Les bushismes de l'année : 2002

"There's only one person who hugs the mothers and the widows, the wives and the kids upon the death of their loved one. Others hug but having committed the troops, I've got an additional responsibility to hug and that's me and I know what it's like." - Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2002
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"In other words, I don't think people ought to be compelled to make the decision which they think is best for their family." - Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2002
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"Sometimes, Washington is one of these towns where the person - people who think they've got the sharp elbow is the most effective person." - New Orleans, Dec. 3, 2002
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"The law I sign today directs new funds and new focus to the task of collecting vital intelligence on terrorist threats and on weapons of mass production." - Washington, D.C., Nov. 27, 2002
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"These people don't have tanks. They don't have ships. They hide in caves. They send suiciders out." - Speaking about terrorists, Portsmouth, N.H., Nov. 1, 2002

"I know something about being a government. And you've got a good one." - Stumping for Gov. Mike Huckabee, Bentonville, AR., Nov. 4, 2002

"I need to be able to move the right people to the right place at the right time to protect you, and I'm not going to accept a lousy bill out of the United Nations Senate." - South Bend, IN, Oct. 31, 2002

"John Thune has got a common-sense vision for good forest policy. I look forward to working with him in the United Nations Senate to preserve these national heritages." - Aberdeen, S.D., Oct. 31, 2002

"Any time we've got any kind of inkling that somebody is thinking about doing something to an American and something to our homeland, you've just got to know we're moving on it, to protect the United Nations Constitution, and at the same time, we're protecting you." - Aberdeen, S.D., Oct. 31, 2002

"Let me tell you my thoughts about tax relief. When your economy is kind of ooching along, it's important to let people have more of their own money." - Boston, Oct. 4, 2002

"I was proud the other day when both Republicans and Democrats stood with me in the Rose Garden to announce their support for a clear statement of purpose: you disarm, or we will." - Speaking about Saddam Hussein, Manchester, N.H., Oct. 5, 2002

"You see, the Senate wants to take away some of the powers of the administrative branch." - Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2002

"We need an energy bill that encourages consumption." - Trenton, N.J., Sept. 23, 2002

"People say, how can I help on this war against terror? How can I fight evil? You can do so by mentoring a child; by going into a shut-in's house and say I love you." - Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2002

"I'm plowed of the leadership of Chuck Grassley and Greg Ganske and Jim Leach." - Davenport, Iowa, Sept. 16, 2002

"There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on—shame on you. Fool me—you can't get fooled again." - Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002

"There's no doubt in my mind that we should allow the world worst leaders to hold America hostage, to threaten our peace, to threaten our friends and allies with the world's worst weapons." - South Bend, Ind., Sept. 5, 2002

"As a society we must demand something better, because there is no second-rate children in America." - South Bend, Indiana, Sept. 5, 2002

"So the enemy hit us, and instead of retreating, instead of filing - only filing a lawsuit, we decided not only to get after them, we decided not only to hold them to account, we decided that we were going to love our neighbor, just like we like to be loved ourself." - Louisville, Kentucky, Sept. 5, 2002

"I want to send the signal to our enemy that you have aroused a compassionate and decent and mighty nation, and we're going to hunt you down." - Kentucky, Sept. 5, 2002

"You need to tell your loved ones, the little ones in particular, that when they hear the President talking about al Qaeda, Iraq and other places, I do so because I long for peace." - Louisville, Kentucky, Sept. 5, 2002

"And [the terrorists] understand one thing about us, too - when we need to be plenty tough, we're going to be plenty tough. And they're learning another thing about America. When we need to be compassionate and loving, we can be compassionate and loving, too." - Louisville, Kentucky, Sept. 5, 2002

"We value a free press. We value freedom. And the more we value freedom, the more they hate us. That's why. That's why the enemy still exists." - Louisville, Kentucky, Sept. 5, 2002

"If you don't have any ambitions, the minimum-wage job isn't going to get you to where you want to get, for example. In other words, what is your ambitions? And oh, by the way, if that is your ambition, here's what it's going to take to achieve it." - Speech to students in Little Rock, Arkansas, Aug. 29, 2002

"See, we love - we love freedom. That's what they didn't understand. They hate things; we love things. They act out of hatred; we don't seek revenge, we seek justice out of love." - Oklahoma City, Aug. 29, 2002

"There's no cave deep enough for America, or dark enough to hide." - Oklahoma City, Aug. 29, 2002

"President Musharraf, he's still tight with us on the war against terror, and that's what I appreciate. He's a—he understands that we've got to keep al-Qaida on the run, and that by keeping him on the run, it's more likely we will bring him to justice." - Ruch, Ore., Aug. 22, 2002

"I'm a patient man. And when I say I'm a patient man, I mean I'm a patient man."

"Nothing he [Saddam Hussein] has done has convinced me - I'm confident the Secretary of Defense - that he is the kind of fellow that is willing to forgo weapons of mass destruction, is willing to be a peaceful neighbor, that is - will honor the people - the Iraqi people of all stripes, will - values human life. He hasn't convinced me, nor has he convinced my administration." - Crawford, Texas, Aug. 21, 2002

"I'm thrilled to be here in the bread basket of America because it gives me a chance to remind our fellow citizens that we have an advantage here in America—we can feed ourselves." - Stockton, Calif., Aug. 23, 2002

"There's no bigger task than protecting the homeland of our country."

