Unofficial Meet the Press thread

[Bonobo]

Let's hear your comments.

Firstly, I'm still stunned by the man's lack of intelligence...

[djg21]

1. I don't know what's sadder . . .

Shrub's performance, or the fact that the wingnuts at FreeRepublic think he performed admirably!

[LibDemAlways]

5. He could make faces into the camera

for an hour and the freepers would be lovin it. They are a sick demeneted lower life form.

[eaprez]

18. Performing Admirably....

...only means he didn't screw up. No major missteps.

[Cleita]

56. At least they didn't call him Churchillian like a RW pundit

did after the 'state of the union' address.

[420montana]

2. mtp

I shot my third television.....

[Cleita]

58. Welcome to DU 420montana.

I know that feeling pretty well. :thumbsup:

[calimary]

67. I've certainly WANTED to shoot my television. Welcome to DU!!

Hilarious post! Great debut!

[bahrbearian]

3. yeah, uhmm ,yeah ,uh humm ,uh humm ,yeah

[donco6]

26. Long pauses - "let me finish" - well, hurry up and SAY something.

[Lostmessage]

78. The long pauses are when he is waiting for his next line

He wears a microphone in his ear and someone is reading him his lines.

That is why he pauses so much.

[loudnclear]

83. These are debate tactics that Bush is too ignorant to learn

I am sure that his "coaches" told him to make the questioner look rude by injecting "let me finish" a few times and he just didn't do it at the right places or really had nothing substantive to finish.

[Bonobo]

4. Is Ruseert going to aske questions or...

is he just going to let Bush blather on ....'dangerous world' blah, blah, blah...

[Richard D]

6. You know

He didn't play the "God" card once in the whole interview.
Odd for him.

[hackwriter]

7. No, but he just blamed the recession on the Clenis (TM).

eom

[GCP]

44. He speaks in code to the fundies

He mentioned "hearts and souls of the people", and "changing times" - Revelation stuff maybe?

[Skidmore]

48. But he did...when he was talking about reconstruction of Iraq

and addressing criticism of why it was going so slow. He said something about asking about how he, as a Methodist, would fair under a new government there.

[onecitizen]

73. No, but I detected that he.........

sure WANTED to.

[Killarney]

8. Russert's being tougher than I thought he would be

Why--being a fiscal conservative, like you like to call yourself--

I loved that line. ;)

[FlashHarry]

10. I loved the "why are you draining the Treasury?" question.

Saying that all wartime presidents have raised taxes to pay for it. Bush stuttered and stumbled. Yep, ol' Timmy was actually pretty hard on the Chimp-in-Chief this morning. Looks as if he won't get a Christmas card from Poppy and Barbara this year...

[Taeger]

20. WAR PRESIDENT!!!

According to the Chimp, he is a WAR PRESIDENT. He thinks about war ALL the time. War is what consumes him.

Bush defines himself quite accurately.

[Lostmessage]

79. But he will get a bonus from them

He should have been even harder on the idiot.

[leyton]

30. Yeah, I'm pleased with Russert.

He's not pulling any punches, especially pointing out the inconsistencies of Bush's rhetoric (WMD's versus WMD-related-program-idea-twinkle-in-the-eye). Wish I had seen the fiscal conservative bit!

[Supply Side Jesus]

9. hit all the talking points in 30 sec!!

talking about blowing the wad early!

[Kathy in Cambridge]

11. Can't Wait to See Jon Stewart Lambaste Bush Over the Interview!

Should be hilarious...

[Taeger]

23. There is enough material ...

There is enough material there for the next two weeks.


Ooooh, Tim just confronted Bush on "Nation Building".

Bush had to admit that he was "Nation Building">

That takes me back to Jon Stewart's "President Bush vs Governor Bush" debate.

[Catshrink]

36. Nation building... Gov. Bush was against it.

ITA:

"That takes me back to Jon Stewart's "President Bush vs Governor Bush" debate."

[Taeger]

76. Daily Show bit - The Voice in the President's ear.

I would like to see a bit where they "intercept" the voice in the presidents ear.

It should be whispering during the pauses and tell the president what to say next. It should constantly correct the president. It should occasionally sear in frustration and get bleeped out.

