Who’s Flip-Flopping Now?

Think Progress had an interesting pair of quotes from President G. W. Bush. What a difference being a president and 5 or 6 years makes…

In 1999, George W. Bush criticized President Clinton for not setting a timetable for exiting Kosovo, and yet he refuses to apply the same standard to his war.

George W. Bush, 4/9/99:
“Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is.”

And on the specific need for a timetable, here’s what Bush said then and what he says now:

George W. Bush, 6/5/99
“I think it’s also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn.”

[ed. note: article originally ran in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on 6/5/99]

VERSUS

George W. Bush, 6/24/05:
“It doesn’t make any sense to have a timetable. You know, if you give a timetable, you’re — you’re conceding too much to the enemy.”

I guess it’s always easier to play armchair President than it is to be President.

What kills me is that those blinded by the Bush Administration’s propoganda will either never see these contraditictions or they’ll just claim that it was two different things entirely and Bush is totally and unquestionably right.

tags: George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, politics, Kosovo, Iraq, flip-flopping, Quote of the Day

One comment

1. on June 29, 2005 at 11:44 am

   Tamara said:

   I hear you, sister.

   Here’s a great quote from Salon:

   A study released in October by the Program on International Policy Attitudes found that “a large majority of Bush supporters believes that Iraq was providing substantial support to al Qaida and that clear evidence of this support has been found. A large majority believes that most experts also have this view, and a substantial majority believe that this was the conclusion of the 9/11 Commission.”

   Maybe if they turned on something other than Fox News…

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