"Let Freedom Reign"??

[Gman]

CNN just showed the handwritten note from Condi to Bush saying the Iraq handover took place. Bush wrote, "Let Freedom Reign" which CNN called a "take on 'Let freedom ring'". I don't think so, I think that dumb, stupid ass meant to say "let freedom ring" but he can't quote it accurately. Kinda like someone that gets the lyrics to songs wrong. Jeez, that's annoying.

CNN's trying to save Bush from embarrassment over getting it wrong. They're also trying to save theirselves from untold grief if they report that Bush got it wrong.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. "let freedom rain.... in the form of bullets."

[Fovea]

2. * is not literate, by the standards of the average American.

Which is pretty damn scary, if you ask me.

[redqueen]

3. Considering average is 8th grade level or thereabouts

Yep, it's pretty damn scary indeed.

[Individualist]

4. Freudian slip

Smirky was thinking about his dictatorship when he said "reign".

[0007]

5. Talk about a joke!

How long and how many people are gonna remain in the dark, ....er.. I mean remain ignorant?

[LastDemocratInSC]

6. Actually, this means that he can't spell either

[VolcanoJen]

7. Stop it!!!! Yer killin' me!!!!

Did this seriously happen? OMFG... what a chimpish idiot.

Proof, I need proof... this is almost too rich!!

[VolcanoJen]

8. HERE'S THE NOTE!! What an ass.

[birdbrain]

10. My interpretation -

it says "Let FreeDom I Resign."

[aquart]

58. Is there a reason Condi would be irritable today?

Her handwriting is showing some temper tics. Not to mention the C in Condi indicates a serious temper.

George, I hope, is using a felt tip, otherwise the pastiosity would be scary. Not a man you can successfully borrow money from. Signs of retracing. Stomach, lung problems? Something's a physical problem in his trunk.

[wickerwoman]

61. She signs her notes "Condi"!

Am I the only person who finds that staggeringly inappropriate?

[Bread and Circus]

9. It's ironic in many ways.

But Freedom and Reign in some ways are diametrically opposing
words. Poetically, they just don't go together.

[TransitJohn]

11. What's really scary

Maybe that's what he meant to say. Not understanding that Freedom IS the abscence of reign. As in, "We're letting our 'Freedom' reign over you." The horror. The horror.

The absolute buffoonery of this man is incalculable.

LET FREEDOM REIGN!!!!!!! OR WE'LL BOMB THE FUCK OUT OF YOU!!!!!!!!! FOR FREEDOM'S SAKE!!!!!!!! FREEDOM MUST REIGN!!!!!!!!

I'm imagining that to the beat of a Slayer tune.

[funkybutt]

12. I think it may have been intentional

do such hand written memos often get released to CNN like this. Seeems fishy to me

[antiwarprofiteer]

14. precedent

Actually, this is not a Bush original. The saying "Let Freedom Reign" was first used by Bedros B. Afeyan, in a poem to Dr. Martin Luther King, jr. in 1987.

[VolcanoJen]

15. Yes, those two war-mongerers and haters of peace, Afeyan and King.

:eyes:

I'll bet you a crisp $20 (American) that Bush never heard of Bedros Afeyan, and has only a glancing knowledge of Dr. King.

[antiwarprofiteer]

17. well...

he's obviously heard the saying before. Or Cheney told him what to write. Either way, it wasn't a slip up, or the use of the wrong word or something like that.

[VolcanoJen]

21. Do you have vision directly into the President's brain?

Fascinating! What else do you see there?

[Bake]

52. Hard to tell, awfully dark in there ... n/t

Bake

[F.Gordon]

56. Yes he has..........

he's obviously heard the saying before

His daddy used this phrase in 1989 when he mis-quoted Winston Churchill.

