Little Scotty McMeltdown resorts to faux-Shakespeare (today's transcript)

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

Q Scott, earlier this week in here the President said that he understood the midterm election year jitters of some in his party. Will he have any reassurance as he hits the campaign coffer trail again tomorrow when he goes to Indiana and Pennsylvania for the party faithful?

MR. McCLELLAN: I want to try to avoid getting too far into the political cycle. We're focused on getting things done for the American people. We've got an agenda that we're pursuing, that builds upon the many accomplishments we have achieved over the last several months. And the President talked about a number of those in the press conference the other day. We've gotten a lot done for the American people. We just recently got the Patriot Act renewed. We've got important priorities that we need to build upon -- the President outlined those in the State of the Union. I'll save you from going back through them --

Q Is that what he's going to tell these people tomorrow?

MR. McCLELLAN: He's going to talk about the agenda that we have, the hopeful agenda that we have to continue to expand our prosperity here at home and continue to extend the peace abroad. So he absolutely will talk about the agenda. That's where his focus is.

Now, it's also an election year and the President is glad to go around the country and help the Republican Party and help individual candidates. And there are a lot of requests for him to do so, and, obviously, we have to prioritize. But there are many Republicans that are very appreciative of him coming in there and helping them raise the kind of resources they need to be able to wage an effective campaign. And I think if you look back, the President has been a great draw to those events.

Q Why is the Santorum event closed?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry?

Q Why aren't reporters allowed to cover the Santorum event?

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know. It may be at a private residence. I'll have to check. I don't know the specifics of it, but if it's a private residence, that's the way it's always been.

Q Just to clarify an issue of context in Iraq. What is the specific frustration that the administration -- you, the President -- has with the broadcast coverage of the last couple of weeks?

MR. McCLELLAN: We don't. I don't think the President has suggested that. So I don't know specifically what comments you're referring to.

Q Well, I guess I'm referring to his news conference the other day when he talked about the images -- that the insurgents know that the images end up on TV shows. I mean, clearly, there's a frustration with the process.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I think the President specifically said that, I'm not saying you should not cover this violence or cover the car bombings or things of that nature. And he said, do not take this as criticism. There are horrific images of violence that we see on our TV screens. Those are newsworthy items to cover, and we have made that clear repeatedly. But there is more to the situation on the ground, and if you're going to have a complete picture it's important to look at the progress that's being made.

There is real violence that is occurring and the situation remains tense. But there's also real progress that is being made toward victory. And I think the President was emphasizing the importance of taking into consideration what the enemy knows and looking at the motivation of the enemy. The enemy knows -- the terrorists, they know that when they carry out these kind of attacks, or car bombings, or kidnappings, or beheadings, that it's going to generate attention. And so as Commander-in-Chief it's important for the President to put it all in context and also to talk about the broader context and talk about the progress that's being made. That's one of his responsibilities.

And that's why he's going around the country talking to people and talking about why victory is important and reminding them that despite the violence, there is a lot of real progress being made, and that a free Iraq is going to help improve our security here for generations to come. A free Iraq will help change a troubled region of the world and inspire reformers throughout the Middle East who want to live in freedom.

And so the President is talking about it in that respect. The President is focused on victory. The Iraqi people have shown that they want to live in freedom and chart their own future. And it's important for the American people to hear about that progress that's being made.

But I've seen some of the coverage try to suggest that there was -- that we were blaming the media; far from it. The President specifically said -- and you heard again from him yesterday -- what the President is saying is that there is real progress in spite of the violence; look at the rest of the story. And that's part of his job, is to talk about the rest of the story and why it is so important.

So sometimes when I see these stories, it makes me think that the media doth protest too much.

:spray:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060323-2.html

[K8-EEE]

1. OMG....THEY ARE TOTALLY LOSING IT!

Getting kind of humorous, if you like dark humor of course. This guy is SUCH a dork.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

2. I look into the crystal ball and see TOMORROW'S transcript...

Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?
I see thee yet, in form as palpable
As this which now I draw.
Thou marshall'st me the way that I was going;
And such an instrument I was to use.
Mine eyes are made the fools o' the other senses,
Or else worth all the rest; I see thee still,
And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood,
Which was not so before. There's no such thing:
It is the bloody business which informs
Thus to mine eyes. Now o'er the one halfworld
Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse
The curtain'd sleep; witchcraft celebrates
Pale Hecate's offerings, and wither'd murder,
Alarum'd by his sentinel, the wolf,
Whose howl's his watch, thus with his stealthy pace.
With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design
Moves like a ghost. Thou sure and firm-set earth,
Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear
Thy very stones prate of my whereabout,
And take the present horror from the time,
Which now suits with it. Whiles I threat, he lives:
Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives.
A bell rings
I go, and it is done; the bell invites me.
Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knell
That summons thee to heaven or to hell.

