Trick or Treat

Painting by Dana Ellyn



Trick or Treat

The Following Analysis of the Speech Made by George W. Bush on October, 28, 2005, Was Completed by Linguistic and Communication Experts to Determine if His Words Were 1) Relevant to Current Events, 2) True to Fact, And 3) Not Just a Re-hashing of Every Other Speech Made by the President to a Hand-picked, Cavity-searched, Rehearsed, Die-hard Republican Audience:

Section 1:
this section at the beginning is called The Warm-Up, in this section, the President throws about information to get heads bobbing up and down in agreement – it is done by all good salespeople to make the sale easier at the end – interestingly, the President made numerous references to Al Qaeda and Islamic extremists as if he had the playbook or gameplan of these folks, interesting because if he had said information we could actually be effective in stopping these folks – Red Flag, the President referred to 9-11, this is a tell-tale sign that he is attempting to get tacit approval for his next round of actions whatever those might be – it is almost as if the President believes that the American Public does not know 9-11 has absolutely nothing to do with our being in Iraq based upon false information

Section 2:
this is The Body of the Speech of October 28, 2005, during this section George W. Bush started to connect the dots – interesting in that the President can connect the dots where there is no connection and/or dots – it is somewhat like saying, “Of course she’s a witch, she mumbles to herself. There’s your evidence. Of course, we must burn her in order to restore order to our village.” – in essence, the President is saying this, a) we are in Iraq and I will never reference that we are there based upon false information created because I requested it, b) we have spent billions of dollars that could have been used to help us at home but that’s where I want our money to go, c) the Iraqis may not want us there, but it is for their own good because Democracy is good, d) thousands of soldiers have lost their lives based upon going to war based upon false information and now that they are dead we must honor them by continuing to fight otherwise they died for nothing even though they really did die for nothing but I’m not going to talk about that – the speech only holds together if you don’t see that it is based upon circular references, illogical assumptions and just plain unintelligent meandering and pure, unadulterated salesmanship – the President has used a rehashing of every other speech he has made because he has no new information, he really does not have a plan and the only thing going for him is if it is possible to keep a fire burning about 9-11 – this is a tried and true used car sales technique where the buyer is not allowed to look at the rusted-out door panels but is ushered around the car and told how good he will look behind the wheel and that women will flock to him as if by magic, no reference is made to the engine or past problems of the car only statements playing upon the buyers emotional response – Red Flag, reference to 9-11

Section 3:
The Closing or Asking for the Sale – in this section, the President asks the American Public to take what he is selling hook, line and sinker – he wants soldiers to march around Iraq indefinitely – he does not care how many will die – these are not activities that guarantee Americans will be safer but he will not mention that – in this section he is literally racing to the finish, it is what is done when a salesman gets to the end and begins to talk really fast as he is putting the pen in your hand to sign on the dotted line – his justification for being in Iraq and for staying there are all based upon playing on the emotions of the American people – there is no meat to this speech as we say in the communication biz – it is all fluff – he might as well have Condi and Cheney and Rove on stage behind him chanting, “Remember Nine-One-One Until We’ve Won” – the President is obviously going to continue to use 9-11 for his actions in the Middle East and he is going to keep it a secret what “winning” this war means and so we are destined to stay in Iraq indefinitely and to see more innocent soldiers destroyed by the biggest con job ever to be pulled on the American Public – Red Flag, Red Flag, 9-11, 9-11

Final Analysis:
The President’s speechwriters are being paid way too much money – the President’s advisors are clearly all yes-men – perhaps his slip the other day on national television calling his wife Barbara is closer to the truth than we know


Randolph Nesbitt

Posted over on Poets Against The War