[joeprogressive]

12. Russert did pretty well under the circumstances but......

blew the chance to question * every time he made the assertion he had international support. Then Bush said Vietnam was a mistake because decisions made by politicians. Russert should have linked that to Iraq. Completely overlooked the parallel.

[Palacsinta]

16. Also missed the point............

that apparently Saddam HAD disarmed and the UN inspectors would have eventually found this out.

[nostamj]

13. the questions are tougher than I thought

but timmy is letting the pantload LIE without any follow-up.

he shouldn't have allowed * to say that JOBS were improving.

he shouldn't have allowed * to say the unemployment rate was lowering when he KNOWS it is not a true figure when those who have used up their benefits or given up looking are included.

[Taeger]

19. Bush is ruining himself

First Russert probably isn't allowed to ask followups.

Second, Bush is taking himself with no help from Tim. Just let the Chimp speak. He will do the work for you.

[Dudley_DUright]

28. I made exactly this same point in the real time thread

[Taeger]

14. Why do the French distrust Bush????

Because they can ALL speak English better than him.

[Lostmessage]

80. LOL

That's a funny joke!

[eleny]

15. Notice how they aren't often on the screen together?

Most often, it's Bush* alone when he's answering. So if he screwed up an answer, they could have retaped a response later Sheesh.

[rasputin1952]

17. I tried to do a running thread during MTP...

but alas, my typing skills leave much to be desired.

In summary: he was a blathering idiot. He hit a brick wall when the question about casualties came up. There was only one place where he hit any type of stride, and that was in the area of tax cuts, (a well rehearsed mantra).

It was an embarrassment, and he is toast.

Worst administration, ever.

O8)

[joeprogressive]

21. Hey leave him alone...He's a Methodist

n/t

[alittlelark]

81. Too bad the Methodists disagree with him so much

Remember when he refused to see the Methodist delegation prior to the War?

[eleny]

22. "Our troops *were* trained to fight and win a war"

Thank you Clinton! But I guess we won't hear that.

[donco6]

24. Public Relations 101: Answer the question and . . .

. . . shut the hell up.

This is the most amateurish interview I've ever seen. He's wandering all over the place, not answering questions, or only answering them after goofy sidebars and rabbit trails.

He looks utterly ridiculous.

[eleny]

25. "Every lice is precious" ??????

Jeez! What a flub!

[9215]

82. that has me scratching my head

people=lice.

[Supply Side Jesus]

27. so...just in case you didn't know....

Saddam was a dangerous man....just in case you didnt know. :eyes:

[eleny]

29. And Bush* just can't tak responsibility

for making a bad conclusion. He looks at evidence, comes to a bad decision but it's not anything to do with him as a leader. 1+1=3

[Nancy Waterman]

33. Two things struck me in particular

Bush kept saying Saddam had "the capacity to make weapons," and then he used it to justify the war. What the f*** does that mean? Tim should have asked. It is a total non-statement bit of propaganda.

And wasn't this the first time that Bush promised to open his entire military record up to the public? Pay stubs, etc. Tim was sure to get that part in. I thought he had been resistant up til now. This could be big.

[Catshrink]

38. Actually, Saddam was a madman

a madman a madman a madman.

(I'm quoting the jackass.)

[DoYouEverWonder]

31. The opposition should considering this tape to be a gift

there is so much material here that can and will be used against him.

I think this along with the SOTU, the trip to Mars, and the immigrant thing is another major nail in his coffin.

The only thing that stills scares me is that I think him and Rove have one more trick up their sleeves and we can be sure it will be a dozy.

[eleny]

32. An Al Gore sigh...

when answering about the Nat'l Guard. Bad responses. His discharge is proof he met his obligation? Poor answers all around!

[donco6]

34. Yes, heard that.

He really struggled with that one. I think we should keep hitting it hard.

[DoYouEverWonder]

37. He actually said he didn't want to go to Viet Nam

because politicians were running the war! Excuse me? Does that mean all our kids in Iraq should come home because not only is this war being run by politicians, it is being run by lying, traitors?

[eleny]

41. They have to stop blaming Kerry now....

for being against the war when he came back from SE Asia. Wooo-hooo!!!! This is great! Bush* just shot down what the Repubs have been recently using against Kerry. I love it!

