The really BIG LIES: GWB is not governed by polls. Believe!!! (Of course the prime time press conference was poll driven) GWB still believes WMD will be found in Iraq.
Well, I wasn't planning on getting back on for a couple of weeks, but I listened to this press conference driving across the Arizona desert to Tucson and now I can't even come close to going to sleep. I don't know where to begin. In the course of one evening my attitude towards this President has changed considerably... I'm no longer just ticked off at his policies and I no longer find his demeanor and delivery somewhat humorous. Now, I'm scared and feel pity for the man. I'm scared because it's clear George W. Bush is a boy in a man's suit and is not running the country...pity is felt because it certainly looks to me that he has been taken by a ride by his "principals." (incoherent thoughts follow... quotes are paraphrased) This was the most extraordinary press conference I can remember... when was the last time you heard a professional politician, much less the President, not be able to answer a question? "I'm confident I've made mistakes, I just can't think of any." "I can't think quickly enough." What the hell is that? The guy has his finger on the button. He's the most powerful man in the world and he can't think quickly enough? May God have mercy on us all. "Troop numbers are decided by what's happening on the ground." (Well, since at least this week anyway.) "We have trouble in our country with freedom." WTF? Maybe it's because of your Attorney General. "We're no longer protected by oceans." Not just once, but at least twice that I recall. Did he just watch "Master and Commander?" Does he play "Pirate" in the bedroom with Laura? When have we been protected by oceans? Didn't the British sail over here and invade in 1812? I guess he forgot all about those Soviet missles. Anyone count how many of his answers sounded just like Condi's last week? I didn't realize we had two Secretaries of State. He couldn't imagine airplanes being used as bombs? Haven't we been over this with Condi? Why is the Vietnam comparison wrong? Oh, because Bush says so. Iraq is now occupied by us? I didn't think we were occupiers. Didn't the CIA send the PDB over on their own? I don't think Bush was the one that asked for it. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong.) I'm glad he has resolve, I just wish he had a clue. Does anyone really think the June 30 date will work? "That's what you'll find out... the UN is working on who we turn things over to." Did he say anything new about Iraq? The last choice is the military? Really? "Bad people, bad things, freedom, bad people, bad things, troops, bad people, bad things, freedom. I believe in freedom." The number of lies and misstatements was truly remarkable and i'm sure will become evident in the next few days. There are easily several thousand (if not million) people in this country who could have given better answers then Bush did. Whoever posted the train wreck picture is dead on. This was scary, painful, and sad.
AMERICA IS RUINED Al Gore surely with his vast technological apptitude would have jumped into his cape and swatted those planes down with his bare hands on 9/11. AMERICA IS RUINED John Forbes Kerry surely would have rather unenthusiastically uttered catchphrases typically used by high school cheerleaders to strike unnerving fear into the hearts of Osama Bin Laden and his minions. YOU RUINED AMERICA.. RUINER!
Utter disbelief. Other than mentioning that Hussein "funded suiciders [unmentioned: in Israel, not US]," had some missiles with a range a few kilometers too long and had the "ability" to, at some unknown future date, possibly, maybe produce chem/bio weapons, this was the crux of Bush's response to the question. How do you justify war when he had no WMD stockpiles? Simple. He refused to disarm his WMD stockpiles.
Since I didn't see the press conference (we were eating dinner at the time) I wasn't going to reply to this thread. Since I was specifically called out (odd, since I can't remember being in the top 2 of vocal Bush supporters), I will. I really don't care how many press conferences Bush or any other president holds. I would be just as happy if he didn't hold any. There is a very simple mechanism by which the President is answerable to the people, it happens every 4 years.
You were someone who came to mind, StupidMoniker. You weren't being "called out", as you put it. I don't think this is High Noon. I think it's a sad state of affairs for the country, to put it mildly. Your response, given some of the other reactions I've seen here, isn't too surprising.
Referring to 9/11: A few minutes later: A few minutes later, he's asked: And his answer is dumbfounding: So after all this reflection on his presidency and the consoling of loved ones of soldiers killed in action, he can't think of one thing he'd do differently? Initially support Homeland Security department? Go after Bin Laden with more zeal? Put more boots on the ground to control Iraqi aftermath? Is he so politically motivated that he refuses to even begin to publicly second guess himself? Has he learned nothing? Moreso, Maybe this is this why Bush had such a bad performance. The last press conference seemed entirely scripted (Bush even joked about it). Maybe this time the press corps tore up the list of approved questions? Then he claims that the insurgents are a "violent few" without popular support of the Iraqis. Huh? This after fighting to prevent Rice's testimony, declassification of 9/11 documents, Cheney's energy council, etc. Is it such a good idea to use, incorrectly I might add, the word most often associated with the cause of the Iraqi WMD intelligence failure in a press briefing defending your policies? Reportedly, not according to the CIA agent who wrote the thing. And doesn't admitting knowing that the G-8 conference took precautions against planes being used as missiles to kill people take away from the argument: What does this even mean? For selling nuclear secrets and materials to anybody with twenty bucks. But wasn't he instantaneously pardoned? How is that a victory? Not: like MI5, or: a corollary to MI5, but: "what they call the MI5." Does he know that MI5 is not a policy buzzword, actually exists, and is not American? Is it a good idea to describe the Iraqi occupation as Jesus Christ's work, especially when you want to avoid coming off as the marauding Crusaders besieging a Muslim people? -- For those that can remember, Bush wasn't this bad in the debates, was he? I remember him then also evading the questions in favor of portions of his stump, which was frustrating, but at least he was assertive and seemed effective. The transcript doesn't capture the litany of pauses and verbal contortions Bush made. It seemed like tonight he kept wandering off the path. I too cannot sleep; this is worse than before. Is the way he behaved in this press conference the reason he won't testify alone before the commission? Does he even know what's going on overseas? Here? Somebody please explain this to me. What does the president know, and when will he know it?
As President, George W. Bush is a mindbending combination of Richard Nixon's secrecy/imperialism and Jimmy Carter's ineptitude. I cannot wait until he debates John F. Kerry. It should be quite humorous.
That's disgusting: The only time a president is answerable for his actions is every four years? I think Andrew Jackson, Hebert Hoover, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton (to name a few) would disagree. Moreover, I think the framers of the constitution and the majority of the 250 million people raised to understand it would disagree. It is a four-year position to serve the people and the country. Not a four-year licensed dictatorship.
Again the reason GWBush went into Iraq was WMD, not the all the revisionist stuff that has been claimed since. This is evidenced by his answer quoted above.
Hoooo Boy, It was a disturbing performance. I don't think we'll be seeing another real press conference anytime soon. I must say that I was impressed by the reporters' questions. They were pretty tough. And while Bush's performance was appalling, the fact of the matter is that even a good public speaker would have had a hard time with most of those questions, because there were no good truthful answers.
I'm wondering if his spin people are going to go all out to make him look smarter than the boob he actually is. maybe they should put him on celebrity millionaire or something. how many press conference's do you guys think he will do until November? scripted or non-scripted.
I dunno know. It seemed like most of the questions that were asked are the same questions I see being asked on CNN every morning. They shouldn't have been a surprise and his people should have been prepping him for those exact questions. I can't believe they totally dropped the ball like that.
How long will the Bush team holdout believing there is WMD in Iraq. Turkey farms? Maybe the Easter bunny is hiding there too. Bush's answer to every question about the war on terror, 9/11, what he ate for lunch = Iraq/Saddam. And to keep harping about Saddam as a threat to America being the reason for war. What an assbag.
