dubya addresses the nation again tonight 4/13/2004 8:30 EST

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"The president wants to give the American people an update on Iraq and talk about the way forward."

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 15:40 (twenty-one years ago)

oh dear, looks like he's copying Tony's "big conversation" idea.

― jel -- (jel), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 15:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Will it be as scripted as the last one.

'No randy, I dont think its your turn'

― bill stevens (bscrubbins), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 16:11 (twenty-one years ago)

I hope that doesn't mean that 24 will be pre-empted. It's not that great of a show, but I'm hooked nonetheless.

― dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 16:12 (twenty-one years ago)

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20040412/mdf523820.jpg

"i swear they came out to like here"

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 16:13 (twenty-one years ago)

He looks ooooold in that shot.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 16:21 (twenty-one years ago)

The rigors of month-long vacations back in Texas and $1,000-a-plate fundraising dinners are taking their toll on the poor man.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 16:25 (twenty-one years ago)

This is just going to be a campaign ad. He never says anything of substance.

― El Diablo Robotico (Nicole), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 16:37 (twenty-one years ago)

More like a desperate realization on his part that things are going to be worse over there before they're better, so better say something now...however vague.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 16:40 (twenty-one years ago)

"I hope that doesn't mean that 24 will be pre-empted."
no kidding

― Felonious Drunk (Felcher), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 17:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Hey, let's sample his speech and chop it around just like Chris Morris!!!!

― Old Fart!!! (oldfart_sd), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 18:47 (twenty-one years ago)

But apparently American Idol will be preempted.

― j.lu (j.lu), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 18:57 (twenty-one years ago)

SFW?

― dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 19:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Maybe he's going to counter Kerry's recent "i'm fascinated by rap" comments with "I'm fascinated by cookies. Who's got the youth vote now, K-Man?"

― The Huckle-Buck (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 19:00 (twenty-one years ago)

"This is just going to be a campaign ad. He never says anything of substance."

Ice is frozen water.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 21:31 (twenty-one years ago)

He never says anything of substance.

That's ridiculous.

― Stuart (Stuart), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 21:36 (twenty-one years ago)

"It was a special moment -- a robot got blown up instead of a person," said iRobot CEO Colin Angle.

― Lil' Fancy Kpants (The K is Silent) (ex machina), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 21:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Can someone make his tie stop shimmering? Thank you.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:39 (twenty-one years ago)

That's ridiculous.

I don't exactly see you dripping with counterexamples.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:40 (twenty-one years ago)

What do you suppose is down that hallway?

― dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:41 (twenty-one years ago)

YOU CANNOT HEAR THE WORDS
ONLY THE TIE
YOU CAN ONLY SEE THE TIE
THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS
THE TIE
THE TIE (votebush04)

― ..., Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:42 (twenty-one years ago)

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20040406/capt.pmm10704061713.topix_bush_pmm107.jpg

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Isn't this supposed to be a news conference? Why is he telling everyone about what terrorists have done? That's been reported at least once already.

Drink when he says "terra" and chug when he says "steadfast"

― dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Is it just me or does he sound completely insane?

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:48 (twenty-one years ago)

"Iraqi sovereignty will be placed in Iraqi hands."

um...

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:48 (twenty-one years ago)

He is totally not answering this question.

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:49 (twenty-one years ago)

HE IS TOTALLY PROVING THIS GUY'S POINT.

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:49 (twenty-one years ago)

"Look, this is hard"

― C0L1N B3CK3TT (Colin Beckett), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:50 (twenty-one years ago)

no matter what they ask him he's just gonna go on and on about the beauty and power of Iraqi freedom.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:50 (twenty-one years ago)

This is the first time I've ever heard him speak where he sounded sincere.

He's still fucking horrifying, though.

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Answering that first question, he sounded completely psychotic

― C0L1N B3CK3TT (Colin Beckett), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:51 (twenty-one years ago)

WE'RE CHANGING THE WORLD

― de, Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't believe his handlers are actually letting him answer questions in real time; it's like suicide! I guess he's not doing too bad yet though.

― Dan I. (Dan I.), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:52 (twenty-one years ago)

'Is it just me or does he sound completely insane?'

He sounds just like Reagan to me

― de, Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Okay, he's slipped back into "I am a stuttering jackass" mode.

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:53 (twenty-one years ago)

9/11 and the Iraqi people are his escape hatches. when in doubt, bring them up.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Seriously, the reasons he gave for justifying the war totally did not disprove the comparison to Vietnam

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:55 (twenty-one years ago)

'he was a threat to the reigon
he was a threat to the united states'

program failure

― de, Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:55 (twenty-one years ago)

OH FUCK OFF YOU IDIOT, BY THOSE CRITERIA WE'RE A DANGER TOO

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:56 (twenty-one years ago)

WOW Did he really almost say "I saved us the oil fields!"

