Let no one say I don’t earn my Patreon money. For today’s article I’m sitting down to watch a one hour, 23-minute video on Facebook, the only currently available footage of the complete Veterans Day event in which George W Bush and his wife Laura were given the $100,000 Liberty Medal by Joe Biden at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center. I’ll write the highlights of the ceremony with the time stamps from the video for posterity.
01:00 – Some vacuous douchebag at the podium introduces a woman in military garb named Cynthia McCloud, the superintendent of Independence National Historical Park. When the applause fades, you can hear shouting and whistles being blown in the background which remain very audible throughout the duration of the video. These are the sounds of the demonstration outside by About Face, a veterans organization protesting Bush’s award. You can watch a video of their demonstration here.
01:15 – “Congratulations to President George W Bush,” says McCloud, because for some stupid fucking reason US politicians keep their titles for a lifetime like royalty after vacating their positions. “And to Mrs Laura Bush, for your Liberty Medal award. The award reflects your significant work with veterans, supporting especially their transition to civilian life.”
No word on the fact that Bush is personally responsible for the struggles of most of those war veterans.
02:30 – After some gibberish about ringing bells in celebration of the end of the first World War, McCloud casually mentions how it was called “The great war to end all wars” at the time. No remark on how today’s award recipient launched two full-scale ground invasion wars in his first term in office to no one’s benefit and for no legitimate reason whatsoever.
05:00 – “There isn’t a better time or place to honor President and Mrs Bush for their work with veterans than right here at the birthplace of our country.”
05:30 – Vacuous douchebag is back behind the podium thanking rich pricks who made the event possible. Names a chairman of a law firm, the president of a bank, a chairman of a real estate funds firm, a president of a university, and late billionaire Richard DeVos, who was the chairman of the executive committee of the National Constitution Center and a generous donor to Republican candidates and conservative think tanks. His daughter in-law is Betsy DeVos, the Trump administration’s Secretary of Education. The deceased oligarch gets a moment of silence at 7:40.
8:30 – A video presentation by Citizens Bank and Stradley Ronon talks about “how lucky we are to live in a government by the people, for the people, and of the people.” Talks about how people around the world long for the freedoms enjoyed by citizens of a representative democracy. Dubya is backstage with an erection.
11:30 – Trumpets announce the arrival of Biden and the Bushes, because screw pretending America doesn’t have royalty. George stands awkwardly while the national anthem plays.
#VIDEO: Protester interrupts Liberty Medal ceremony inside National @ConstitutionCtr; ceremony honors Former President George W. Bush and Laura Bush for their commitment to veterans
@CBSPhilly pic.twitter.com/px4tWENKeA— Chantee Lans (@ChanteeLans) November 11, 2018
20:40 – Demonstrator Stacey Bannerman can be heard interrupting a sermon about the First Amendment by National Constitution Center president and CEO Jeffrey Rosen. Camera pans to Bannerman being escorted out of the building by security while Rosen makes a comment about protesting “respectfully and civilly in accordance with our First Amendment values.” Audience screams and applauds like teenagers at a concert. Bush and Biden laugh. Bannerman was far more civil and respectful than anyone on that stage deserved.
At the #LibertyMedal ceremony, a speaker praises the First Amendment.
Outside, @VetsAboutFace peacefully assemble.
Inside, a protester voices their opinion. They're removed.
Bush and Biden laugh on stage. pic.twitter.com/dC3CEdXCml
— jordan (@JordanUhl) November 11, 2018
22:30 – Rosen: “After leaving office, President Bush said he would dedicate the rest of his life to serving veterans, and so he has.” Not as well as he’d be serving them by rotting in a cell at the Hague.
27:00 – University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann gushes about the esteemed war criminal’s paintings and his “eye-riveting, heart-wrenching book.”
31:15 – Two veterans are paraded before the crowd, which inexplicably bursts into applause when one of them says she was diagnosed with PTSD and depression and pushed away family and friends. Much time spent talking about mountain biking and golf tournaments helping vets recover from war trauma.