:rofl:

:toast:

[GalleryGod]

4. Thank you! For the most literate and enjoyable post

around here in a lonnnnnnnnnng time!:loveya: :yourock: :loveya:

[WinkyDink]

13. I taught "Macbeth" for 15 years, several times a day!

Too bad for Bush the Thane of Cawdor was a great soldier. Heh.

[Raiden]

3. What? That statement is totally non sequitur

"The media doth protest too much"?? Why? Because they are trying to cover up their own failed presidency??? I don't understand the statement.

[bettyellen]

5. ye thinks that, scotti, doth thee?

i'm sure it's a MTM reference.

[uppityperson]

6. Why are we still there if this quote is real...

"The President is focused on victory. The Iraqi people have shown that they want to live in freedom and chart their own future."

[wordpix2]

7. Snotty wants to follow * on his insane Crusade as a messenger of God

These people are really insane.

http://www.cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/sloth/2004-10-16b.html

snip:
The democrat Biden and the Republican Bartlett are trying to make sense of the same thing -- a president who has been an extraordinary blend of forcefulness and inscrutability, opacity and action.

But lately, words and deeds are beginning to connect.

The Delaware senator was, in fact, hearing what Bush's top deputies -- from cabinet members like Paul O'Neill, Christine Todd Whitman and Colin Powell to generals fighting in Iraq -- have been told for years when they requested explanations for many of the president's decisions, policies that often seemed to collide with accepted facts. The president would say that he relied on his ''gut'' or his ''instinct'' to guide the ship of state, and then he ''prayed over it.'' The old pro Bartlett, a deliberative, fact-based wonk, is finally hearing a tune that has been hummed quietly by evangelicals (so as not to trouble the secular) for years as they gazed upon President George W. Bush. This evangelical group -- the core of the energetic ''base'' that may well usher Bush to victory -- believes that their leader is a messenger from God. And in the first presidential debate, many Americans heard the discursive John Kerry succinctly raise, for the first time, the issue of Bush's certainty -- the issue being, as Kerry put it, that ''you can be certain and be wrong.''

[benny05]

8. I guess I'm losing sight of the Victory today

I thought it was "mission accomplished" in 5/2003. What is the victory now? Kickin' for more gas and pissin' off more of their ass? Hadn't we possessed a "been there and done that before" moment in this administration; oh no. Bush 41 wisely decided it wasn't worth more of our treasury and blood then.

Does his son, who has never spent one day in battle, only a few days training in the National Guard to get out of the Vietnam War not understand? His trio who haven't either? Do the ground Generals really taste Iraqi bombs for pleasure? Goodness, I hope not. I would suggest sending Cheney to defend our soldiers (since the WSJ recommends Cheney be Sec of Sefense again), but we would have to ensure he didn't shoot the soldiers who were open supporters of Russ Feingold.


:rant:

I'm unhappy and frustrated. There is no agenda by this Administration other than we have spent 95 miles high of dollar bills (one trillion) so far that would have paid to fix our Social Security situation for another 75 years--or perhaps get many folks a home back in NOLA.


:shrug: :argh:

[cliss]

9. Scott McLiar is lower than a maggot crawling on the dirt.

"That despite the violence, there is a lot of real progress being made...."

So we should just look at the horrific violence, more and more people dying there every day, and weigh that against the "good stuff" happening which is a complete lie. These people are so desperate, I can smell the adrenaline in the air.

[49jim]

10. Must be tough to get

up in the morning eh...Scotty?

[yellowcanine]

11. Bush dith protest too much when Helen said he wanted war with Iraq.

He got all bent out of shape and repeated his denial several different ways and finally used the old chestnut, "No president wants war."

[WinkyDink]

12. DO we see the "horrific images of violence on our TV screens"??

I don't think so.