Another "And your point is?" article
I am confused. Under the headline "Bush Teleconference With Soldiers Staged," Associated Press ran the following story:
It was billed as a conversation with U.S. troops, but the questions President Bush asked on a teleconference call Thursday were choreographed to match his goals for the war in Iraq and Saturday's vote on a new Iraqi constitution. "This is an important time," Allison Barber, deputy assistant defense secretary, said, coaching the soldiers before Bush arrived. "The president is looking forward to having just a conversation with you." (bold my emphasis)
That's it.
Oh, shame on the Pres. He went to this meeting with questions already in mind. Now reading the transcript, well...I kind of liked the conversation. It didn't come off as too "choreographed".
THE PRESIDENT: [...] Let me ask you some questions, Captain, if you don't mind. One of the, you know, questions I have is about the pre-election operations, about what you've been doing, and what are the -- what's your strategy, and how do you think it's going for -- to make sure the people have a chance to vote.
Sounds to me like both parties understood that the conversation was going to be about the upcoming elections.
And this exchange was amusing too:
SERGEANT LOMBARDO: Good morning, Mr. President. I'm Master Sergeant Corine Lombardo, with the Headquarters 42nd Infantry Division and Task Force Liberty, from Scotia, New York. First, I'd like to say that this is a pleasure to speak with you again. We had the honor of your visit in New York City on November 11th, in 2001, when you recognized our Rainbow Soldiers for their recovery and rescue efforts at Ground Zero.
THE PRESIDENT: Were you there?
SERGEANT LOMBARDO: We began our fight against terrorism in the wake of 9/11, and we're proud to continue it here in North-Central New York -- North-Central Iraq.
THE PRESIDENT: Let me ask you something. Were you there when I came to New York?
SERGEANT LOMBARDO: Yes, I was, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: I thought you looked familiar.
SERGEANT LOMBARDO: Well, thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: I probably look familiar to you, too.
Okay, to me, this all came off as a hokey, shooting-the-sh*t press event. But staged? What makes it's staged? I think it was keeping it pretty real. It just comes off as another attempt to paint Bush in as dishonest a light as possible. Please, a little substance to your criticisms next time. Like, perhaps ridiculing the irony of Bush asking the Captain "what's your strategy?", when the general concensus seems to be that Bush doesn't have one. Or I don't know...anything. But saying this was staged, just begs the question of how it should have been were it not to be staged.
It was billed as a conversation with U.S. troops, but the questions President Bush asked on a teleconference call Thursday were choreographed to match his goals for the war in Iraq and Saturday's vote on a new Iraqi constitution. "This is an important time," Allison Barber, deputy assistant defense secretary, said, coaching the soldiers before Bush arrived. "The president is looking forward to having just a conversation with you." (bold my emphasis)
That's it.
Oh, shame on the Pres. He went to this meeting with questions already in mind. Now reading the transcript, well...I kind of liked the conversation. It didn't come off as too "choreographed".
THE PRESIDENT: [...] Let me ask you some questions, Captain, if you don't mind. One of the, you know, questions I have is about the pre-election operations, about what you've been doing, and what are the -- what's your strategy, and how do you think it's going for -- to make sure the people have a chance to vote.
Sounds to me like both parties understood that the conversation was going to be about the upcoming elections.
And this exchange was amusing too:
SERGEANT LOMBARDO: Good morning, Mr. President. I'm Master Sergeant Corine Lombardo, with the Headquarters 42nd Infantry Division and Task Force Liberty, from Scotia, New York. First, I'd like to say that this is a pleasure to speak with you again. We had the honor of your visit in New York City on November 11th, in 2001, when you recognized our Rainbow Soldiers for their recovery and rescue efforts at Ground Zero.
THE PRESIDENT: Were you there?
SERGEANT LOMBARDO: We began our fight against terrorism in the wake of 9/11, and we're proud to continue it here in North-Central New York -- North-Central Iraq.
THE PRESIDENT: Let me ask you something. Were you there when I came to New York?
SERGEANT LOMBARDO: Yes, I was, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: I thought you looked familiar.
SERGEANT LOMBARDO: Well, thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: I probably look familiar to you, too.
Okay, to me, this all came off as a hokey, shooting-the-sh*t press event. But staged? What makes it's staged? I think it was keeping it pretty real. It just comes off as another attempt to paint Bush in as dishonest a light as possible. Please, a little substance to your criticisms next time. Like, perhaps ridiculing the irony of Bush asking the Captain "what's your strategy?", when the general concensus seems to be that Bush doesn't have one. Or I don't know...anything. But saying this was staged, just begs the question of how it should have been were it not to be staged.
posted by CaliValleyGirl at 1:15 AM
1 Comments:
Must have been a S-L-O-W news day...
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