This is rather amusing. Maybe JR really lives in a bubble.

BY DAN FROOMKIN of the WASH POST:

Revolt of the Press Corps
Monday, Aug 16, 2004; 11:09 AM

The press corps appears to have had about enough of those hokey "Ask President Bush" events.
Instead of taking questions from reporters, President Bush has become increasingly partial to playing talk-show host to an audience of sycophantic fans.

There were four "Ask President Bush" events last week and in each case, after a long speech and staged interviews with prepped guests, Bush opened the floor to some incredible softballs.

The format allows the president to come off as very smooth.

As John Harris writes in The Washington Post: "In loosening his style, Bush tightened his message. Fielding friendly questions at 'Ask President Bush' forums, or lathering up the crowds at pep rallies like the one here on Saturday afternoon, he presented his case for reelection with a force and fluency that sometimes eluded him at important moments over the past year."

There's never a nasty question, never a heckler, nothing but love. That makes for great imagery and great soundbytes.

But now the press is pulling back the curtain.

Bill Plante did a long report on the CBS Evening News on Friday, showing video of campaign wranglers trying to pump up the hand-picked crowd.

"The art of TV-friendly political stragecraft reaches new levels in this campaign," Plante says. "This tight control means that hecklers . . . are almost never seen at Bush events. . . .

"At events like these, it's all about getting the message without any distraction, and making sure that there's no public argument to spoil the party."

Elisabeth Bumiller writes in her White House Letter in the New York Times: "Bush campaign officials readily say that they carefully screen the crowds by distributing tickets through campaign volunteers. . . .

"The result is often a love-in with heavily religious crowds. Bush relaxes, shows off his humor and appears more human than in his sometimes tongue-tied and tense encounters with the press."

Bumiller notes: "As of Wednesday in Wisconsin, Bush will have had 12 such campaign forums, which is one fewer than the number of solo news conferences he has had in three and a half years in the White House."

AFP writes: "President George W. Bush famously dislikes press conferences but has embraced 'Ask President Bush' sessions packed with supporters at least as eager to pay tribute to him as get an answer."

Here's the text of the most recent "Ask the President," in Beaverton, Ore. Here are the transcripts from previous events.

Religious Themes


Another defining aspect of these events is that the audiences are packed with evangelical Christians.

Maura Reynolds writes in the Los Angeles Times: "At town hall-style events from Niceville, Fla., to Albuquerque to Beaverton, Ore., many supporters posed the president with religiously themed questions and comments about faith, prayer and issues such as abortion and stem cell research.

"And although the president does not usually shy away from discussing his personal faith, he sometimes found himself in an awkward position -- trying to validate his supporters' views without endorsing them in a way that would alienate more-moderate swing voters. . . .

"Which is why the president deflected the comment with a joke when a 60-year-old man in Niceville, Fla., said Tuesday, 'This is the very first time that I have felt that God was in the White House.'

"'Thank you. Thank you all. Let me ask you a question: Do you like Jeb?' Bush asked, referring to his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush."

As John F. Harris and Jonathan Finer wrote in Saturday's Washington Post: "Bush had to calm the ardor of the crowd at Southridge High School in Beaverton. One woman noted that Oregon has one of the nation's highest percentages of 'unchurched' citizens and asked the president to 'take a minute to pray for Oregon.'

"Bush, who had won loud applause earlier when noting his Christian faith, told the woman 'I appreciate what you say' but then seemed to rebuke her statement. 'People can choose church or not church, and they're equally American,' he said, adding that it is important that 'we jealously guard' the tradition of protecting religious freedom.

"The crowd, seemingly surprised by Bush's refusal to endorse the woman's statement, responded with only a smattering of applause."

Is there any doubt that the RELIGIOUS RIGHT have Our President in their )collective palm"? JP5, tell "your boy" to have some cojones and take some REAL QUESTIONS!!

That last one was NOT even a question!!

Ever heard of Cedrick Brown?

And, are you afraid that some of these Bush supporters might actually ... gasp ... vote for him?

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Order without liberty and liberty without order are equally destructive. - Theodore Roosevelt

Please enlighten me..

You mean this gentleman?

http://timblair.spleenville.com/archives/006199.php

I guess I now know who he is. But..I don't see the correlation. My reason for the post is to show how "scripted" these ASK THE PREZ meetings are. Unless you want to deny that.

Mr Brown, A reg Rep was not screened, not asked to sign an affidavit, was not asked to provide his DL and "bank acct bal" etc..He was able to ask Senator Kerry a very good and tough question. And Kerry "danced".

But that is much more than I can say for JR or Grumpy!!

One of the first things I heard him say (in March) was when he was at a Bethlehem, Penn. town meeting:

An audience member named Cedrick Brown asked Mr. Kerry who were the foreign leaders with whom he had met.

"No, wait, wait, wait, wait you asked me if I'd met with any leaders. Yes. I have had conversations with leaders, yes, recently. That's not your business, it's mine. I've met with foreign leaders for any (inaudible) purpose - I never said that. What I said was that I have heard from people who are leaders elsewhere in the world who don't appreciate the Bush administration approach and would love to see a change in the leadership of the United States".

He went on for a while before he finally asked Mr. Brown if he had voted for Bush. When Mr. Brown replied, "yes", Kerry walked away disgusted.

I just thought it fit in well with your post.

__________________
Order without liberty and liberty without order are equally destructive. - Theodore Roosevelt

Isee. Actually I don't think it does.. Republicans CAN get near Kerry. Democrats will "be shot on sight" if they came within a mile of JR... I thought Bush and Cheney are the POTUS and VPOTUS...."UNITED STATES"..not the Republican Party.

Each day, I become convinced that Bush is NOT in charge of the country. Karl Rove, Andrew Card and Dick Cheney are the ones pulling the strings.

IF some Kerry supporters were to get into a Bush rally, at least our president would NOT call them "goons" like Kerry did the Republican supporters. And to think......Kerry wants to be the president of ALL the people. He won't get very far, calling half of them names like "goons." I can't recall a time when ANY presidential candidate ever did such a thing. Most of them have way too much class to engage in such name-calling. Apparently not John Kerry.

Kerry supporters will NOT make it there. NEVER EVER EVER!! Now, I did not know Kerry referred to anyone as goons. Do you have a link showing the story? Or should I just believe you?

BTW..Bush called a reporter a MAJOR LEAGUE A**HOLE!! Or maybe the ex-gov is exempt?

If Kerry did, he is a JACKASS!! But I would like some verification of this, if you don't mind.

No, they just use the F word against others on the senate floor. And remember Bush calling that reporter a name that I can't post here without being censored. Started with an A and ended with hole. Wake up from fantasy land JP5.

No, your lot attack a war hero on his record, rather than admit that your candidate, Gouvernor Bush, was AWOL...

Which is worse...?

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“If you're out to speak the truth leave elegance to the tailor” (Albert Einstein)