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:57 (twenty-one years ago)

He must be some kind of genius cuz every time he stops talking i forget what question he was asked in the first place. His hypnotic effect is too strong.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:57 (twenty-one years ago)

i haven't felt like this since David Brent was last on our screens to be quite honest

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:58 (twenty-one years ago)

he wouldn't be happy if he was occupied

this is his skull talking

― de, Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:58 (twenty-one years ago)

oh my god. his meltdown during the Survey Group bit was just scary…

― carson dial (carson dial), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:58 (twenty-one years ago)

(i mean in terms of discomfort and cringeyness, not laffs)

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:58 (twenty-one years ago)

HAHAHA His hypnoitc effect is so strong that he forgot the question himself!

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 23:59 (twenty-one years ago)

he's a lunatic. what the fuck is he going on about?

― scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 00:00 (twenty-one years ago)

That "thump" you hear is a million fence-sitters falling left

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Wednesday, 14 April 2004 00:00 (twenty-one years ago)

This country must go on the offense to go on the offense...

Did I hear that right?

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 00:01 (twenty-one years ago)

world embarrassment.

― (Jon L), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 00:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Skipping 180 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

I get what you're saying, bnw. Obviously, we would never see a picture in real life where Rove & Rice are snickering inside an airplane full of coffins. But whenever a family is told that their loved one had to die because Saddam Hussein was a threat to the U.S., though most signs say "no", I'm offended.

All I was trying to do was illustrate how this administration was acting the other night with what's really happening. I took pains afterward to make it known that I wasn't trying to be cutesy. I do apologize if you were offended, but seriously, making a tacky joke at the expense of dead soldiers was not what I was trying to do.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Thursday, 15 April 2004 16:59 (twenty-one years ago)

and that's without the excruciating pauses and facial expressions.

crosspost

― RJG (RJG), Thursday, 15 April 2004 17:00 (twenty-one years ago)

you don't understand. there are a lot of people who think that because Bush is sure of himself (and to these people, he looks it; they don't pay much attention to the words), he must be right.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 15 April 2004 17:03 (twenty-one years ago)

I really don't understand.

I would have hoped that that "answer" would have made some more people realise! but you say it probably won't.

― RJG (RJG), Thursday, 15 April 2004 17:06 (twenty-one years ago)

sorry, my flatmate was talking to me, as I was typing that, and I had to listen.

― RJG (RJG), Thursday, 15 April 2004 17:10 (twenty-one years ago)

There was a woman on the local news after the press conference whose daughter was killed in Iraq; she was crying and saying how cocky and arrogant Bush was, and how she couldn't believe her daughter died for that.

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Thursday, 15 April 2004 17:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Shh, Morris, you can't say that, remember. Clearly it is unpatriotic, the woman is not looking at the larger picture and therefore is not entitled to an opinion, and what's more, she probably has a book to sell.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 15 April 2004 17:19 (twenty-one years ago)

I keep seeing this thread and thinking it's new: "What, he's addressing the nation again?

"I also have this belief, strong belief, that freedom is not this country's gift to the world. Freedom is the Almighty's gift to every man and woman in this world. And as the greatest power on the face of the earth, we have an obligation to help the spread of freedom."

Is it just me, or has he just declared Jihad?

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 15 April 2004 19:19 (twenty-one years ago)

He has declared a Crusade.

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 15 April 2004 19:20 (twenty-one years ago)

This scared the bejeezus out of me (as did other, similar, bits of his speech), but it's also a sort of dark comfort, in a "showing his true colors" kind of way. I always like to have as many cards on the table as possible.

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Thursday, 15 April 2004 19:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Keeping America Safe

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 15 April 2004 19:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Is it just me, or has he just declared Jihad?

Define "just", Andrew. Tis my impression that he declared his own version of Jihad ages ago, only he doesn't have Hussein to use as his focus any more.

I always like to have as many cards on the table as possible.

