06 Apr 06 Harry Taylor, I Friggin’ Salute You, Man!

An American today stood up, took the mike, and despite the alarmed moos of the audience around him, looked the President right in the eye and told him off.

HARRY TAYLOR: You never stop talking about freedom, and I appreciate that. But while I listen to you talk about freedom, I see you assert your right to tap my telephone, to arrest me and hold me without charges, to try to preclude me from breathing clean air and drinking clean water and eating safe food. If I were a woman, you’d like to restrict my opportunity to make a choice and decision about whether I can abort a pregnancy on my own behalf. You are —

DUBYA: I’m not your favorite guy. Go ahead. (Laughter and applause.) Go on, what’s your question?

HARRY TAYLOR: Okay, I don’t have a question. What I wanted to say to you is that I — in my lifetime, I have never felt more ashamed of, nor more frightened by my leadership in Washington, including the presidency, by the Senate, and —

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Mooo!

DUBYA: No, wait a sec — let him speak.

HARRY TAYLOR: And I would hope — I feel like despite your rhetoric, that compassion and common sense have been left far behind during your administration, and I would hope from time to time that you have the humility and the grace to be ashamed of yourself inside yourself.

Full transcript (from the White House), and video.

Dubya then goes on to totally mischaracterize what the guy said. Including …

DUBYA: But you said, would I apologize for that? The answer — answer is, absolutely not.

No, man, he didn’t say anything about apologies; he said he would hope you’d have the humility and grace to be ashamed of yourself once in a while. But I suppose humility, grace, and shame are concepts a bit hard for your brain to process, O Evangelical One.