Meet The Press Transcript: George is @#$! Unintelligible!

[Plaid Adder]

I missed George's appearance on MTP this Sunday, so I'm looking at the transcript. Tell me, now, folks--did this bullshit make _any_ more sense when you saw it delivered live, I mean taped?

I'm particularly baffled by the end of his response to the question about why the crap he told us about weapons in Iraq wasn't true:

"By the way, quoting a lot of their data in other words, this is unaccounted for stockpiles that you thought he had because I don't think America can stand by and hope for the best from a madman, and I believe it is essential I believe it is essential that when we see a threat, we deal with those threats before they become imminent. It's too late if they become imminent. It's too late in this new kind of war, and so that's why I made the decision I made."

OK...let's just take that first sentence.

"By the way, quoting a lot of their data..." Whose data? Who's quoting it? He never goes back to hook up that participle to anything. He just crashes on through to "this is unaccounted for stockpiles that you thought he had"--what does 'this' refer to? And what the hell is an "unaccounted for stockpile that you thought he had?" You mean those stockpiles that you told us were there but aren't? Those are now "unaccounted for stockpiles"? How exactly were you expecting him to account for something that DOESN'T EXIST? Anyway, what do you mean 'you thought he had'? *I* never thought he had 'em. I don't think you were asking Tim Russert or the folks in TVland if they thought he had 'em. So if by 'you' you mean 'I,' or 'we,' why don't you just say that? Especially since you're back to 'I' in the enxt phrase: "because I don't think America can just stand by and hope for the best from a madman." No, I don't think America can either George, and that's why we should start impeachment proceedings now instead of waiting for November 2004...oh, wait, that's not what you meant?

And then, finally, he blunders his way to the end of what you can't even call a sentence any more with "I believe it is essential that when we see a threat, we deal with those threats before they become imminent."

Holy Christ. Say, George, leaving aside the question of whether really following this policy would ever allow us to *stop* being at war with the entire world, should we really be acting on threats that you can only 'see' knowing as we now do that you are seeing shit that DOESN'T EXIST?

I don't know if I can read any further. I think my head is already bleeding.

Argh,

The Plaid Adder

[SaddenedDem]

1. It made no sense

in whatever form you viewed it.

The only thing you miss reading the transcripts are the smirks.

Put your imagination to work....war (smirk)...war (smirk)...war (smirk)...war (smirk)...

[Lugnut]

3. Yeah, and....

Terrists (smirk), terrists (smirk), terrists (smirk), nucular, madman, blah, blah, blah. And he looked like h-e-double-hockey-sticks.

[murielm99]

4. There was alot of

stammering and pausing, too. At one point he said he paused to "think."

We laughed so hard!

[Art_from_Ark]

15. Suddenly, I have this mental image of Winnie-the-Pooh,

sitting on a log, saying to himself "Think! Think, think! Think!"

[soup]

2. Prediction: Band-Aid sales will rise sharply.

quote:
"I don't know if I can read any further. I think my head is already bleeding."

Tape is online here:
(tourniquet required)
(scroll way down)
http://www.nbc4.com/News/1166391/

[ithacan]

5. true, but nevertheless, Cokie Roberts on NPR

was spinning wildly to make it sound like Bush is a wonderful wartime leader who is being unfairly beaten up on by those pesky Democrats...

[MUAD_DIB]

10. Did you expect anything different from Cookie?

She's had her lips firmly attached to *'s * since the beginning of his selection.

[Plaid Adder]

11. Agree abotu Cokie, however

I noticed that she was not spinning with her usual zest. She sounded hoarse, and kind of defeated, and although she was doing her best to put things in a positive light she was much less positive about things than she has been. The best she could generally come up with was, "Well, we'll see if it works." I think a lot of Bush's fellow-travelers are starting to feel kinda let down.

That pig ain't gettin' any prettier,

The Plaid Adder

[Richardo]

17. *I* want Cokie's job - it's the second easiest job in the WORLD...

...right behind fact-checker for Rush Limbaugh.

Here's Cokie, EVERY Monday on NPR:

"The President's poll numbers look good, given the Democrats are constantly criticizing him."

"The President week was a success, given the Democrats are constantly criticizing him."

"The Democrats have no message, but they're constantly criticizing the President."

