How Will Bush Get Through An Hour on "Meet The Press"?

[Plaid Adder]

So, Bush is going to be on Meet The Press this Sunday for "a full hour." However, the interview will be "recorded live to tape" at the White House on *Saturday.* How will they get him through this ordeal without having him self-destruct?

[vi5]

1. I agree with Liberal Oasis's take on this interview....

Although the conventional wisdom is that russert is a republican shill, I think what LO said this morning is true. He is much more an establishment shill. So that if the establishment line is that people are ticked off and want answers, that he may just very well hit harder than we think. And like they pointed out, look how flustered he got when being interviewed by Diane Sawyer of all people.

[Dirty Hippie]

2. It will not be Bush they interview...

it will be a remote controlled android.

[mikehiggins]

41. And that will be differant because...??? eom

[ironflange]

49. Yeah

It's the old Reagan android with a different head.

[liberalnurse]

3. I heard that he may use a tiny ear piece too.

I now wonder if that has been done, even in the Gore debates.....Anyone know for sure?

[Plaid Adder]

5. Robin Williams did a hilarious piece on this as Reagan on SNL

I can't remember the details, but they had put a mike in his head so they could feed him the answers and it all just went haywire. RW has kind of had a steep descent careerwise over the past 10 years but at his best he could make you pee in your pants laughing.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

[RedSox02]

4. You know the Daily Show will be on Russert

if this turns out to be a real softball interview. The backlash will be good.

[Karenina]

6. Sure would be nice

if some flag-waving Vets could greet Russert on his way to the WH with a question or two they'd like him to ask...

[PeanutOne]

27. But that would be hypocritical of Jon Stewart

Republican guests on his show only get softball questions, or a mild jab or two at best. I have no doubt that if Jon Stewart interviewed Bush, Jon would be overflowing with "Sir" this and "Sir" that and cackling with uncontrollable laughter at every attempt at humor that came out of the chimp king's mouth.

The Daily Show can be funny, but Stewart has really backed off a lot.

[Tims]

30. I think you short change Stewart

Do you think any right winger would appear on his show if he really skewered them? I think he has always done a good job of subtly opening up gaping holes in the right winger's arguments and letting them expose themselves as the extremists they are without attacking them directly. Remember this is not a news show and he is being paid to be humorous. No right winger comes away from the Daily Show having won any converts.

Stewart's skill is not that he can throw in the cutting remark or the tough question, but that he always keeps control. You can always see the frustration in many of the conservative guests in that they never get the upper hand and often walk away somewhat perplexed, like they are not really sure exactly what just happened.

[otohara]

7. It's Taped, Rove Is Doing The Editing

that's my guess, since the interview takes place Saturday.

[Eric J in MN]

8. Exactly. They can edit anyone to make him look good or bad and

Exactly. They can edit anyone to make him look good or bad and Russert will edit Bush to make him look good.

Everyone who ordinarily goes on Meet the Press does it live.

[Jacobin]

9. Its a cut and splice, taped, propaganda show

with softballs from Russert, with multiple "takes" for answers, as Rove whispers in Smirky's ear.

Its a sham and a charade and its disgusting

[UTUSN]

10. Finally, the Maximum Limits of Brownnosing Will Be Exceeded

Shrub will O.D. and go into a diabetic coma. TimMAY will reach orgasm. FRIST will drop white powder strategically and also write new prescriptions for LIMBOsevic.

[colonel odis]

11. you think that'll be coffee in that coffee cup? n/t

[KensPen]

12. Questions given in advance?

maybe

[flamingpie2500]

13. I predict an "imminent" disaster

Although Bush would never agree to do such an interview except under the strictest of rules bent on making him look good--this idiot will not make it through without major screw ups to the english language and a few really lame jokes. I know of at least 2 things they WON'T be discussing--his military record, and Osama Bin Laden.