Now that we have, tis time to decide what to do with them/

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Thursday, 15 April 2004 20:05 (twenty-one years ago)

That's the thing, Morris, the awake at 4am thing - I see things like this and I think "haw haw, they shouldn't have said that" but when I get down, I fear that I'm not watching them lose the election, I'm watching them win it - that they're pursuing a clear and accurate strategy of betting that most people in America are just about done with the polite mask, that they are finished with the failed social experiment (=definitely the last 40 years, almost certainly the separation of church and state nonsense and quite possibly the last five centuries) of pretending to be uncertain in order to be polite to others, that they know what they want and they know George Bush will give it to them: GodGodGod God God, God God GodGod, God God. God24. EverywhereGod. Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 15 April 2004 20:14 (twenty-one years ago)

"I also have this belief, strong belief, that freedom is not this country's gift to the world. Freedom is the Almighty's gift to every man and woman in this world."

contradicted by

"And as the greatest power on the face of the earth, we have an obligation to help the spread of freedom."

Yes?

― de, Thursday, 15 April 2004 20:24 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/apr2004/bush-a15.shtml

― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 15 April 2004 20:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Hegemony in a nutshell, de.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 15 April 2004 20:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Why have you linked that amateur!st?

― de, Thursday, 15 April 2004 20:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, see, I don't think that "most people in America" want that at all, Andrew. If that is what Bush is "betting," in other words, I think he's betting wrong. Not that I'm puffing up with confidence that "people are beginning to see through the facade," and so on (I couldn't begin to speculate on the thoughts/perceptions of "Bush supporters" and/or "undecided voters") - but if Bush does win again in November, I don't think it'll be because he's finally handing the majority of voters the holy warrior angle they've been looking for.

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Thursday, 15 April 2004 20:35 (twenty-one years ago)

(because I don't think any great percentage of voters are looking for such a thing.)

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Thursday, 15 April 2004 20:36 (twenty-one years ago)

"
I'm glad to say I managed to avoid the press conference coverage by virtue of being out and about, but from the coverage here and elsewhere...Every time the guy gets let out in public (his extremely rare press conferences, his one-on-one with Russert, etc.), all I can think is Emperor's New Clothes. As soon as he's done speaking, all manner of people on his "side" who are demonstrably smarter, more capable and more articulate than him rush in to gush about how smart, capable and most of all confident and determined he was. It's by far the weirdest thing I've seen in my lifetime as far as politics goes. I mean, Reagan could look like an idiot -- and did, frequently -- but he did actually have some of the avuncularness and charisma that he was credited with. Bush has got nothing. Nada. He registers as a big, fat zero. If he was, like, a high school assistant principal (which would have been closer to his natural calling), all the kids would have made fun of him and clocked him as a cautionary example of the way doofuses can end up in positions of authority. But since he's president, there are all these people who have to pretend -- maybe even to themselves -- that he is not only remarkably incoherent and inarticulate for a world leader, he's remarkably incoherent and inarticulate for an adult human being. And no, it isn't just a matter of being a "public speaker," it's a matter of coming across like someone who has at least a little something to show -- wisdome, experience, self-knowledge -- for his 50-odd years on the planet."

OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM OTM

(de: i linked it because i thought that, if you disregard the usual bluster and one or two dubious points, it's a remarkably clear and unusually strong survey of what happened last night)

― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 15 April 2004 20:38 (twenty-one years ago)

And I know, it's America, a really nice place, with a lot of cool people, and actually a pretty free place (not enough for this home of freedom bullshit, but no-one get disappeared, which is worth infinity points), and in the upper 50% of the world on almost any divide you care to mention, but all this that I know is of absolutely fuck all use at four in the morning, you dig?

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 15 April 2004 20:42 (twenty-one years ago)

x-post
Oh. I didn't give it too much hope after the first paragraph (and a quick asessment of its provenance). I'll go back to it.

― de, Thursday, 15 April 2004 20:43 (twenty-one years ago)

I do like how the Socialist thing brings up the "he refused to disarm!" bit. Can't Bush even try to keep his own story straight?

(x-post)

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Thursday, 15 April 2004 20:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Maybe I shouldn't say no-one gets disappeared. It's a pretty big country, maybe some people get disappeared. But not as a matter of course - you can say the stuff that amateur!st just quoted (er, which wasn't on the page he linked) and not have to go into hiding. Secret policemen aren't going to break your door down and beat you in the street. I'm amenable to the argument that this is a very 20th century measure, and that we should consider whether you can do something like that without danger to your credit rating, and we should definitely look at that, right after everywhere on the planet passes the first test :)

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 15 April 2004 20:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Anyone who interprets my last sentence as supporting George Bush fixing everywhere on the planet will be poked in the eye.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 15 April 2004 20:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Referring to Bush's 'Captain Queeg' moment in response to the 911 mistakes question (I prefer to think of Joe Pesci's 'You mumbling, stuttering fuck you!') they write

'In this babble of disorientation and reaction, one got a chilling glimpse of the toxic moral, political and intellectual state of the American ruling elite, and the profound crisis that drives its violent bid for world domination.'

otm there.