"Things are good for the President, unless they're bad."

:eyes:

[CatWoman]

18. isn't Cokie married to a liberal

:shrug:

I could never understand those relationships.

[Terran]

21. Things are getting tough for the Cokester!

Her dreamy idol Georgie has a few cracks in his pedestal, and she's beginning to sense that all is not well.

God, that woman infuriates me. How NPR can allow such obvious pandering in a supposedly objective reporter is beyong me.

[lisarenat]

30. Give Cokie a break

I beleive our biggest problem with Cokie, is that she is on NPR. We are all used to the liberal bias that we get from this program. That we all just flip when someone tries to level things just a little.
Howard Dean 04..

[I_like_chicken]

34. Im not so sure

I wouldn't confuse liberal bias with objective journalism. We're so used to hearing right-wing propaganda that when we here objective journalism we think its liberal. So anger at this commentator is not unfounded. I think this is also another problem we have, liberals understand the importance of being unbiased, while the neocons could less and are more concerned about spewing their propaganda and thier spin.

[alcuno]

53. You hit the nail on the head.

"We're so used to hearing right-wing propaganda that when we hear objective journalism we think it's liberal."

Amen and welcome to DU.

[West Coast Democrat]

40. Excuse Me?

If there is so much "liberal bias" on NPR, why is Cokie on Morning Edition every week, and why were they so behind the Iraq Invasion? Give me a break!

[alcuno]

54. Welcome to DU, lisarenat.

If you listen to true conservatives today, they are basically panning the president's performance. And yet Cokie, on that "liberal" NPR, is still propping him up. She does this all the time but when she's out of sync with conservatives her support plays as insincere.

[Terran]

55. Um, NO

Perhaps you aren't listening to her very carefully. Cokie Roberts is a full-on Bush apologist and constant critic of the Democrats. She never says anything remotely negative about what Republicans do. For me, she is among the top five most obviuous cases of conservative bias in the news media.

[Bandit]

57. Please don't try and put words in my mouth

Don't use "we" when you mean "I". If you are tired of a perceived Liberal Bias that you think exists fine but please don't lump me in with your fantasies.

[MUAD_DIB]

26. I would agree with that too. Good point.

The wind is not in her sails as it usually is, but the talking points are still there.

Denial is such a sad thing.

[hatrack]

19. "I think he made his case" - Cokie on her knees once again

Disgusting - why the hell does NPR even bother to broadcast her exhalations?

[nostamj]

28. i think it was This Weak w/ GS but

doesn't much matter.

they were talking about the Dem candidates and Cokie tossed a snide aside:

We don't elect Senators.

[West Coast Democrat]

42. I laughed when she had to mention his crappy poll numbers!

I expected her to say something like, "Bush's poll numbers have fallen recently, yes, but despite these bumps, the American people just love their President. He is more popular than poll numbers can say. Plus, two polls still have him slightly above 50%. This is just a momentary glitch."

[BigBigBear]

52. Cokie

is pathetic. Seriously, seriously dense.

[FunBobbyMucha]

6. The key things the transcript won't tell you are

the number of seconds in his pauses. Russett could probably hear the gerbil's rusty wheel spinning as * tried to think of what Rove told him to say. The other thing is the way he hammered away at the word "context" as if he was saying "Open Sesame!" Do we have a word count on "context?" 20, 30 times?

10 bucks says Rush will refer to this debacle as "a homerun" today.

[JHB]

7. Not taking that bet.

I only bet on a sure thing if I'm collecting, not paying.

[ex_jew]

24. "Context" occurs 6 times

Since you wondered !

[onecitizen]

8. As he spoke, slouched in his chair............

he seemed to be disconnected somehow. Truly, I think the guy has mental problems. He could not string together a coherent sentence. And this man is attempting to lead the most powerful military on the face of the earth. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

[KharmaTrain]

9. We're Not Supposed To Get It...

What can this excuse for cells say that would impress or even get a grudging approval from a majority here on DU? Most of us are revelling in trashing the manchild's performance, but I'm trying to look at this more objectively.