[Cheesehead]

26. Welcome to DU fellow tundra-dweller!

I think you have the Whisle-Ass interview pegged. :toast:

[noonwitch]

14. They'll be drilling him, but he'll still need some drugs to help

Cocaine? Whiskey? Valium?

[KansDem]

21. Yes (eom)

[KharmaTrain]

15. Breads & Circuses

I expect very little one-on-one time between Timmy and lassie...short questions and answers and the Russett PotatoE-head mentioning how things have to move along since there are so many issues to cover. Yep, he'll throw the softball questions about the AWOL and the WMD lies and then let * spin a tightly prepared answer. It'll be 15 questions, no follow-ups.

Also, I'll bet we see Pickles...maybe even get a tour or try some of her newly baked cookies or hear how difficult the last year has been worrying about those poor Iraqi children. :barf:

Then look for the "day in the life" photo-op...following Pretzlboy around his "day"...well the parts that Rove allows access to...sitting behind the desk in the Oval office, meeting the military (South Carolina photo op with Coast Guard...who cares, they're wearing uniforms), sitting at that large table trading smirks with Condi and then the family shot watching the Superbowl...of course not halftime.

Lastly, there's the "perspective" segement of past Presidential appearances on MTP...including a 5 minute retrospective on Clinton's peenie.

Sad thing is I'll bet I'm 50% right on this.

[Beetwasher]

16. I Expect A Full Blown Sloppy, Slaveringly Wet French Kiss

The Chimp: "You may not be as purty as that there Canadian feller I met a coupla weeks ago, but you'll do!"

There will be lot's of man love going on...That should fill a good 15 minutes...

In all honesty, I predict a total abomination. He's not going to answer a single question appropriately and he's going to be in his best "Aww shucks, I'm just a good ol' boy" mode. Since he's not even half the actor that Reagan was (and that's not much), he's going to fail miserably at pulling it off and it's going to be clear to whole country what a badly scripted phony he is.

[Bridget Burke]

17. Combination of rehearsing answers to known questions,

And lots of editing after the fact.

But it will STILL be a strain on him.

[salinen]

19. That show is being edited now.

They will say live, because lying is second nature. TR will not exist in a post RW holocaust America.

[justsam]

18. Russet will have

a smile on the lower half of his face and serious look on the upper half and when * answers a question in his lieing way, Russet won't pin him down and say "JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION' no song and dance this morning.. example "Did you lie and manipulate the truth to carry out your personal vendetta against Saddam"? It's a YES or NO answer, not all that rhetoric about Saddam was a treat,The world is a better place, I know that we did the right thing. lets get the truth..

At least 60 min may do a follow up Sun. night.

[TreasonousBastard]

20. "Live to tape"...

is not "live."

If they're gonna pull that crap, there's no point in watching that gimlet-eyed simian have all his flubs, fluffs, and bullshit cleaned up.

They're desperate. They've seen the excitement in the primaries for getting rid of him, and he's getting pounded by a lot of his own people.

He's going on there for one purpose-- to look good. I wouldn't be at all surprised if his PR flacks get final cut on what gets aired.

The whole thing stinks up the place. The Sunday AM gabfests are there mainly to put across points of view, but to allow the President or anyone else interviewed, to edit the interview is a new low.

[nostamj]

22. what we should be writing NBC about is

equal time.

1 hour (edited!) interviews with the dem candidates.

they are doing nothing more or less than providing a hour-long campaign commercial for *.

[arwalden]

23. Wouldn't They Put A *SPEAKER* In Bush's Ear Instead Of A Mic?

The speaker (earphone) is what makes the sound, the mic (mike) is what picks up the voice.

(Oh... I'm just givin' ya a hard time. We know what you meant! :hi:)

-- Allen

[KansDem]

24. Most challenging question asked of him...

"What kind of tree would you like to be?" :silly:

(Some DUers had hilarious sample questions from a thread yesterday! I'm still chuckling thinking about them)

[rasputin1952]

25. I didn't realize this was going to be taped...

I was under the impression it would be live. It loses all credibility if it is taped, (not that there would be much credibility anyway).

