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George Bush's Press Conference

flufeemunk effluvia

14:50 / 14.04.04

Who saw it last night? Discuss.

Here is a full transcript of the whole debacle (unfortunately lacking the "ummm"s, "err"s and long periods of silence) for those who missed it

I love the word "coalition". It helps me remember that we are lied to every day.

15:01 / 14.04.04

I thought the questions asked of the President was pretty great, and the press conference was good for that reason. My only complaint with the press was that they tended to ask three or four questions at once, and it was nearly guaranteed that the President would forget the first one or two, which went unanswered.

I thought Bush's lack of straight and truthful answers was more apparent than usual. There was a lot of stuttering and pausing, and sometimes he would resolve his loss for words by uttering a non-sequitur and launching into familiar catch-phrases about freedom and so on.

Example:

Q Mr. President, thank you. You mentioned 17 of the 26 NATO members providing some help on the ground in Iraq. But if you look at the numbers -- 135,000 U.S. troops, 10,000 or 12,000 British troops, then the next largest, perhaps even the second largest contingent of guns on the ground are private contractors -- literally, hired guns. Your critics, including your Democratic opponent, say that's proof to them your coalition is window dressing. How would you answer those critics? And can you assure the American people that post-sovereignty, when the handover takes place, that there will be more burden sharing by allies, in terms of security forces?

THE PRESIDENT: John, my response is, I don't think people ought to demean the contributions of our friends into Iraq. People are sacrificing their lives in Iraq, from different countries. We ought to honor that, and we ought to welcome that. I'm proud of the coalition that is there. This is a -- these are people that have -- the gut leaders have made the decision to put people in harm's way for the good of the world. And we appreciate that sacrifice in America. We appreciate that commitment....

For me his most chilling (repeated) statement was, "We are changing the world." That is probably true, but what are "we" changing it into? And who gave "us" the right?

15:55 / 14.04.04

Bush Press Conference Response Generator

16:28 / 14.04.04

Like it fridgemagnet!

17:02 / 14.04.04

It makes me cry to think that the most powerful nation on the planet, is run by a man so lacking in intellect, honesty and integrity

Worse is that the polls (if you can believe them) state that he has a great approval rating!!!!

If there is any truth to this, it does not bode well for the US electorate

Another chilling fact is that I honestly do not believe that John Kerry is any better. He couldn't possibly be as stupid as Monkey Boy but I am sure he is just as corrupt and beholden to big business. I know it is pure conspiracy theory but I also cannot reconcile that Bush AND Kerry are BOTH members of Skull and Bones

Harmless fraternity?

well in a country of approaching 300 million, for the two Presidential candidates to come from a secret society that allegedly only alows fifteen new entrants a year, smells a bit to me

God Help America

and the rest of us as we are all affected

17:29 / 14.04.04

I watched the press conference live, and I am certain that history will treat Bush harshly- for incompetence, the inability to speak honestly or extemporaneously, and the lack of foresight. It's a bit disturbing that I was laughing hysterically at a leader who's orchestrating the death of thousands, including our own people. I think even Republicans were beginning to cringe after the conference.

I do believe, however, that this press conference is evidence that he will lose the election, and the world can return to some semblance of multilateralism again. He's just not capable of instilling any confidence.

The Skull and Bones connection between Kerry and Bush is a little strange, but at least they purport to have completely different agendas.

17:58 / 14.04.04

He's just not capable of instilling any confidence.

Interestingly, even many conservatives are panning Bush's performance, albeit gently. Some samples from the National Review's Corner blog:

A reader agrees: "Derb---I'm with you all the way regarding your last Corner posting. As I watched the press conference, I was thinking that the President reminded me of a graduate student at his oral prelims who wasn't really ready, but thought the committee would just let him skate through. To wit--Reporter: 'Mr. President, during the 2000 campaign you stated that the biggest mistake in your life was trading Sammy Sosa. What has been your biggest mistake post 9/11?' Bush: 'Um. . . Gee whiz, Fred, I wish you would've submitted that question in writing beforehand so that I could prepare for it.' Well Jesus, Mary, and Martha, how could he (and his group) not anticipate that kind of question? Even a trite reply of 'never apologize, never explain' would be better that the answer he gave."

This is right. It sometimes seems that GWB is determined to play to the negative stereotype of him, viz. that he is lazy, sloppy, and ill-prepared. First-hand accounts of the administration, like David Frum's book, don't leave that impression at all -- but only us inside-baseball types read those accounts. To the great majority of voters, Bush is what he appears to be at events like last night's: sincere, human and patriotic, but at the same time lazy, sloppy, and ill-prepared.

