Former president George W. Bush (still gets me choked up) gave his first post-White House speech yesterday, regaling invited guests in Alberta (the Texas of Canada) with stories about being president, about not being president, and about all the big topics you would expect in a GWB speech (Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo, oil).
Protestors, of course, made an appearance. As the Toronto Star reports: “Nearly 300 protesters heckled and berated those who stood in a long line to get into the tightly guarded Telus Convention Centre…. ‘He shouldn’t be here,’ said Tyler Kinch, one of the protesters outside of the [venue.] ‘The Canadian government shouldn’t let in a war criminal.’”
Normal people, on the other hand, seemed quite pleased with Mr. Bush: “[E]ven those who disagreed with Bush said the man knew how to give a good speech. ‘It was entertaining. He was a very affable guy, very friendly,’ said Peter Yates, a Calgary lawyer. Yates, a dual citizen who registered to vote in 2004 because he was so upset about the Bush administration, said the former president never backed down from his positions.”
Those positions? According to the Globe and Mail, Bush repeated his “Wall Street got drunk” line and discussed the hangover that hit last fall. Looking forward, he said, “It’s the risk-takers, not the government, that is going to pull us out of this recession.” (What’s a George Bush speech without a [sic]?)
On Iraq, the president sounded more convinced than ever that he made the right choice: “The world is better off, and the Iraqis are better off, without Saddam Hussein, no ifs, ands or buts.”
On energy: “We need oil and gas, and it’s politically incorrect to say these days, but it’s the truth.”
And when it comes to his successor, President Bush honors the Oval Office code of silence: “I want the President to succeed…. I love my country a lot more than I love politics…. I’m not going to spend my time criticizing him. There are plenty of critics in that arena.”
The remarks were about 45 minutes long, followed by Q and A. An informed source tells me the president spoke mainly from notes honed over three or four speech drafts.