43:20 – Former Vice President and current presidential hopeful Biden takes the podium and magnanimously explains how he calls the US Defense Department every single morning to find out the exact number of US troops who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. Misuses the word “generically”. Expresses no interest in number of people killed by US troops, nor in the destruction he himself helped sow in Libya and Syria. Protesters outside must know Biden’s on; they’re louder now.
While presenting the #LibertyMedal to George W. Bush, Joe Biden talks about the number of troops killed in our endless wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
He does not include the hundreds of thousands of innocent people killed *BY* the U.S. Military.#VeteransDay pic.twitter.com/tIlMr3vdG8
— jordan (@JordanUhl) November 11, 2018
48:00 – Biden says he “always respected” Bush during his administration, presumably even while he was getting countless thousands murdered for no legitimate reason and after it was public knowledge that Iraq had been invaded based on lies. Makes an oblique reference to partisan dynamics in the age of Trump, calling the way opposing parties interact with one another today “demeaning”.
Protesters get louder and louder throughout Biden’s speech.
57:30 – Biden announces he’ll be giving the Bushes Philadelphia Eagles jerseys on behalf of his wife Jill, to the thunderous applause of the audience. God this is such a disgusting wank fest. He gives the mass murderer and its wife their damn medals.
1:00:00 – Laura gives a polite, uneventful speech. Who cares.
1:10:30 – The man himself takes the podium and says, “Laura and I are the second and third members of our family to have received this award. The most deserving, of course, was the first, and I am proud to follow in my dad’s footsteps once again.”
Dubya adds that both his father and his brother Jeb have served as the chairmen of the National Constitution Center, which, again, is the center at which he is receiving the award. Biden is the chairman presently. What the fuck am I even watching? What is this incestuous, narcissistic circle jerk? Does the National Constitution Center exist for any other reason than for American royalty to suck each other’s dicks with golden trophies swinging from their necks? The end of this video can’t come fast enough.
https://twitter.com/organize2win/status/1061751034605944832
1:12:00 – Bush pays his respects to the late warmongering psychopath John McCain, because –get this– McCain was last year’s recipient of this same award. I can’t even fucking fuck fuck.
“This is a man who’d been to the darkest places as a crim- uh, a prisoner of war,” Bush said of McCain. He almost said criminal. Okay, I’m glad I kept watching. That was definitely worth it.
And that is pretty much it for the highlights, my brothers and sisters. Bush babbles about his paintings and how much he loves the United States military, finishes with a “May God bless our veterans, and may God continue to bless the United States of America,” and he’s out of there.
Well, that was awful, but someone had to do it. I’m going to go interact with as many normal human beings as I can now to remember how they talk, then have a long, long shower.
HAHAHAHAHA!! Oh my god. https://t.co/zDln8ryiHa
— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) November 12, 2018
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31 responses to “I Watched Joe Biden Give An Award To George W Bush So You Don’t Have To”
Well I certainly wouldn’t have felt I “had to” watch this offensive tripe, but I read your report anyway because you are always worth reading. Started laughing so much at the point where you lost it–around the one hour mark, that my husband came to see what was so funny, and when I tried to tell him I laughed so hysterically my dog looked at me in concern. Yep, very funny but my laughter so often has a hysterical edge these days, because I’m stuck in the US and can’t get out.
I really appreciate the eloquent disgust you bring to writing about these things. Thank you so much.
I sent this to a friend who had been persuaded Joe Biden was a good guy, whom I’ve tried to persuade otherwise. Your writing about this “abomination” (friend’s reaction) did it. Thanks again.
There’s something truly sick about a war criminal getting an award for helping veterans. Sorta makes you question everything about the world. As if it couldn’t be any worse, creepy Joe Biden is probably a pedophile.