I thought the MTP appearance was a good political move to get "in front of the headlines" and manipulate them, as this regime is very good at doing. A good show or some kinda diversion (the non-answer on Osama for example) that would pull the news/talk chatter away from Democrats/Kerry and the other regime "troubles" (Iraq, David Kay, Plame/Wilson, Halliburton...). This was a staged TV op...done on HIS turf and with only one questioner for the entire hour. In the past these appearances (Ophra for example...yes, I know a different venue) gave the manchild a bump in the polls. There's just too much flying out there for the Repugnicans to let just simmer and the pressure was on within his own party to say/do something.

That said, it looks like a lot of the people...the "moderates" and "middle"...(translation: the red states) aren't getting it either. I think we're starting to see the unraveling of the "big tent"...various Repugnican factions now taking cover and this regime attempting to keep them on-board. It looks like this effort, like the State Of The Union is flopping.

After three years of pulling rabbits out of his hat (Tax cuts, TWO wars, 9/11) and a press honeymoon that's lasted 3 years, there's no "Next Act"...nothing that can CURRENTLY rally the troops. That is sure to change this fall, but how many will still be on board by then. Stay tuned.

[jumptheshadow]

12. Worst appearance by a president ever

I can't figure out if:

1) This guy is medicated out of his mind,

2) Or the gravity of what he has done is intruding on the fringes of his consciousness and the painful reality of it immobilizes him,

3) Or if he is mentally ill, but,

It was painful to watch this interview, knowing that his responses would have raised red flags if he were in a hiring or psychotherapy situation.

This guy is clueless. He is out of touch with reality and with the consequences of his actions.

We must elect the Democratic nominee. We must get this guy out of the White House.

[Neecy]

25. I vote for (3) mentally ill

What struck me while watching the interview was not the bumbling, or the lies, or the arrogant egotism - all of these were expected - but how utterly disconnected he was from his (garbled) words. Watch the facial expressions where he smiles or scowls at moments completely inappropriate to the text, or how he emphasizes the wrong word in a sentence. I'm guessing he's either frantically trying to quote a script from memory - and failing - or he's so detached from what he's saying he can't get his body language or speech patterns to match the message.

I'm not giving him the benefit of the doubt, although he's surely ignorant and lazy enough to screw up his pre-scripted answers. I just think he's fucking nuts.

[Cary]

13. Re: the stuff about his service record.

Wouldn't you think he'd have some evidence about what he did? Instead of attacking Kerry's record based on his anti-war stance, why don't they go out and disprove the allegation that he was AWOL?

Call me stupid but I'd think he'd be able to cobble something together. At least something better than "I was there, this is just them picking on poor little old me."

[abrupt]

22. Who`s they?

“The records are kept in Colorado, as I understand, and they scoured the records. And I’m just telling you, I did my duty, and it’s politics, you know, to kind of ascribe all kinds of motives to me. But I have been through it before. I’m used to it.”

scoured the records , that`s probably when that document got torn . trying to remove some burnt on mess.

[Cary]

27. An abrupt welcome to you!

Good point!

But wouldn't he have something? Friends who served with him? Flight records of some sort. Carbon dated soiled underwear? Something? Anything?

If he truly wanted this to go away, he'd find some way to prove he was there. Wouldn't he?

[peekaloo]

14. "I'm a Methodist"....hands to chest......blank look

a great LOL moment when he was discussing how the different religious factions could peacefully coexist in the "new" Iraq.

[KharmaTrain]

20. WTF Was That???

I heard the line and wondered "and how many Methodists were there in pre-invasion Iraq"? Got me thinking about all those evangelical mercenaries who wanted to go streaming in to "save" these poor heathens (Christianspeak for Infidel).

[JohnOneillsMemory]

38. His task, to maintain 'good intentioned Christian=likeable.' ech.

This is an old play.

The old Reagan non-apology for IranContra worked for the senile loveable Cowboy Grandpa. Just maintain that earnest "golly-I'm tryin'here-this is hard!" tone of voice and the public will sympathize. "Shucks, we don't get it either, pardner."

And it worked for Reagan.

Hopefully this here young'un won't get the same forgiveness for crashing national security into the garage wall.

[Beetwasher]

16. 30 Years of Binge Drinking and Coke Addiction Does Scramble the Synapses

Yeah, he's an idiot...