[Raenelle]

57. It's called civilian control of the military, and the crap that generals

could have won the Vietnam war is the wingnut analysis of that tragic debacle. It just mangles every intelligent estimate of what the VC and NVN could and would sacrifice in order to repel our occupation. Arggghhh. Just another reason to mistrust that simpleton. Intelligence failure, indeed.

[onecitizen]

35. As (glarius I think) said earlier, he looked........

and sounded incoherent. He keeps saying Saddam wouldn't show them his weapons! Excuse me BUT he didn't have any weapons to show!! He let the inspectors in and they could find NO WEAPONS GEORGE! You have been caught and today, you filleted yourself!

[eleny]

42. And didn't Saddham give in at the last minute?

But Bush* said he didn't trust Saddham's last minute capitulation and invaded anyway. I haven't heard this brought up in recent weeks but it did happen.

[pinto]

45. he "wants to change the world"

now, that's dangerous.

[onecitizen]

49. Yes he DID let them in and.......

they couldn't find anything so bush bombed the hell out of them anyway.

[YNGW]

39. He didn't say anything he hasn't already been saying.

He stayed on point, which is what he's always done. But he reveled nothing new.

[Malva Zebrina]

40. It is amazing to me how Bush has successfully revised history

even one who is aware must keep going back to check one's memory. Bush , by repeating at every appearance and every interview, along with every interview Laura, Condi, Rungsfeld, Powell and others, uses the revisionist version of history. I think this will be somewhat successful--it is now that Bush invaded because SAddam had the capacity to be a threat, that the intelligence was bad but it was the best he had, and the congress had the same intelligence. Over and over he has moved out of the Saddam has WMD by the ton and intends to use them on us to we are better off after having taken Saddam out because he was "thinking" of developing a WMD program.

I remeber the UN appearance--the lies Powell told, the refutation of those lies,more than once by Blix and the nuclear inspection team headed by Bareidi(sp) the pictures of the mobile weapons trucks that the US incredibly claimed Saddam was using, and specifically the refutation of Blix re those---also the claim of chemical manufacruting plants in northern Iraq that turned out to be broken down homes of a tribe using it as a base station and that was reported by reporters visiting there, and there is so much more. The UN asked for more time, in spite of the fact that after months and after many many inspections, found none. Bush insisted there were some there, but would not tell the inspectors where--they said OK, then we need more time. I remember Robert Buyrd speaking out against the rush to war--he wondered why Bush was in such an ill advised rush to invade and questioned the evidence many times also.

Bull headed Bush went ahead, rushed in, captured the oil fields and and and--now what? He rushed and rushed without any thought of what happens once Halliburton secured the oil fields. He lied about Saddam and he knows it. His face shows it and his propensity to still lie about it tells me indeed, all has been the biggest con game ever perpetrated on the people of the United States--he ledus into two wars--two rush to wars in which he literally murdered thousands of people because he lied about Saddam.

[onecitizen]

53. Amen! nt

nt

[eleny]

43. He doesn't know why people think he's a divider????

Start packing Laura's bags and grab your shaving kit, you idiot!

[SalParadise]

64. I laughed out loud at that too...

it's so hard to tell if he's lying or just that detached from reality these days!

[Jersey Devil]

46. Notice the body language?

(We won't even mention the ever present smirking.)

Anyone else notice that when Bush was asked tough questions like about WMD he leaned way forward in the chair so far that it seemed like he might fall out of it?

That body language said to me that Bush knew his words were not convincing and that he wanted to physically will others, including Russert, to understand and believe him. Whoever coached him didn't do a very good job.

[barbaraann]

51. And about a dozen times when he lied he shook his head from

side to side, visually signalling "not true."

It was amazing.

[leyton]

55. His eyebrows danced a jig

every time he wasn't being straightforward.

[VolcanoJen]

47. Here's my list!

He didn't do awful, that's for sure. I think it's hard for us to be objective about his performance, since he's pretty much the AntiChrist to most of us here. :-)

Things I noticed:

1. He rambled at times. Russert was pretty powerless to interrupt, because Bush is the President and they're sitting in the Oval Office. The setting lent an air of importance, significance and intimidation to the interview, and Russert really couldn't ride rough herd over the President the way he would a candidate.

1a. Bush's rambling was also intended to run out the clock. That was a pretty good strategy.