The new world we seek is a commonwealth of free nations working in concert, a world where more and more nations enter a widening circle of freedom. In the pulpit here at the Pieterskerk, 1 year after peace was restored in Europe, Winston Churchill spoke to the people of Leiden. The allies had triumphed over tyranny. The occupation was over. After 6 years of war and devastation, Churchill said: ``The great wheel has swung full circle.'' And Europe then stood at the threshold of a new era, an era whose hope Churchill expressed in a single, simple phrase: ``Let freedom reign.''

http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/research/papers/1989/89071700.html

bush* is always using bogus WWII comparisons to Iraq, so like father ... like son... they both just make up bullshit as they go along....

Oh, and welcome to DU.

[JohnLocke]

53. That is very rude.

Nobody ever implied that Afeyan and King are like Bush. The poster was simply giving some background. Way to drive people off DU. Yeesh!! :eyes:

[funkybutt]

18. WOW...thanks for the connection

totally intentional

[Orangepeel]

45. Welcome to DU, antiwarprofiteer!

:hi:

Sorry you got such a harsh reaction to your first posts (which I happen to agree with -- there's a lot of evidence that bush is a moron without relying on this). Please join in on some other threads and you'll see that we're generally friendly here.

[ConsAreLiars]

48. The lyrics condemn ignorance and warmongering and hypocrisy

They say a lot about this criminal gang. I doubt this was a literary allusion to an obscure poem on a personal websits that the monsters want us to read.

From: http://208.177.152.139.ptr.us.xo.net/~bedrosaf/
Specifically: http://208.177.152.139/~bedrosaf/Poetry/Let%20Freedom%20Reign.html

LET FREEDOM REIGN
( To M.L.K. Jr.)

The luxury of indifference
Through the gospel of ignorance
Made virtuous

Who can love?
And what is hate?
In this blissful miasmal state?

To witness all and merely shrug
Choose to change channels
In search of hearty laugh tracks

Nations glued to little else
Beat their drums and their chests
We are free! Come the cries

This is freedom. Free at last.

[kskiska]

13. I've read where he habitually writes all his notes

with a big thick black marker. He probably grips it with his entire hand, like a kindergartner, too.

[Hubert Flottz]

16. The idiot don't have sense enough to come in out of the "Reign"!

A Walking ClusterEff! King Georgie!

[aquart]

19. Is freedom a king? Monarchs reign. And dictators.

What a very odd concept of freedom.

[antiwarprofiteer]

20. tell that to...

Bedros Afeyan. This is not Bush pulling some stupid saying out of his ass (or Cheney's, for that matter). This is an established saying and it's been used many times (by lefties too).

[melv]

22. now he passes CNN all his notes?

man, this reeks of a stage!

[tishaLA]

24. Your parentheses say it all

Glad to see you're another patriot from Flint. God bless. Or something. :eyes:

[Lex]

42. I think Bush got it from the title of his favorite album. n/t

.

[aquart]

57. Welcome to DU. Who is Bedros Afeyan?

Yes, dear, "Let freedom ring," which may be a Liberty Bell reference, is a very old established expression. "Let freedom reign" is a peculiar misapprehension of the English language which I would be sorry to see pass into the mainstream. Do many of your friends use it?

[rman]

23. "freedom can be untidy" - Rumsfeld

those compassionate conservatives and their freedom...

[shreck]

25. look it up

I did a quick search and found the phrase used MANY times. I actually believe he wrote just what he intended to. Don't believe me, google "Let Freedom Reign" and see how many hits you get.

[hiphopnation]

27. I don't believe

Shrub is familiar with all of the obscure references that are found in a google search and if youd you give him way more credit than me.

He just hasn't read far and wide enough to be familiar with the writings of black poets, rabbis, and obscure authors from small town america, which is just a few place the pharase was used.

At least I don't believe it. You want to, go ahead. :thumbsdown:

[shreck]

28. reign

That's not what I'm saying, I'm saying that "let freedom reign" is already a well known phrase, they sell lady liberty dollars with that phrase painted on them. Bush did not come across anything obscure he re-hashed an old slogan.

[hiphopnation]

32. bullshit

I, for one, have never heard this phrase used before.

