Review: Bush goes on Larry King "live" in sheer desperation over image

[Bluebear]

It wasn't live, but it was classic Larry King: a warm bath, not a hot seat.

... And that is why President Bush invited the CNN talk show host to the White House on his 60th birthday. The standoff with North Korea over its missile tests, the war in Iraq and ever-sliding ratings in the polls have given the president little reason to celebrate. Mr. King gave the president a chance to defend his policies without risk of interruption or follow-up.

At times, Mr. King even provided the president with answers. "You've always had a lot of compassion for the Mexican people," the interviewer interjected in a discussion of the president's immigration bill. Mr. Bush seemed a little surprised, but grateful. "Yes, sir!" he replied....

....And just as Liza Minnelli seemed to come unglued all on her own in her appearance on the show last March, Mr. Bush at times seemed tense and defensive even without needling from his host. "I've been popular before, as president," Mr. Bush said tightly. "And I've been — people have accepted what I've been doing." He added: "Sometimes things go up and down. The best way to lead and the best way to solve problems is to focus on a set of principles. And do what you think is right."

The president appeared on Mr. King's show twice before, in 2000 and in 2004, but those were campaign interviews. On Thursday, the president was fighting to improve his battered image. When he was at a loss for words, Mrs. Bush stepped in to speak on his behalf, sometimes with more dexterity than her husband. "Well, sure, you know, we worried about it, obviously," Mrs. Bush replied when asked whether she was rattled by the North Korean missile tests. "But what I spent the day doing actually was watching our shuttle take off from Florida."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/07/washington/07teevee.html?_r=1&hp&ex=1152331200&en=edca849fb9e7e86a&ei=5094&partner=homepage&oref=slogin

[MADem]

1. Ah, but did Larry do any farting?

That would be the only thing to make watching worthwhile...I just cannot bear those inarticulate interviews with the Monkey.

When will we have a leader who speaks in sentences...right now, who cares if it's English, Spanish, or Pashtun...just so long as it's a cut above grunts, gestures, and eyebrow wiggling.

[Swamp Rat]

4. One of them did

[Raine]

2. I was flipping thru the channels and

saw monkey boy but I just kept on going before I ended up sick to my stomach. :puke:

[EFerrari]

3. "I spent the day doing actually was watching our shuttle take off"

Too bad it wasn't your ride, Laura.

:)

[DoYouEverWonder]

5. She must not have much to do

if she spent the whole day waiting for something that takes all of about 10 minutes to go up. Since the shuttle went up before 3:00 PM, what the hell did she do with the rest of her time?

[EFerrari]

6. Pickles is much better at manipulating than Junior is.

"Watch the shiny thing."

[NVMojo]

9. totally agree with you on that

[sarge43]

10. "what the hell did she do with the rest of her time?"

Drank, smoked, frumped.

[choie]

13. "our shuttle"??????

is that the royal "our"??? who is she - Queen Victoria??? :puke:

[symbolman]

7. We need to start a campaign to get Bush to FLY into space

On the shuttle, tell him it's a macho thing to do, that even his own father jumped out of a plane when he was OLDER than Bush Jr, then when Bush gets all dressed up in an astronaut suit, thinking that he's going to get them ratings up, (with Tweety masturbating under the table on camera while Bush struts to the shuttle), then once he's in space we declare him a war criminal in all industrialized nations and they can all refuse to let him land back on earth..

Okay so we lose a shuttle pilot and crew, but it might be worth it, and then when space travel is the norm, think of the floating Museum Hovering over the earth with a Mummified Bush in there, people lining up in commercial space flights to see that Bush Memorial Space Museum right there in Space itself..

Hell, I'D pay for that myself.

I bet he'd fall for it, just to wear that space suit.. :)

[EFerrari]

8. . . .

[peace frog]

11. At this point nobody finds them interesting

Anyone tuning in would see Commander Codpiece's simian mug and immediately start channel surfing.
In a word, Junior and Pickles are B.O.R.I.N.G. :boring:

[monarch]

12. Totally scripted and even then

he couldn't pull it off. Look at the way he mangled the political kiss of death line when asked about supporting Lieberman. And, shouldn't he have just said that he supported the Republican--whatever his name is.

[WyLoochka]

14. Kennebunkport - why did * not

go to Poppy's place to celebrate his birthday? Each previous year he was up in ME with all the family for the fourth and his birthday.

Are junior and Poppy on speaking terms? Is it true Poppy tried to get Rumsfailed dumped a few months ago? Haven't seen them together in a while now. Hhhhhmmmm

[B Calm]

15. More like Larry King desperation