself against these attacks," blah, blah, blah, blah. I just wanted to remind you of this because don't go to the mainstream press to find any validation. You're going to have to learn to validate yourselves. If you have an opinion this is a good thing and you like it, stick with it, because you're not going to find that anywhere else in the media, not the mainstream big media.