Friday, January 26, 2007
Apparently Bush is unfamiliar with the legend:From CBS News we learn: In an interview, Pelosi also said she was puzzled by what she considered the president's minimalist explanation for his confidence in the new surge of 21,500 U.S. troops that he has presented as the crux of a new "way forward" for U.S. forces in Iraq.
"He's tried this two times — it's failed twice," the California Democrat said. "I asked him at the White House, 'Mr. President, why do you think this time it's going to work?' And he said, 'Because I told them it had to.' " What legend does this remind oneself of? That of Canute the Great: Canute is perhaps best remembered for the legend of how he commanded the waves to go back. According to the legend, he grew tired of flattery from his courtiers. When one such flatterer gushed that the king could even command the obedience of the sea, Canute proved him wrong by practical demonstration [...] to demonstrate that even a king's powers have limits.
posted by Quiddity at 1/26/2007 09:00:00 AM
5 comments
Quiddity, you missed the next comment in the Pelosi-Bush exchange, which makes it even better:
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PELOSI: He's tried this two times — it's failed twice. I asked him at the White House, 'Mr. President, why do you think this time it's going to work?'
BUSH: Because I told them it had to.
PELOSI: Why didn't you tell them that the other two times?
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http://americablog.blogspot.com/2007/01/its-even-better-than-kos-reports.html
As reported to John Avarosis by Debbie Wasserman-Schulz (D-FL).
So you're saying Bush is a bit of a Cnut?
The version I've always heard is that he was a bit senile and power-crazed, so thought the waves would obey him. Not sure if he did coke in his 20s, though.
anon: My understanding is that the senile version of the legend (that he actually did believe he had great powers) was a slander. And in any event the legend (even the one that has a "wise Cnut") was first recorded centuries after his rule.
Actually, today there was a glimmer of hope. It seems that Moktada Sadr (sp?) is on board with the new "pacification" scheme. It is probably because he is intimiated by the surge. He is either a convert or he is just biding his time until the US miltary leaves. But for now he seems tamed.
(I should preface all this -- so that you know where I'm cominng from -- by saying that I was against the war before it started and that Bush & Cheney should be sent to the Hague for a war crimes trial.)
Moqtada will sit still for as long as he needs to-remember the Great Weapon Turn-In, where they could get cash for their guns? Moqtada's boys turned in their older weaponry and got some green for buying better stuff. For a young man, he's proven himself to be a better than average chess player-which means that Chimpy's going to lose to him, every time.
As far as El Shrubbo telling them it has to work? Well hell, he is the Decider, isn't he?
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