Chinese word games

Interesting post from Josh Marshall on how President Bush said in a recent speech:

“We see a China that is stable and prosperous, a nation that respects the peace of its neighbors and works to secure the freedom of its own people.”

That’s how the original transcript reads. (Well, if that’s how he really sees China, what can I say?)

But then, the speech turned up on the White House Web site with the second word changed from “see” to “seek“! That’s a whole different statement, and I suspect the less-than-honest change was made to appease Bush’s far-right donors who still cling to the notion that China is ruled by a brutal dictatorship that abuses its citizens, sneers at the concept of human rights, has dangerous and self-serving ulterior motives and can never be trusted.

Hey, wait a minute….

The Discussion: 6 Comments

ah, and so the east meets the west, or shall i say the left meets the right. we can all agree on at least one thing.

what a bizarre event. has their been any other commentary from the WH on the authenticity of the statement in either form?

i’m still trying to figure out what to make of the anti-google caching deal i read about last week. you’d think the administration had all read 1984…

November 4, 2003 @ 6:25 pm | Comment

See Marshall’s post for the details. I’m not sure if anyone has confronted the White House about it. It’s easy to just attribute it to a typo, but we all know better….

November 4, 2003 @ 11:35 pm | Comment

Oh for God’s sake, its a friggin’ stenography error. It’s absolutely clear that neither Bush nor anyone senior in the administration “SEE” China that way. What possible reason would there be to say it. The friggin stenographer misheard.

As a lawyer I have transcripts made of hearings and depositions all the time. This is common. Marshall is off his rocker.

November 5, 2003 @ 9:53 am | Comment

Come on, this is incontrovertible evidence of the vast right-wing conspiracy at its most sinister! If Josh Marshall said so, it must be right.

November 5, 2003 @ 10:18 am | Comment

By God, if only he were in China, we could throw him in jail.

November 6, 2003 @ 4:11 am | Comment

That certainly wouldn’t take long.

November 6, 2003 @ 5:07 am | Comment

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