This "full hour", could have been 14 hours of idiocy, edited down to 60 minutes of semi-coherent ramblings, the best they could do with this moron.

They had him on the other day with Kofi Annan, and he was an absolute embarrassment. Annan had dignity and intellect on his side, while bush stumbled over word and phrase.

It will be interesting, regardless, if for nothing other than watching him squirm as he lies his way out softball questions.

O8)

[Plaid Adder]

28. kick for afternoon crowd

[onecitizen]

29. It's gonna be taped at.......

the WH too. Which gives him an advantage to begin with.

[Kool Kitty]

31. He'll make balloon animals.

[Lisa]

34. now THAT would be interesting to watch

Reportedly, * is not very competent when it comes to any kind of crafts or repairs -- and sure enough, the man doesn't have any hobbies like woodworking, fly-tying, or even auto repair.

So he'd be cussing up a storm as balloon after balloon popped in his clumsy fingers.

[hellhathnofury]

32. There's some major flawed thinking in the poll...

it presumes Bush is capable of studying. He can't learn.

[Lisa]

33. plus, there will be a LOT of commercial breaks ...

Most of them GOP ads?

[buycitgo]

35. see below post

editing mstk

[buycitgo]

36. here's an example of JUST HOW BAD it's going to be

Daily Howler, with transcript/commentary on APPALLING, NAUSEATING suckfest from Russert/chimp, ca 1999.

you seriously aren't going to believe this

Candidate Bush did Meet the Press on November 21, 1999, shortly after a pair of flaps had roiled the Washington press corps. On October 31, Time had reported that Naomi Wolf was advising Candidate Gore, and this led to a series of foolish flaps that continued throughout the election. But three days later, on November 3, Boston TV reporter Andy Hiller ambushed Candidate Bush with a fiendish foreign relations “pop quiz.” Bush was stumped by Hiller’s questions, and looked a bit shaky in the process. Each of these episodes had received wide attention in the weeks before Bush did Meet the Press.

How did Russert handle these matters? He never mentioned Bush’s “pop quiz,” directly or indirectly. Indeed, in the next day’s New York Times, Frank Bruni puzzled a bit over Russert’s milquetoast performance:

BRUNI: Because Mr. Bush had not done a live television interview of this length since he announced his candidacy in June, the appearance was widely anticipated as a chance to see how nimbly he could negotiate an array of policy questions…
Although Mr. Bush had just given a foreign policy speech on Friday and had previously drawn criticism for several gaffes when talking about international affairs, Mr. Russert did not dwell long on global matters.

That was a bit of an overstatement by Bruni, but Russert was no bulldog this day. In particular, he didn’t allude to the “pop quiz,” or to other alleged gaffes which had drawn attention. But man, how he hit on Naomi Wolf! In what can only be viewed as a world-class pander, Russert tossed several softballs to Bush midway through the hour. His Wolf-spinning started with this:
RUSSERT: One out of every three kids born in this country, born to a single mom.
BUSH: Yeah.

RUSSERT: Millions of them teen-age moms. Let me show you what Naomi Wolf, an advisor to Vice President Gore, has to say about this issue and put it on the screen: “We should address the teen abortion and unwanted pregnancy rate by doing what Dr. Elders lost her job as surgeon general simply for mentioning: we should teach petting—‘sexual gradualism’—and let our kids know that there are many ways of having pleasure and intimacy that don’t involve intercourse. This is an agenda both the Left and the center can agree on, for it’s hardly a radical notion. Mutual masturbation: history shows it’s the old-fashioned, Main Street, American way. If we teach kids about other kinds of sexual exploration that help them wait for intercourse until they are really ready, we let girls find out about their desire, give them back power in erotic negotiation, and let kids have an option not to go immediately ‘from zero to sixty.’ Teaching sexual gradualism is as sensible as teaching kids to drive.”