My point is that, at your suggestion, I googled the phrase and I had NEVER heard of any of the poems or speeches used to reference it. I'm not saying I'm a genius, but I'm moderately intellegent which makes me heads and shoulders above Bush. I have never heard that phrase used before and, thusly, cannot believe that Shrub has.

Your defense of it is fishy. Do I smell a troll??

[shreck]

36. sure you do

The fact that you are unaware of a phrase that many other people have heard before does not suprise me. Check out the "let freedom reign" items on sale at e-bay. As I posted before, do not believe me, search for yourself.

[hiphopnation]

40. I don't think I will

I googled and found enough to convince me that this phrase is not so widespread that the pResident purposefully used it in place of "Let Freedom Ring".

Tell you what, why don't YOU go to ebay and check on your sales of such trinkets since you seem to be so intimately familiar with various items on the market with said phrase emblazoned across the front.

I'm done with you...:thumbsdown:

[shreck]

46. I'm done with you

Promise...

[hiphopnation]

47. OK so wait...

I just went to Ebay just out of pure curiosity at how ridiculous this exchange has become. Typed in the phrase and....ONE, that's right, a whopping ONE item was all they found!!! Here it is:




http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=66740&item=4309433552&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

Be honest, is this yours? The asking price is $799.00!! Wow, freedom sure don't come cheap!

Good luck with this, my friend. From everyone here at DU we hope that freedom reigns far and wide for all god-fearing Christian folk and may the dirty, swarthy, ungodly people of the world reign under terror and humility for all their days. Jesus saves, and so on.

Good luck with the rest of your time here. :thumbsup:

[VolcanoJen]

29. You seem a little upset about this.

How often do you leap to the Chimp's defense, on a daily basis?

Just curious.

[shreck]

30. listen

I'm not defending anyone, Bush pulled an old slogan out and re-hashed it. Therefore it was intentional not a mistake. Please don't read too much between the lines.

[antiwarprofiteer]

31. We're not leaping to his defense...

we're just telling you guys that this is a wide spread saying that a lot of folks use. It's quite famous. You don't have to be a poet or historian to know about it. It's like knowing the saying "Let's get read to rumble." Lots of people know that saying, if not the origins.

[VolcanoJen]

35. It's so famous, it's also been fashioned into a Nazi Skinhead album!

Since you can't prove Bush got the phrase from Dr. King, can you prove Bush didn't get the phrase from this album by some awful NeoNazi band?

HATED AND PROUD "Let Freedom Reign"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1881308

Thanks, DUer Lex, for the research in the thread above!

[shreck]

37. what

Who said Bush got it from Dr. King? Now I'm confused...

[VolcanoJen]

38. that's what antiwarprofiteer says... Dr. King or the poet Bedros Afeyan.

I was kinda responding to both of you. :D

[shreck]

39. proves my point

This proves my point, Bush ripped it off he just ripped it off exactly like he wanted to, it was not a mistake.

[VolcanoJen]

43. No, sadly, it doesn't prove anything.

You simply cannot know that Bush ripped off that saying, or that he intended to write the more common "Let Freedom Ring," and just had one of his increasingly common brain farts.

You have absolutely no idea what he was thinking when he wrote that. Nobody except the Chimp himself knows, of course, and even that's doubtful. }(

We in this thread, on the other hand, are just having good fun at his expense. What's the problem?

[DrWeird]

44. Face it. Your boy fucked up.

He's fucked up everything else in his entire life. Why act surprised he fucked this up too?

[hiphopnation]

41. Hey Jen

do you think they're the same person posing as two? Now that's clever.

We need a tombstone over here!!

[hiphopnation]

26. Drudge has it up

but isn't commenting. Even that stupid ass must know what a dumbshit * is.

[fob]

51. How about Stanford Professor condi rice's second sentence?

Letter was passed from Bremer at 10:26 Am Iraq time - condi

"Letter was passed..."?

Did he hand off his High School JV Letter in warmongering?

Did he have to leave his Scarlet M for Murder behind?