[Brotherjohn]

23. My favorite: his use of the word "consequences".

"In my judgment, when the United States says there will be serious consequences, and if there isn't serious consequences, it creates adverse consequences."

Yeah, we get it George. You've mastered a four syllable word (thanks to pluralizing it). Isn't that wonderful? (Or should I say: Aren't that wonderful?)

You'd think he would know a few more synonyms for "consequence", since he seemed to have mastered the technique of using synonyms so many months ago with regards to the word "imminent".

[AffirmativeReaction]

29. Master orator?

I don't think so. Winston Churchill he's not

[Ganja Ninja]

31. I heard Democracy Now replaying some of the audio from MTP.

Bush sounded really f***ed up. There's a lot of pauses and groans as he tries in vain to come up with a coherent thought. As I listened to it all I could think of is how Clinton sounded. Clinton didn't have to hesitate and always sounded intelligent and awake. Bush was clueless and sounded as if he were straining to read some Q-cards that were upside down, out of order and filled with big words he didn't understand.

[boobooday]

32. Must be talking about the Peance Freeance thingy . . .

I think it is astounding that our president is absolutely, 100% incoherent, and everyone acts as if he is a "straight talker." Straight talker? Doesn't that imply that one makes sense???

Have you ever heard anyone whose vocabulary seemed so beyond their control? Not to mention his constant smirks, inappropriate chuckles, and overall density. And he is always condescending and egotistical. Me me me, I, I, I. Listen, lookit . . . ARGH!

Oh, the shame of it all. What do we tell our children? And really, isn't our media getting just a little embarrassed by licking the boots of such a total idiot?


http://www.wgoeshome.com

Jeanette

[Bandit]

33. Sounds like he just unilaterly re-wrote the constitution

The Constitutions says the only way we could attack another country is if they attacked us or were an "imminent threat". Bush* says we now attack them Before they become an Imminent Threat That statement goes contrary to the constitution as currently written. He just openly admitted on National TV he broke constitutional law.

[Plaid Adder]

35. Watching feed now. Know who Bush reminds me of?

Especially in the answer to the "will you testify before the commission" question?

Jerry Lundergard from *Fargo.*

You remember that scene where Margie comes to interview him in his office and he keeps saying, "I'm cooperating! I'm cooperating here!" while not answering her questions? And how even though he's not answering the questions he can't come up with a good enough lie to cover that up and that's really frustrating him?

That's Bush.

This is sad.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

[peekaloo]

39. LOL....he's fleeing the interview!

:dunce:

36. We want to harm America

I noticed this in the transcript in the NYTimes this morning.

"It's important for people to understand the context in which I made a decision in the Oval Office. I'm dealing with a world in which we have gotten struck by terrorists with airplanes, and we get intelligence saying that, you know, we want to harm America."

Now I know what he's trying to say, that the terrorists want to harm America, but look at what the quote actually says. "We have gotten struck ... we want to harm America."

[kurtyboy]

37. I saw most of it---I try to evaluate these events objectively

But I don't think Bush* helped himself today. As I was saying before the SOTU, (using a baseball metaphor--groan) he needs to hit one out of the park to shore up his base. With the SOTU, he just made contact and got on base with what amounts to a bloop single.

With this outing, he was merely fouling off pitches, hoping for some lucky break. The irony (to stretch the metaphor) is that Russert wasn't even giving his best stuff--He was the big-league Ace playing with some friend's nephew that made the Junior College squad.

Bush needs to stay away from these kind of events and stick to Aircraft Carriers. In other words, if something doesn't demonstably help him, it hurts him.

[adriennel]

41. "I sound like a broken record..."

so say something new, different, and intelligent to divert from your canned phrases and beady little eyes, you $&&$ joke!

did he even mention the economy? Needless to say, I was not hanging on his every word so I may have missed this.

[calimary]

46. Yes: "I think this economy is coming around just right."

I kept hollering at my TV: FOR WHOM?!?!?!?!?

There was the usual crap about St. Tax Cut, too - even when Russert pointed out that every president, in time of war, did NOT cut taxes but raised them instead, because we needed the money for whatever war there was. Bush just ignored that one, talking about how tax cuts were helping everybody. His version of some "magic cure-all" or something, maybe.

