WP, Milbank: For Bush and the NAACP, Uneasy Does It

[DeepModem Mom]

For Bush and the NAACP, Uneasy Does It
By Dana Milbank
Friday, July 21, 2006; Page A02


President Bush drew some hecklers at the NAACP convention but also applause in his first speech to the group. When introduced by the NAACP president, Bush joked: "I thought he was going to say, 'It's about time you showed up.' " (By Melina Mara -- The Washington Post)

President Bush was benefiting from the soft bigotry of low expectations when he addressed the NAACP convention yesterday. But that wasn't quite enough to get him through.

The president was ending his five-year boycott of the nation's largest civil rights organization, and the group was doing its best to "welcome the stranger"....Gravity, however, could be defied only so long. A little while after Bush acknowledged that "many African Americans distrust my political party," four men in the Massachusetts section rose to demonstrate that distrust by shouting epithets at the president. The ruckus continued until Bond got up and walked behind Bush to make sure the miscreants were removed....

***

....For what may have been the first time since the 2001 attacks, Bush gave a full-length speech with no mention of terrorism, Iraq or the Middle East. "Compassion" was back, and it was as if, for a moment, the past five years had never happened....The president offered the ritual GOP mea culpa -- "for too long my party wrote off the African American vote" -- and paid respect to Bond. "I asked him for a few pointers on how to give a speech. It doesn't look like they're taking."

Bush may have been thinking of Bond's speech opening this week's convention, in which he said the president has "run the country into the ground . . . continued an assault on our civil liberties and civil rights, orchestrated a massive transfer of wealth from the bottom to the top, increased poverty every year they've been in office, created dangerous deficits, substituted religion for science, ignored global warming, wrecked environmental protections."...

***

When he arrived at the Washington Convention Center yesterday, Bush was ready to flatter, from an opening paean to "the heroism of the civil rights movement and the accomplishments of the NAACP" to a closing vow to sign promptly a renewal of the Voting Rights Act....The audience reciprocated: Bush got a standing ovation when he entered, and the 90 percent applauding easily drowned out the boos from the other 10 percent. The White House transcript listed 57 incidents of "applause" in the 33-minute speech -- and the vast majority of those were genuine. For every grumbled retort offered by an audience member, there was a cry of "yes!" or "right!"...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/20/AR2006072001723.html

[silverojo]

1. Those who applauded Bush are a disgrace.

Where was he when New Orleans was flooding? When blacks were being deprived of their right to vote in 2004?

This truly makes me ill.

[goclark]

2. They applauded the VOTING RIGHTS ACT statement

There was an excellent post here yesterday that speaks to the lack of response from the audience, someone that was actually there.

I wish I had been there ~ they would have carted goclark off to jail.

The VOTING RIGHTS ACT is an insult to every African American!
Why do we even need to discuss it ~ it should be LAW that comes under EVERYONE's RIGHTS.

[redqueen]

4. it's really amazing (disgusting, really) that anyone applauded...

considering that bush replaced anyone who voted to investigate the voter purges in FL

http://www.gregpalast.com/they-dont-call-it-the-white-house-for-nothing#more-1458

*sigh*

[chill_wind]

3. Truly straight out of Pravda

re: WH transcripts. Frightening that they don't even TRY to make any vague pretense of being anything else these days.

An hour later, the White House released a transcript omitting that exchange and describing the disruption as "applause.

(...)

There were, inevitably, episodes of booing and cries of "no!" -- as when Bush affirmed that "I strongly believe in charter schools, in public school choice." But history may overlook such tense moments: The booing, like the heckling, was omitted from the White House transcript.

[goclark]

5. Not disgusting to me at all ~

Take a look at this thread to really see what happened.

IMO, since we were not there and only were able to read/see the RepulbiCON News, I would not put down the African American CIVIL RIGHTS GIANTS / Democrats that are fighting night and day to makes this world a better place.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=2733339

[Cha]

6. Who wants ya, bush? Who

cares if the idiot in the house "shows up"?