The thorn in Ari Fleischer's side.

April 16, 2002 1:32 PM

The thorn in Ari Fleischer's side. Russell Mokhiber, writer for Multinational Monitor, consistently asks questions at press briefings which cause Ari Fleischer to create new and strange forms of rhetorical yoga, when Fleischer doesn't avoid answering altogether.
posted by Ty Webb (9 comments total)

Be sure to check out earlier press briefings, as the current one isn't that exciting.
posted by Ty Webb at 1:34 PM on April 16, 2002

Great link..

For some reason I have a mental image of Mokhiber in western getup with a six gun shooting questions at a dancing Fleischer.

Oh and mountain top removal? MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL? That's gotta leave a mark!
posted by srboisvert at 1:42 PM on April 16, 2002

I dunno, these are fairly complex, particular questions, to which Fleischer replies "I don't know, you'll have to ask someone who does." Is Mokhiber doing that? I hope so, these seem like interesting issues. I hope this isn't some simple anti-Fleischer hoohah which, though true, is old news.

I kind of like the idea of removing the top of a mountain - ka POW! I'm a voodoo child!
posted by UncleFes at 1:52 PM on April 16, 2002

Not so much yoga as consistancy, which Oscar Wilde said was the last refuge of the unimaginative.

Ha ha ha. Hilarious link. Same damned response each time.
"There are times when, in military operations, innocent lives are lost, and the President decries that. The President will always look for ways, continuing throughout the violence, to find ways to bring the parties together. And I'll leave it at that."

Nice to know we have the president on our side, decrying stuff.
*whistling national anthem through a comb*
posted by Settle at 2:01 PM on April 16, 2002

I love the "lives lost" euphimism.

General: "Where did I put those lives?"

General's Wife: "Well, where did you have the last?"


I agree with UncleFes...the questions are too specific and there is probably no way Ari could really answer them. It probably doesn't help that the White House staffers keep him blissfully ignorant of just about everything so he can say he doesn't know the answers without having to lie.
posted by srboisvert at 2:09 PM on April 16, 2002

Rhetorical yoga!!

Check regularly for the Ari Fleischer Ridiculous Misstatement Watch (TM) at TPM.

Like this one. And this one.
posted by sillygwailo at 2:23 PM on April 16, 2002

Whether or not Fleischer knows about that particular issue is not germane. He's a political spokesman, therefore his job description is simple: say as little as you can in as many words as possible.
posted by insomnyuk at 3:41 PM on April 16, 2002

You're right that Ari is intentionally kept out of the loop on a number of issues, but that concept wasn't exactly invented by the Bush White House.
posted by aaron at 3:42 PM on April 16, 2002

Aaron does have a point here. Maybe a slightly misguided point but a point nevertheless. As I recall, the political sidestep of "plausible deniability" that Ari the Honest uses had it's origins in the Nixon administration crimes and was perfected in the Reagan/Bush administrations during the Iran/Contra crimes.
posted by nofundy at 6:18 AM on April 17, 2002