Helen Thomas Demands That Tony Snow Learns To Count Heads

[kpete]

From White House Press Briefing, January 29, 2007

Helen.

Q What did the President think of the march on Washington?

MR. SNOW: I don't think he really thought a lot about it. It's nice to see Jane Fonda in front of the camera again. There are a number of people who were here making statements, and that's perfectly appropriate. This is a vigorous democracy.

Q You said something earlier this morning, though. Would you like to repeat that?

MR. SNOW: It's simply that there were predictions of a larger audience than showed up for the protest.

Q And you really counted heads?

MR. SNOW: No. Did you? Did you see 100,000?

Q Don't you think we had a good turnout?

MR. SNOW: Honestly, I didn't go there, Helen, so I'm not going to characterize.

Q How do you make a statement like that?

MR. SNOW: Well, because it's pretty clear from the press accounts that nobody attached six figures to the number who appeared.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/01/20070129-2.html

[justiceischeap]

1. Nice...

Since the press says there weren't that many it must be true. So holding to that logic, because the press seems to be saying B*sh is the worst president in history, it's true!

Cool!

[WI_DEM]

2. well it sure was a damn site better turn out than the "support the chimp" rally

of 40 people.

[evlbstrd]

5. 40 is stretching it.

There were less than twenty in their little zoo when I photographed them.

[elehhhhna]

8. Each two-headed inbred freep counts as two people, not one.

Perhaps that caused some confusion.

[SoCalDem]

19. There was a three headed on there too..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x50477

[AndyTiedye]

29. I Need to Borrow that Photo

Here's some text to go with it:

Come on lion, it's just a piece of cheap clothesline.
You can do it, BE FREE!
See, they can't hit a moving target,
especially when they're so hammered. :beer::beer::beer:

Oh look! They're shooting each other!

Guns empty? Good! DINNER TIME!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=73952&mesg_id=75099

[K8-EEE]

3. If He Can Count To 40, He Could Count the GWB Supporters!

LOL!! Even FR admits they had 40 max, and he's saying the OUR protests were a bust? Ah, BushCo....2+2=a bag of hammers!

[walldude]

4. Freakin semantics...

Even if there were only 20,000 (which isn't even close) That would be 10,000 to 1 against the pro-war "protesters". Get a grip Tony, you are so far in the minority you may be eligible for affirmative action.

[Supersedeas]

26. His Snowjob is to keep everyone from getting a real grip on what's going on

[soswolf]

6. Thanks, Jane

...for giving them yet another lifetime's worth of bitching about the anti-war movement.

I mean, she's entitled to her opinion, as are we all, but come on. At some point she has to realize she's more detrimental to the cause than positive. If it wasn't, Snow-Job wouldn't be up there using her name.

Hannity might even spend more time on her than he did on the crotch of that flight suit.

[verse18]

9. The only person I hear bitching about the anti-war movement

is you.

"I mean, she's entitled to her opinion, as are we all, but come on." :wtf: This tactic is soooooo 1960s.

[Parche]

11. jane

Is she not a US citizen also?

She has every right to protest,speak...etc......

[K8-EEE]

14. Fuck all the villifying of people who were right all along....

It's a BushCo strategy -- they aren't going to admit Jane, Michael Moore, the French, US, etc. were right all along so they just keep making monsters out of us all. It gets harder and harder to do though as less and less people buy their crap.

[JuniperLea]

15. What K8-EEE said!

Fuck 'em. It's time to stop playing their games. It's time to take a stand for what's right. Jane is right. Moore is right. The French were right not to swallow the Kool Aid. If they had asked for our support in an equally ridiculous effort, what the hell do you all think "we" would have done?

Time to be real, people!

[Lex]

17. Damn skippy! Why do those on the left repeat the crap of the rightwingers.

Screw that.

[JuniperLea]

13. "Silence is no longer an option"

She said it best. If you want to live in the past, go for it, but don't expect a lot of support in dust bunny land.

I'm glad Jane was there.

If GWB himself was there to protest I'd give him kudos too.

Don't give credence where it isn't due... Tony Snow's words/lies are meaningless.

Weak... so very weak.

[Marnieworld]

20. Hannity is an ass-wipe

His opinions are irrelevant he reaches the kool-aid drinkers who buy his bullshit and that is all. Their echo-chamber of lies is toothless so no one here really concerns themselves, edits, censors or makes decisions based on what these liars may or may not say.

Seems like you took the bait that Tony Snow was holding out speaking in code to Hannity listeners. Unless you are one of them you'd see this as the tired, desperate rhetoric of people who cannot defend themselves. It just doesn't fly anymore and makes them look pathetic.

[newyawker99]

27. Hi soswolf!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[soswolf]

35. Thanks

Just what I need, another internets addiction...

[The Backlash Cometh]

31. Actually, I think for the first time, I saw opinions from Iraq veterans

stating that they understood now what the Vietnam anti-war movement was all about. Give it another forty years and Jane Fonda may be getting a formal apology, not that many of us will still be around to hear it.