---

I'm with this guy, I'm on his side. Still, there is just something about a Bush speech, or news conference, that fails to stir my blood. I'm sorry, but I think the President is desperately, hopelessly inarticulate.

---

During my days as a political flak, I always told candidates that the easiest statement for the voters to understand is "I was wrong." Shouldn't the President admit that we've made mistakes in post-war Iraq? Would that really hurt him? Why not say "Dragging a nation from decades of tyranny into the free world is a hard job. We have made mistakes, but the mission is so important we can't afford to wait for perfection. We've got to learn and move on." Wouldn't that be the right answer politically, in addition to being the truth?

Whale... Whale... Fish!

17:59 / 14.04.04

My favourite bit:
I hope I -- I don't want to sound like I've made no mistakes. I'm confident I have. I just haven't -- you just put me under the spot here, and maybe I'm not as quick on my feet as I should be in coming up with one.

ROFL!

18:06 / 14.04.04

My favorite quote would probably have to be:
"No one wants to see dead people on TV. I know I don't."

He's no FDR.

18:11 / 14.04.04

I watched the press conference live, and I am certain that history will treat Bush harshly- for incompetence, the inability to speak honestly or extemporaneously, and the lack of foresight.

I had that thought too as I was watching.

Bush's flubbing the "biggest mistake" question is laughable. That question is nothing more than the Presidential press conference version of the classic job interview question "what is your biggest weakness?" It doesn't require that one divulges one's most grievous flaws; it practically begs you to deliver an answer that makes you appear fully competent yet healthily humble. That Bush was rendered speechless seems to indicate, maybe, an overwhelming, barely restrained guiltiness.

Likewise, the question about his failure to communicate seemed like a charitable attempt to throw the poor guy a bone. It was so clearly the perfect time to chalk up all his credibility issues, doubletalking, and evasion to his well-known problems with public speaking, that I could not believe he didn't seize the opportunity.

He's falling apart, folks!

flufeemunk effluvia

20:30 / 14.04.04

...the Patriot Act is an important change in the law...

Did anyone else get chills up their spines from that one?

Likewise, the question about his failure to communicate seemed like a charitable attempt to throw the poor guy a bone. It was so clearly the perfect time to chalk up all his credibility issues, doubletalking, and evasion to his well-known problems with public speaking, that I could not believe he didn't seize the opportunity.

He's falling apart, folks!

The problem is, he has a strong base that will stick with him, not to mention that the Bush Attack Machine more than makes up for the inadiquacies of the Bush Leadership Machine .

23:40 / 14.04.04

I have read some disturbing stuff on a conspiracy site that I frequent

Admittedly, they see 'reds under the bed' everywhere but they made some good points and hinted that they think Bush is a Psychopath!!!!!!!!!

They allege that a Psychopath cannot stand being ridiculed or in anyway, shape or form accept anything but total respect.
I would have laughed at this but his antics last week when he insisted a reporter call him MR PRESIDENT made me think again. The poor reporter used the word 'SIR' and Bush snapped at him and asked him to address him properly

Now to me Sir is quite respectful and with all his other worries, if that is all that bothers Bush, then he has his priorities wrong at least.

I also read a fascinating article about a guy who was intending to write a satirical book about the Bush'isms.....those little 'flubs' he so often makes

The guy went on that as he was researching his material, something weird came to his attention. The only time Bush made mistakes he noted was when he was saying something semi compassionate. When spewing out rage or vengance speeches, he was word perfect.......this guy also claimed that this is a sign of Sociopathic behaviour

I despise Bush and always have, hated his father also. Sadly Kerry will in my opinion be little better.....he might come accross better in interview (he couldn't be worse) but he will be just as corrupt in my opinion

Mr Bush.....sorry MR PRESIDENT........who is Ken Lay again?

02:56 / 15.04.04

That Bush was rendered speechless seems to indicate, maybe, an overwhelming, barely restrained guiltiness

or a lack of humility.

02:58 / 15.04.04

i am intersted in this allegation about him being a psychopath. any leads on that?

03:17 / 15.04.04

I remember that from just after the election... it was an author of a book of 'Bushisms', who realised that after writing the book that it wasn't all that funny... Bush never stuttered or said things wrong if he talked of war or killing..

The 'SIR' snapping incident was apparently due to the fact that the reporter had his cellphone to his ear when he first started talking to Bush, hence the "who are you addressing" response...

