...and I saw the video, so I don't have to depend on the integrity of the White House's transcript and its "[applause]" lines.

See, what changed on September the 11th is oceans can no longer protect the people in the United States from harm. I saw a threat in Saddam Hussein.</

Ignoring, of course, the British who crossed the Atlantic in the War of 1812, Pearl Harbor, and a few incidents involving Japanese bombardment on the West Coast and U-boat sightings on the East Coast during WWII. Not to mention the Soviet ICBMs and most recently, claims that North Korea has missiles that could reach the US. Other than that...

And trotting out by implication-by-proximity the tired lie that Saddam Hussein was connected to 9/11.

BTW, the transcript doesn't claim "[applause]" anywhere in the four paragraphs preceding that tired old falsehood, and--get this--the next claim of applause isn't until the very end of the speech. Are you on drugs, Tom? You don't usually hand me the rope to hang you. I stand by my statement that "the usually-reliable military audience sat in stony silence as he trotted out the old lies about Saddam Hussein and 9/11".

While I'm here, may as well address your second post:

Are we to understand that making political contributions to the party in power makes one ineligible to be appointed an ambassador by a president of that party?

Nice try, but what makes it so sleazy is that Fox's nomination had already been sent to Congress, and their judgment of him was so negative that Bush withdrew the nomination. Recess appointments are supposed to allow for emergency appointments out of necessity while Congress isn't in session, not to defy the Constitution by ignoring the judgment that Congress has already rendered. Congress gave the bastard a thumbs-down, and Bush had no legal recourse. But then, since when has Bush shown any respect for the Constitution and the rule of law?

It's only a matter of time before Bush is impeached. It just keeps getting stupider and stupider.