[adriennel]

59. Aha. this makes sense

surrounded by his rich and powerful friends, I bet the economy is doing great according to Bushie ; )
here in MI the job situation sucks. I'm fortunately employed, but since health benefits went up in cost, I get less from each paycheck than I did last year. The $300 tax break? Sent to the credit card company a long time ago.
the point: we need people to vote based on what they are seeing in their own community, and not what they hear from the media. Luckily, I think this is starting to dawn on a lot of people.

[madrchsod]

43. that`s the way i felt yesterday

my god ,i could do better than he did and i haven`t finished jr. college. were they feeding him the answers? dam it was scary...and cokie is the biggest brain dead whore in washington..how much "juice" do they pass to her during those washington parties?
oh yes-yeah,yeah,yeah,yeah-moran it`s YES!!!!

[Sophree]

49. Yes, they were feeding him answers.

I think there was a teleprompter to his left on the ground- if you notice, he continually looks DOWN and to the LEFT.

He looked everywhere else when he was concocting his own lies.

He also shook his head "No" while answering in the affirmative at many points during the interview- SO LYING.

And notice the most fumbled part occurred when he was attempting to answer about what he's say to the victims families. He feels no empathy for the fallen soldiers whatsoever and is unable to fake it, especially at the end of an interview- being faced with all the things they've done.

For the most part, Mr. S and I thought that he didn't want to play President anymore and that he'll be relieved when the whole ordeal is over. The only thing that's pushing him forward, I believe, is winning 2 terms to restore the family name.

[Plaid Adder]

44. "He had the ability to develop weapons."

Jesus Christ. *I* have the ability to develop weapons. All I have to do is pick up a rock.

Grgngngr,

The Plaid Adder

[VOX]

51. YES! I have that same ability! I'm turning myself in right away!

Who knows, someday I might go off my rocker and consider developing a slingshot!

Therefore, for the good of my fellow 'Murikans, I'm gonna turn myself in.

How's that for preemption? :toast:

[Cleita]

45. I used to try to do that, to parse his sentences and edit

them to try to figure out what he was attempting to say, and I found I couldn't. This man belongs in Lewis Carroll's Wonderland with Alice because what comes out of his mouth makes no sense and has no meaning.

[donco6]

47. Perpetual War

"Holy Christ. Say, George, leaving aside the question of whether really following this policy would ever allow us to *stop* being at war with the entire world, should we really be acting on threats that you can only 'see' knowing as we now do that you are seeing shit that DOESN'T EXIST?"

Ha! Guess he really is, The War President

[donco6]

48. I question my own sanity . . .

. . . when I hear people talk about his appearance on MTP in terms other than "stupifyingly horrific." I've judged high school debate tournaments that demonstrated FAR superior thinking skills than this charade. He had practice! He had an ear-mike! And he still had to sit there stammering and bumbling and rambling. I couldn't follow half of his "answers." And it wasn't even that he was being "cleverly evasive" - there was nothing clever about it. He's just flat out stupid.

End of rant

[Taeger]

50. Not the whole story ...

The transcript is rather kind to Bush. His stammering and speech patterns are absoluetly atrocious. He stops in the middle of sentences and then poors directly in to the next. He stammers on words, stutters, we switches words IN THE MIDDLE of saying another word.

The earpiece is the only explanation. I bet he got a custom job from the CIA with digital encoding.

Note for debates. Just get some FM equipment that FLOODS the spectrum. That should wipe out ANY signal and leave the chimp helpless without the voice in his ear.

[tigereye]

56. actually I thought he came across as more coherent

(and I mean that loosely) than I expected. However, the smirking and the utter lack of irony or awareness of the mess he is in, made me squirm. I had to turn it off about half way through for that reason.

The problem is the lowered level of expectations that seem to be used to put him out there, i.e., Rove et al, thinking, "Well, if he comes across as at least able to form sentences and doesn't use too many malapropisms or slur his words, that is ok."

I think he (and his father) have some kind of speech/neurological disorder, just based on their inability to get words from their brains to their lips!

[grannylib]

58. He was indeed every bit as incoherent as the transcript would indicate.

This cretin is beyond pathetic. My hubby and I came to the conclusion some time ago that this moron is even dumber than Raygun, and I thought he was an amoeba...
Sharp as a spoon, that's our pResident....