I Attend Bush's Press Conference (Corn/Nation)

[struggle4progress]

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Please be seated. Yesterday I pledged to reach out to the whole nation, and today I'm proving that I'm willing to reach out to everybody by including the White House press corps.

Very funny, Mr. President. Can you tell us why you have had far fewer press conferences than any president since Woodrow Wilson and the advent of the modern press conference? Your father, for instance, held 83 press conferences when he was president. As of this past June, you had held only 14. Are you afraid of coming before the media? Do you believe you have no obligation to do so? Is message control more important for you than the free flow of information? <snip>

I also look forward to working with the present Congress and the new Congress that will arrive in January. I congratulate the men and women who have just been elected to the House and the Senate. I will join with old friends and new friends to make progress for all Americans.

Progress for all Americans? How will you do so for, say, gay and lesbian Americans? Will you continue to push for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage? Shortly before the election, you did say you support the notion of civil unions for gays and lesbians. Will you send legislation to Congress to establish civil union rights and employment protections for gays and lesbians? And if you believe this is a matter for states to decide, will you use the bully pulpit of the presidency to encourage your fellow Republicans in the states to craft and implement these protections? And while we're speaking of progress, during your first administration the number of Americans in poverty went up. Is there any reason to believe you will achieve more progress--or less failure--on this front in your second term? <snip>

http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=1991