The President's Favorite Segue

The President's recent interview with the Washington Times has gotten a lot of blog play (my favorite is Low Culture's take).

I noticed that the President has a new favorite phrase, one he uses to say, well, here's what I'm supposed to say, and then there's the hand with which I smack the motherfucking country around.

1. "I think people attack me because they are fearful that I will then say that you're not equally as patriotic if you're not a religious person," Mr. Bush said. "I've never said that. I've never acted like that. I think that's just the way it is.
   
   "On the other hand, I think more and more people understand the importance of faith in their life," he said. "America is a remarkable place when it comes to religion and faith. We had people come to our rallies who were there specifically to say, 'I'm here to pray for you, let you know I'm praying for you.' And I was very grateful about that."
   
   
2. "I fully understand that the job of the president is and must always be protecting the great right of people to worship or not worship as they see fit," Mr. Bush said. "That's what distinguishes us from the Taliban. The greatest freedom we have or one of the greatest freedoms is the right to worship the way you see fit.
   
   "On the other hand, I don't see how you can be president at least from my perspective, how you can be president, without a relationship with the Lord," he said.
   
   
3. "The great thing about our country is somebody can stand up and say, 'We should try to take "under God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance,'" Mr. Bush said. "On the other hand, the backlash was pretty darn significant.
   
   "This is a country that is a value-based country," he said. "Whether they voted for you or not, there's a lot of values in this country, for which I'm real proud."