I got a call from JD Hayworth at 7:15 pm today, asking me to participate in a live townhall meeting. What's he up to now? Next stop, GITMO? The walls have ears. Must go now.
Posted by TIKI AL at June 15, 2006 02:37 AMI watched this exchange and thought it very inappropriate.
Bush's Banter Goes Too Far: Taunting a Blind Man
Let me first say that Bush may not have known he was talking to a legally blind reporter when he engaged in this exchange:
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, Peter. Are you going to ask that question with shades on?
Q I can take them off.
THE PRESIDENT: I'm interested in the shade look, seriously.
Q All right, I'll keep it, then.
THE PRESIDENT: For the viewers, there's no sun. (Laughter.)
Q I guess it depends on your perspective. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: Touche. (Laughter.)
As Think Progress notes, "[Peter] Wallsten is legally blind. Wallsten tells us he has a rare genetic disorder called Stargardt's Disease. The disease is a form of macular degeneration that can be slowed "by wearing UV-protective sunglasses and avoiding exposure to bright light."
The point of this post is not that Bush intentionally taunted a blind man, but that his insistence on clowning with the press is undignified and highly inappropriate.
Alway the frat boy.
Posted by Judith at June 15, 2006 05:23 AMDo you think I should send Billy Bob Frist a copy of the Constitution? He and his crew don't seem to know that bills for raising revenue originate in the House. I guess he is too busy making money for HCA.
Posted by JohnT at June 15, 2006 05:28 AMBy-the-way, another reporter responded to Bush saying he had empathy for his having jet lag with "I doubt that." Is the press getting a little touchy these days?
Posted by Judith at June 15, 2006 05:39 AMMost liklely the press person was pissy that 1)He didn't get to go George's Big Adventure, & 2) It was kept secret from everyone until George was in the air.
While I want the press to grow a brain and backbone, those perq schutpping selfish wanna-bes are much more likely to throw a hissy about not be one of the Kool Kids.
Posted by idiosynchronic at June 15, 2006 06:15 AMSunlight already got a big one - the Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert. He made out like a bandit on a land sale that, coincidentally, just happened to be near the Prairie Parkway spot, a project for which he just scord $207 million in earmarked funding. He sold the land for a $2 mil profit just after the earmark went through.
Posted by raisin at June 15, 2006 07:50 AMAlways fun to read the whitehouse.gov press preifings...
Q You don't think that's a misrepresentation? After three years, Baghdad can't be secured yet?
MR. SNOW: No. The President has said all along -- what you're expecting is facile, which is a snap victory, things easy... I would also pose that to the people who are in theater. It's not a facile explanation. It's a true explanation: a car bomb is more vivid than getting an extra hundred kilowatts out of an electrical generation facility.
Q Well, since they haven't done that either --
Posted by josh at June 15, 2006 11:25 AMsorry, I can't ever just post one...
Q Okay, say flatly, does the United States want bases in Iraq?
MR. SNOW: It has bases in Iraq, and the United States will have bases -- look, the United States, Secretary Rice has said -- well, number one, it's premature to talk about how long they're going to be there. Number two, Ambassador Khalilzad has said we have no desire for permanent bases. Number three, when it comes to a permanent base, that is not the call of the United States. As you know, Iraq has a sovereign government. So the issue of --
Q It's about as sovereign as the President being able to go into Iraq and not even tell the President.
MR. SNOW: Okay, well, obviously, Helen, you're preaching and not asking. Let's go to you.
Posted by josh at June 15, 2006 11:34 AM