WP: Aiming to Burst 'Bubble' Theory

[kskiska]

President Takes Impromptu Audience Questions in Kansas

MANHATTAN, Kan., Jan. 23 -- The presidency may be a bully pulpit, but President Bush used it on Monday more like a campfire leader than a political preacher.

(snip)

The forum was a departure for the control-oriented, gaffe-fearing Bush White House, which has preferred not to put the president in public settings open to unpredictable and potentially hostile questions. His "town hall" meetings on Social Security last year, for instance, usually consisted of preselected panelists engaging in discussions rehearsed the night before with a White House official.

Last month, Bush was criticized for breaking with tradition and refusing to take questions after a speech on Iraq at the Council on Foreign Relations. A few days later, Newsweek ran a cover story titled "Bush in the Bubble," suggesting he cuts himself off from the outside world. The White House pulled a surprise the next day by inviting audience members to quiz the president after a speech in Philadelphia. It repeated the format last week after an economic speech in Loudoun County, and White House aides said they plan to make it a regular feature for a while.

Here in Kansas, it was a friendly crowd gathered in a solidly red state. White House officials said the university was in charge of attendance, but that they did give some tickets to local Republicans to hand out to GOP supporters. About 100 people protested the Iraq war in 34-degree weather outside the arena, but on his drive into the university Bush was treated to the sight of hundreds of well-wishers waving from front yards.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/23/AR2006012301550.html

[niyad]

1. right--we are supposed to believe that anybody could have come--and

that they only handed out "some" tickets to local pukes.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

2. I read nearly a week ago . . .

. . . that a lot of the audience was being bused in from Fort Riley. Either way, the Chimp had a damned easy audience this morning.

[54anickel]

3. Wonderful, the WH transcribers are tracking his comic relief skills

...By the end of the event, White House transcribers recorded 61 instances of audience laughter.

WhoTheF*kCares!!! Wonderful, now they can tell us what we've known all along - there's a clown in charge of our nation.

[hang a left]

4. Was his zipper down?

[54anickel]

5. Ohhh, you bad!!! *SNARF!*

[Whoa_Nelly]

6. Lucky for * there was an Iraqi woman and a Brit in the audience

The Iraqi woman just happened to also have two family members in the Iraqi Parliament. And a British man...??? Gee...who'd a-thunk K-State had such gems available for this great meet-up? :sarcasm:

Would like to see the "liberal" press interview these two so we can all learn more about them! :eyes: Such as how much these plants were paid to be there and ask "their" questions.

[TaleWgnDg]

7. George Walker Bush is reminiscent of Stalin or Castro or

Chairman Mao. Seriously. In that George Walker Bush trucks in his audience and runs them through a safe-for-him voter audience check or some safe-for-him military personnel setting. Unreal. When George's bubble is burst, and I hope it happens soon, who will be there to wipe the dribble from his chin?




And, this is the leader of the only super-power on Earth, folks.
.

[Buns_of_Fire]

8. ...a regular feature "for a while"

In other words, it'll be a "regular feature" until someone in the audience has the temerity to ask Chucklenuts a hard question and makes him cry. Or meltdown. Or go ballistic.

"Who cares what you think." -- Guess Who?

[cornermouse]

9. When you're refusing to listen to what other people are saying

When you're the one who's doing all the talking.

Its still a bubble.