2. Bush was really trying to sell himself as a "wartime president." I don't have the transcript, but he described himself as such numerous times during the conversation. That's a pretty good indication of their fall strategy - don't change horses in the middle of a damned war. It might actually work well for him. But he did tip his hand, and we should work on a suitable offense.

3. I think he really screwed the pooch on the "Iraq war wounded and dead" question. He could have at least tried to appear mournful, but instead came off as cavalier. When he said something to the effect of "this is what I want to say to the parents," he made it appear as though only young men and women have been killed in Iraq. What about the spouses, and children, of the dead soldiers? America is just not going to buy his brand of "compassion" on this issue.

4. Bush's biggest mistake of the interview was his answer to the last Russert question, "What is the biggest issue of the upcoming campaign?" Bush's answer was "Who can properly use American power in a way to make the world a better place, and who understands that the true strength of this country is the hearts and souls of American citizens." The Democrats should jump on this answer immediately, because it really illuminates just how out-of-touch with Americans this President is. Is there a single American who would say that "Making the world a better place" is their #1 issue????? Jump on this issue, Dems. Seize it, and make it yours. The "he's out-of-touch" argument worked wonders for us against that last Bush in '92. :-)

on edit: damned typos!

[pinto]

50. kick, #4. Use of American power in the world will be read as "more war"

and I don't think a majority of Americans see the Iraq mess as "worth it"...

[VolcanoJen]

59. Exactly, pinto.

Bush/Cheney: Four More Wars!!

This would be a very, very suitable offense, I think. :-)

[Bluerthanblue]

70. YES!!!!!

i couldn't believe this statement:

Russert: Biggest issues in the upcoming campaign?

President Bush: Who can properly use American power in a way to make the world a better place, and who understands that the true strength of this country is the hearts and souls of the American citizens, who understands times are changing and how best to have policy reflect those times.

This mad-man doesn't want to be president, he wants to rule the world- so many of his comments spoke that truth- comparisons to Hitler and "deutchland uber allas" don't need to be made by anyone- he's making them for us-

ACCCKKKK!!!!!

[SalParadise]

66. too bad you can't bump comments...

great analysis!

[Taeger]

77. Transcript

Russert: Shouldn't the American people have the benefit of the commission before the election?

President Bush: Well, the reason why we gave it time is because we didn't want it to be hurried. This is a strategic look, kind of a big picture look about the intelligence gathering capacities of the United States of America, whether it be the capacity to gather intelligence in North Korea or how we've used our intelligence to, for example, learn more information about AQ Kahn. And it's important that this investigation take its time.

Now, look, we are in a political season. I fully understand people He's trying to avoid responsibility. There is going to be ample time for the American people to assess whether or not I made a good calls, whether or not I used good judgment, whether or not I made the right decision in removing Saddam Hussein from power, and I look forward to that debate, and I look forward to talking to the American people about why I made the decisions I made.

The commission I set up, Tim, is one that will help future presidents understand how best to fight the war on terror, and it's an important part of the kind of lessons learned in Iraq and lessons learned in Afghanistan prior to us going in, lessons learned that we can apply to both Iran and North Korea because we still have a dangerous world. And that's very important for, I think, the people to understand where I'm coming from to know that this is a dangerous world. I wish it wasn't.

I'm a war president. I make decisions here in the Oval Office in foreign policy matters with war on my mind. Again, I wish it wasn't true, but it is true. And the American people need to know they got a president who sees the world the way it is. And I see dangers that exist, and it's important for us to deal with them.

Russert: Will you testify before the commission?

President Bush: This commission? You know, I don't testify? I will be glad to visit with them. I will be glad to share with them knowledge. I will be glad to make recommendations, if they ask for some.

I'm interested in getting I'm interested in making sure the intelligence gathering works well.

Listen, we got some five let me let me, again, just give you a sense of where I am on the intelligence systems of America. First of all, I strongly believe the CIA is ably led by George Tenet. He comes and briefs me on a regular basis about what he and his analysts see in the world.

[eleny]

52. And he dissed conservative think tanks

I'm sure that will go over big in the right wing.

[donco6]

74. Yes, I noticed that, too.

Called all the complaints from the RW think tanks "election year politics."

Ouch.

