Bush's Independence Day speech interrupted by anti-war hecklers

Like I said earlier this week, the idiocy never stops, not even for a holiday:

(CNN) — President Bush traveled to the home of Thomas Jefferson Friday to help swear in new U.S. citizens as part of Independence Day celebrations.

“When you raise your hands and take the oath you will complete an incredible journey. This journey has taken you from many different countries and has now made you one people,” Bush said at the naturalization ceremony at historic Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia.

“From this day forward, the history of the United States will be part of your heritage. The Fourth of July will be a part of your independence day and I will be honored to call you a fellow American.” he said.

Bush was heckled several times, with some people yelling “War criminal!” One man shouted, “This man has brought fascism to our shores!” About nine people were removed from the ceremony.

“Impeach Bush. Impeach Bush. Amend the Constitution,” shouted another protester, prompting both cheers and boos from the audience of about 3,000 people.

Bush appeared to depart from his prepared speech to reply: “To my fellow citizens-to-be, we believe in freedom in the United States of America,” eliciting loud cheers.

Here’s video of some of the hecklers, which included some members of Code Pink. Make sure to watch closely, as the heckler dressed in the Uncle Sam suit gets smacked down – literally – by an attendee of the event:

On a more serious note, the LAT’s “Countdown to Crawford” blog wrote about Bush getting a little emotional during the speech:

The president’s stated purpose was to welcome and attend the swearing-in of 72 new citizens from 30 countries, including one from Burma. But his voice showed emotion when he talked about spreading freedom to other countries, one of his stated rationales for the war in Iraq. Quoting Jefferson as saying that the principles of the Declaration were universal, Bush said: “We honor Jefferson’s legacy by aiding the rise of liberty in lands that do not know the blessings of freedom.” Without mentioning Iraq, Afghanistan or the war on terrorism, he added, “And on this Fourth of July, we pay tribute to the brave men and women who wear the uniform of the United States of America.”

Video:

More from the speech:

“This is a fitting place to celebrate our nation’s independence,” Bush said. “Thomas Jefferson once said he’d rather celebrate the Fourth of July than his own birthday. To me, it’s pretty simple — the Fourth of July weekend is my weekend birthday.”

Praising Jefferson’s achievements — a well-read man whose book collection formed the basis of the Library of Congress — Bush noted that although Jefferson was the nation’s first secretary of State, second vice president and third president, he hated public speaking. Alluding to his own reputation for muffing a speech line from time to time, Bush said, “It seems Jefferson got away with only delivering two public speeches during his presidency.” Pausing for the laugh, he added, “I’m sure a lot of Americans wish that were the case today.”

His birthday is tomorrow. Happy 62nd birthday, Mr. President.

Related: Bush honored our troops, as well as new American citizens, today in his radio address.

William Teach says:

July 5, 2008 at 11:15 am

Caught a thread at the DU by someone who is claiming he was the one who did it: LINK 1

PS: go to After Downing street, and the loons lay it all out. The guy in the Virginia shirt is identified.

LINK 2

Anthony (Los Angeles) says:

July 5, 2008 at 12:43 pm

It never fails to impress me just how childish and self-absorbed the Left is.

Lorica says:

July 5, 2008 at 1:52 pm

Amen Anthony. Do these fools have no sense of humility?? Do they have to ruin everyone’s joy all the time?? Such pathetic behavior at this event. – Lorica

July 5, 2008 at 2:22 pm

Do these fools have no sense of humility?? Do they have to ruin everyone’s joy all the time??

In a word, yes. They want to drag us all into their world where a beautiful day at the beach with ones loved ones, a mild breeze, not too hot or cold, the surf is just right, and have a perfect picnic basket, is actually one of the worst days of ones life.

Proof says:

July 5, 2008 at 2:51 pm

Tacky is as tacky does!

sanity says:

July 5, 2008 at 10:19 pm

What will they do when the President leaves office?

Where will they go then?

Back to Pelosi’s house?

forest hunter says:

July 6, 2008 at 5:08 am

With these asshats, it’ll always be about the me, me, me, mine, mine, mine and the I, I, I.

There is NO other channel they watch. Selfish and self-absorbed, is a way of existence for them.

Can you imagine being the slave to one of these cretins for a single day? “Go get my shirt, lemming!”

The afternoon hits and presumably your eyes open, you crawl out of the basement and try to remember, what was it you were going to screw up that day. Naturally you can’t recall much of anything worth while, so you do the same thing as you’ve done your entire squandered pittance of a life and attempt to repeat the mistakes of the day before.

Of course that never goes well but, since reality aint your problem, you carry on as usual. Lemming grabs (that’s a city in Russia- for all you Evergreed Grads) your pink shirt from where you disrobed and rinsed the puke stains out that morning, hoping the stray cats wouldn’t piss on it again, as it was carefully lodged with your favorite Che manual by the crapper …………………………where are those AP writers and cameras anyway?