Quote:
Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
He should have said:
"Yes, appointing that old feeb Paul O'Neill. Next question."
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Actually, I was waiting for him to say: "Are you sure I can't just say 'Trading Sammy Sosa' again?" Little self-deprecation, would be the touch of humor that people like about Bush, would serve as a nice segway into whatever platitudes he wants to utter.
I didn't stay up all night and missed most of the fire of the debate on this board, but I listened to most of the speech, and then a chunk of the QandA, on the way home. (I've read no blogs or press reports yet, though I've had the benefit of seeing arguments about the merits of several blogs while ketchupping. Thanks for that.)
At any rate, even with the blessing of low expectations for our President's performance, I was disappointed.
I learned:
* We're in a tough stretch in Iraq (true)
* We can't cut and run (true)
* Terrorists are evil (true)
* The stakes are high and this is a historic moment (true)
* He feels anguish for the soldiers, their families, and the victims of 9/11 (I'm sure is true)
* Several nifty anecdotes to which he returned frequently, including something about a tractor-trailer full of mustard gas (Whose truth are kinda irrelevant as I view them as mostly "filler" answers, thought I do agree that they're nifty)
* When I say something, I mean it. (At least as it relates to invading, you betcha.)
The reason I learned these things is that Bush used them in every single goddamned answer, regardless of what the question was.
Well, that's almost correct. He also added that:
*In answer to the question about why he and Cheney were visiting the commission
together, he said something along the lines of "to answer the commission's questions, and I look forward to doing it." (In fairness, there's no answer to this question devoid of embarassment, but that should be a hint that there's a problem with the overall approach).
* When asked who we're handing the keys to the kingdom over to, he replied something like "well, that's what this guy from the UN will tell us." When I picked myself off the floor of the car, I also realized that the UN has said they may not be able or willing to send a large contingent to Iraq until the environment is safer. Fortunately, I think the UN can find a credible Iraqi authority to take over in a weekend or so, if need be.
At any rate, I didn't expect to hear anything startlingly new, but I would've thought that someone -- anyone -- would've trained Bush better to segway into his prepared bromides. "I have strongly held beliefs. I'm doing what's right. Trust me," will either resonate with people or it won't, but it's not that fucking hard to drag any question, kicking and screaming if need be, into that safe, reassuring arena. Unfortunately, Bush had to take several halting swings at several of them just to bring the question to the ground.
And whoever's in charge of prepping this man for the obvious terror of actually facing a live press corps and answering questions should be shot. "What would you count as your biggest mistake to date" is not a bolt from the blue.
No wonder the man's only done 12 of these things in four years.
Gattigap
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