"Bush tried to make it sound as if there were new ideas" -- Tom Shales clm

[bertha katzenengel]

Actually, there's a lot more to the column than just that quote, but I wanted to get your attention, because this is a really good column.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/29/AR2005062900035_pf.html

Bush's speech aired on all the major broadcast networks, something of a surprise since as of mid-afternoon yesterday, neither NBC nor CBS had plans to cover it. They felt, correctly, that the speech contained nothing new or newsy and that it didn't merit a half-hour or more of prime time. But something changed as the day wore on, and Bush showed up on NBC and CBS as well as on ABC and the various cable news networks that previously had announced they would cover the speech.

In a time when some polls show the popularity of the news media to be even lower than the approval rating for Bush's conduct of the war, the managements of the networks may have feared hostile reaction if they didn't air the speech live. Political conservatives keep up a steady drumbeat of hostility against the media, something the Bush administration does nothing to discourage. Refusing to air the speech probably would have led to unpleasantness -- or at the least given the new subculture of bellicose bloggers another alleged media conspiracy to shriek about.

This was not a major speech by Bush, nor was it particularly well delivered until the end, when he seemed to be straining to hold back his emotions as he spoke of the U.S. troops fighting and dying in Iraq. He referred several times to violent insurgents who stage daily sneak attacks -- calling them "ruthless killers," among other things -- but at the end of the speech said, "They are no match for the men and women of the United States military."

Bush's voice seemed to crack as he spoke those final words. Now the crowd did applaud, but they weren't interrupting the speech, because it was over.

~snip~

MSNBC, enterprisingly enough, did an impromptu town meeting on the speech from a Baptist church in Nashville, having already scheduled a special edition of the Chris Matthews "Hardball" show from that location to discuss, among other things, politics and religion.

~snip~

Two soldiers' wives interviewed said they were prepared for the war to last 10 or 12 years . . . .

[Wetzelbill]

1. good post. I'll get to it after I read the Times and some others .....