Putin Grills Bush On Dan Rather

[ruggerson]

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3pt.htm

From sludge, so ripped off from someone in the mainstream press before publication and then presented as a sludge scoop.

But interesting, nonetheless. I like Putin a hell of a lot more, if this is true. :)

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PUTIN GRILLS BUSH ON DAN RATHER
Sun Feb 27 2005 14:51:38 ET

George Bush knew Vladimir Putin would be defensive when Bush brought up the pace of democratic reform in Russia in their private meeting at the end of Bush's four-day, three-city tour of Europe. But when Bush talked about the Kremlin's crackdown on the media and explained that democracies require a free press, the Russian leader gave a rebuttal that left the President nonplussed, TIME magazine will report on Monday.

If the press was so free in the U.S., Putin asked, then why had those reporters at CBS lost their jobs? Bush was openmouthed. "Putin thought we'd fired Dan Rather," says a senior Administration official. "It was like something out of 1984."

TIME's John Dickerson: The Russians did not let the matter drop. Later, during the leaders' joint press conference, one of the questioners Putin called on asked Bush about the very same firings, a coincidence the White House assumed had been orchestrated. The odd episode reinforced the Administration's view that Putin's impressions of America are often based on urban myths fed to him by ill-informed aides.

Developing...

[applegrove]

1. Duck - potential goo on the loose!! The Bush Bubble may explode

[ucmike]

2. bush responded by shrugging his shoulders and saying...

"i dunno. ask karl"

[paineinthearse]

3. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/current/

Subscribers, check here for the article.

[johnfunk]

4. Does Putin have evidence that CBS was ratf$#@ed by Rove/Ramirez/Bartlett?

Hmmm.... could be... remember, Putin is ex-numero-uno-KGBnik, is still well-connected to intel worldwide, and lotsa people at the CIA hate hate HATE America's number one security risk, George W. Bush.

[ClassWarrior]

5. No, it's not true - Pooty-Poot must be clueless... LOL

It's just an "urban myth" that the Radical RW manipulates the Corporate Whore Media like a puppet...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA...

NGU.

[bin.dare]

6. you have to love their pyschology ...

..."Putin's impressions of America are often based on urban myths fed to him by ill-informed aides". Replace Putin with Bush, America with the World, and you see the truth that aide is telling.

[TheModernTerrorist]

7. QUICK!

we need to investigate whether or not the person who asked that question was deliberately planted by the Kremlin to throw "hardball" questions to *..... haha, I'm just kidding... sucks when you can't bring your male escort to European press conferences, doesn't it?

[bpilgrim]

8. not to mention the PLASTIC TURKEYS, ACTORS fronting as reporters, PAYING

'real' reporters to spew and actual male prostitutes to provide cover in LIVE press conferences :puke:

our M$MW have DISGRACED themselves in front of the whole world.

peace

[natrat]

9. if it wasnt so pathetic it might be funny

[Toucano]

10. Daily life is "like something out of 1984". n/t

[coreystone]

11. Would You Provide a 'RELIABLE' news source with a link please!

My experience with DRUDGE is that it could be a somewhat "BIASED" reporting of the news!

????

:-)

[BoristheBewildered]

12. Silly Putin! It wasn't WH firing Putin, it was its male prostitute tool

:evilgrin:

[mikehiggins]

13. Kudos to Putin! I don't subscribe to any illusions about our

"friend and ally" from the KGB but I do note that he only became a target of the "anti-democracy" attacks when he threw some big-time oil people into jail.

Supposedly there had been a deal cut when he came to power that the oligarchs would be left alone as long as they left him alone. Once the big guys decided they liked the "rich Americans" model more, and started supporting the "opposition" they learned firsthand how different things can be when the government doesn't give a shit about how much money you have.

Remember the old sixties line about "they've got the guns, but we've got the numbers?" Well, in Russia, Putin's got the guns and he isn't afraid to use them.

So now we know what democracy means to the Bushoids and their ilk: if you're rich you can do whatever the hell you please.