Quotes from the Unity Journalists of Color Convention

[russian33]

THE PRESIDENT: Tribal sovereignty means that, it's sovereign. You're a -- you've been given sovereignty, and you're viewed as a sovereign entity. And, therefore, the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities.

Q Mr. President, you remarked -- in your remarks you said that 8 million people in Afghanistan registered to vote, and as you said, exercised their God-given right to vote.

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

Q That may be a right from God, but it's not guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. In 2000, an estimated 2 million people -- half African American -- had their votes discounted, from Florida to Cook County, Illinois to other cities. (Applause.) Come on, that cuts into other questions. Are you going to order Attorney General John Ashcroft to send federal election monitors to Florida and other southern states?

THE PRESIDENT: First of all, look, I can understand why African Americans, in particular, are worried about being able to vote, since the vote had been denied for so long in the South, in particular. I understand that. And this administration wants everybody to vote.

<snip>

Just don't focus on Florida. Now, I'll talk to the governor down there to make sure it works. (Laughter.)



http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/08/20040806-1.html

[DemoTex]

1. "I'll talk to the governor down there to make sure it works. "

That's why it's called The Fix.

[Peachhead22]

2. I saw a crawl on CNN today...

...that Bush also spoke out about legacy admissions to college. Luckily I have a spare irony meter to replace the one that blew up when I read that. :)

[Cha]

3. Did you see this article about the reaction of the

Unity Journalists to Kerry?

snips~
"Democrat's speech draws hearty cheers at journalists' convention"

There was applause nearly 50 times during his address. There was laughter when he took a shot at the Bush administration by noting that "just saying there are weapons of mass destruction (in Iraq) doesn't make it so." He got a standing ovation at the end.

President Bush speaks to the conference today. "I expect there will be much less cheering," said Brian Tong, a Brisbane, Calif., TV host, though he and others interviewed said Bush would get a respectful reception"



http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-08-05-unity-usat_x.htm

[Maddy McCall]

4. Here are some good ones: The second was edited, though.

Q Good morning. My name is Mark Trahant. I'm the editorial page editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and a member of the Native American Journalist Association. (Applause.) Most school kids learn about the government in the context of city, county, state and federal. And, of course, tribal governments are not part of that at all. Mr. President, you've been a governor and a President, so you have a unique experience, looking at it from two directions. What do you think tribal sovereignty means in the 21st century, and how do we resolve conflicts between tribes and the federal and the state governments?

THE PRESIDENT: Tribal sovereignty means that, it's sovereign. You're a -- you've been given sovereignty, and you're viewed as a sovereign entity. And, therefore, the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities.

snip/

THE PRESIDENT: First of all, look, I can understand why African Americans, in particular, are worried about being able to vote, since the vote had been denied for so long in the South, in particular. I understand that. And this administration wants everybody to vote.

Now, I -- the best thing we did was to pass the Helping America Vote Act with over -- I think it's $3 billion of help to states and local governments to make sure the voting process is fair. And it's not just the South, by the way. The voting process needs help all over the country to make sure that everybody's vote counts and everybody's vote matter. (Bush actually said "Everybody vote matter.) I understand that. And that's why I was happy to work with the Congress to achieve this important piece of legislation.

snip/

THE PRESIDENT: We actually misnamed the war on terror, it ought to be the struggle against ideological extremists who do not believe in free societies who happen to use terror as a weapon to try to shake the conscience of the free world. (Laughter.)

[FrenchieCat]

5. I almost, almost....

felt sorry for George Bush. The leader of the Free World is a dumbass is the only thing I got out of those questions.

Oh Lordy, help get him out...