Critic tells Bush he should be 'ashamed of yourself' (staged, IMO)

[ProSense]

I could be wrong, but with a history of throwing dissenters out and not admitting them to events, why this all of a sudden?

Critic tells Bush he should be 'ashamed of yourself'

Thu Apr 6, 7:07 PM ET

CHARLOTTE, United States (AFP) - President George W. Bush faced a rare display of hostility from the public at a forum, when a man said he should be "ashamed of yourself".

Snip...

A man who appeared to be in his 50s and bore a slight resemblance to John Kerry, Bush's defeated Democratic foe in the last election, said: "Okay, I don't have a question.

"What I wanted to say to you is that I -- in my lifetime, I have never felt more ashamed of, nor more frightened by, my leadership in Washington, including the presidency, by the Senate, and ...," the man said, as the audience began booing.

"No, wait a sec -- let him speak," Bush said.

Snip...

Bush defended the wiretapping as constitutional and authorized under the "war on terror".

"You said, would I apologize for that? The answer ... is, absolutely not," Bush said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060406/ts_alt_afp/uspoliticsbush_060406230637

[Wickerman]

1. Daily Kos had a post yesterday that identified him as real

someone had a link to it yesterday.

[ProSense]

3. Bush supporters and paid plants, are real and can be reached. JMO n/t

[Wickerman]

5. yes, but did you find and read the post?

[ProSense]

8. Is this it?

The audience that booed Taylor and was even there to listen to Bush, was laced with anti Bush people?

I asked him how the crowd reacted - afterwards, as he left, and as his day has gone on. He said that there was not one negative thing said to him while he was there, and that 4 people actually came up to him and shook his hand. One guy stopped him in the parking lot - Harry couldn't understand how anyone would recognize him - and thanked him.

He said that he took another call today from a military wife in Colorado Springs who called to thank him for saying WHAT SHE AND THE REST OF HER FRIENDS CAN NOT. You can tell that just the idea that people can not speak out truely bothers him.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/4/6/21185/97610

I'm not positive, just skeptical.

[Wickerman]

11. I understand being skeptical

BushCo has certainly given us reason to be so. The person who spoke with him, was not, is all I wanted to point out:

I just spoke with Harry Taylor, the man who dared to question our President on his true commitment to our constitutional right. clone12 details Harry's remarkably brave and articulate act here

Some have speculated whether Harry was the real deal - or a Karl Rove plant. Having spoken to him, I can assure he is not.

jhwygirl's diary :: ::
Frankly, I was shocked he answered the phone. After having read the whitehouse transcript, I had to find the guy and thank him personally. I found myself at a bit of a loss of words - especially since he began thanking me for calling him. We spent about 15 minutes chatting. The guy is genuinely down-to-earth, and I wish I lived closer so that I could go buy him a beer.

The guy is genuine, modest, sincere, and honest. He is shocked by all of this, and according to him, it "was not planned."

He went on to say that 'it had to be done' and that he can not believe how people can still support 'that guy' - that he has never really been politically active until a few years ago, when he felt he just had to do something.

[BOSSHOG]

2. Generating sympathy for the monster amongst his dwindling base

Now the knuckleheads can say he doesn't hold press conferences before hand picked crowds; and that evil liberals are very unkind to our great leader. Yet through it all he marches forward.

Funny if the questioner was hand picked and cleared by the party hierarchy to attend the event.

[Buck Laser]

4. Color me skeptical

I think spontaneity is a totally alien concept to Bush and his handlers. Though the questions were tame and respectful, Bush seemed to treat him as a "specimen," as apparently did the audience. My guess is that this is just one more "experiment" to be tried and cast aside.

[cliss]

7. Hi, Buck Laser.

Welcome to the DU! :smoke:

I agree with you. I'm trying to get inside the head of a maniacal dictator like Bush. During his whole pResidency, he's tried to squash dissent, blow away objections. He's spent huge amounts of money trying to distort the truth.

Why would he start now? Even though his residency is failing, he's going to keep going down that same path.

[newyawker99]

16. Hi Buck Laser!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[wisteria]

6. I was thinking the same thing.The President's events are so well

organized and homogenized with loyal repubs, I doubt this would have been allowed to continue unless they wanted it to. Bush seemed very prepared for the questions and reacted as such. The questioner didn't even have an accent and he was suppose to be from NC? I bet it turns out to be someone working in the Bush Administration like Bolton and others who stormed down to Florida in 2000 acting like local angry repubs.

[judaspriestess]

12. shit if I had I chance

I'd tell him to stop saying he's from Texas! the jerk was born in Conneticut, that does not make you a Texan.....

[AzDar]

9. What surprised me most, when I actually saw the whole exchange,

was that Bush didn't grow petulant and hostile; didn't seem caught off guard at all, like he usually does when his 'authority' is challenged.
My initial reaction was : they planted this guy to lob some softballs (which his crticisms WERE ,IMHO), so that they can maintain that Bush "allows" "real questions" to be asked at these staged appearances.
Then I dismissed the very thought as being too paranoid..LOL.
Who knows, anymore?

[TomInTib]

10. Check out this post from The Witch (DU yesterday) She nails it!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x867155

[ProSense]

13. Transcript is up at WH website

Scroll down to Q&A

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/04/20060406-3.html

[foo_bar]

14. I doubt it was staged

The man wasn't black, or a woman, or wearing Islamic head dress. If pubs were sending this to their base, the last image they'd invoke is a sincere looking "angry white male" taking on their peerless leader, when they could substitute a Hillary/Willie Horton/Osama strawman.

[Reader Rabbit]

15. Maybe they've been prepping * for such a contingency...

...and that's why he actually seemed to have a clue in responding to the accusations. Taylor may not have been a plant, but considering the emotional state of the country, perhaps Bush's handlers have been training him to respond if and when the opportunity presented itself.

I don't want to believe that this is a Rovian plot, but I don't want to get my hopes up once again, only to have them crushed like a bug on the merciless windshield of life. :-(

[JohnWxy]

17. I agree. This adminstration has done more scripted 'faux' events

than any other. They had Bush prepped with the appropriatly reasonable, cool response to a question that was delivered by a confederate. All scripted. Another bit of public relations..

[K-W]

18. If it was fake why didnt they make him nuttier?

Seems an odd opportunity to pass up.