I found the “Political Capital” Shrub speech I and others were looking for (Thanks Hetty).
There are Windows and Real clips available, but nothing you can download.
I’d still prefer a copy from one of you so keep looking everybody, ok?
There’s also a transcription available (“More” below).
It’s even more frightening to read it in print.
Apparently, he’s enjoying himself madly. (Emphasis on madly.)
How can he laugh and crack jokes when he’s going Roman on Fallujah, killing thousands of innocents, and sending 10,000 of our troops to their death in the process?
He’s also decided that our “Free Press” only needs to have one question answered at a time now.
He also hasn’t bothered to figure out how much the war will cost, or how many troops it’s going to take to do the job.
Incredible that he hasn’t felt the need to do President work while campaigning while we’re casually at War on the other side of the globe. The War’s like a back drop to him. Like “Made In America.”
He’s also lying about when he says that he hasn’t heard from anyone in the army that they need more troops. They’ve been saying that since before we made our first attack. The estimates were 200-300,000 soldiers would be needed to do the jjob. (It’s all in the Rumsfeld’s War program on PBS’s Frontline.
Q Would you like it? Now that the political volatility is off the issue because the election is over, I’d like to ask you about troop levels in Iraq in the next couple of months leading up to elections. The Pentagon already has a plan to extend tours of duty for some 6,500 U.S. troops. How many more will be needed to provide security in Iraq for elections, seeing as how the Iraqi troops that you’re trying to train up are pretty slow coming on line?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, first of all, the — we are making good progress in training the Iraqi troops. There will be 125,000 of them trained by election time. Secondly, I have yet to — I have not sat down with our Secretary of Defense talking about troop levels. I read some reports during the course of the campaign where some were speculating in the press corps about the number of troops needed to protect elections. That has not been brought to my attention yet.
And so I would caution you that what you have either read about or reported was pure speculation thus far. These elections are important, and we will respond, John, to requests of our commanders on the ground. And I have yet to hear from our commanders on the ground that they need more troops…
Q Do you feel more free, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, in terms of feeling free, well, I don’t think you’ll let me be too free. There’s accountability and there are constraints on the presidency, as there should be in any system. I feel — I feel it is necessary to move an agenda that I told the American people I would move. Something refreshing about coming off an election, even more refreshing since we all got some sleep last night, but there’s — you go out and you make your case, and you tell the people this is what I intend to do. And after hundreds of speeches and three debates and interviews and the whole process, where you keep basically saying the same thing over and over again, that when you win, there is a feeling that the people have spoken and embraced your point of view, and that’s what I intend to tell the Congress, that I made it clear what I intend to do as the President, now let’s work to — and the people made it clear what they wanted, now let’s work together.
And it’s one of the wonderful — it’s like earning capital. You asked, do I feel free. Let me put it to you this way: I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it. It is my style. That’s what happened in the — after the 2000 election, I earned some capital. I’ve earned capital in this election — and I’m going to spend it for what I told the people I’d spend it on, which is — you’ve heard the agenda: Social Security and tax reform, moving this economy forward, education, fighting and winning the war on terror…
Listen, thank you all. I look forward to working with you. I’ve got a question for you. How many of you are going to be here for a second term? Please raise your hand. (Laughter.)
Good. Gosh, we’re going to have a lot of fun, then. Thank you all.