Greg Mitchell, editor of Editor & Publisher makes a good case that he has tracked down the source of President George Bush’s comment that the Iraq war might one day be considered “just a coma.”
Henry Kissinger? No. A prominent member of a think tank? No. The Weekly Standard‘s William Kristol? No. Can you guess?
Like many others, I was initially confused — though appalled — when President Bush, in a CNN interview with Wolf Blitzer aired Sunday, stated that years from now, when the smoke perhaps settles, the Iraq war will be viewed as “just a comma.” Various wags have suggested that he actually said “coma,” or meant to say “asterisk” but did not know how to pronounce it. I thought that perhaps he meant “blip” or “footnote” — though that wouldn’t make the sentiment any less revolting, especially for the thousands of dead.
In any case, if you watch the CN video, you will see the president stumbling a bit after making that statement, as if he hadn’t quite finished the thought or phrase, or was afraid to. That sent me googling in search of an answer, which I believe I have found.
This is it: He likely meant to finish it off by suggesting that, looking back, the Iraq war will be viewed as “just a comma, not a period.”
Not surprisingly, this is rooted in current Christian teaching, often in reference to Jesus’s death, or more generally as “Don’t put a period where God puts a comma.”
Where does this come from? Not directly from the scripture, apparently. A quote by comedienne Gracie Allen is cited on many religious Web sites: “Never place a period where God has placed a comma.” United Church of Christ parishes in Massachusetts were recently urged to put that quote on banners during Lent and color in the words as the weeks went by.
Of course, many of us of a certain age remember Gracie Allen, the actual and TV wife of the legendary George Burns. Memo to the president: She was the batty one who often talked nonsense.
Or as a minister at a United Church of Christ in Los Angeles recently put it, admiringly: “She would have said whatever came to her mind in a full voice, and lived out its conviction.” Sound familiar?
Mitchell cites various examples of how this quote from half of the beloved classic comedy team of Burns and Allen has been picked up by ministers and Evangelist Pat Robertson.
Has Bush been influenced by other Gracie Allen quotes? The Moderate Voice did some additional digging and came up with some more of her quotes — so you can judge for yourself:
–A young boy shouldn’t be given up for hopeless just because he’s lazy, surly, and good for nothing. Don’t be discouraged by those things – maybe he’s just trying to be like his daddy.
–All the other candidates are making speeches about how much they have done for their country, which is ridiculous. I haven’t done anything yet, and I think it’s just common sense to send me to Washington and make me do my share.
–Education is worth a whole lot. Just think – with enough education and brains the average man would make a good lawyer – and so would the average lawyer.
–I read a book twice as fast as anybody else. First, I read the beginning, and then I read the ending, and then I start in the middle and read toward whatever end I like best.
—If the deficit still seems too high, I’ll sing it again… starting a half-note lower.
–Keep up your morning exercises, because every politician must be able to keep both feet on the fence with his ear to the ground.
–Let’s all put our shoulders to the wheel and push the Ship of State further into the mud.
–This used to be a government of checks and balances. Now it’s all checks and no balances.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.