Vince Avedon – 9/27/04

This page was last updated on September 27, 2004.

Bush flips and flops, too; Vince Avedon; Beaver County Times; September 27, 2004.

In a recent anti-Bush tactic, Democrats are trying to paint President Bush as a flip-flopper. It’s important to note that “flip-flopping” is not simply changing your mind occasionally. Any reasonable person changes his mind from time to time. A flip-flopper is a person who can rarely make up his mind on any issue and stick with it. We need to remember liberals also refer to President Bush as stubborn because he takes a position and sticks with it. In my mind, you can’t be stubborn and a flip-flopper.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Bush flip: ‘We’re going to keep the promise of Social Security and keep the government from raiding the Social Security surplus.’ (March 3, 2001)

“Bush flop: The New York Times reported (Feb. 6, 2002) that ‘the president’s new budget uses Social Security surpluses to pay for other programs every year through 2013, ultimately diverting more than $1.4 trillion in Social Security funds to other purposes.’”

[RWC] If there is a flip-flop here, it’s including Socialist Security taxes in general tax revenue, a practice in place for decades. I believe President Johnson began this practice in the 1960s. For the record, I don’t like this. In any case, has President Bush not kept “the promise of Socialist Security?” If not, what has been cut?

“Bush flip ‘Bush said he ... favors leaving up to a woman and her doctor the abortion question.’ (The Nation, June 15, 2000, quoting the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (March, 1978).

“Bush flop: ‘I am pro-life.’ (Oct. 3, 2000)”

[RWC] The Bush campaign claims George Bush’s 1978 comments were misrepresented by the reporter, but who knows for sure? In any case, “The Nation” article Mr. Avedon referenced stated Bush proclaimed he was pro-life at least as far back as 1994, long before the 2000 date Mr. Avedon provided. I didn’t have an opinion about abortion in the 1970s either, but sometime during the 1980s I decided it was wrong. I guess I’m a flip-flopper too.

“Bush flip: ‘So, creating a cabinet office doesn’t solve the problem. You still will have agencies within the federal government that have to be coordinated. So the answer is that creating a cabinet post doesn’t solve anything.’ (Spokesman Ari Fleischer, March 19, 2002)

“Bush flop: ‘So tonight, I ask the Congress to join me in creating a single, permanent department with an overriding and urgent mission: securing the homeland of America and protecting the American people.’ (Address to the Nation, June 6, 2002)”

[RWC] A nugget of truth used for distortion. President Bush established the Office of Homeland Security in October 2001. It’s true President Bush initially opposed the formation of a new department afterward, but whether you call it an “office” or “department” the functions and goals were the same. You are pretty hard up to use this as an example of flip-flopping.

“Bush flip: ‘‘I want justice. And there’s an old poster out West, I recall, that says, ‘Wanted: Dead or Alive.’’’ (Bush on Osama bin Laden, Sept. 17, 2001)

“Bush flop ‘I don’t know where he is. You know, I just don’t spend that much time on him ... I truly am not that concerned about him.’ (Bush press conference, March 13, 2002)”

[RWC] Note the dates of the quotes. Less than a week after 9/11, President Bush wanted to make it clear we were going after bin Laden and al-Qaida. With approximately 20,000 coalition troops still in Afghanistan, Bush is keeping his promise. Where’s the flip-flop?

The quote of March 13, 2002, was primarily for the benefit of bin Laden and al-Qaida. He was telling them, “We drove you and the Taliban out of Afghanistan and into hiding like rats.” The point was to show them disrespect and hope they would do something stupid. I believe a secondary point was to make sure Americans didn’t become so obsessed with bin Laden that we would lose our view of the big picture, the war on terror in general.

“Bush flip ‘One of the interesting things people ask me, now that we’re asking questions, is, can you ever win the war on terror? Of course, you can.’ (Bush, April 13, 2004)

“Bush flop: ‘I don’t think you can win (the war on terror).’ (Bush, Aug. 30, 2004)

“Bush flip: ‘Make no mistake about it, we are winning and we will win (the war on terror).’ (Bush, Aug. 31, 2004)”

[RWC] Mr. Avedon wants us to believe President Bush believes the war on terror is not winnable. That is not true. President Bush was referring to the unconventional nature of the war on terror. Here’s what Bush said. “Can we win? I don’t think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that the -- those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world.” What President Bush meant was that unlike a conventional war, the war on terror wouldn’t end with the signing of a treaty.

Mr. Avedon knew what President Bush meant, and so did everyone else.

“Now I realize why Bush has very few press conferences.”

[RWC] For what it’s worth, I don’t necessarily buy the “very few press conferences” claim. I’ve seen President Bush field questions from the press several times in the last couple of weeks alone.

In any case, if Mr. Avedon knows why President Bush doesn’t have a lot of press conferences, perhaps he can tell us why John Kerry – during the last three months of a presidential campaign – didn’t hold a press conference for nearly six weeks.