White House press briefing decoded.

[MGKrebs]

From Scotty's opening statement:

MR. MCCLELLAN: Good afternoon, everyone. It's been a busy day here. Sorry for my tardiness. We've had a number of meetings this morning. I would like to update you on a few things regarding the President's day.

First of all, the President, this morning, called Jamaican Prime Minister Patterson, as he leaves office, to commend him for his distinguished service to the people of Jamaica and for his leadership in the Caribbean. The two leaders briefly reflected on their work together, including their shared commitment to free trade in the hemisphere.

The President then called Prime Minister-designate Simpson-Miller to congratulate her and let her know that he looks forward to working with her once she takes office. The President and Minister Simpson-Miller both expressed their commitment to strengthening U.S.-Jamaican relations.

...and invited her to bring some of that good ganja up to D.C. so they could party. He told her that Bremer had given him this huge hookah that he loved to fill with some Boone's Farm and some ice and toke on that puppy. "Just ask Patty!" (that's what he calls Patterson).

Also this morning, the President, as you heard, had a good meeting with his Cabinet. This Cabinet meeting went a little longer than usual. I think it was probably in the hour-and-15-minute range -- I think typically they run 45, maybe up to an hour at most.

...and we know why. The Prez has the attention span of a 4 year old. And I have heard that Rumsfeld has to go pee all the time.

But we are a nation that remains at war..."

That is bullshit. If he is talking about Iraq, at this point we are attempting to be peacekeepers by the administration's own admission. We are supposedly trying to create the conditions for a democracy to emerge. A "war" is the absolute LAST method you would use to achieve that.

"...and the President emphasized to his Cabinet that all of us have a responsibility to do our part to help us meet our commitments during a time of war.

Except for Dick Cheney, who gets to make as much money as he possibly can from the war. And except for those commitments which we can pass on to our children.

And this was an opportunity really for the Cabinet to receive an update from our commanders, as well as our Ambassador in Iraq, about the broader war on terrorism and about Iraq fits into that, as well.

And I'm sure the cabinet got an honest assessment of conditions and a clear strategy for going forward. And I am just as sure that it was a lot of good news. Otherwise, why would they keep telling us that the press is only reporting the bad news? In fact, maybe they should open up the part of the cabinet meetings to the press where these "commanders" talk about all the good news that's happening over there. What, is it top secret or something?

General Abizaid, our commander at Central Command, provided an update on the broader war on terrorism and talked about the long struggle that we're engaged in against an extremist ideology, and the progress we're making.

In this case, "war" is more of a feeling than an actual war. More like a "war on poverty" than a war against Nazi's.

Secretary Rice also talked about the importance of, once the Iraqi government takes shape and is in -- formed and is in place, that it's important for the Cabinet to continue to work to provide technical expertise to the ministries as they get up and running. This is a young and emerging democracy. This is a new experience and they are learning many things as they move forward.

Clue to Scotty- Much of Iraq includes some of the oldest continuously functioning societies existing on the planet. They do not need us to tell them to eat their vegetables to grow up strong and healthy.

Secretary Rumsfeld and General Casey both talked about the training and equipping of Iraqi security forces.

I would like to have heard that part. That has to be a real dilemma right about now. I mean, I know it's just the press exaggerating, but it seems that "training and equipping" the Iraqi security forces at this point is just adding more fuel to the fire over there. Unless we want the Shiites to be assassinating Sunnis.

And Ambassador Khalilzad, in Iraq, talked about the progress that the Iraqis are making on the political front. He talked about how the Iraqi leaders were back meeting this morning and how they are moving forward to form a government of national unity. And he talked about how they have made a lot of tough choices and they have reached a lot of compromises along the way. There is still work that they are finishing up,...

Boy is that an understatement!

but they're making good progress, and we are continuing to urge the government -- the government leaders to move forward as quickly as possible to get a unity government in place.

Coupled with the "training and equipping" part and supported by our own eyes, that could be interpreted to mean "keep shooting until everybody agrees with you".

And then, following that, the President had a good meeting with three congressional delegations that just recently returned from Iraq. This included bipartisan members of both the Senate and the House, and this was an opportunity for the President to get an update from these members about what they saw during their visit, as well as listen to their thoughts an ideas that they have as we move forward toward victory in Iraq.

Now I don't know what delegations Scotty is talking about here, but IF there were both Republicans and Democrats in the meetings, how much you wanna bet that the Repubs only gave "good news" and the Dems only gave bad news, and Shrub didn't listen to any of them anyway. And what's a "bipartisan member" anyway? Is that Joe Lieberman? Or is the Clenis running loose among the GOP?

Then, finally, I would just like to make some brief comments about the announcement earlier today by the President that Andy Card will be stepping down as Chief of Staff. Andy has been an inspiration to all of us here at the White House through his leadership. He represents the best of public service. Andy is someone who is committed to serving others. He is a person of the highest integrity, a person of humility and decency and thoughtfulness and good judgment. And he exemplifies the high ideals that we all strive to meet. And all of us who have worked here with him have been honored to serve with him, and we will deeply miss him.

If that's all true, what does that say about the rest of you criminals, gluttons and idiots? If Andy Card is the ideal, how can you all miss the mark so badly? You have the example right in front of you, but you nevertheless commit crimes, profit from war, exhibit chronic bad judgment and arrogance, and only serve a narrow and extreme constituency. And by omission, can we assume that Bolton is NOT that ideal?

And with that, I'll be glad to go to your questions.

That is most likely a lie. It defies reason that Scotty would be "glad" to take any questions today. He is just being politically correct.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060328-2.html

[MichiganVote]

1. He forgot Poland.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

2. Why do they let him say we are at war?

Did I miss the vote in Congress?

[Why Syzygy]

3. Wrong on the partisan split . . .

WASHINGTON — Sen. Ken Salazar distanced himself today from fellow Democrats who are calling for an accelerated withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
Salazar, D-Denver, was part of a bipartisan group of lawmakers President Bush invited to the White House Tuesday to share the lessons they learned during recent congressional delegations to the battle zone.
><
Among those calling for an accelerated pull-out is Rep. Tom Udall, a New Mexico Democrat and cousin of Rep. Mark Udall of Colorado.

Leaving the White House meeting Tuesday, Tom Udall told reporters the situation in Iraq was "intolerable" and "unwinnable," and repeated his recent call for redeploying U.S. troops from Iraq to neighboring countries this year.
>< . worth a read
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_4576714,00.html

><
Lawmakers such as Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, the only Senate Republican who voted against giving President Bush the authority to use force to oust Saddam Hussein, say their visits have been beneficial. "It affected my viewpoint enormously," Chafee says. After his first visit, the senator "thought this could work," he says, but his second trip showed him "we were really in trouble."
><
Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., chairman of the House defense oversight panel that includes Kucinich, has been to Iraq 11 times — the most of any lawmaker — including four trips on his own. He says visiting Iraq convinced him it was a mistake to disband the Iraqi army and that constant deployments are wearing down troops.

"You cannot help a country unless you understand a country," says Shays, a moderate who supports and criticizes Bush's Iraq policy. Some members "don't go because they don't want to be confronted with the truth."

Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the defense appropriations subcommittee, has been to Iraq four times. He voted for the war but turned against it after troops told him they lacked body armor and other equipment. "There are all kinds of things I find out when I go to the field," says Murtha, an ex-Marine who calls these trips "essential."
>< another interesting read
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-03-15-iraq-trips_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA

Nice post, btw.