Scott McClellan Speaks for the American People

HsiKang

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Sun Mar-05-06 05:45 PM
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Scott McClellan Speaks for the American People

I've noticed that when responding to questions on critical issues, Scott McClellan frequently tries to act as a voice for the "American People." I decided to do an F3 search for "American People" on all of his press briefings since the turn of the year. Here's the quotes I've found in which he acts as a voice for the American people:

February 27, 2006 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/02/20060227-1.html

That's where our focus is. Our focus is on the important priorities of the American people, and I think that's where Congress' focus is, as well. This week Congress is looking at moving forward on renewing the Patriot Act.

February 16, 2006 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/02/20060216-1.html

The American people saw yesterday that the Vice President is very concerned about his friend Harry Whittington. They saw his concern and compassion for a friend of his who he shot in a hunting accident.

I think the American people are looking at this and saying, enough already; let's focus on the priorities that are most important to this nation. We're all focused on the well being of Mr. Whittington.

And I think most Americans believe that this issue has been covered thoroughly, and most Americans recognize that the Vice President is first and foremost concerned about his friend. So I reject this characterization. I think this room and this town sometimes gets overly caught up in this. But the American people appreciate the answers to the questions that have already been asked.

But I think the American people look at this and appreciate the fact that the Vice President went out there and thoroughly responded to all the questions relating to this issue.

February 15, 2006 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/02/20060215.html

About a year ago -- and see how we have a fully integrated operation amongst all the various intelligence and law enforcement agencies that are focused on preventing terrorist attacks. And I think the American people appreciate the great job that they're doing.

February 14, 2006 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/02/20060214-1.html

I'm glad to answer your questions, but I think we went through it thoroughly yesterday. It is what it is, and I think it's time to move on for the American people.

At the same time, I think the American people want this White House to do what we have always done, and what we were doing yesterday and what we're doing today, which is focusing on the priorities they care most about.

February 8, 2006 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/02/20060208-6.html

But this is a -- the terrorist surveillance program is a vital tool in our efforts to prevent attacks from happening in America. And this is a hot pursuit effort aimed at detecting and preventing attacks. And so I think that the American people want the President to do everything within his power to protect them.

February 6, 2006 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/02/20060206-3.html

But I think the American people understand the importance of the President doing everything he can within his power to prevent attacks from happening. He has not only the authority to do this, but he has the responsibility to do this. The 9/11 Commission talked about communications of al Qaeda -- email communications, Internet communications and cell phone communications from within the United States to abroad.

Now, because of its disclosure, we have talked about it in a very limited way, and talked about what it is and what it is not. And we will continue to point that out to the American people. I think the American people understand the importance of what we are working to do.

January 25, 2006 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060125.html

It's very limited in nature, and it's focused on international communications involving al Qaeda members or affiliated terrorist organizations from either communicating inside the United States to someone outside, or communicating from outside the United States to someone inside. And I think the American people expect us to do everything within our lawful power to protect them.

So the President not only had the authority to do what he's doing, but he has the responsibility to do what he is doing, because it's about saving lives. It's about preventing attacks. It's very limited in nature, and it's focused on international communications involving al Qaeda members or affiliated terrorist organizations from either communicating inside the United States to someone outside, or communicating from outside the United States to someone inside. And I think the American people expect us to do everything within our lawful power to protect them.

January 24, 2006 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060124-3.html

I think during the confirmation process that the American people came to see Judge Alito and see the kind of person that he is and the kind of judge that he is, and they gained great respect for his brilliant legal mind, his experience and his fairness. He is someone that the American people can be proud of to serve on our nation's highest court.

This is a program that is critical to our efforts to disrupt plots and prevent attacks from happening. It is aimed at international communications involving al Qaeda or affiliated terrorist organizations. And the American people expect us to do everything within our lawful power to prevent attacks and to prevail in the war on terrorism. And this President will continue doing so.

January 23, 2006 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060123.html

But this -- FISA was created in a different time period and didn't anticipate some of the issues we'd have to be dealing with with all the technological advances that we've seen in the last few decades. And the American people clearly want us to do everything within our power to protect them from further attacks.

I just indicated, we'll continue to work with Congress. But the President has the clear authority to do what he's doing, and that's what the American people expect him to do, to act fully within the law, and to do everything he can to protect them.

January 17, 2006 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060117-3.html

It is absolutely a vital tool in the war on terrorism. The American people expect the President to do everything within his lawful power to prevent attacks from happening. We saw what happened on September 11th.