LOL, but it’s kind of sad in a way that it’s been so long that we haven’t gotten to enjoy George Bush’s bloopers. Ever since he retired to paint his feet in his bath tub.. Caitlin Johnstone actually reminds me of the famous Molly Ivins. Remember the good ole’ days when Commentator Ivins so gleefully put out her collection of “Bushisms,” his malapropisms and mangled phrases that Ivins had kept track of for years?
We didn’t know it back then but those were the good ole’ days in other ways as Bush and his sidekick Cheney had been able to launch (only) two wars (on the defenseless populations of Afghanistan and Iraq as the Bush Admin failed on the 3rd, their attempt to launch war on Iran). It took the more articulate, smooth talking Obama-Clinton to engage in regime change in Ukraine and add at least 4 more wars (Libya, Syria, Yemen and illegal drone bombing all over, outside battlefields). Now Trump, arguably the least articulate (which seems to be why he’s so hated by the pseudo liberal intelliectuals and DC Establishment) is nonetheless not only pushing steadfastly to war on Iran (with a big assist from top neocon maniplator Bolton and in compliance with what Bibi and the Saudi murdering prince have told him to do) but he has effectively re-entrenched the U.S. in “Cold War” and nuclear “chicken” confrontation with Russia and China. Trump’s singular feat is that he has somehow deftly managed to dupe the Democrats into pushing for more war so there is no further opposition.
Ironically, despite the pretense of being all three presidents’ main nemesis, John McCain’s dying wish to ignite the planet in World War III may come true! And that is where our laughing at these warhawk presidential bloopers and their bizarre, incestuous official medal adornment spectacles will come to an end.
Biden has no clothes, no balls, and no conscience and no memory. A wonderfully apt piece of journalistic disgust, Caitlin!
More proof that there is no God. We’re just a turd in space.
Caitlin, if there was any way to thank you enough for doing this morbidly disastrous task for us so we didn’t have to, I would! You are a shining light of truth in a dark nasty corner inhabited by the greedy and the powerful! Blessings to you and yours, you never fail to amaze me with your strength!
Priceless, Caitlin. You write the kinds of things I say while watching on TV some similar wanking programs with Far right ideologues. Brava!
“Let no one say I don’t earn my Patreon money. For today’s article I’m sitting down to watch a one hour, 23-minute video on Facebook, the only currently available footage of the complete Veterans Day event in which George W Bush and his wife Laura were given the $100,000 Liberty Medal by Joe Biden at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center. I’ll write the highlights of the ceremony with the time stamps from the video for posterity.”
My gawd, woman ….ARE YOU SUICIDAL???
If anyone deserves a gold medal and $100,000 it’s you, girl – you’ve really got to cut back on these sorties in to enemy territory.
Great article, Caitlin (and Tim).
..
These types of events– celebrating “Remembrance Day”, the armistice centenary event in Paris, the State of the Union speech, etc.– are the Elite stating to each other the myths and fairy tales that they want average people to believe. You know, “We hold these truths to be self-evident”. What we average people should be relishing with glee is the increasingly obvious “disconnectedness” of the Elite’s lies. They’re becoming so wild that younger and younger viewers can detect the bullshit.
..
It’s too bad that the traditional MSM who are promoting these events with their millionaire talking heads are perfectly incapable of pointing out all the hypocrisy and bald-faced lying. Can you imagine how long any of those “journalists” would keep their jobs if they said “No remark on how today’s award recipient launched two full-scale ground invasion wars in his first term in office to no one’s benefit and for no legitimate reason whatsoever”? Likely there would be “technical difficulties” right after the word “wars”, and the presenter would be disappeared, never to be seen again on any MSM.
Peace prizes for people who wage terror across the globe, fly drones over funerals and drop bombs like New Yorker drop the F word and Liberty Awards to people who used 911 to take away our civil liberties, start an endless cycle of war creating countless dead and wounded. The world has gone mad. Glad you almost got to hear Bush call McCain a criminal. Glad I didn’t have to watch.
