News flash: George Bush is not a particularly bright person. Here's the latest example, from the transcript of his July 4th speech:
Our first Independence Day celebration took place in a midst of a war -- a bloody and difficult struggle that would not end for six more years before America finally secured her freedom. More than two decades [sic] later, it is hard to imagine the Revolutionary War coming out any other way ...
To be fair, though, it really has been been more than two decades since the Revolutionary War (this is "press honesty"--the kind you get when the media reports that thousands of demonstrators were present at a protest of over 100,000).
Apparently the White House web site has been correcting Bush like this for years, so I went on a little scavenger hunt to see what I could find. There was this:
It's important that we train Iraqi troops. There are nearly 100,000 troops trained. The Afghan [sic] national army is a part of the army. By the way -- it's the Afghan [sic] national army that went into Najaf and did the work there.
(He can't tell Afghanistan from Iraq? Shocking!) And this:
We talked about, interestingly enough, the Darfur [sic] round. The President [Thabo Mbeki] is concerned about whether or not the World Trade Organization round will go forward.
(Ok, maybe we should give him a break on that one; it's understandable and even arguably astute to conflate the WTO with mass murder.) And then there are the Freudian slips, like this:
You know, when I campaigned here in 2000, I said, I want to be a war President. [sic]
Or this:
It is hard to plot and plan against America when you're on the run. It is hard to plot and plan America [sic] when you're hiding.
(Hiding from your falling poll numbers, the members of your own party who're deserting you in droves, the stench of your own failure and moral decay, or something else? He didn't say.) Or this:
We will create a fund with the support of international agencies, so that we can finance the cooperation with the most needy and interest [sic] countries.
(Yes, I understand how the idea of an international fund could make him think about "interest"--fixed or variable.) Or this:
Now, let me step back on Iran, itself. We have a comprehensive strategy to deal with Iraq [sic]. There's a variety of issues that we have with Iraq [sic].
(Nahh, too easy.)
Some of them seem to be cases where he accidentally let the cat out of the bag and it's hard to see that the sic is even merited, like this:
In these cases, it has been necessary to move these individuals to an environment where they can be held secretly [sic], questioned by experts, and -- when appropriate -- prosecuted for terrorist acts.
(Secret prisons? What secret prisons? I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.) Or this:
I can sign a comprehensive plan that will assure the American people that as we look forward into the 21st century that we'll be more energy dependent [sic] and good stewards of the environment.
Or this:
We need an energy bill that encourages consumption [sic] ...
Or this:
The United States and the U.S. [sic] stand together in support of the Iraqi people and the new Iraqi government, which will soon come into action.
(Yep, that's an accurate summary of everyone who still thinks we should be in Iraq.)
Finally, some of them are quite obviously self-parody, because nobody could possibly be such a dolt that they'd produce them by accident:
And as I mentioned, there was a lot of non-partisan cooperation -- kind of a rare thing in Washington. But it made sense when it come [sic] to public schools. ...
Laura and I's [sic] spirits are uplifted any time we go to a school that's working, because we understand the importance of public education in the future of our country.
I think that says it all.