Dad sent me his "take" on *'s latest press conference. Is it accurate?

[SodoffBush]

I didn't see the press conference.

*************************************************************

I hope you guys didn't miss the buffoon's performance. It was the worst yet. He did more stumbling and stammering than ever before. When you realize that the questions were prescreened, it was almost hillarious. Right afterwards there was another big bomb blast in Baghdad. The terrorists are toying with our idiot. Maybe the fiasco will be re-aired on C-Span or a transcript will be available. If so don't miss it. You will be amazed! He insulted a couple of questioners, laughed at inappropriate times, and rarely gave an answer that made sense. I like his rationalization that the Iraqis love us so much that they bomb the shit out of us. Is that spin or what?

Briton doesn't have any money for their troops and are really in a quandry. We gave Turkey $8 billion for their troops, now they say no troops, but are keeping the $8 bil. They're playing our idiot like a guitar. Germany and France sure knew what they were doing when they told Bush to pound sand.

I think even the most avid Bush supporter had to be very embarrassed by this performance.

It's sad that even though he won't be re elected, he's made such a terrible mess for this country that it will require years to recover from. Someone asked re: the protests in Indonesia. Bush said he had a very positive meeting with the leaders, and that Gen. Bumpkin's blasting of Muslims was understood by the leaders as being the result of our living in a Democracy. Yeah right!

Dad

PS He just mentioned again about the 100's of schools and hospitals we have refurbished . I really doubt that. Don't you suppose if that really happened, there would be news footage? God knows something positive would be what the Bushies would love to publicize.

[Spazito]

1. Your dad is one smart cookie, he has it right!

Bush's performance was beyond pathetic and well on the way to being cartoonish.

[roguevalley]

26. Holy cow. What a wanker.

He pounded on the podium, says we're all 'more safe and more
peaceful' under his 'leadership' and he's going to, going to,
going to, uh, start saying that in defending his foreign
policy.

Daschle: "If this is progress, I don't know how much more
progress we can take. There is a growing credibility gap
between what is being said and what is being done."

Bush looks cornered and WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
in over his head.

Judy what'sherface on CNN is actually shilling for Bush
without the slightest bit of shame. Sighing with worry,
her voice filled with worry. It's stupendous.

[maxanne]

2. I'm crazy

about your dad, SodoffBush!

[elfwitch]

21. I wish i had a Dad like that

My dad is Nazarene and lives in Nebraska. You can pretty much figure where his politics lie.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

43. Hmmm. Like the Platte River?

One inch deep and two miles wide?

[Neecy]

25. Bravo to your dad!

What a great summary - and right on the mark.

[DinahMoeHum]

3. Damn, why can't I get a transcript of this stuff??

I'd bring it to the next Dean Meetup.

Would have loved to be a fly on the wall at that press conference.


:kick:

[Spazito]

7. Here is the NYT transcript link...

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/28/politics/28TEXT_BUSH.html?pagewanted=print&position=

[jab105]

39. Dizzy...

from all that spin...

[CBHagman]

8. You should be able to get a fiull transcript.

Try looking at www.nytimes.com or perhaps www.guardian.co.uk

The major newspapers will also print full or partial transcripts tomorrow, I'll bet.

And remember that there's also the White House website, which contains a wealth of Chimp inanities for your reading pleasure/disgust.

www.whitehouse.gov

[salin]

28. The difference between the pre-distributed speech (to the press)

and the transcripts of the questions are remarkable.

What appears to be the 'cleanup' in the speech, I believe attributable to it not being a transcript, but the text of the speech (that is given to the press.) But on the NYT link - scroll down and read his words during his interchange with the press. Back to incoherent, short sentences and/or clauses. Akward in syntax - even just in reading.

Too bad they don't actually transcribe the original speech as it was delivered (as was done with previous presidents... I used to read the NYT text of Bush1... just to watch the number of times he would let one thought dangle as he moved into the next (he had a hard time finishing sentences/thoughts).

[Hawkeye-X]

4. I didn't see the press conference

and reports are pouring out this is one of his worst press conferences EVER.

I think America will start to wake up and ignore the ugly spins now.

