June 04, 2004

"Let me finish my -- " Touchy, touchy. Here's a transcript of an interview Bush gave to Paris Match. Highlight: Let me finish my -- you ask a question, I give you the answers. And then if you want to ask another question, you're allowed to do so.
posted by juggernautco 20 years ago
  • I feel like eating a bagette and some brie. Vive La France!
  • "I thought, going in, there would be mass refugee flows, mass starvation, oil fields would be blown up." Followed a few lines later by: "And we are a nation that is...compassionate when it comes to the suffering of others." Nice doublethink.
  • Q: ... Last year, for the first time we were not allies. What went wrong? PREZ: I don't -- you need to talk to the French leadership. Q: Speaking of the French leadership -- PREZ: For whom I have great respect.
  • What's interesting here is that the interviewer doesn't appear to have the same reverential approach that's marked encounters with US journalists. I can only assume that like any leader, the President tries to control the news about himself. Espcially trying to keep bad news away from the voters. I assume that if you're Dan Rather, and you ask a tough question, CBS gets to hear from the White House about their "disappointment", or some other such veiled threat implying withdrawn access. Journalists thrive and survive on who they know or can get access to - take that away and they're of lesser value to their employers. In the case of the foriegn press, there is nothing to lose if you badger the President, since he can't harm your career. In the same way, badgering the President of the US could be seen by the French as strong reporting. In any case, this interview gives me some insight into "Bushthink".
  • I thought the reporter was extremely polite and restrained. Was he muzzled?
  • But reporters shouldn't owe any "reverential approach" at all. The president is an elected official, not an elected deity. The press corps in the US should be ashamed of themselves. They've had their collective tongues up Bush's anus for three years now.
  • I'm NOT A Bush supporter, but after reading the transcript I thought he held up pretty well. Of course, merely "holding up pretty well" is pretty pathetic if you are the vice-prez of the free world, non?
  • vice-prez ???
  • Isn't Blair considered the President of the world?
  • vice-prez ??? Well, since Cheney calls all the shots, Bush is more of a figurehead president than anything else.
  • President of Vice...
  • Nah, that's Tommy Vercetti.
  • I was Vice Pope for a while, but I quit when they wouldn't let me wear the big hat.
  • jaypro22--BINGO!
  • Hopefully someone will shoot the motherfucker while he's over there.
  • I'm sure SideDish could comment on this more intelligently than I could (or my wife, who is a reporter), but it does appear to be mostly about access with the Washington press corps. Reporters felt completely comfortable putting Bill Clinton under the microscope, because he didn't cut them off if they wrote something that was less than flattering. But if Bush doesn't like your story, you're effectively sent to the Phantom Zone. Hence the press coverage under his administration is lightweight compared to Clinton's. Reporters need access to do good work. The Catch-22 is that they may censor themselves some to maintain that access, which means the work won't be as good.
  • *nervously looks around for Homeland Security drones. Moves away from Nostril. Mam, we at the FBI do not HAVE a sense of humor.
  • what unusual said. Those clowns should all be ashamed.
  • what unusual said. Those clowns should all be ashamed.
  • We have always been at war with Oceania.