Architects of the New Millennium, take heed. things are not shiny, they are blinged out.
posted by LauraB 12:30 PM
posted by LauraB 12:14 PM
My fellow Americans ----
Are you freaking HIGH? Is is the Xanax or the Paxil that has got you convinced that the "President" gave a "forceful and convincing speech" last night? Did Fox do a splitscreen with Saddam Hussein? Was it the glowing moire power of El Shrubbo's neckwear? There were no commericials so mayhap you dozed off when the reporters actually started asking questions (after all, it was a press conference, not a speech.)
I watched every bleeding second, plus hit much of the commentary afterward, figuring okay, this is it, this is Bush's Dean Scream moment, when the people simply say "well I'll be jiggered, he is full of horseshit!" Instead, three stories about the convincingness of Bush on NPR! I fear the Post this morning, I really do.
But for those of you who missed it, the President was asked some tough questions, but basically they were gifts, which would make the press gifthorses what all with their mouths looked in.
Here is my handy edited version of the actual transcript:
[prepared 18-minute speech snipped---18 minutes! longest stonewalling ever! just enough time for everyone to tune out!]Q. Do you feel a sense of personal responsibility for Sept. 11?
A: ...There was kind of departments that at times didn't communicate because of law in the F.B.I.'s case...
Q: ...you never admit a mistake. Is that a fair criticism?
A. Well, I think, as I mentioned, you know, it's the country wasn't on war footing. And yet we're at war. And that's just a reality. I mean that was the situation that existed prior to 9/11. Because the truth of the matter is, most of the country never felt that we'd be vulnerable to an attack such as the one that Osama bin Laden unleashed on us. We knew he had designs on us. We knew he hated us. But there was nobody in our government at least — and I don't think the prior government — could envision flying airplanes into buildings on such a massive scale. (INSERT HAND-GESTURE OF FLYING PLANE HERE.)
[So I guess that's a NO?]
Q. Two weeks ago, a former counterterrorism official at the N.S.C., Richard Clarke, offered an unequivocal apology to the American people for failing them prior to 9/11. Do you believe the American people deserve a similar apology from you, and would you be prepared to give them one?
A. Hmmm. Look, I can understand why people in my administration are anguished over the fact that people lost their life. I feel the same way. I mean I'm sick when I think about the death that took place on that day. And as I mentioned, I met with a lot of family members and I do the best to console them about the loss of their loved one. As I mentioned, I oftentimes think about what I could have done differently. I can assure the American people that had we had any inkling that this was going to happen, we would have done everything in our power to stop the attack.
[translation: q: you sure that no apology thing is still where you want to stand? cause here's another opportunity for you to be a man.
translation: a: I am a consoler, not an apologizer]
The rest, in my opinion, needs no translation:Q. Mr. President, Why are you and the vice president insisting on appearing together before the 9/11 commission? And Mr. President, who will you be handing the Iraqi government over to on June 30?
A. We'll find that out soon. That's what Mr. Brahimi is doing. He's figuring out the nature of the entity we'll be handing sovereignty over. And secondly, because the the 9/11 commission wants to ask us questions. That's why we're meeting, and I look forward to meeting with them and answering their questions.
Q. Mr. President, I was asking why you're appearing together rather than separately, which was their request.
A. Because it's a good chance for both of us to answer questions that the 9/11 commission is looking forward to asking us, and I'm looking forward to answering them.
At this point, I don't understand why the press wasn't audibly hemming and hawing (oh, that's right, they might not get an invitation to the next Presidential Press conference----as if!) But what galls me is that this next exchange isn't on every freaking newspaper in America:
Q. In the last campaign, you were asked a question about the biggest mistake you'd made in your life and you used to like to joke that it was trading Sammy Sosa. You've looked back before 9/11 for what mistakes might have been made. After 9/11, what would your biggest mistake be, would you say? And what lessons have you learned from it?
A. Hmmm. I wish you'd have given me this written question ahead of time so I could plan for it. I'm sure historians will look back and say, Gosh, he could have done it better this way or that way. You know, I just — I'm sure something will pop into my head here in the midst of this press conference with all the pressure of trying to come up with an answer, but it hadn't yet.
or this one:
Q. I guess I'd like to know if you feel in any way that you've failed as a communicator?
A. Gosh, I don't know.
Um, Mr. Kerry? GO!
posted by LauraB 8:52 AM