The spinning from Faux, NewsMax, WorldDailyNews, and other right-wing garbage will go to maximum, and then finally break down.

Hawkeye-X

[E_Zapata]

11. the worst press conference of ANYONE, ever.......

a real doozy!

[julka]

40. almost, not quite

Nixon's last few in 74 were unbeatable.

dumbo won't be able to top them unless his 'presidency' reaches Nixon's depths.

RMN was in complete psychotic breakdown, right there, in front of everybody.

NOTHING beat coming home from a hard day, sitting down in front of tube, watching him twist around the podium, and say things like, "If the shoes flits, well it."

if only they had VCRs back then.

thing is, if it hadn't been for 911, he'd have been the biggest laughinstock in presidential history (I know he is already, but EVERYbody, media included, would recognize this.....they were beginning to right when he hit the trifecta)

[diamond14]

42. IMO, shrub is on somekind of psychotic drugs, which is currently

preventing his 'complete psychotic breakdown"....but who knows how long that will last...

agreed that nixons' last days were real bad...and then there was the war going on in the background with daily deaths and wildly out-of- control...and all the criminal activities which were really piling up in investigations and hearings and all...

shrub may well end up like that...the war in Iraq not going well and the attacks getting worse and much more sophisticated and organized...also, with daily deaths and wildly-out-of-control....and again, all the criminal activities, piling up in hearings and investigations and all....

the BIG differences today are the INSTANT relay of that entire press conference, on web pages world-wide in transcript and video forms...
and, the availability of much more sophisticated prescription drugs...it might turn into a more rapid descent..like a big ENRON collapse...

[Blue_Roses]

38. It was one of the worst

I've seen and I lived in Texas when he was govenor. He was so off key and definitely showing just how in over his head he is. He got agitated on several questions. That a true tell-all that he's feeling the heat.

Always notice how he bites his lip when he is extremely nervous.

[CBHagman]

5. He's right about the insults to reporters.

He observed that one reporter had a "face for radio," meaning that he's unattractive. In this particular press conference, Bush's use of humor to trivialize, mock and make mascots of the press corps was very much in evidence. It's supposed to be frat boy bonhomie and the like, but it's really anger and an attempt to control.

And unfortunately, he's right on his assessment of the mess Bush has made for the next president and indeed all of the American people. Folks, digging out of this is going to be hard work, and it's possible that whoever is tough enough to solve it won't be politically popular, as it will involve truth-telling and hard decisions.

[tomzee]

27. insults

Regarding the insults, it was fun to watch Faux's Queen of the
Eyes, Linda Vester, on her Dayside show lament how
"testy" some of the gathered reporters were getting
with their questions, and wondering whether they weren't just
playing a game of "gotcha." And, of course, the two
clips that were shown were of CBS' Bill Plante and NBC's Norah
O'Donnell, two networks Faux is trying to desperately to bury.
Certainly didn't seem to me that Plante or O'Donnell were
being disrespectful or asking unreasonable questions. They
simply were trying - yet again - to get some kind of coherent
response out of this guy. But, once again, Bush pushed the
"play" button and trotted out the usual responses,
and kept reminding everyone he had to go to lunch. What if
Bush called a press conference and no one showed up? He'd love
it, and the public probably wouldn't be served any less. Plus,
he could go to lunch that much sooner.  The guy's gotta go.

[newyawker99]

31. Hi tomzee!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[tomzee]

32. insults

Thanks! Good to be here, and glad to be welcomed by a vet. Look forward to more good dialogue at DU.

[diamond14]

37. hi tomzee...welcome to DU...we're glad you joined us.....

:toast: :toast: :toast: :toast:


:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:


:nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke:

[proud patriot]

6. "1500 hundred schools have been reburbished" in Iraq

I wish we could find out if that is true or not .

When he said that , all I could think about were
the falling down overcrowded schools here. I'm sure
I'm not the only American to think about that .

But is it true 1500 seems like an awful lot to me ?

[DCDemo]

9. 1500 sounds right..

They had to tear down the Saddam Posters and repaint the walls where the posters were.

It's not like we built them 1500 NEW schools...Iraq already had a huge amount of schools, free for Iraqis.

[atreides1]

16. He's Right...Sort Of

1500 schools in Iraq have been refurbished, of course that's out of a total of 10,000.

