"behold, the bush burned with fire..." — that bible thing

as is so often the case these days, after reading an article on george bush et al, i just end up wishing i hadn't. it seems never to be a good idea anymore. but the fact is, i did read this one; it seemed short and painless enough to get some basic information on thursday's news conference at the white house. the associated press put together a little rundown of some of the topics bush went over. and because it's friday and i am of particularly good humor, i figure this is as at least good for a few laugh-cause-it's-more-fun-than-crying sort of laughs.

on domestic spying, bush "...expressed reluctance to change the law to give him explicit authority to eavesdrop on conversations between people in the united states and people overseas with suspected terrorist ties. 'my concern has always been that, in an attempt to try to pass a law on something that's already legal, we'll show the enemy what we're doing,'" he said.

[oh yes, because that would be troubling. and that fearsome non-descript enemy; fear him/her/it/them/that, fear him/her/it/them/that!]

on torture, he "...said he hasn't seen a report human rights watch put out last week alleging that his administration has a deliberate strategy of abusing terror suspects during interrogations. but he said any allegation that the united states tortures people is wrong."

[no, i have not read her new novel. but i can tell you with absolute certainty that it's terrible.]

on katrina, bush commented that "...he does not want his aides to testify before congress about the government's response to the storm, including michael brown, former director of the federal emergency management agency.

'if people give me advice and they're forced to disclose that advice, it means the next time an issue comes up, i might not be able to get unvarnished advice from my advisers,' bush said. he said the white house has its own investigation to determine what went wrong."

[one more time: "if people give me advice and they're forced to disclose that advice, it means the next time an issue comes up, i might not be able to get unvarnished advice from my advisers.]

on the issue of north korea, he further urged a "...return to nuclear disarmament talks but said he wouldn't end sanctions against the country to gain that return.

the united states has imposed the sanctions because it says the north korean government is involved in counterfeiting u.s. currency and other illegal activities. north korea has demanded that the united states lift the sanctions before north korea agrees to participate in the six-nation negotiations aimed at dismantling its nuclear programs.

'there is no compromise when it comes to, you know, "hey, come back to the table so you can counterfeit our money, just, you know, counterfeit 20s and not 100s or whatever it is,"' bush said. 'i mean, no. we are going to uphold the law and protect the currency of the american people."

[can we all meet back at the table in five after we determine exactly what is keeping us from it?]

and on ambramoff, he "...said although his photograph has been taken with abramoff, he does not know him and has never had a discussion with him.

'having my picture taken with someone doesn't mean that i'm a friend with him or know him very well,' bush said. 'I have also had pictures with thousands and thousands of people. i mean ... it's part of the job of the president to shake hands with people and smile.'

[and you do it so well. will you be a friend with me?]