Here Today... Gone To Hell!

I guess they learned their lesson from the last real Q an A with Rumsfeld. Don't wana do that again!

For video of this go to :

http://news.yahoo.com/video/2461

Then click on "prepped for pep talk"


Bush Teleconference With Soldiers Staged




By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer Thu Oct 13, 4:35 PM ET

WASHINGTON - 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."

Barber said the president was interested in three topics: the overall security situation in Iraq, security preparations for the weekend vote and efforts to train Iraqi troops.

As she spoke in Washington, a live shot of 10 soldiers from the Army's 42nd Infantry Division and one Iraqi soldier was beamed into the Eisenhower Executive Office Building from Tikrit ? the birthplace of former Iraqi leader
Saddam Hussein.

"I'm going to ask somebody to grab those two water bottles against the wall and move them out of the camera shot for me," Barber said.

A brief rehearsal ensued.

"OK, so let's just walk through this," Barber said. "Captain Kennedy, you answer the first question and you hand the mike to whom?"

"Captain Smith," Kennedy said.

"Captain. Smith? You take the mike and you hand it to whom?" she asked.

"Captain Kennedy," the soldier replied.

And so it went.

"If the question comes up about partnering ? how often do we train with the Iraqi military ? who does he go to?" Barber asked.

"That's going to go to Captain Pratt," one of the soldiers said.

"And then if we're going to talk a little bit about the folks in Tikrit ? the hometown ? and how they're handling the political process, who are we going to give that to?" she asked.

Before he took questions, Bush thanked the soldiers for serving and reassured them that the U.S. would not pull out of Iraq until the mission was complete.

"So long as I'm the president, we're never going to back down, we're never going to give in, we'll never accept anything less than total victory," Bush said.

The president told them twice that the American people were behind them.

"You've got tremendous support here at home," Bush said.

Less than 40 percent in an AP-Ipsos poll taken in October said they approved of the way Bush was handling Iraq. Just over half of the public now say the Iraq war was a mistake.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Thursday's event was coordinated with the Defense Department but that the troops were expressing their own thoughts. With satellite feeds, coordination often is needed to overcome technological challenges, such as delays, he said.

"I think all they were doing was talking to the troops and letting them know what to expect," he said, adding that the president wanted to talk with troops on the ground who have firsthand knowledge about the situation.

The soldiers all gave Bush an upbeat view of the situation.

The president also got praise from the Iraqi soldier who was part of the chat.

"Thank you very much for everything," he gushed. "I like you."

On preparations for the vote, 1st Lt. Gregg Murphy of Tennessee said: "Sir, we are prepared to do whatever it takes to make this thing a success. ... Back in January, when we were preparing for that election, we had to lead the way. We set up the coordination, we made the plan. We're really happy to see, during the preparation for this one, sir, they're doing everything."

On the training of Iraqi security forces, Master Sgt. Corine Lombardo from Scotia, N.Y., said to Bush: "I can tell you over the past 10 months, we've seen a tremendous increase in the capabilities and the confidences of our Iraqi security force partners. ... Over the next month, we anticipate seeing at least one-third of those Iraqi forces conducting independent operations."

Lombardo told the president that she was in New York City on Nov. 11, 2001, when Bush attended an event recognizing soldiers for their recovery and rescue efforts at Ground Zero. She said the troops began the fight against terrorism in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and were proud to continue it in Iraq.

"I thought you looked familiar," Bush said, and then joked: "I probably look familiar to you, too."

Paul Rieckhoff, director of the New York-based Operation Truth, an advocacy group for U.S. veterans of Iraq and
Afghanistan, denounced the event as a "carefully scripted publicity stunt." Five of the 10 U.S. troops involved were officers, he said.

"If he wants the real opinions of the troops, he can't do it in a nationally televised teleconference," Rieckhoff said. "He needs to be talking to the boots on the ground and that's not a bunch of captains."

If you watched the interview that they did with the actual soldiers who participated, the stated that ther answers were their own, they rehersed it so they wouldn't be nervous on live television and to keep the flow of the interview. Certain people were presented certain questions to answer for just that reason.

Calling it staged is a typical stick in the eye to our millitary and the Predident from the Democrats, liberal media ( 80% claim they are so)  and Bush haters.

You wish, there is audio/video evidence of this.

This isn't the first time Bush has rigged Q and A's to look like a "talk".

Gimmie a break. The lady was coaching them on how to answer the questions....It's pure propaganda.

