So, the press is having a field day talking about George W's supposed "private exchange" with Tony Blair about the Middle East. He said that Hezbollah should stop "doing this shit." He didn't know the mike was on, they say.
You have to be a Grade A Moron to believe that. Of course he knew he was being recorded. It was staged, obviously. He is getting pressure at home by pro-Israeli groups to sound tough, and pressure at the G8 and from anyone with a brain to rein in Israel before the war there spirals out of control. So he shores up domestic support with a "private statement." Bullshit. It's just another form of intentional leak. Ask Valerie Plame. I can't believe even the Washington Post thinks it's "obvious" he knew he wasn't being recorded. Really? FYI, You'll know they've caught the president off guard when he says something wholly inappropriate involving the word "fuck" and perhaps some woman who is not his wife, the sort of statement that has NO political upside. This will HELP Bush in the polls. Till then, expect that George W knows, after 6 years in office, that microphones work. I am reminded of this when people start at a party saying things like, "I've got this really embarrassing story about when I was in college." Not so embarrassing that they won't tell it, of course...
By the way, there's a West Wing episode about that, in case you're wondering just how widespread the knowledge is that presidents can and do behave this way.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
How Dumb is the Press: Exhibit A
Posted by The Law Talking Guy at 2:24 AM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
I also suspect what LTG believes--that George Bush's part was staged. I immediately thought about that West Wing episode too!
More interesting may be Tony Blair's last recorded remark, which is getting fair amount of play over in Austalia and presumably elsewhere outside the U.S. When Bush tells him he is considering sending Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to the Middle East, Blair says, "Right, that's all that matters. It will take some time to get that together." He offers to make some knd of public statement to pave the way, explaining, "Obviously, if she goes out, she's got to succeed, as it were, whereas I can just go out and talk."
From the perspective of the Brits, it presents a rather unflattering view of the relationship between Bush and Blair. Bush may have known that the microphone was on, but Blair may not have... although the BBC is careful enough to refer to it only as a, "supposedly private moment," [my emphasis] between the two leaders.
Yeah, Tony knew the mike was on. What he did was say to the parties, "If we send Condi Rice, we expect her to succeed, so that will be our signal to Israel."
// posted by LTG
It wouldn't surprise me if they got the idea from the West Wing.
Actually, what is really unflattering is not what he said, but the fact that he said it with a mouth full of food. How very gauche!
Cal the guy what he is, he is border line retarded and he has lead the attack on intellectualism...just like a cave man.
// posted by King
Unfortunately, Bush is not "border line retarded." He is smart enough to do an awful lot of damage. But when he states the obvious as though it were a revelation, it shows how ignorant he is of his own field--politics.
My favorite recent quote from Bush:
"Different words mean different things to different people." George W. Bush, July 7, 2006, Chicago.
(Perhaps he meant to say that the same words mean different things to different people?)
Before we settle on wether Bush knew or not, you might want to read this > It offers a bit more context for us.
// posted by US West
Oh, and due to the new FCC rules, they have to beep the "shit" when he says it in news reports or face a new $500K fine. I wonder is CNN will have to pay double for letting the word air and then adding subtitles.
Along those lines, Capitol Hill Blue reports, " It's not the first time the unwary President, who claims to be a born-again Christian, has been caught cursing. He called a New York Times reporter a "son of a bitch" to an open mike, told Wall Street Journal reporter Al Hunt "fuck you" in front of his daughters and, in a meeting with members of Congress, called the Constitution "just a goddamned piece of paper."
// posted by USWest
Vote Democrat in 2006!!!
// posted by Raised By Republicans
Post a Comment