What did Brian Williams & Russert Learn in Their Pre-Speech Conference With Bush?

[Blackhatjack]

They were obviously 'concerned' about what they learned, and stated they could not quote Bush as part of the ground rules. Brian Williams even held up his press notepad he said was full of quotes.

Williams said Bush gave them "a tour of the world" which included Bush's thinking and plans on matters around the world. (This would necessarily include Iran or Syria without naming them).
They ended the segment saying they would have to report on it "carefully.'

Someone is bound to know what was revealed to Williams and/or Russert, or any other MSM reporter present.

From the demeanor and carefully chosen words, it would be easy to suspect something significant is up that they could not talk about.

Where are the leaks when we need them?

[AndyA]

1. I saw this exchange last night, and I feel that they are both very concerned

about what was said in that meeting with Bush, and what the future may hold.

The fact that there don't seem to be any leaks at this point is what concerns me. :tinfoilhat:

[underpants]

5. They might have found out that he is completely out of the loop

That he has lost it or that he is just a suit at this point (not that he was ever much more than that)

[Buzz Clik]

15. When Tweety mentioned "Iran", there was a lot of squirming in the chairs.

If nothing else, our Democratic Political Animals in Congress have got to quit covering their asses and projecting to the next election long enough to keep Iran out of the picture. Whatever it takes -- and that includes impeachment.

[Marie26]

2. They're reporters - so report.

It really bugs me that they went to a meeting w/Bush, learned some sort of earth-shattering revelation, and are now refusing to share it with us. They're not Bush's employees - as journalists, their only responsibility is to us, the public. If Bush told them something important, they need to spit it out, or they're just a bunch of cowards.

[TornadoTN]

3. I think we need to look no further than the speech itself

It was a nice segway to get people to start associating Iraq with Iran. Then we wake up this morning and find out that we raided the Iranian consulate in the Kurdish north of Iraq.

Make no mistake, the drums of war are beating softly right now but they are picking up the pace as time goes by. In todays Senate hearing with Condi Rice, Joe Biden warned, practically out of nowhere, that the Bush administration has NO authority to attack Iran without their consent, which would lead to a "constitutional crisis" here in the United States.

The writing is on the wall. Lets just hope we can stop it before it goes any further.

[LSparkle]

4. You're not going to get it from GE's mouthpieces ...

Maybe CBS, CNN or some other news organization will report on it, but I doubt Russert or Williams (especially!) are going to leak anything that might hurt their big bad defense contractor boss.

[Blackhatjack]

6. I watched the re-run of that segment early this morning, and what concerned me was....

Brian Williams awkwardly referred to Bush giving them a tour of the world, his thoughts and plans about matters all around the world.

This was kind of odd, the way he described it, and then he did not characterize what Bush said about any of these countries in any way. Would that not be the logical next step in giving viewers answers to the obvious questions they might ask?

Neither Williams nor Russert were 'open' in their comments. They did not add a lot. And go back and listen to what they said about what they learned from Bush -- not much.

There is definitely some kind of 'embedded-type' disclosure they were given, which they cannot reveal. How important it might have been, no one knows but them and Bush.

[Uncle Joe]

10. Which world? eom

[joeunderdog]

14. Now this "embedded" information is to be kept secret, so if

any of these reporters get the same info from another source, Chimp has pre-empted them from disclosing it. Smart move for an idiot.

He has essentially guaranteed the secrecy by disclosing the info himself.

Scary.

[Rosemary2205]

7. Yes, they were picking words VERY CAREFULLY.

last night watching them I thought that either we are getting ready to blow the fuck out of the whole middle east or else Bush scared the hell out of them by being total freaking loony tunes. -- well, I guess that's really the SAME thing isn't it.

[Bonhomme Richard]

8. I'm sure he just fed them more bullshit and they ate it up.

Whoo......Whooo it makes them feel important and special, like they are in on something, and now they will keep their mouths shut about what a loon he is.
Just more bush marketing.

[bluedog]

9. bush was probably sitting with a bottle of "Jack"!

and totally smashed!

[bluewave]

11. I watched it on tape. It will be leaked soon anyway if it's anything.

No way a panel of reporters keeps this secret any better than "top secret" Pentagon info.

[Norquist Nemesis]

12. They learned that Bush thinks it's all one big terrorist salad

and he thinks he's Ceasar.

They probably also learned about the storming of the Iranian Embassy in Iraq.

[saracat]

13. Actually they said quite a lot. They said they could "report" but not "quote".

They said Bush was not apologetic and defended removing Sadamn.They said Bush's world view was Sadamn would have joined with Irans, and were clear noone agreed with him. They also said Bush said history would prove him correct "even if Iraq implodes from the center out".They stated Iran was talked about frequently and indicated that an attack on Iran was supported by Bush. They seemed very troubled by all they heard.Matthews implied from what they were saying that Bush was "nuts".Brian Williams seemed to agree silently.

[seabeyond]

16. it was prefaced with.... if yawl knew what i knew before we went into iraq

you would understand why we had to do it and the conclusion..... 50 years down the road it will e said that ole bush was right....

so i am thinking bush fed the reporters all his terra terra terra fear convincing these people the world is something to fear and we had better attack all.... lets see if they talk about bush like he is wacko, or if they start supporting and backing him

[symbolman]

17. Russet TaterHead and Williams Looked SCARED to me

seriously, as I watched them, they appeared to me like they'd looked into the maws of Hell itself.

An end of the world feel to what they were saying, but most of all, it looked like they thought Bush was seriously DERANGED and were wondering if perhaps it might be worth it to OUT the GUY as being a NUTCASE and a danger to all of mankind.

I've never seen these two looking like they were ready to flood their Depends. Their fucking HAIR was almost literally standing up as they talked.

Anyone else get that vibe?