I think I just talked about Al Gore's comments and I said Al Gore's hypocrisy knows no bounds. If he is going to be the voice of the Democratic Party on national security matters, we welcome it, we look forward to the discussion. I think the American people clearly understand the importance of what we're trying to do to protect them and prevent attacks from happening. And that's why this authorization is so vital.

If he wants to be the voice for Democrats on this debate over national security, we welcome it. The American people clearly have shown that they want us to do everything within our lawful power to save their lives and to prevent another attack from happening. We've been fortunate since September 11th that there has not been another attack. We know that the enemy wants to inflict even greater damage on America than they did on September 11th.

Well, I think the American people clearly understand the importance of winning in Iraq. And we have a clear strategy to prevail in Iraq.

January 13, 2006 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060113-5.html

Les, a couple of things, first of all. Judge Alito has shown over the course of the last week to the American people that he is a brilliant, honorable and decent, open-minded and fair jurist. He is someone who will represent the American people well on our nation's highest court. He is someone we can all be proud of.

And I think the American people have come to see that, particularly over the course of the last week as he openly and straightforwardly answered numerous, hundreds of questions that came before him.

And in terms of some of what occurred this week, I think that we have already talked about that. It's unfortunate that the American people had to see those kind of personal attacks injected into our confirmation process for the Supreme Court. I think that the American people expect better from their elected leaders.

January 11, 2006 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060111-4.html

And I think the American people are seeing that Judge Alito is someone who approaches the law in a thoughtful, fair and open-minded way. And I think that's the kind of judge that the American people want on our nation's High Court, someone that will interpret the law and not try to legislate from the bench.

I think it's clear -- becoming very clear to the American people that he is someone who is eminently well-qualified to serve on our nation's highest court.

It's important to -- I think the American people want to see a vigorous and honest debate in these hearings, and that's important. Senators can ask whatever questions they want. But I think the American people also expect that it be conducted in a civil and dignified way.

The American people are seeing that he is someone that we can all be proud of, and someone that will do an outstanding job on the Supreme Court.

I think what's clear is that the American people want the President to do everything within his lawful power to prevent terrorist attacks from happening, and that's exactly what the President is doing.

January 10, 2006 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060110-4.html

Good afternoon, everyone. I think that the American people today are seeing that Judge Alito is someone that we can all be proud of, and someone that will do an outstanding job on our nation's highest court. He is answering questions in a very open and straightforward manner. The Judiciary Committee began the hearing yesterday, and I think Judge Alito, very clearly, summed up the foundation of his judicial philosophy when he made it clear that "no one is above the law and no one is beneath the law." I think that's the kind of openmindedness and fairness that the American people expect. And so we look forward to continuing to see the hearings move forward, and then the Senate moving forward on his confirmation.

And I think certainly the American people are seeing that Judge Alito welcomes those questions and has answered those questions in a very open and straightforward way, and they are seeing that Judge Alito is someone who has complete mastery of constitutional law and American jurisprudence. They're seeing that he is someone who clearly understands the role of a judge, and he is someone who brings great experience to the bench -- more experience than any nominee in the past 70 years.

Judge Alito is someone that all Americans can be proud of, and I think the American people want to be proud of. And I think the American people want to be proud of the Senate committee hearings, as well. And so that's why the President has said he hopes that there will be a civil and dignified hearing.

January 4, 2006 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060104-1.html

And let me just point out, because some articles try to say this is about domestic surveillance -- this is about detecting and preventing attacks. It's about looking at calls that involve someone overseas that is an al Qaeda member or affiliated with al Qaeda in some way. So it's important to make that very clear. This is about involving communications with known al Qaeda members or related terrorist organizations. And I think the American people strongly support that, as has been indicated in some recent polls.

I think the American people fully understand the importance of us knowing what is going on in those communications so that we can get that information and then we can act on that information and connect the dots and stop something like what happened on September 11th from happening.

January 3, 2006 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060103-1.html

I think that, clearly, the American people strongly support the efforts that we're undertaking to save their lives.

And you bet the American people, I think, want us to know what those calls are about, because those calls go directly to protecting their lives.

The Patriot Act is something that the American people recognize helps us to save lives and prevent attacks from happening. I think they understand the importance of the actions that we're taking.

I don't think people, if they're not talking to people overseas that are al Qaeda members or related to terrorist organizations, they have to worry. And I think the American people understand that.

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