― de, Thursday, 15 April 2004 21:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Could we separate the members of the Bush administration from the career or preexisting members of the bureaucracy from the "American ruling elite" and provide evidence that one or more of these parties is engaged in a "violent bid for world domination"? The less you understand the players and their motivations, the less likely you'll be able to stop them.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 15 April 2004 21:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes. I would stop short at saying 'American government'. The other stuff is either stuff I don't understand or standard-issue 'socialist' rhetoric. Or both.

― de, Thursday, 15 April 2004 21:25 (twenty-one years ago)

So, anyway, there was a picture of a coffin on the front page of the new york times today. don't recall if that was the first time. But the "death" part of the war has been noticeably absent elsewhere. As is the "Iraqi" part of the story. How they feel. What they are thinking. Do they condemn the violence? Are they grateful to be liberated? etc.

Hey, just curious, how did dubya's press conference play in the U.K. London papers? Irish papers? anyone? I know i could scour the net, but if anyone remembers a good newspaper story they could link or something they saw on the telly...

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 15 April 2004 21:36 (twenty-one years ago)

So, anyway, there was a picture of a coffin on the front page of the new york times today

Well, everybody knows that the NYT ain't nuthin' but a pack of jokers!

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Thursday, 15 April 2004 21:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Didn't read the papers today but I saw the conference.
As for general Iraq coverage, we get it all. Every bulletin is at least 25% Iraq stories. And the funny thing is Blair seems to be off the hook about this at the moment; everyone's eyes are trained overseas. And it wouldn't be any different if Parliament was actually in session because even Howard's Tories wouldn't be so shameless as to attack him on this, when clearly they'd be even more craven in their support, if in power.
The Lib Dems make a bit of useful noise though.
The feeling one gets from consuming the media over here is that the Iraquis fucking hate us and want us to leave now.

― de, Thursday, 15 April 2004 21:45 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, the Iraqis' hating us part we don't get. except for the people doing the fighting of course. we hear a lot about how evil they are. The 9/11 commission and Iraq is everything now. as the press conference made clear. not one question about economy, etc. I need to start reading about the rest of the world again or i might just lose my mind. You'd think the world had stopped except for this nightmare. here in the U.S. that is.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 15 April 2004 21:52 (twenty-one years ago)

The feeling one gets from consuming the media over here is that the Iraquis fucking hate us and want us to leave now.

Well yes. Oddly, some people seem to miss this fact.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 15 April 2004 21:54 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm too busy reading letters to Stars & Stripes:

AFN plays favorites with Fox

I’ve been stationed in South Korea for about 10 months now, and I’ve noticed something that’s greatly disturbing. When I watch the news on AFN, I see three major cable news networks: MSNBC, CNN and Fox News Channel. All of these networks cover a lot of aspects of the war in Iraq and the upcoming presidential election. But only one stands out above all the others as far as expressing its views on politics and the war. That network is Fox, and Fox seems to lean more to the right on all issues.

The problem is that, when it comes to discussion panels, AFN seems to concentrate solely on Fox’s discussion panels, which I feel is irresponsible and unfair on AFN’s part. Fox’s discussion panel shows have Bush-loving Republicans bashing the left and giving the message that not siding with the Bush administration is un-American. It’s not the fact that AFN airs Fox’s discussion panel shows, but that it airs Fox discussion shows more than any of the other networks’ shows.

AFN is trying to keep we viewers on the pro-Bush side by showing only Fox network discussion panel shows. Knowing that AFN is the only source of TV news for overseas troops makes me believe that AFN is abusing its power by showing what it thinks we should watch when it comes to political debates. Stars and Stripes readers should be aware of what’s going on with today’s news networks.

Airman Gregory L. Dietrich
Air Base, South Korea

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Thursday, 15 April 2004 21:55 (twenty-one years ago)

But Ned, the majority of Iraqis want us there. they are the "good ones" that never get interviewed.

Stars & Stripes has been amazingly critical of the whole deal. well, amazing to me. i always think of it as an in-house organ.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 15 April 2004 21:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Sharp on the airman's part. It's critical not of the adminstration but of the presentation, and presents the implicit argument that a democracy relies on the ability to hear a wider range of views.

But Ned, the majority of Iraqis want us there. they are the "good ones" that never get interviewed.