She also told the soldier to take a pause after she said she was from NY!!! Gimmie a break!

Isn't the proper propaganda good for morale though?

okay...but wouldn't this kind of rehearsal be done regardless of the party involved...democrats, republicans, independents?  I'm not trying to defend Bush (I live in a Blue State :hihi: and I didn't vote for the clown) but isn't that just "business as usual" in the world of politics... ???

Yeah, like certain times there are candid sitdowns, but for the most part I'd think some sort of rehearsal is only normal.

I think so.

The only reason for appearing on tv is to make yourself look good.

If you're not a great speaker, make sure you get the right questions so it'll at least look good.  :hihi:



/jarmo

This is no big deal.  It's politics, pure and simple.  Anyone that knows anything about politics would see this as a good political move whether it were the dems or republicans.  Again, slc painting our commander in chief and our military is the worst light possible.  Good work.  And to think I had the audacity to call you unAmerican.   ::)  I bet you are refreshing the news sites as we speak hoping upon hope that the voted for the constitution failed today.  I for one hope it passes. 

No.

There were also staged news reports from some psuedo reporter who was actually president Bushs admininstration before this. He presented it to the public like it was breaking news.....

The last real town meeting they had did not go well for Rumsfeld. He got his ass chewed out by the soldiers and made him look like an idiot. But more importantly it created change for the troops.

Awww..how sweet. Charity Case telling everybody what I think and how I feel again. Imagine that?

our liar in chief is the only one who paints himself in the worst light possible.

I just report.

see...... thi si how i see it...... Bush is dumb..... however this speech writers are even more dumb then him..... speech writers jobs are to give great speeches that will reach the most people, his speech writers seem to sould like nothing and they just keep using the same canned statements that will reach the most people..... grated its on the mark....... but really there is no substance to anything...... it reminds me of movies aboiut highschool and a class president race and some moron wins becuas ehe said that the Football team is amazing..... and bush..... its anything that makes a standing ovation or a roar from the crowd.

the only thing that i can applaud bush for was from his address to canada in Ottawa last year, he actualy cracked a good joke.... "I'd like to thank all those canadians that came out to greet me and wave to me with their entire hand." he actulay chuckled.......

I don't think its the speech writers.? It's the guy giving the speech.? Bush is not good at public address....simple as that.? I think if you gave the same speech writers to Clinton or Reagan the speeched would sound a million times better.? It's all in the delivery.

slc, I'm just gonna ignore you on this issue.  You lack any real credibility bringing something as spun as this to the forum.

You mean the one where the liberal reporter fed those questions to the troops to enrage them before the press conference?  How is that any different than Bush doing this?  more importantly, how do you know that Bush was involved in the "staging" of the event?  Is this just another interpretation of yours?  I just want to make sure i'm not misquoting you or lying.  After all, this stages interview is much worse than getting on TV and saying "I did not have sexual relations with that woman - Ms. Lewinsky"

The lady from the freakin' pentagon was caught on tape preping the troops how to ask the questions ("Take a deep breath before......"). Of course Bush knew. She asked the questions Bush was supposed to ask, then coached HOW they were to respond.

Then, Bush walked right out and asked the same questions she was rehearsing only moments earlier.

How do I know Bush was involved? Jeeesh....I watched the video!  :hihi:

Nothing surpises me anymore.

If all of Bush's press appearances are actually staged, God help us.

In May 2004, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) determined that the Bush administration violated federal law by releasing television "news segments" that favorably depicted a new Medicare law -- without indicating that the government created and paid for the segments. On January 6, the GAO announced that the Bush administration again broke the law by producing similar "news segments" about drug use, saying the segments "constitute covert propaganda" because they did not identify the government as the source of the materials. The GAO added that the administration "made it impossible for the targeted viewing audience to ascertain that these stories were produced by the government."

But that isn't the only new example of the Bush administration promoting its policies through the use of paid propaganda masquerading as news. USA Today reported January 7 that the administration paid television host, columnist, and commentator Armstrong Williams $240,000 to promote administration policy on his television show, and to encourage other African American journalists to do the same. According to USA Today, "The campaign, part of an effort to promote No Child Left Behind (NCLB), required commentator Armstrong Williams 'to regularly comment on NCLB during the course of his broadcasts,' and to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige for TV and radio spots that aired during the show in 2004."

According to USA Today, Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington noted that the payments to Williams may be illegal because of prohibitions on government propaganda.

Mediamatters.com