Most still have refuse in the classrooms, desks made for two students are shared by four, text books are not readily available, and a good portion of the classrooms don't even have a chalkboard.

Most of the work which was suppose to be done by Halliburton and Bechtel was contracted to Iraqi firms, who then sub-contracted to other Iraqi firms, that then sub-sub-contracted to yet other Iraqi firms.

In other words the refurbishing has not been completed, even after billions of dollars have been spent.

So while he actually was truthful about the refurbishing, he really lied by omitting all of the facts.

[Loonman]

10. "avid Bush fans"

Over in freepo-whacko land they all thought he did a great job.

Not surprising.

[soothsayer]

12. they thought he looked "humble"

at least that's what some freepers said to other freepers who said he looked subdued-depressed (same words we used to describe the doofus at today's debacle)

[MissMarple]

17. George sounds afraid, at least from the account given above.

Yes, these are very scary times, at least he has the sense enough to be afraid. Too bad for us all, that's not good enough.

[damnraddem]

24. Well, Dubya does have a lot ...

to be humble about.

[Capn Sunshine]

13. I guess he watched it with Howard Dean

see his statement on this board.:)

[will work 4 food]

14. He seemed so monotone

Like he was drugged. And all the other things you all mentioned.


You can watch it in it's entirity here. http://www.c-span.org/#

[tableturner]

18. Video of press conference on CSPAN site

Go to:

http://www.c-span.org/

Look right down the left-middle under "Latest Video" for the link.

[glarius]

15. It seems "he won't be terrorized by terrorists who want to commit terror

in a terroristic way." He's going to fight on, you see...I think I got that right!...LOL
edit--oh ya...and he said "Iraq's a dangerous place..that's leveling" when someone told him the public didn't think he was leveling with them on the conditions in Iraq....He's SUCH A JOKE!!!!!

[loudnclear]

19. Just one problem with your dad's assessment which was right on...

"I think even the most avid Bush supporter had to be very embarrassed by this performance." I think you would count Anntrax Coulter as an "avid Bush supporter." She said on CNN that Bush did very well (not her exact words...I think what she actually said was worse).

The folks who are avid Bush supporters will never admit that they have been wrong. To criticize Bush is more of an indictment of their own intelligence so they will never criticize him...we are stuck with at least several million voters who think like Annthrax.

[alcuno]

20. About those schools.....

I believe that they have had school before this. After all, Iraq has one of the most educated populations in the Middle East. They were having school last May, as a matter of fact.

The difference is that they now have textbooks and desks manufactured using..........American contracts and American tax dollars.

Seems to me like the CPA is taking credit for many things that the Iraqis have done.

[DemLikr]

22. The networks will show clips of the few coherent sentences

he managed to mutter, and the faux-intense "declaritive" bullshit near the end.

God, it's all such horseshit...

[Wapsie B]

23. But I don't know if

your garden variety avid Bush supporter hangs on his every word like we do here. They see chimpy as a great leader. I'm delighted to hear about those who've had friends or family members turn against him. Such is not the case with me. I have a set of co-workers, one an Independent and one who'd vote repug no matter what. The Independent got in a little ribbing about chimpy and the repug went ballistic.

My point is that even though chimpy may be losing some support now, it's a long way from election day. Some of these turncoats would vote for him just to spite Democrats, no matter what they felt about his leadership. Plus the electorate in this country isn't stupid or sheeple. It's just that they don't look behind the facade.

I don't count him out until someone else is inaugurated. Not one second before that time. Don't see the vampire as being dead until the wooden stake is driven through the heart.

[rasputin1952]

29. Well, your dad was right...

it was, far and away, the WORST news conference, I have EVER seen.

He rambled on incoherently, didn't answer questions, tried to joke his way out of some situations, was rude, and seemed almost stoned. His dem,eanor was pathetic, and even when he was doing well memorized scripted stuff about 9-11 and Saddam, he was flat and way off base.

He was clearlt rattled, but could not get away from the dias once he was on the spot. For once, even though there were no follow-ups, the press came out and asked hard questions. He bobbled the entire thing and was an embarassment for the entire nation.