There was a comment in an interview with a Brit businessman who said something that, if an accurate capturing of the mood, is perhaps obvious but telling -- most Iraqis just want to enjoy life, enthusiastically are relieved at Saddam's departure, and seriously hate the US occupation. Sorta wish the crusade wing kept that more in mind.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 15 April 2004 22:01 (twenty-one years ago)

and actually i'm not being fair. Most Iraqis learned a long time ago how to keep their mouths shut. they have no idea who will end up in power.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 15 April 2004 22:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Stars & Stripes is famous for being an independent news organ within the military, and it routinely publishes very critical letters from servicepeople.

(And Doonesbury appears on the letters page, for what that's worth.)

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Thursday, 15 April 2004 22:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Listening to the radio today, Ned, reminded me of something you posted earlier about HBO. There was a report from Iraq that said that the army hadn't seen city fighting like this since WWII. Can't you see it: Band Of Brothers 2: The Boys From Baghdad!

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 15 April 2004 22:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Sorta wish the crusade wing kept that more in mind.

Course they wouldn't, Ned. Listening to the homegrown Iraqi masses would mean that they (the ever-mighty cruseders) would have to quit seeing them as pitiful victims the US solely exists to save. The gov't always had the toughest time knowing when tis time to leave a party.

Makes me wonder what the hell these jokers will do when Bush gets shoved face-first outta office. (If there ever was a God.) The lecture circuit calls...

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Thursday, 15 April 2004 22:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Band Of Brothers 2: The Boys From Baghdad

The soundtrack will be shit.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 15 April 2004 22:56 (twenty-one years ago)

where Bush's public appearances can be considered "slick"?

That was my point - his big time public appearances generally aren't, but a lot of his press gaggles and low-key stuff is, at least relatively so. I'm not saying he's dean martin when you turn the cameras off, but there is a marked difference. I don't know what causes it, and I find it really annoying, but the press conference thing just isn't a determining factor to me. It's just something that gives Bush's critics the chance to say "ha ha, look at this retarded chimp we call the President." Clinton's press conf's were like Jedi mind tricks sometimes, but that wasn't enough to make me like the guy.

― Stuart (Stuart), Thursday, 15 April 2004 23:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Okay, that does make more sense.

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 16 April 2004 00:18 (twenty-one years ago)

I still don't get how some of the pundits can have had a good impression from this press conference. I'm not being snarky here, I just.. I get most of my news from radio and the web, and rarely watch TV, and so I hadn't seen Bush speak on television for quite some time. I know I'd never seen a press conference televised.

And.. this was just painful and embarrassing. It's not just the visible nervousness, it's the.. inarticulate and nonsensical answers, and what's worst, the 30-second-plus blank out.. The President of the United States doesn't say he can't handle the pressure of trying to come up with an answer! That's just inexcusable. You don't say that in an interview for an entry-level job, for chrissake.

― daria g (daria g), Friday, 16 April 2004 02:02 (twenty-one years ago)

i guess i won't be trying the "damn i wish you would have given me the questions in advance" line at my next job interview...

― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 16 April 2004 10:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Job interview scenario:

Interviewer: In closing, what do you think have been your biggest mistakes?

Interviewee: I hope — I don't want to sound like I have made no mistakes. I'm confident I have. I just haven't — you just put me under the spot here, and maybe I'm not as quick on my feet as I should be in coming up with one.

Interviewer: Well thank you for attending the interview and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Interviewee leaves

Interviewer: Uh, Miss Rice, be sure to change the locks to the office and send in our Chief Recruiter, I want to him to account for the low calibre of some of the applicants he's been sending us.

― Dadaismus (Dada), Friday, 16 April 2004 10:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I agree with you Daria but isn't it just so unprecedented and unusual as to appear contrary? People don't like those fancy folks and their wordplay do they?

― Ronan (Ronan), Friday, 16 April 2004 10:30 (twenty-one years ago)

... they seem to like Blair with his fancy ways and wordplay... dammit

― Dadaismus (Dada), Friday, 16 April 2004 10:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Uh, well.. just because perhaps many Americans appreciate plain spoken people doesn't mean they like it when a president looks clueless and incompetent. Or, alternately, I could say that yes, we Muricans are massively suspicious of anyone who can put a coherent sentence together in a press conference and anyone who correctly pronounces a three-syllable word is talkin fancy and can't be trusted. I hate to agree with you, see, because I don't like the uncomfortable implication that although I am an American, I'm not a moron, and therefore I don't count as real people.

― daria g (daria g), Friday, 16 April 2004 17:48 (twenty-one years ago)

More Bush accountability

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Tuesday, 20 April 2004 13:18 (twenty-one years ago)

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