Confidence Is Key

"Bush Confident Iraq Will Avoid Civil War" was yesterday's Associated Press headline. "Confident" is a popular choice of words with the president. He uses it liberally. So I thought I'd list some of the issues and events that Bush feels or has felt confident in. A Google search of "Bush confident" turns up 19,500,000 results. That's a shitload of confidence! This should be fun.

1) Bush confident Iraq will avoid civil war~ March 11, 2006
2) "I authorized the sale because the proper procedures were followed and I am satisfied the sale poses no risk to national security. However, since members of Congress are not yet convinced, I will delay the transaction for one month to allow them their own review. I am confident that the Congress will reach the same conclusion as I have." ~ February 2006 regarding UAE ports deal
3) I am confident in our plan for victory [in Iraq]... we are in this fight to win, and we are winning. ~ GW Bush, SOTUA 2006
4) Bush confident Bin Laden will be brought to justice ~ Afghanistan March 1, 2006
5) With violence rising again in Iraq, Bush said he is confident the Iraqi military will eventually be equipped and trained to defeat the insurgency and allow U.S. troops to come home ~ June 1, 2005 Washington Post
6) Bush confident about economy for 2006 ~ January 6, 2006 USA Today
7) Bush confident warrantless wiretaps are legal ~ January 26, 2006 AP
8) Bush confident U.S. will overcome all difficulties and challenges including hurricane disaster and terrorism. ~ September 10, 2005
9) "But I'm confident we can handle it, and I'm confident we can handle our other priorities. It's going to mean that we're going to have to cut unnecessary spending," Bush said regarding $200 billion dollar estimate for Katrina rebuilding. ~ September 16, 2005 Reuters
10) "The president has confidence in the Federal Reserve when it comes to monetary policy and their ability to address any inflation concerns," White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters.~ October 14, 2005
11) Bush confident Harriet Myers will be confirmed ~ October 8, 2005 Boston Globe
12) “In the midst of this struggle … we have confidence in our cause because we have seen the power of freedom to overcome the darkness of tyranny and terror,” Bush said in an August 30 speech to World War II veterans in Coronado, California, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory in the Pacific.
13) Bush confident Iraq's democracy will be successful~ June 24, 2005
14) "That era is over, and we can be confident -- as in Germany, and Japan, and Eastern Europe -- liberty will overcome oppression in the Middle East." ~ February 5, 2004
15) Declared a "real threat" remains from al Qaeda, including the possibility of more hijacking attempts. "I'm confident we will thwart the attempts," he said.~ July 30, 2003 CNN
16) "I'm confident the truth will come out, and there is no doubt in my mind that Saddam Hussein was a threat to the United States' security and a threat to peace in the region," Bush said -- 90 days after declaring major combat operations over .~ July 30, 2003 CNN
17) "I've got confidence in George Tenet. I've got confidence in the men and women who work at the CIA, and I look forward to working with them as we win this war on terror." despite the agency's failure to warn him that certain allegations about Iraq's nuclear program were false.~ Bush, July 12 2003, CBC News
18) Bush "has every confidence the intelligence he received was accurate intelligence, and weapons of mass destruction will be found," he said. ~Ari Fliescher, June 18, 2003 AP
19) "The president has said before that he is patient, the American people are patient, and he is confident that in time we will find this," Fleischer said.~ AP June 18, 2003
20) "I have great confidence in our FBI and CIA," the President said in Berlin, in opposition to 9/11 query panel~ May 23, 2002 CBS

Judging by the decline in his poll numbers, I would gather that it is safe for him to be confident that the American people are losing confidence in him.
I'll leave you with this gem. Thefollowingcomments are Dick Cheney's but Bush had confidence in Cheney's remarks:

Cheney's comments Monday echoed a January interview with National Public Radio in which he said, ''There's overwhelming evidence there was a connection between Al Qaeda and the Iraqi government. I am very confident that there was an established relationship there."

Peace out.