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Quotes - 100% Pure Dubya
("This is one of the most intellectually gifted presidents we've had." - Karl Rove, Jan. 19, 2005)
 
2008 and after : 2007 : 2006 : 2005 : 2004 : 2003 : 2002 : 2001 and earlier
SAWYER: Do you have one word for the Republican Party today?
DUBYA: You will exist in the future.
That's actually six words. Interview with ABC News' Diane Sawyer. Dallas, Texas, Apr. 24, 2013

MAJOR GARRETT (Fox News): Do you think this could this be a larger Bush family effort [in Haiti]? Do you plan on enlisting either your brother or your father in any of the efforts?
DUBYA: They're going to want to help. The and Laura went down there to analyze the PEPFAR program, since and we've had an interest certainly not quite as deep as Bill's. He and the Secretary of State have spent a lot of time down there. We care about it. I care about it because if you see a neighbor in need, it's important to help. And so if people do want to help, they ought to they ought to dial up one place to dial is our website, which is clintonbushhaitifund.org.
Some vintage Dubya diction offered up for the first time in a long time. Thanks for dialing up DubyaSpeak.com to view it. Washington, D.C., Jan. 18, 2010

My mother calls me my fourth brother calls him my fourth brother.
On Bill Clinton... I like the first version better. Washington, D.C., Jan. 18, 2010

He is, uhh you know, I've had a my third conversation with him, and, uhh, I, I, I, I generally mean what I say, I, I wish him all the very best. I've found him to be a very smart and engaging person.
On President-elect Barack Obama. The White House did some after-the-fact clean-up work for Dubya by changing 'generally' to 'genuinely' in the official transcript. White House, Jan. 12, 2009

And so we're going to have to work, like, with the Latino vote to say, we care about you, we hear you, and we share your values faith and family, small businesses, military vets or, you know, disproportionate more Latinos serve as a percentage of their of population in the military than any other group, if I'm not mistaken.
Dubya's outreach to Latinos hits a couple of speed bumps at the end there, Washington, D.C., Dec. 18, 2008

There is one person who wishes he could be here today and that's your former President, and America's Secretary of Defense, Bob Gates. You know, he's got an excused absence. It's not like he's over at the Dixie Chicken.
I love the last bit, but the other interesting thing to note is the "two people = one person" portion at the beginning. College Station, Texas , Dec. 12, 2008

Clearly, this guy is going to bring a great sense of family to the White House. And I hope Laura and I did the same thing.
"This guy" is President-elect Barack Obama. Dubya's always one to class things up... New York, New York, Nov. 11, 2008

In Oklahoma, a lot of people don't unders duh, don't know about health savings accounts, and one of the reason I've come down to this part of the country is because I do want people to understand they're available and they're good.
Dubya goes to Oklahoma to teach the ignorant residents of that state about health savings accounts. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Sep. 12, 2008

As you talked about banks. Now, if you're a commercial bank in America and your deposit and you have a deposit in a commercial bank in America, your deposit is insured by the federal government up to $100,000. And so, therefore, when you hear nervousness about your bank, you know, people start talking about how nervous they are about your bank's condition the depositor must understand that the federal government through the FDIC stands behind the deposit up to $100,000. And therefore, which leads me to say that if you're a depositor, you're in you're protected by the federal government.
If Dubya was trying to be reassuringly in command of reassuring facts, I don't think he succeeded. White House, Jul. 15, 2008

This took us a while to get in this problem. There is no short-term solution. I think it was in the Rose Garden where I issued this brilliant statement: If I had a magic wand. But the President doesn't have a magic wand. You just can't say, low gas.
Yeah, it wasn't just in the Rose Garden where Dubya has issued that brilliant statement. White House, Jul. 15, 2008

And so the first question that anybody running for President gets: Is this a war? Or is this like law enforcement? Is it a does this require full use of U.S. assets in order to protect the American people? As you know, I made the decision that it does require those assets. Secondly, that these are two very important fronts, both of which are important to the future of the country. And therefore, we got to succeed in both. Thirdly, one front right now is going better than the other, and that's Iraq, where we're succeeding, and our troops are coming home based upon success. And Afghanistan is a tough fight. It's a tough fight because, one, this is a state that had been just ravaged by previous wars, and there wasn't a lot of central government outreach to the people. Secondly, there is a tough enemy, and they're brutal, and they kill at the drop of a hat in order to affect behavior.
Dubya has done this over and over... And I always enjoy it when he does. White House, Jul. 15, 2008

Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter.
Dubya's attempt at a joke at the conclusion of the G8 conference in Japan. What made it fall flat (besides the person telling the joke) was its inherent truth. And the fist punch in the air and wide grin he followed it up with probably didn't help, either. Toyako, Japan, Jul. 9, 2008

Yo, Harper! The President of Nigeria.
In a flashback to a previous occasion, Dubya demonstrates his own way of getting Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's attention at the G8 conference to introduce him to Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua. Toyako, Japan, Jul. 7, 2008

Now, one thing that's interesting I think I'll you find this interesting, at least you'll play like it's interesting is this. Should the Iranian regime so I'm the guy who just talked about nukyular power, right? Should the Iranian regime do they have the sovereign right to have civilian nukyular power? So, like, if I were you, that's what I'd ask me. And the answer is, yes, they do.
Dubya engages in some role playing of the belittling variety, White House, Jul. 4, 2008

Where we see people suffer from forms of government that create hopelessness, or disease and hunger, and mosquito bites, that deny people a hopeful life, the United States must act under the theory, under the principle that to whom much is given, much is required.
I'd like to hear Dubya explain how governments create mosquito bites, Washington, D.C., Jun. 26, 2008