I ask that our International friends realize that his clown does NOT represent the vast majority of Americans.

:kick:

[HFishbine]

30. Wathcing it now

from CSpan:

http://video.c-span.org:8080/ramgen/fdrive/15days/e102803_bush.rm

Here's a transcript:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031028-2.html

[susu369]

33. Has bu$h* ever had a press conference

where he did NOT mention lunch/dinner?

[frank frankly]

35. it shows what he is "thinking" about

terra, blah blah blah...time to eat!

[leftofthedial]

34. I saw it covered on MS-NBC, CBS and a local RW waste of air

All of them clipped a 7-second forceful, determined sounding bite out of it and said something positive.

[diamond14]

36. Official White House transcript AND video (link)

it's hard to believe that this was even posted....it is so incredibly lame....

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031028-2.html

-snips-

Let's see -- Terry. Then you, Stretch.

Q Thank you, sir. Mr. President, your policies on the Middle East seem, so far, to have produced pretty meager results as the violence between Israelis and Palestinians --

THE PRESIDENT: Major or meager?

Q Meager.

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, okay.

Q Meager.

THE PRESIDENT: Meager.

-----------------------------------------
and my personal favorite for a pResidential press conference...
-----------------------------------------


......And the second question, can you promise a year from now that you will have reduced the number of troops in Iraq?


THE PRESIDENT: The second question is a trick question, so I won't answer it.

[Guaranteed]

41. The Turks are keeping the $8B as payment for

not invading the north and killing the Kurds.

[diamond14]

44. yes, but the Turks will likely use that money to buy everything

they need to invade the north and kill the Kurds...Turkey will do it anyways...we just paid for their invasion...bush* is having a lot of trouble keeping things together on the World stage, or even at home for that matter....

[leftofthedial]

45. I watched the replay a bit ago on C-SPAN and have a different take

He lied repeatedly--about the "Mission Accomplished" banner, that Saddam is "gone" (hence the necessity to repeatedly blame "foreigners" for recent attacks), about the Taliban being gone (Bushit! Gone from downtown Kabul is about it), about the recovering economy, etc.

He kept defending at length old actions that no one (except some of us at DU) really question anymore, like the tax cuts, the invasion of Afghanistan, his pre-9-11 energy policy (surprised he'd bring that up), early aspects of his junta's Israel-Palestinian non-policy and the like.

He repeatedly insulted reporters and his demeanor to them was very negative and condescending. I can't believe they continue being polite and deferential to him. What an asshole.

He swayed, shifted his weight, looked away--all the signs of lying. His delivery of the canned pre-Q-and-A comments sounded like he was half asleep, bored out of his mind, or exhausted. (Probably just stupid, drugged and tired.) He hemmed, hawed and stammered out mostly the same old cliches.

*BUT*

Unless you already despise him (as I do), or you are well-informed and rational about the reality of this nation's sad situation domestically and overseas (as we DU'ers are), he was not "cartoonish" or "pathetic." I believe his John Wayne swagger and mangling of English are a cartoon, but the general public does not. They think it makes him John Wayne.

To those who support him (ignorant, blinkered sods though they be), he may well have come across today as beleaguered, but defiant and even courageous. Plus, he had plenty enough soundbites with the same old cowboy bullshit phrases for those ignorant Murkans who don't watch entire press conferences replayed on C-SPAN to see a snippet on the local news and believe he is a brave leader taking on the forces of evil.

Rule One of war is to know your enemy. To deceive yourself about the true state and capabilities of your enemy is to invite disaster.

I think he sucks, is criminal, and is the worst President (sic) in our history, but I don't think today was a disaster for him, unless the press starts calling him on his lies with something like the fervor they showed in assassinating Gore in 2000.

[LittleApple81]

46. Please do not tell us the truth. Americans are that obtuse, you are right

I feel as if I were an involuntary David Blaine in the glass cage hanging in never-never land. I am being fed pap and everybody around me thinks they are living in "the best country in the world, the world hate us because they hate our principles, Bush is defending America and the world (and the world should be grateful and give us money and help), the French and Germans are scum, Bush is a moral, Christian fellow, down to earth not like those elitists that occupied the White House before and we trust our president and...."

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!