Is there a sovereignty letter that is standard? Is that what gave saddam the power? He had a frigging letter from effin' Moses or something? What is it, the deed to Mesopotamia? Maybe they took so long because saddam wouldn't sign off on his portion of sovereignty?

Where is OUR letter? I damn sure don't want that sumbitch in bush*s hands. Is ther one for Afghanistan too? Does Karzai have it? Maybe he doesn't get it until his "loans" are paid off.

WTF?

As for the Let freedom reign versus Let freedom ring, bush* boviuosly cribbed the reign from condi's "sovereign" in her first sentence. Remember, with his short attention span that's all he read.

[ronabop]

62. Just saw it an FAUX news.

Nobody is "reigning" on his parade. *sigh*

Does anybody know if kerry is at least mildly literate? Does he have a decent track record of avoiding such embarassments?

-Bop

[jokerman93]

33. I think it was an intentional corruption of the lyrics

I think it was an intentional corruption of the lyrics. Remeber all the Crazy-Cult Christers out there lurking under their ideological rocks, waiting for their sick little Kingdom to be established on earth...

Coming from anyone else, I'd pass it as a gaff, but Bush's banality has become deeply sinister to me.

[Nlighten1]

34. The artist formerly known as Prince said...

Purple reign
Purple reign

[samhonk]

49. We're handing Iraq over to France?!?!?!`

Oh, so this isn't the same "freedom" as in "freedom fries", huh?

I get it now.

[LittleApple81]

50. LET FREEDOM REIGN is a NAZI SKINHEAD song!!!!! See here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1881308

[LittleApple81]

54. Here are the lyrics and the web site:

HATED AND PROUD "Let Freedom Reign"

RED SKIN

You say that you’re proud to be working class,
and that we’ve all got to rise above
But you don’t care about your people’s heritage,
you put down the land we love
You run around in boots and braces
and you preach our rhetoric
Your mind is filled with propaganda,
full of leftist politics
The simple truth that you can’t see
is that you’ve got no right to claim being a skin
‘Cause your pride is somewhere else
not in the land you were brought up in

(chorus)
If you’re a red skin you’re red scum
For all of you, your time will come
If you’re a red skin you’re red scum
You’re our public enemy… number one

You go to all the socialist rallies,
arm in arm with the students and the queers
Living in your dream world
thinking that you’re gonna make a change
But the general public sees through you
They see how foolish you are
You can preach and demonstrate your shit
but it’s never gonna go far
We’ll never let our land be like China
Government rule with no human rights
You’re all filthy fucking traitors,
and all of you should be shot on sight

(chorus)

Drive all the red skins out of the scene
Because they don’t have a clue what being a true skin means
Take pride in yourself and pride in your land
Support your own nation don’t support the red hand


http://www.panzerfaust.com/lyrics/hnp.shtml

[catzies]

55. Has no one notice it's not even DATED???

Bremer sure high-tailed out of there in a hurry, maybe that was why the release today?

It has the time-stamp, but I have no idea if that was last night or yesterday in Iraq-or if it was pre-written somehow for Wednesday morning? :shrug:

[Piperay]

59. Either way it is so contrived

that it would be just as stupid if he had gotten it correct but chimp is such a stupid asshole he flubs up everything regardless.

[DaveSZ]

60. If Michael Moore wasn't lying:

The Saudis own a large share of AOL Time Warner, and therefore CNN.

That would make CNN little more than a Saudi/Bush puppet if true, but then we've all known that's the way things are around here for some time now.

[SidDithers]

63. Not defending Bush...

He's as dumb as a post as far as I'm concerned, but some of the responses above were downright hostile (and quite rude to the newbie posters) to the idea that "Let Freedom Reign" might be an accepted saying.

However, Let Freedom Reign was also the title of Nelson Mandela's inaugural address, in 1994.

Google "let freedom reign" and "nelson mandela".

Perhaps some clever staffer thought that there was some similarity between the delivery of Iraq from Hussein and South Africa from Apartheid? No doubt that Boosh had been instructed on what to write.

Now, back to your normally scheduled flaying of newbies.

Sid

Edit: added a missing word