Does he think we're stupid?

Taking a break from some system maintenance on my office PC, I caught a few minutes of President Bush's speech on Wednesday. After the obligatory thank-yous, he opened with this:

I've come to discuss an issue of vital importance to the American people, and that is: Victory in the war on terror. On September the 11th, 2001, our nation awoke to a sudden attack, and we accepted new responsibilities. We are confronting new dangers with firm resolve. We're hunting down the terrorists and their supporters. We will fight this war without wavering -- and we will prevail.

In the war on terror, Iraq is now the central front.

Where to begin? First, there is the obvious conflation of the attacks of September 11 and Iraq, which had nothing to do with one another. Then, he describes Iraq as the central front in the war on terror, when, if this is so, it is only because of our own intervention.

These facts should be well established. It might make one wonder why Bush persists in repeating such nonsense, but this is not why I ask if he thinks we are stupid.

It's the little things I notice. Resolve. Victory. War on terror. Prevail. Freedom. These are but a few of the words and phrases that I hear Bush say not just repeatedly, but repetitively. These aren't words from Bush's natural speech patterns, and I'll wager they aren't even Bush's words. They sound more like something cooked up by his political brain, Karl Rove... or more likely, Frank Luntz.

Frank who? He might not be the most familiar name in politics, but he's indispensable in keeping his Republican clients on message. An example of his work can be found by following this link. Note Luntz's trademark "words that work" gimmick. You can find more of the same in his earlier Iraq talking points. One lesson Luntz tries to instill in his clients is to always, always, always, use the words that work. But who is he kidding? When I hear Bush say: "rejectionists and Saddamists [Mark M: new word!!!] and terrorists" or: "September the 11th changed our country" or: "a liberated [democratic] Iraq could show the power of freedom to transform the Middle East," I know he's using sophisticated marketing techniques to sell questionable goods. Your old Jedi mind trick will not work on me, boy.