06:19 / 15.04.04

www.riviere.ws/archives/000061.html

gives a brief overview of the Mark Crispin Millar book

13:57 / 15.04.04

A more charitable (but no less frightening) take on Bush's personality centers around his admitted alcoholism and addictive personality: in short, he displays behaviors classic of the so-called "dry drunk"...

...a person who, in AA parlance, is “dry” but whose thinking is not really sober. Grandiosity, rigidity, and intolerance of ambiguity, and a tendency to obsess about things are among the traits associated with the dry drunk. The dry drunk quits drinking, but his or her obsession with the bottle is often replaced with other obsessions. Twelve Step programs help their members modify their all-or-nothing thought patterns which associated with the disease alcoholism.

Emphases mine, obviously... but it fits the poor bastard like a glove.

14:04 / 15.04.04

I'm interested in the sociopath theory as well, but Joe, your link doesn't work (*whine*).

14:54 / 15.04.04

I liked the question about why he’s insisting on having the VP with him when he appears before the 9/11 commission. Or why the VP’s insisting upon accompanying him, which is more likely. His panicky dodge of that question and hasty move on to someone else, to the obvious dissatisfaction of the guy who asked the question, was interesting enough, I think. The way he sped up, as if no-one would notice, was a beautifully stupid clownish moment.

And then, other bits worry me. The electioneering bits. It’s when he’s rambling out this home-spun, straight-talking, hip-shooting, idiot-rousing bullshit about getting all the bad guys and the evildoers that you realise what his one true gift is. Given the chance to appeal to the right kind of audience, his simplicity can be so powerful.

On the ‘psychopath’ thing: how precise a definition is it, anyway? If it’s a proper diagnosis, surely you’d need to be actually certified as such by a qualified practitioner. Otherwise it’s a pretty easy word to throw around. I can’t remember the precise wording, but didn’t Christopher Hitchins have a well-honed spiel only a few short years ago that condemned Clinton as a psychopath, a war criminal and a rapist?

15:23 / 15.04.04

Once again, President Bush misspoke on a weapons issue, telling the nation that 50 tons of mustard gas were found in Libya — twice the amount actually uncovered. (Yahoo! News)

What an enormous benefit of the doubt they give him....

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

21:55 / 15.04.04

I think people make a very big mistake when they say that "Bush is stupid". It gives him a pass, so that his bigger lies can go by as reporters and such get to say, "Oh, he just didn't know," and it also makes it so people can judge the performsance on Tuesday as him being stupid instead of a base appeal to the constituancy he has been losing lately, "Joe Sixpack" from the south, who has a pickup truck, wears trucker hat in a non-ironic way and thinks that America should just kick ass and take names because any other idea is too complicated for them.

Bush's answers also denote to me a man who isn't stupid, but think that WE are. He hits his talking points over and over again because we just aren't smart enough to get it. Bush is a smart-ass frat boy who believes he is smarter than everyone and is PLAYING a "good ol' boy", like his dad tried to do. Remember that Pappa Bush had an image of a rich blue blood, and used the media to push himself as a "Regular guy from Texas" by going to country music concerts and saying his favorite snack was "Pork rinds"...it worked in 1988, but blew up on him in 1992 when he was utterly baffled by a supermarket scanner.

23:04 / 15.04.04

From the transcript:

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 30th?

THE PRESIDENT: We will 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 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 I was asking why you're appearing together, rather than separately, which was their request.

THE PRESIDENT: 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.

Let's see --

Q Mr. President --

THE PRESIDENT: Hold on for a minute. Oh, Jim.

Q Thank you, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: I've got some "must calls," I'm sorry.

Q You have been accused of letting the 9/11 threat mature too far, but not letting the Iraq threat mature far enough. First, could you respond to that general criticism? And, secondly, in the wake of these two conflicts, what is the appropriate threat level to justify action in perhaps other situations going forward?

THE PRESIDENT: I guess there have been some that said, well, we should have taken preemptive action in .... etc etc

*********

This amazed me. Bush did such a clumsy job handling the question of why he and the vice president were insisting on appearing before the comission together. His misunderstanding of the questions couldn't have been more obvious. I'm still blown away by how terrible he is at all this.

12:43 / 16.04.04

But see, Kirk, you've just done what Solitaire Rose was talking about. Bush didn't misunderstand the question; he didn't want to answer it. What he did clumsily was evade the question.

08:35 / 17.04.04

Ah, yes, that's what i meant. He mishandled the evasion of the question. doing some clumsy speaking myself, lol.

13:40 / 22.04.04

Listen man, what part of Democracy Freedom Stay the Course Terror Terror don't you understand?

Hooray! Get Your War On does the press conference!