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For a second I thought this was a double because I knew I'd seen it before.
I really want one of these fake setups to happen and one of the 'coached' participants stand up on the live camera and drop the charade for all the world to see.
MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, I think you might want to talk to the Department of Defense. ... Just three years ago, the Iraqi people were under a brutal, oppressive dictator, a dictator that killed thousands and thousands of people.
Q How many have we killed?
MR. McCLELLAN: We've liberated 25 million, both in Iraq and in Afghanistan.
Q How many have we killed?
MR. McCLELLAN: Helen -- I'm sorry, Bob, I just can't let this go -- our men and women in uniform go out of their way not to target innocent civilians. They go out of their way to target those who are enemies and to bring them to justice. They are making the world safer for our children and grandchildren.
Might there be some value to the troops in terms of morale to have the president listening directly to them?
I wish I could be there to see you face to face and thank you personally. Probably a little early for me to go to Tikrit. Perhaps one of these days the situation will be such that I'll be able to get back to Iraq.In other words, "It's too dangerous for me to be there, but it's OK for you to be there."
"The president is merely the most important among a large number of public servants, Roosevelt explained in 1918. "He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able and disinterested service to the nation as a whole.
"Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile.
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or anyone else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else."
No one intended to tell them what to think or how to express themselves; going through likely questions in advance was meant solely to help the troops feel at ease during an obviously unique experience.The administration blamed the military for the Mission Accomplished banner, too.
...It's not surprising that it led this site today, but the attention this story is receiving in the wider newsiverse would suggest something...new.Harry Shearer/Huffington Post
Yet anybody who's been paying attention knows that virtually every public, or semi-public event of this administration--every "town meeting", every "Presidential conversation", every meet and greet--every event where a camera and microphone have been, through the generosity of this admninistration, been allowed to be present, has been scripted and staged to the Nth (or, perhaps, in honor of Mike Deaver who invented all this, the Mth) degree. It's news, big news, making the evening news now for one reason, and that reason is called Under Forty Percent.
"We've all been party to media events and blatant photo ops. Members of the media have known full well when events in the past have been thoroughly scripted to bring about the desired response. While this kind of thing gets reported when germane, it's a given in political campaigns, just as it was a given during the series of town meetings this President held, the guests were invited and questions were at very minimum strongly encouraged by subject manner, if not outwardly planted. It's what the home team gets to do. It's part of politics and both parties have made it something of an art form. In this case, however, the advance billing and final execution were at odds. And what we witnessed -- the comments first rehearsed then repeated verbatim with minor deviations once the President entered the discussion -- was rather stunning to see on television..."
Pay close attention -- here's the transcript, here's the video -- and you'll notice that the answers Bush gets to his questions are not very responsive, as if Bush didn't ask the questions in the order the troops were expecting.
Bush asks if the Iraqi troops have improved, and Capt. Steven Pratt tells him about all the rehearsals for voting day.
Bush asks what the locals think, and Capt. David Williams explains that voter registration is up -- and then describes what someone else has heard from the locals, since he himself evidently hasn't spoken to any.
Bush asks how life has changed since the troops first got there, and Master Sgt. Corine Lombardo tells him about the time she met Bush before in New York after 9/11 -- and then answers his earlier question about whether Iraqi troops have improved.
"George W. Bush — what a newsmaker. In the true sense of the word. This morning, he made it up.Psst...burn!!!
The videoconference his handlers set up with U.S. soldiers in Iraq was staged, as the AP's Deb Reichmann just pointed out.
But here's another part of the flack attack you may not know: The soldier on the left side of the front row was actually a flack herself, though she didn't reveal it during the regime's 24-minute infomercial.
Her name is Corine Lombardo, and I hope she stays safe in Iraq. It's a dangerous place even for flacks. But the fact is, as my sharp-eyed colleague David Axe tipped me, Lombardo probably sees more action watching CNN than action. (For a sample of her work, click here.)
I'm glad Lombardo is safe, and I mean her no harm, and it's nothing personal, but I don't believe a fucking word she says, because her job is to make the Bush regime look good.
"People were inclined to say Bush’s policies have made things worse on a wide range of issues such as the federal budget deficit, the gap between rich and poor, health care, the economy, relations with U.S. allies, the tax system and education."You're doing a heck of a job Bushy!
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posted by SirOmega at 10:42 PM on October 13, 2005