"The federal government and the state government must not fear programs who change lives, but must welcome those faith-based programs for the embetterment of mankind." - Stockton, Calif., Aug. 23, 2002

"I love the idea of a school in which people come to get educated and stay in the state in which they're educated."

"There may be some tough times here in America. But this country has gone through tough times before, and we're going to do it again."

"I promise you I will listen to what has been said here, even though I wasn't here."

"I can assure you that, even though I won't be sitting through every single moment of the seminars, nor will the vice president, we will look at the summaries."

"Tommy [Thompson, Health and Human Services secretary,] is a good listener, and he's a pretty good actor, too."

"The trial lawyers are very politically powerful... But here in Texas we took them on and got some good medical - medical malpractice."

"I firmly believe the death tax is good for people from all walks of life all throughout our society." - Waco, Texas, Aug. 13, 2002

"There was no malfeance involved. This was an honest disagreement about accounting procedures... There was no malfeance, no attempt to hide anything." - White House press conference, Washington, D.C., July 8, 2002

"I also understand how tender the free enterprise system can be." - White House press conference, Washington, D.C., July 9, 2002

"Over 75 percent of white Americans own their home, and less than 50 percent of Hispanos and African Americans don't own their home. And that's a gap, that's a homeownership gap. And we've got to do something about it."- Cleveland, Ohio, July 1, 2002

"I'd rather have them sacrificing on behalf of our nation than, you know, endless hours of testimony on congressional hill."- National Security Agency, Fort Meade, Maryland, June 4, 2002

"We're working with Chancellor Schröder on what's called 10-plus-10-over-10: $10 billion from the U.S.,$10 billion from other members of the G7 over a 10-year period, to help Russia securitize the dismantling - the dismantled nuclear warheads." - Berlin, Germany, May 23, 2002

"Whether you're here by birth, or whether you're in America by choice, you contribute to the vitality of our life. And for that, we are grateful." - Washington, D.C., May 17, 2002

October 13, 2002 - October 13, 2002

"This is a nation that loves our freedom, loves our country." — Washington, D.C, May 17, 2002

"After all, a week ago, there were—Yasser Arafat was boarded up in his building in Ramallah, a building full of, evidently, German peace protestors and all kinds of people. They're now out. He's now free to show leadership, to lead the world." — Washington, D.C., May 2, 2002

"The public education system in America is one of the most important foundations of our democracy. After all, it is where children from all over America learn to be responsible citizens, and learn to have the skills necessary to take advantage of our fantastic opportunistic society." — Santa Clara, Calif., May 1, 200

"This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating." — as quoted by the New York Daily News, April 23, 2002

"I want to thank the dozens of welfare to work stories, the actual examples of people who made the firm and solemn commitment to work hard to embetter themselves." — Washington, D.C., April 18, 2002

"Love your neighbor just like you'd like to like to be loved, yourself." - Speech, as reported in the Washington Post, April 10, 2002

"Love somebody just like they'd like to be loved themselves" - Speech, as reported in the Washington Post, April 10, 2002

"Make sure our neighbors are loved just like they'd like to be loved themselves" - Speech, as reported in the Washington Post, April 10, 2002

"And so, in my State of the—my State of the Union—or state—my speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it, speech to the nation—I asked Americans to give 4,000 years—4,000 hours over the next—the rest of your life—of service to America. That's what I asked—4,000 hours." —Bridgeport, Conn., April 9, 2002

"It would be a mistake for the United States Senate to allow any kind of human cloning to come out of that chamber."—Washington, D.C., April 10, 2002

"Sometimes when I sleep at night I think of 'Hop on Pop.'" — in a speech about childhood education, Washington, D.C., April 2, 2002

"We've tripled the amount of money—I believe it's from $50 million up to $195 million available." — Lima, Peru, March 23, 2002

"We've got pockets of persistent poverty in our society, which I refuse to declare defeat—I mean, I refuse to allow them to continue on. And so one of the things that we're trying to do is to encourage a faith-based initiative to spread its wings all across America, to be able to capture this great compassionate spirit." — O'Fallon, MO., Mar. 18, 2002

"The reason one has a nuclear arsenal is to serve as a deterrence. Secondly, ours is an administration that's committed to reducing the amount of warheads. And we're in consultations now with the Russians on such a -- on this matter. We both agreed to reduce our warheads down to 22 -- 1,700 to 2,200. I talked with Sergei Ivanov yesterday, the minister of defense from Russia on this very subject. I think it's the right policy for America, and I know we can continue to do so and still keep a deterrence." - Washington, DC, March 13, 2002

"I'm not exactly aware of how fast or how not fast they're moving". - In response to a question about whether the Catholic Church has moved swiftly enough in response to recent cases of pedophelia by priests, Washington, DC, March 13, 2002

