“May this great man Rest In Peace, and may God Bless his soul”, President Bush said (paraphrased) to the somber crowd as they lamented yet, another victim of the “Butcher of Baghdad”, Saddam Hussein. This victim, however; was not just an ordinary man — he was Nelson Mandela — an EXTRAORDINARY man. The world would not be the same without Nelson Mandela in it – his life robbed of him by the “Iraqi terr’ist”, President Bush told the grieving crowd.
Like most other murder victims of Saddam Hussein, Nelson Mandela had been born on “the wrong side of the tracks”. There was one MAJOR difference between Nelson Mandela and all other murder victims of Saddam Hussein, however. Much to President Bush’s surprise, Nelson Mandela is still alive and well and every bit as surprised as the rest of us to learn the news of his death from our “Leader Of The Free World”…
From Reuters (Yahoo! News):
Mandela still alive after embarrassing Bush remark
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Nelson Mandela is still very much alive despite an embarrassing gaffe by U.S. President George W. Bush, who alluded to the former South African leader’s death in an attempt to explain sectarian violence in Iraq.
“It’s out there. All we can do is reassure people, especially South Africans, that President Mandela is alive,” Achmat Dangor, chief executive officer of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, said as Bush’s comments received worldwide coverage.
In a speech defending his administration’s Iraq policy, Bush said former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s brutality had made it impossible for a unifying leader to emerge and stop the sectarian violence that has engulfed the Middle Eastern nation.
“I heard somebody say, Where’s Mandela?’ Well, Mandela’s dead because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas,” Bush, who has a reputation for verbal faux pas, said in a press conference in Washington on Thursday. …”
(Snip!)
“… References to his death — Mandela is now 89 and increasingly frail — are seen as insensitive in South Africa. …”
“Insensitive in South Africa”? TOUGH. Live with it. We must live with this guy’s “insensitive” comments every day of the week here in America. At least, you’ve got Nelson Mandela to lead your country…
Must be NICE.
Filing this one under “Duh!“, of COURSE…
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Some interesting blogger responses — H/T to MemeOrandum: The Newshoggers; Democrat Taylor Marsh; Shakesville
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12:55 am on September 22nd, 2007 1
*sigh*
Not you too. I think you’re one of the more respectable bloggers out there, so I’m surprised that you think Bush was speaking literally. It’s pretty apparent when you read the quote in context what Bush was referring to.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/09/20070920-2.html
Part of the reason why there is not this instant democracy in Iraq is because people are still recovering from Saddam Hussein’s brutal rule. I thought an interesting comment was made when somebody said to me, I heard somebody say, where’s Mandela? Well, Mandela is dead, because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas. He was a brutal tyrant that divided people up and split families, and people are recovering from this. So there’s a psychological recovery that is taking place. And it’s hard work for them. And I understand it’s hard work for them. Having said that, I’m not going the give them a pass when it comes to the central government’s reconciliation efforts.
As I stated before in the comments over at Taylor Marsh, Bush’s mistake was not making his point clear enough, so that he couldn’t be misconstrued. But it’s pretty apparent that he was speaking metaphorically, and was speaking about an Iraqi version of Mandela. The problem is that the Reuters reporter for some reason too his comments literally, and did not report what Bush said accurately.
And as I said before, people on both sides really need to be careful to make sure to do their own research before reporting on what they see in some newspaper, or on TV. We can’t take what the media, or politicians, report on face value. But so often I see both sides do it, of course usually when it supports their side.
As I said before I respect you more than most other bloggers out there, so I’m not too worried that you’ll correct your post. (unless I misinterpreted what you meant to convey). But this should be a lesson for all people out there not to jump to quickly on what they see in the media, before doing research on their own.
1:03 am on September 22nd, 2007 2
“… unless I misinterpreted what you meant to convey …”
I get that a lot around here
Appreciate you checking in and appreciate your nice comments, Jeff 
One issue at a time — independence, brother… it’s ALL about INDEPENDENCE… and a little about (true) LIBERALISM, as well
1:15 am on September 22nd, 2007 3
I am so sick of politicians. Hence me not commenting in a while. Tired of the bile coming up when reading about politics.
1:45 am on September 22nd, 2007 4
Somebody get me the number for FTD! I want to recall the flowers I sent to the Mandela family. This is embarassing for me.
Do ya think that FTD can change the card from deepest condolences to get well soon?
What can I say Gunny other than “Oh my God, he did it again?”
11:33 am on September 22nd, 2007 5
Ezzactly, Mat.
Old Blue – it’s been a long time!
4:38 pm on September 22nd, 2007 6
During a short break from working on a presentation for Monday, I thought I’d stop by for a few laughs. And boy did I ever get one! Are these comments serious, or do the lefties really believe what they’re saying? Or is this just another feeble attempt at dis-informing the American public and using selective editing to falsely portray the President’s comments?
Sounds like George Orwell 1984 Newspeak to me. I guess it isn’t just for the politicians anymore, the bloggers speak with forked tongue too.
10:03 am on September 23rd, 2007 7
I have to agree with JeffL: not you too. It is obvious what Bush meant in his poor way of putting it.
11:27 am on September 23rd, 2007 8
I agree with those who have said that this looks like President Bush was not speaking literally of Mandela, but rather a Mandela type to lead Iraq.
I also thought it was apparent what John Kerry meant when he said “you get stuck in Iraq.” Both instances were cases where what was said could have been said better with a different choice of (or additional) words. The only difference is that one statement allows those who dislike Kerry to ridicule him while the other allows those who dislike Bush to ridicule him.
9:34 pm on September 23rd, 2007 9
It doesn’t matter. Bush is a major embarrassment and January 20, 2009 can’t come soon enough.