[stanwyck]

54. His performance makes me ultra-eager

for the presidential debates. If he's this shaky in a controlled environment, what will he do when pressed by someone who is not a journalist trying to hang onto "fair and balanced"? What will Bush do when pressed by Kerry/Dean/Clark for specifics? Not platitudes? Russert was fine. But Bush won't be able to stand up to a man with 30-50 extra I.Q. points and an attitude which is more combative and less neutral. His non-answers are becoming tiresome even for the voters who drank his Kool-Aid the first time around.

[jackstraw45]

60. Dodged question on Bin Laden....wonder why?

Russert: Do you have a pretty good idea where Osama is?

President Bush: You know, I'm not going to comment on that.

_______

Russert really followed up on that one...NOT!

Dead or alive....crusade...this dunce of a president never held up before....

Oh wait, Bin Laden is being held as we speak by special forces, right?

[onecitizen]

72. He did dodge that question!

More than he did others in fact. He couldn't bring himself to tell the truth that they either a)already have him in custody or b)they know exactly where he is hiding.

[nwstrn]

61. Horrible performance

Bush* was worse than I thought he would be, and I had very low expectations. He was completely unprepared for Russert's question as to whether the Iraq war was one of choice or necessity--an issue that has been debated for over a year. His responses mainly consisted of stuttering, canned catch phrases, pauses, and incoherent statements.

I was disappointed Russert didn't question Bush on his comment last year that Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11. Most Americans still believe (wrongly) that Saddam was responsible for the attacks. Bush should have been hammered on this point.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

62. ""I'm more worried about the fellow looking for the job"

From CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/02/08/elec04.prez.bush/index.html

"I'm more worried about the fellow looking for the job," Bush said. "That's what I'm worried about. I want people working. I want people to find work. And so, when we stimulate the economy, it's more likely that person is going to find work. And the best way to stimulate the economy is not to raise taxes but to hold the low taxes down."



Asked about his re-election chances, Bush said, "I don't intend to lose."

[abcdan]

63. Russert was not tough. He didn't press issues.

He asked Bush tough questions, but he didn't ask any follow-up questions after Bush gave his expected political-mumbo-jumbo-dissembling-doublespeak.

He did not dialogue, rather he went through his list of "tough" questions, making it appear like the interview was tough.

Allowing Bush to respond unchallenged to "tough" questions gives the appearance of a successful interview, regardless of the idiocy of the responses.

[Seldona]

65. We are getting killed on CSPAN.

I have been watching CSPANs coverage of MTP, and it is sickening.

About the only Democrats that have been alowed on have either screamed or sounded just like Bush and were barely able to get a sentence out.

On top of it, BOTH pundits are conservative and just keep rambling on about how clear he was, or how he needs to connect to the African American community. (with the last comment I simply had to tune out)

Buhs did a fine job of not answering the fluff handed to him.

In short, even though my personal take was that when he was articulate enough to convey some sort of point, he offered nothing new at all, the spin will leave him walking away a winner.

God I hate the media. More and more every day.

Liberal my ass.

[onecitizen]

68. I'm shocked really.........

I must have watched a different show than those people watched. Cause I thought the guy was hideous!

[SalParadise]

69. CSPAN Hardly matters.

What matters is how this thing is parsed out by editorials this week.

Read the transcript - it's a goldmine.

[lancdem]

85. I agree

I also recall pundits praising Bush's SOTU, and we all know how bad that was. I missed the MTP interview, but my father told me Bush was horrible. He's a Dem, and he didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but he now despises Bush as much as I do.

[loudnclear]

84. The media are going to select the Dem candidates (my post in GD4)

Hate to tell ya but money and power means control. They will cover whomever they want to push to the top, they will smear whomever they don't like, and they will just ignore anyone trying to make a truthful, substantive comment.

[K8-EEE]

71. "I'm A War President"

I'm only half way through the transcript and had to take a break. .

What a LUNATIC!

[truizm]

75. I thought this was hilarious.....

Russert: But this is nation building.

President Bush: Well, it is. That's right, but we're also fighting a war so that they can build a nation.

[shivaji]

86. I just hope Kerry does not get beat by this *

I can't believe how bad * looked on MTP. If Kerry can't
beat this guy, then we have big problems.

[johnfunk]

87. APJ frosts both Smirk and Fatboy Tim

...here.

And remember to flush twice...



it's a long way to Len Downie's office at the Washington Post!