"He is -- you know, as I mention in my speeches -- I do mention the fact that this is a fellow who is willing to commit youngsters to their death. And he, himself, tries to hide, if, in fact, he's hiding at all. So I don't know where he is". - In response to a question about why the President rarely mentions Osama Bin Laden in speeches, and whether he believes Bin Laden is alive, Washington, DC, March 13, 2002

"And we've got a good, close relationship with (Russia). Got a few sticking points. We've got an issue on chickens, for example, that some of you have followed. We've made it pretty darn clear to them that I think we probably got to get this chicken issue resolved and get those chickens moving from the United States into the Russian market. We laugh, but nevertheless it is a problem, that we must honor agreements". - Press Conference, Washington, DC, March 13, 2002

"I hope they do it quickly and soon". - In response to a question of Congress passing a bill to allow borrowing from the federal retirement fund, Press Conference, Washington, DC, March 13, 2002

"We're a peaceful nation, and you know we're moving along just right and kind of having a, you know, time, and all of a sudden we get attacked. And now we're at war, but we're at war to keep the peace". - Press Conference, Washington, DC, March 13, 2002

"One of the things I've learned in my discussions and, at least, listening to the echo chamber out there in the world is that if the United States were to waver, some in the world would take a nap when it comes to the war on terror". - Press Conference, Washington, DC, March 13, 2002

"(Judge) Pickering has got a very strong record on civil rights. Just ask the people he lives with". - Press Conference, Washington, DC, March 13, 2002

BUSH: [Gen. Tommy Franks (head of U.S. Central Command)]knows the lessons of Vietnam just as well as I do. He graduated from high school in 1963, and you and I graduated in 1964. I think it's '64, wasn't it?

QUESTION: No, sir.

BUSH: Oh. You're not that old. You're not that old. I'll give you an interesting fact. I don't know if you all know this or not, speaking about Tommy. But Tommy Franks went to Midland Lee High School, class of '63. (First lady) Laura Bush went to Midland Lee High School, class of '64. That's an interesting thing for the social columns. For those of you who allow for your news gathering to slip into social items or social gossip, which sometimes happens -- it doesn't happen that much.

BUSH: As matter of fact, we helped engineer it. We were a part of the process. As to the timing, I don't know that. All I know is that things start showing up on my desk.

QUESTION: When did it start showing up on your radar screen, sir?

BUSH: Well, yes, desk or radar screen. It's the same thing. About 24 hours ago.

- in response to a question about a UN resolution regarding a future Palestinian state. Washington, DC, March 13, 2002

"There's nothing more deep than recognizing Israel's right to exist. That's the most deep thought of all. ... I can't think of anything more deep than that right." — Washington, D.C., March 13, 2002

"I understand that the unrest in the Middle East creates unrest throughout the region."—Washington, D.C., March 13, 2000

"They didn't think we were a nation that could conceivably sacrifice for something greater than our self, that we were soft, that we were so self-absorbed and so materialistic that we wouldn't defend anything we believed in. My, were they wrong. They just were reading the wrong magazine, or watching the wrong Springer show". - White House East Room event celebrating national championships won by 7 NCAA teams, March 12, 2002

At Ford's Theatre Presidential Gala: When Stevie Wonder sat down at the keyboard center stage, President Bush in the front row got very excited. He smiled and started waving at Wonder, who understandably did not respond. After a moment Bush realized his mistake and slowly dropped the errant hand back to his lap. "I know I shouldn't have," a witness told us yesterday, "but I started laughing". - As reported by Lloyd Grove in the Washington Post, March 6, 2002

During a tour, [U.S. Lt. Col. William] Miller told Bush that axes used by North Korean soldiers to kill two US servicemen in 1976 were in a "peace museum" just across the border. Shaking his head in disgust, Bush said: "No wonder I think they're evil." - Reported by Ron Fournier, Associated Press, Panmunjom, Korea, Feb. 20, 2002

"My trip to Asia begins here in Japan for an important reason. It begins here because for a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times. From that alliance has come an era of peace in the Pacific." — George W. Bush, who apparently forgot about a little something called World War II, Tokyo, Feb. 18, 2002

"He [Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi] said I want to make it very clear to you exactly what I intend to do and he talked about non-performing loans, the devaluation issue and regulatory reform and he placed equal emphasis on all three." —George W. Bush, who had meant to say "the deflation issue" rather than "the devaluation issue," and accidentally sent the Japanese Yen tumbling, Tokyo, Feb. 18, 2002

"I'm -- we're making good progress in winning the war in Afghanistan, and we've got to make good progress about helping people find work". - January 7, 2002, Meeting With Economic Advisors, The White House

"We have priorities in Washington. Defending our homeland is going to be a priority. A strong defense is a priority. But something that shouldn't be a priority is to raise your taxes. There's going to be people who say, we can't have the tax cut go through anymore. That's a tax raise. And I challenge their economics, when they say raising taxes will help the country recover. Not over my dead body will they raise your taxes". - January 5, 2002, Ontario, California

"Listen, I understand water. I grew up in Midland, Texas. There you go. You remember how much water we didn't have there". - January 5, 2002, Ontario, California