‘ ‘ Say it ain’t so, Joe ‘ ‘
I just had some pad Thai. Your commentary kept me from puking it up. Such hilarious quips about something so disgusting and tragic. I love your work.
Unreal. Thanks, You did great. I guess I needed to know that that occurred. This is so absolutely bizarre that unless I know it happened I would never in my wildest dreams believe it did. It also helps me realize the bizarreness that is the Trump administration is actually business as usual.
Thank you Caitlin.
No way I will torture myself to watch it.
Thank goodness you watched it. I would’ve kicked in my tv screen. Great summary!
Absolutely love the honest and creative analysis! Thanks for your service to your community!
We absolutely live in two different countries hermetically sealed from one another. What’s described in this article is a world that doesn’t even pretend to be connected to reality. It is a fantasy constructed by a political system and its media that’s foreign to the general public. The story it describes is not just a crumbling political system but, in fact, it is a system that doesn’t actually exist.
Well, Caity, you did far better than I. Just the sight of Dubya makes me want to regurgitate my late meal – and the one before that. And, Biden, well he is an even more extreme warmonger that Hillary Clinton.
As for the National Constitution Center, which is in Philadelphia, about 15 minutes across the Delaware River from where I live, well I visited once. It was all very impressive, but I did wonder how all of the highlighted exhibitions were of things that have long since been twisted, turned and abandoned, until they no longer represent any sense of reality.
Thanks for your service, Caitlin.
I feel your pain(now biting lip), I too have witnessed these hypocritical pricks just recently in Florida. Biden stumping for Nelson(less evil by magnitudes than Scott) on stage with Congresswoman Murphy, a Vietnamese refugee. The three on stage, with Biden at the podium, when he leans in and says, our veterans, we must do better for our veterans and this administration is doing less(paraphrased). What the FUCK!
Biden and Nelson have both been in politics since our last horrible crime and near genocide based entirely on theory and lies in Vietnam. BOTH voted to give the war criminal and man of the hour, Dubya, the authority to slaughter and eventually TORTURE human beings. They were onstage with a refugee from a country where we are collectively responsible for the violent deaths of millions of men, women and children so profiteers could benefit(awkward). They now are both worth millions after careers in ‘public service’. How anyone who authorized the use of force without a shred of evidence is still not only not incarcerated, but listened to or serving in office, is beyond my comprehension.
Thanks again for your observations and holding their hooves to the fire of your pen.
I’m not sure a long shower will do it. His only regret is that he didn’t bomb Iran.
There’s never a good ceiling collapse when you need one.
Ha ha ha ha ha!
A missed opportunity. When the gonifs were giving a “Liberty Medal” to each other, the appropriate chant, and it should have been repeated incessantly loud and clear, was “REMEMBER THE LIBERTY!”
Why are the lunatics running the asylum? Today in Arizona, a Vietnam “memorial” is being dedicated to another notorious war criminal, Bloody John McCain himself. The irony is maddening. The public is clueless for the most part.
Something for real progressives, not bereft of memory or judgment, to remember during the next putrid electoral cycle when our motto ought to be “fool us 115 times (that will be our federal electoral cycle number) shame on us”.
That’s funny and so sad. I’ll remember that one. Thanks.
(Vomit u.s.) war criminals. World Terrorists.
Nice slam Caitlin. I will have to pass on watching it. I stopped watching MSM, polictical party conventions and Presidential elections anymore. I retch too much at the bought and sold for cock sucking.
I don’t care how much you got paid. There isn’t enough money to equal the pain inflicted upon you by watching it. Bunch of psychopaths is what they are.
Thank you for your continued worked!
Caitlin, why’d you do it?? I saw the video and deleted it as quickly as possible. I had no desire to barf my breakfast all over the table so I got it out of my sight and consciousness as quickly as possible.
I didn’t read this either, for that matter.