DUBYA: First, I want to tell you how proud I am to be the President of a nation that in which there's a lot of Philippine-Americans. They love America and they love their heritage. And I reminded the President that I am reminded of the great talent of the of our Philippine-Americans when I eat dinner at the White House.
PHILIPPINES PRESIDENT ARROYO: Yes.
DUBYA: And the chef is a great person and a really good cook, by the way, Madam President.
Dubya does precious little to avoid the interpretation that he views serving him dinner as the pinnacle of Phillipine-American achievement. Amazing. Video available here. White House, Jun. 24, 2008

Now, there are many doubters. I understand that, because there is some who say that perhaps freedom is not universal. Maybe it's only Western people that can self-govern. Maybe it's only, you know, white-guy Methodists who are capable of self government. I reject that notion.
I'm pretty sure that anyone would reject that "white-guy Methodist" notion, London, England, Jun. 16, 2008

I am honored to be here with the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, better known in the neighborhood as SeƱorita Arroz.
Dubya flashes his razor-sharp comedic skills before the Council of the Americas, Washington, D.C., May 7, 2008

And I met a guy named Tom Sawner. Now, he's an old fighter pilot, which means, umm, there's no wall he can run through, you know, he's a, he's a, you know, he's a he's a doer, an achiever, and he's got him a small business called Educational Options.
Sounds like The Decider's got him a kindred spirit called Tom Sawner, Washington, D.C., Apr. 18, 2008

Thank you, your Holiness. Awesome speech.
Rock on, Pontiff! Dubya kicks it with Pope Benedict XVI. White House, Apr. 16, 2008

The idea of trafficking human beings is abhorrent, and nobody in any civilized person who accepts that, you know, is just needs to have their head examined.
He couldn't stop at just calling it abhorrent, could he? Neptun, Romania, Apr. 2, 2008

And this is a good test for them [the Iraqis]. And of course, routing out these folks who've burrowed in society, who take advantage of the ability to be criminals, or the ability to intimidate citizens, is going to take a while.
One of numerous instances where Dubya refers to terrorists/enemies as "folks". White House, Mar. 28, 2008

I thought it was important to welcome these champs here to the White House, so that, uhh you know, it's, to encourage people to fish. There's nothin' better than fishin', I had a fantastic experience uhh with, uhh, Alton and our friend, umm, Charlie Pack. He was a he was a famous local fisherman. And, uhh, he said, do you wanna go fishin' with a fella named Jones? I say yeah, I've never heard of him, there's a lotta people named Jones. It turns out the man I was fishin' with is the wins the Bassmaster Classic.
An "aw shucks" moment with Dubya... White House, Mar. 25, 2008

I would say it's like as I explained to this fellow here that one of the lessons of the genocide in Rwanda was to take some of the early warnings signs seriously. Secondly, a clear lesson I learned in the museum was that outside forces that tend to divide people up inside their country are unbelievably counterproductive. In other words, people came from other countries I guess you'd call them colonialists and they pitted one group of people against another. And an early warning sign was and it's hard to have seen it, I readily admit, but I'm talking earlier than 1994, and earlier than the '90s was the fact that it become a habit to divide people based upon you know, in this case, whether they were Tutsi or Hutu, which eventually led to exploitation. Secondly, I would tell my successor that the United States can play a very constructive role.
In addition to doubling up on second points, Dubya makes an incredibly ironic statement, but I'm pretty sure he didn't notice. Kigali, Rwanda, Feb. 19, 2008

DUBYA: Reverend Al Sharpton, and his wife Dominique Reverend, it's good to see you.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Daughter.
DUBYA: Daughter. Daughter. I don't get them right all the time. But thank you for coming. And, Dominique, you're sure a lot prettier than your father.
Dubya adds insult to screw-up, in celebration of African-American History Month. White House, Feb. 12, 2008

Most Americans feel overtaxed, and I promise you the Democrat Party is going to field a candidate who says I'm going to raise your tax.
Note that he uses tax rather than taxes, Democrat rather than Democratic. Regarding the latter word choice, this certainly isn't the first time he's gone there. White House, Feb. 10, 2008

What's going to matter is not the past, but the future when it comes to campaigns and if the Democrat Party feels like they can win an election by focusing on me, I think they'll be making a huge tactical mistake.
Now he's on a roll, White House, Feb. 10, 2008

I think we're going to get a good bipartisan bill and so I applaud those Democrats. I'm not going after those Democrats. But there is a big part of the Democrat Party that is against giving our intelligence officers the tools necessary to protect America.
The rolling continues... White House, Feb. 10, 2008

I'm so honored that mayors from around our country have come. First of all, I want to thank you all very much for serving. I've often said being mayor is a lot tougher than being President I don't have to fill the potholes and empty the garbage.
Dubya never gets tired of this one, White House, Jan. 23, 2008

He's asking me about the checkpoints I drove through and my impression about what it was like to drive through checkpoints. I can understand why the Palestinians are frustrated driving through checkpoints. I can also understand that until confidence is gained on both sides, why the Israelis would want there to be a sense of security. In other words, they don't want a state on their border from which attacks would be launched. I can understand that. Any reasonable person can understand that.
What Dubya doesn't understand is that the checkpoints are not locations that every Palestinian can drive through. Travel is restricted. If all Palestinians were permitted to drive through the checkpoints, there probably wouldn't be the frustration that Dubya claims to understand. Ramallah, West Bank, Jan. 10, 2008

2008 and after : 2007 : 2006 : 2005 : 2004 : 2003 : 2002 : 2001 and earlier

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