Laura Bush downplays heckling in Mideast

[Rose Siding]

snip>
Asked about the protests during an interview on ABC's Good Morning America, Mrs. Bush said she understands resentments that have been built up, in part because of reports and pictures of prisoner abuse.

"I know from visiting Afghanistan ... that many, many people are glad our troops are there, that we are giving them a chance to rebuild their country," she said. "All of us, everyone ... deplore the photographs that we've seen, the reports that we've heard of prisoner abuse, but that's not really not what happens (with U.S. forces) ... This is a handful of people."

She said she feels that the American presence in the Middle East and Southwest Asia "is really wanted and is needed" to ensure nation-building and peacemaking.

Asked on NBC's Today show if she had felt endangered during the tours in the Middle East, the first lady replied, "No, I did not at all. I think maybe the reports that you all have seen have been slightly exaggerated. ... I have never felt at all unsafe."

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3193546

[maddezmom]

1. AP: First Lady: Protests Were 'Very Expected'

ABU GHOSH, Israel - Laura Bush said Monday she was not surprised to be met by protesters during her tour of Mideast holy sites and pledged the United States will do all it can to help resolve age-old conflicts.

"As we all know, this is a place of very high tensions and high emotions," the first lady said while standing in the garden courtyard of the Church of the Resurrection. "And you can understand why when you see the people with a deep and sincere faith in their religion all living side by side."

Mrs. Bush said the protesters who heckled her during Sunday's visits to the Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall did not surprise her and she denied that they overshadowed her goodwill visit.

"I think the protests were very expected. If you didn't expect them, you didn't know what it would be like when you got here," she said. "Everyone knows how the tensions are and, believe me, I was very, very welcomed by most people."

~snip~
more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050523/ap_on_re_mi_ea/laura_bush

[Straight Shooter]

4. "... believe me, I was very, very welcomed by most people."

I don't believe you.

[Rose Siding]

6. Maybe that's how it looks from inside the bubble

but she should realize that. It seems foolish to me for her to comment either way.

[devinsgram]

16. She has evidently learned

how to be an accomplished liar.

[wtmusic]

2. If she had just thrown in a few jokes about masturbating horses

there wouldn't have been a problem

[Avalux]

3. Imperialist Wench:

the American presence in the Middle East and Southwest Asia "is really wanted and is needed" to ensure nation-building and peacemaking.

Whatever you say, Laura. :puke:

[CoffeeCat]

5. Ohmygosh...the Reps really ARE worried about this...

...they sent Laura on the "Today" show to spin this angry, passionate protest against her--into a little nothing.

It's 'something'--but they're attempting to make it nothing.

They're jockeying for position.

You know what I'd really like to see? Massive protests on US soil. Protests that Laura and her band of thugs couldn't simply dismiss as a "handful" of people who don't represent a majority.

Just tell me where. Just tell me when. I'll be there.

[smoogatz]

10. Republican convention, NYC, 2004

Massive peaceful protests, invisible to the corporate media.

[leftchick]

11. we need to protest CNN in Atlanta....

and in front of all of those alphabet soup morning shows in NYC. Pick a Date You all!!!!

[smoogatz]

12. This is a great idea.

I love to see a bunch of pissed-off DUers outside the Today Show window, giving Matt Lauer the (metaphorical) finger. That would so totally make my day.

[CoffeeCat]

23. Well...maybe if we changed the venue and a million people showed up...

...someone might cover it.

The time is right. The tide is turning.

We need a massive protest.

[ray of light]

17. What specifically do you want to protest?

media reform, election reform, war? I think the progressive dems for america has a june 10 protest in dc. cAn you google it?

There is also filibuster protests going on today and tomorrow all over the country. Try moveonpac.

[shadowknows69]

7. get a clue Laura

that crowd would have disassembled your stepford made ass if you didn't have guards willing to stick guns in kid's faces.

[noel711]

8. Well... if you're gonna leave the safe kiddy pool...

and go out into the deep water, sure you're gonna encounter a few sharks. Don't blow them off, sweetie, this is the shape of the world today. Whose stupid idea was this?
If they think that because Pickles plays well in Peoria, she's gonna score points in Palestine, they have no clue whatsoever.

[hadrons]

9. looks like George's 'secret weapon' is a dud ....

just like George ... stick to wacking off horses

[bushisanidiot]

13. Now she knows how her loser husband would feel if he were ever

allowed within earshot of non-repukes.

[Solly Mack]

14. "that's not really not what happens" typo or?

[rockedthevoteinMA]

18. So if it's a double negative, does that mean it should say

"That's really what happens?" :shrug:

My comp 101 professor would have a fit trying to decipher the *isms that both of them speak.

[Solly Mack]

21. That's my thinking...the double negative explains the real meaning

of her words.

[InternalDialogue]

15. Laura sez...

>> All of us, everyone ... deplore the photographs that we've seen, the reports
>> that we've heard of prisoner abuse

Not me. I don't deplore the photos or the reports. I deplore the abuse they reveal.

[dhinojosa]

19. Wow......great response....

You are absolutely correct...

[rodeodance]

20. suspect she had a meet-up with Rove before she responded.

[cliss]

22. Good catch!

These fools can't get away with anything. With sharp readers here at the DU, their every inconsistency is caught.

A little Freudian slip, maybe? Laura Bush sounds like RumsFailed, who was reportedly very perturbed about the PHOTOS. Notice, the photos which uncovered so many heinous crimes.

[daleo]

24. Exactly how people in the middle east feel (and around the world)

It isn't the existence of photographs that is being deplored, it is the torture they portray. Only the neo-cons deplore the photos, because they are indisputable evidence of their crimes. That includes Laura Bush, who is now abetting the whole process with her verbal misdirection.