Journalism textbooks should present this moment as the ultimate Sunday pander. Russert quoted—at interminable length—the most controversial part of Wolf’s 1997 book, Promiscuities. Of course, no one had ever said that Wolf was counseling Gore on this topic, and Gore, of course, had never espoused anything like this position. But there it was, on Meet the Press, offered up as a softball to Bush. “It’s pathetic,” Bush replied, and he and Russert went back and forth on “sexual gradualism,” with Russert pretending to speak for Wolf. (“Naomi Wolf said she’s being realistic. She’s treating teen-agers as they are.”) Softballs seldom get mooshier. And incredibly, after taking a commercial break, Russert brought Wolf up again! Incredibly, here was his opening question:
RUSSERT: And we’re back, talking to Governor George W. Bush. We’re live from Austin, Texas. Let me ask you, Governor, about the issue of abortion—
BUSH: Yes.

RUSSERT: —because Ms. Wolf and others suggest that perhaps sometimes abortion may be an alternative, although not an appropriate one.

But what could possibly have been the reason for mentioning Wolf in that context? In fact, Candidate Gore had “suggested that perhaps sometimes abortion may be an alternative” (so had Candidate Bush, by the way); there was no imaginable reason for bringing up Wolf—except to serve another softball. Mentioning Wolf two separate times—but failing to mention Bush’s own recent problems—Russert sketched a textbook example of how to stage a Sunday pander. But what did he do, some four years later, when a major Dem hopeful appeared on his program? He staged a silly “pop quiz” of his own, then scolded the Dem for his lack of knowledge. Is it any wonder that many Dems think Russert has two sets of standards?

did anyone above mention that this is the fascistos' VERY favorite trick: to show/play a quote of someone on the other side, then ask their wingnut guest to comment freely and at length, allowing for maximum disparagement, as well as killing time, while obviating the necessity of asking any challenging questions of the guest.

look for LOTS of the above on Sunday.

[kodi]

37. it will be a pure and simple bull$hit propaganda piece

russert is a media whore who sux and swallows with the best of them.

nbc probably will have the ghosts of albert speer and leni riefenstahl doing the lighting.

one must ask that since bush has held not a single real press conference with the traditional give and take every other recent president has, why russert, why now, and why the fucking hell does it matter what bush says and does? we all know bush is a congential liar who cares about people as much as maggots.

kabuki on the potomac is all it is anymore.

[buycitgo]

38. kabuki?

you mean bukaki?

[AZCat]

39. Ewww...

That's not a pleasant image!

[buycitgo]

40. but it fits, don't you think?

Int it what this admin has done to the media for the last 12 years or so?

Russert being one of the most greedily accepting of their largesse?

[AZCat]

42. <sigh> Yes, it does fit.

I guess the metaphor, like the reality, just isn't very pleasant.
How did we ever get into this mess?
How did these jackoffs ever get control?
ARRRRRRGH! I get so angry I can't even own a TV anymore!

[mitchum]

46. "kabuki on the Potomac" is priceless

really good (and unfortunately apt)

[ComerPerro]

43. Softball questions, prearranged questions, and editing

That's how he will get through.

[banana republican]

44. Bush was a C student

He will do a C presentation

He bairly got through Haaaaaavard

He is an F- President.

Hell my cats could run the country better than he can.

So how will he do????

HIS GRADES ARE INCOMPLETE......

He has 90 days to submit his final exam....

[burrowowl]

45. He isn't going to be on for an hour

Who are MTP's other guests and the commercials take up at least 15 minutes.

[mitchum]

47. It will have all the spontaneity of a mass

[Zinfandel]

48. Cut, cut, cut...

The chimp will do an hour plus, then his handlers will snip out his screw ups.

After all they demanded it to be taped earlier than SHOWTIME!

[ariellyn]

50. Tim Russert will read clips of Bush quotes...between blushing

how else?