Truthout, William Rivers Pitt
Of course, of course, of course, it was a ridiculous speech. Preposterous. The worst one of all, and boy howdy, that is saying something. This, after all, was the man who gave us “Bring it on” and “Mission Accomplished,” and who once was unable to think of any mistakes he might have made. Each of these was a legitimate phenomenon in every respect, to be sure, but the spectacle on Thursday night bent the definition of “absurd” into bold new shapes.
Let’s take it from the top.
Fellow citizens: For eight years, it has been my honor to serve as your president. The first decade of this new century has been a period of consequence – a time set apart. Tonight, with a thankful heart, I have asked for a final opportunity to share some thoughts on the journey we have traveled together and the future of our nation.
Translation: I like turtles.
This evening, my thoughts return to the first night I addressed you from this house – September 11, 2001.
For the record, he went through exactly 240 words before bringing up 9/11.
Over the past seven years, a new Department of Homeland Security [DHS] has been created. The military, the intelligence community and the FBI have been transformed. Our nation is equipped with new tools to monitor the terrorists’ movements, freeze their finances and break up their plots. And with strong allies at our side, we have taken the fight to the terrorists and those who support them.
Where to begin?
The DHS is a hopelessly scrambled and hyper-politicized debacle. The military has been transformed into a shadow of its former self. The intelligence community is battered and discombobulated. The FBI works for a Justice Department that belongs in the script for a screwball comedy. The new tools include torture and indefinite detention, which don’t work and are against the law. The only real ally we have left is Saudi Arabia, birthing bed of al-Qaeda-style Wahabbist terrorism. File this whole paragraph under “FAIL.”
I could feel only two things while watching this speech the other night: disgust and amazement. Disgust at the level of contempt Bush has for this country and it’s people; and amazement at the thought that Bush actually believed every word he said in that speech. It boggles the mind…
Go here to read the rest of Pitt’s dissection of Bush’s final wave of the middle finger.
TheZoo 
I couldn’t bring myself to watch it. My TV would not have survived.
Well, as I said at TP, you didn’t miss much, 5thstate. It could be summed up with, “Oh, well, I tried. Where’s my trophy?”