[endarkenment]

32. Good. There is no such thing as bad PR.

The more they talk about the huge successful demonstration in DC this weekend, the more people will learn that there really is a progressive antiwar movement, we really are organized, we really do hold huge rallies, there really is hope for change.

Jane Fonda spoke for me this weekend.

What they would like to do is pretend it didn't happen at all. That plan failed, now they are left with having to attack us for being there. Good news!

Keep them mud balls flying.

[soswolf]

34. man...

I know she's a US citizen and has the right to freely express her opinions. There's a good chance I agree with most of them.

However, I'm not so dumb as to realize how a lot of people feel about her. I also realize that if you attach her to your cause, there's a good chance you're not going to get very far. She could be saying that grass is green, and you'd have the Purple Grass Society forming meetings a week from Tuesday.
Do I really care what they think?
Well, if I want their vote, I do.
If I want them to pressure their elected officials, I do.

Yes, she had every right to be there, and do what she did. Hell, I would have liked to have been there.

Remember 2000? Ralph Nader comes to mind for me.
Nader had every right to run, and his supporters had every right to support him. A lot of what he said was "right" and made a lot of sense.
In the long run, though, do you really think that him being in the race was the wisest thing? No. It was exploited by the other side.

Reality is inconvenient that way sometimes.

[skipos]

37. I appreciate what you are saying. but it isn't going to fly here.

I find the "strategy" of politics interesting, yet I can never get a discussion going without a bunch of people accusing me of "repeating right wing talking points" or being a DLCer or troll or whatever. The funny thing is, I think the DLC strategy blows. I don't think "strategizing" means sacrificing principles at all. However, I think most DUers like to go with the gut, and that isn't going to change anytime soon.

[Robbien]

7. I saw a news story on FRIDAY which said tens of thousands will show up

for the peace march.

They had the wording all set in advance for their MSM "talking points" memo.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

10. "I don't really think he thought a lot about it."

No, I've never considered him a thoughtful guy, especially when it comes to the concerns of the people of this country.

[Solly Mack]

12. hmmmm

MR. SNOW: "I don't think he really thought a lot about it."

Translation: It was a non-event to Bush.


"It's nice to see Jane Fonda in front of the camera again."

Translation: Jane Fonda at an anti-war protest is something the Bushies can exploit. It's an attempt at marginalizing the protesters with code phrases that have been linked with the word traitor in the past. Such as "Hanoi Jane"...



"There are a number of people who were here making statements, and that's perfectly appropriate.
This is a vigorous democracy"

Translation: This proves there is nothing wrong in America or with America's democracy...see...people are allowed to protest and make speeches..and it's just oh, so "appropriate"...like wearing the right tie or the right shoes. He might as well have said, Look at the people, how cute they look protesting...they protest, feel all good about it...and we'll continue to do as we please...and that's democracy.

[gratuitous]

16. Curious, no?

When called on the Democrat/Democratic business, Snow is all whiny and pissy about how it was two words out of a long speech. Yet he can focus like a laser beam on one person - Jane Fonda - out of the hundreds of thousands of folks who were there. And yet his observation is supposed to be valid, but nobody else's is.

Dear Mr. Snow: You're a toad.

[Solly Mack]

18. exactly...he went right to her and he intended to at some point

he just waited for the right moment to do it

[Hubert Flottz]

21. Correct your typo...

Dear Mr. Snow: You're a turd.

[goclark]

22. How long must he try to Snow Job our country?

He is such an insult

[Jeanette in FL]

23. "I don't think he really thought a lot about it"

No shit, Tony, I don't think he thinks about much to start with. What a freaking smart ass, "Nice to see Jane Fonda in front of a camera again".

"Well, because it's pretty clear from the press accounts that nobody attached six figures to the number who appeared." Time to send Tony some pictures of the crowd. They have never been that good with numbers anyway.

[shanti]

24. snarky jane fonda remark

:eyes:

[1620rock]

25. Jane was right about Vietnam, and she is right about Iraq.

[aaronbees]

28. What an asinine response

from Snow. Vigorous democracy my ass. Pretty clear again what BushCo thinks of the people in this country.

[endarkenment]

30. Helen said "we had a good turnout". I LOVE HELEN! nt.

[truedelphi]

33. Clicking through the mainstreammedia channels on Saturday -

Faux news was about the only mention (except for the Hispanic News station - they had extended and sympathetic coverage)

Faux news was mostly" today Jane "Hanoi" Fonda gave a speech in Washington DC and six people came to hear her.

[marmar]

36. I fucking HATE Tony Snow....

Ari was kind of a bland, milquetoast talking head, and Scotty was kind of a joke, but Tony Snow is nothing but a garden variety asshole. When Michael Moore wrote "Stupid White Men," he had the likes of Tony Snow in mind.