The Reverb from Bush's Press Conference

I had some technical problems getting onto the internet last night. So, I missed a great deal of the reaction and analysis regarding Bush's press conference. However, the blogosphere still seems to be buzzing over the rare event(only Bush's third prime time press conference).

My friend Claudius Flauberius picked up on this interesting, to say the least, comment that Bush made and that nobody else seems to be reacting to:

"Some of the debate really centers around the fact that people don't believe Iraq can be free; that if you're Muslim, or perhaps brown-skinned, you can't be self-governing and free. I strongly disagree with that."

Josh Marshall takes a shot at the always deserving Fox News:

"He then called on Bill Sammon (of the Washington Times and Fox News) who rewarded the president by helping him regain his balance with this laughable strawman question: 'You have been accused of letting the 9-11 threat mature too far, but not letting the Iraq threat mature far enough. First, could you respond to that general criticism?'"

Tom Tomorrow has a pretty thorough review of the speech as well, which includes this hilarious characterization of Bush's speech patterns:

"It's hardly a surprise when a politican gives evasive answers at a press conference. It's just that Bush is so terrible at it--he has maybe eighteen pre-programmed sound bites ready to go, and if none of them are applicable to the question, he just starts sputtering like a computer on the original Star Trek, after Captain Kirk has just irrefutably pointed out the illogic of its basic programming."

Another story that is certainly worth a read about the press conference is William Saleton's piece in Slate that discusses Bush's definition of credibility. Saleton launches his piece from this quote that Bush spewed last night:

"One thing is for certain, though, about me, and the world has learned this: When I say something, I mean it. And the credibility of the United States is incredibly important for keeping world peace and freedom."

The last piece that I will comment on troubled me a little. It is a message that Micheal Moore has posted on his website. I will just leave you with the two excerpts that bothered me and let them stand for themselves. I would comment on the post, but I am still trying to figure out exactly how I feel about them. Either way, the whole entry is worth a read, and it should certainly be read in its entirety. Here are the two excerpts that stood out to me:

"The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not "insurgents" or 'terrorists' or 'The Enemy.' They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow -- and they will win."

"There is a lot of talk amongst Bush's opponents that we should turn this war over to the United Nations. Why should the other countries of this world, countries who tried to talk us out of this folly, now have to clean up our mess? I oppose the U.N. or anyone else risking the lives of their citizens to extract us from our debacle. I'm sorry, but the majority of Americans supported this war once it began and, sadly, that majority must now sacrifice their children until enough blood has been let that maybe -- just maybe -- God and the Iraqi people will forgive us in the end."

Posted by Paul Hina at April 15, 2004 12:19 AM