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American Morning
Analysis of President Bush's Speech
Aired May 02, 2003 - 07:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back to the speech last night, a careful look at the choice of words, what was said and not said. And for that, Jeff Greenfield is with us again this morning on AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Good morning.
HEMMER: What did you hear in this speech last night?
GREENFIELD: There were a lot of different messages in this speech, as we've been hearing. There was a message to the troops for coming home. There was a message to the country, all right, we're going to put aside temporarily the military aspect of my presidency and begin to turn the economy around.
I heard something that I think the rest of the world might be listening to, and that was that this was an extremely tough speech. If you're in one of the ministries in the Muslim world, let's say, the message I think both of where the speech was given and its words, were: We are stronger than anyone else and we are prepared to use that force when we are threatened.
Unlike his dad, who, as I mentioned here a couple of days ago, talked a lot about diplomacy and the U.N. in his victory speech, this was about strength. And I think that's why he gave it where he did, surrounded by fighting men, and what he said, what he said.
Listen to some of the words, please.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You have shown the world the skill and the might of the American armed forces.
America and our coalition will finish what we have begun.
With those attacks, the terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States, and war is what they got.
We will answer threats to our security, and we will defend the peace.
We will continue to hunt down the enemy before he can strike.
(END VIDEO CLIP) GREENFIELD: Now, in the run-up to the war, we heard that some in the administration were convinced that a strong show of force would yield huge dividends, getting nations like Syria, maybe even like Saudi Arabia, an ostensible ally, to back off from supporting terror directly or indirectly. They remembered what Osama bin Laden said about people who favored the strong horse over the weak horse.
And this speech, Bill, I think seems to be evidence that the administration may be embracing that idea; that showing the male fist is going to be a kind of permanent part of this administration's policy.
HEMMER: You mentioned the word "strong" twice in that. It was almost as if, as he walks up to this podium last night, primetime on the East Coast, he's saying to the world: America has been waiting for this battle. We have now done it, we've shown it that we are bigger and stronger, and bring it on if you want to counter us again.
GREENFIELD: I think the idea that we were hearing in those months that if you show that force, nations that aren't sure whether they can play fast and loose with America's enemies are going to back off. And I just can't help but think that the words and the images of yesterday were talking about that.
HEMMER: Images, I think, is very critical. Dana Bash down at the White House calls this the "anti-Dukakis moment." If you go back to the campaign of 1988, in which really a lot of people think sunk Michael Dukakis' hopes of winning the White House riding around in...
GREENFIELD: Michael Dukakis in a tank. Look, this guy flew planes in the Air National Guard, and I think, you know, if you go back to the 2000 election, a lot of people think it was Bush's persona that got him to that tie that he had with Al Gore, and, this -- you know, they're obviously licking their chops in the political arm of the White House.
HEMMER: Thanks, Jeff. We'll talk later this morning, OK? Jeff Greenfield here on AMERICAN MORNING.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired May 2, 2003 - 07:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back to the speech last night, a careful look at the choice of words, what was said and not said. And for that, Jeff Greenfield is with us again this morning on AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Good morning.
HEMMER: What did you hear in this speech last night?
GREENFIELD: There were a lot of different messages in this speech, as we've been hearing. There was a message to the troops for coming home. There was a message to the country, all right, we're going to put aside temporarily the military aspect of my presidency and begin to turn the economy around.
I heard something that I think the rest of the world might be listening to, and that was that this was an extremely tough speech. If you're in one of the ministries in the Muslim world, let's say, the message I think both of where the speech was given and its words, were: We are stronger than anyone else and we are prepared to use that force when we are threatened.
Unlike his dad, who, as I mentioned here a couple of days ago, talked a lot about diplomacy and the U.N. in his victory speech, this was about strength. And I think that's why he gave it where he did, surrounded by fighting men, and what he said, what he said.
Listen to some of the words, please.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You have shown the world the skill and the might of the American armed forces.
America and our coalition will finish what we have begun.
With those attacks, the terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States, and war is what they got.
We will answer threats to our security, and we will defend the peace.
We will continue to hunt down the enemy before he can strike.
(END VIDEO CLIP) GREENFIELD: Now, in the run-up to the war, we heard that some in the administration were convinced that a strong show of force would yield huge dividends, getting nations like Syria, maybe even like Saudi Arabia, an ostensible ally, to back off from supporting terror directly or indirectly. They remembered what Osama bin Laden said about people who favored the strong horse over the weak horse.
And this speech, Bill, I think seems to be evidence that the administration may be embracing that idea; that showing the male fist is going to be a kind of permanent part of this administration's policy.
HEMMER: You mentioned the word "strong" twice in that. It was almost as if, as he walks up to this podium last night, primetime on the East Coast, he's saying to the world: America has been waiting for this battle. We have now done it, we've shown it that we are bigger and stronger, and bring it on if you want to counter us again.
GREENFIELD: I think the idea that we were hearing in those months that if you show that force, nations that aren't sure whether they can play fast and loose with America's enemies are going to back off. And I just can't help but think that the words and the images of yesterday were talking about that.
HEMMER: Images, I think, is very critical. Dana Bash down at the White House calls this the "anti-Dukakis moment." If you go back to the campaign of 1988, in which really a lot of people think sunk Michael Dukakis' hopes of winning the White House riding around in...
GREENFIELD: Michael Dukakis in a tank. Look, this guy flew planes in the Air National Guard, and I think, you know, if you go back to the 2000 election, a lot of people think it was Bush's persona that got him to that tie that he had with Al Gore, and, this -- you know, they're obviously licking their chops in the political arm of the White House.
HEMMER: Thanks, Jeff. We'll talk later this morning, OK? Jeff Greenfield here on AMERICAN MORNING.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
