Helen Thomas smacks Scottie McClellan around

[russian33]

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/07/20040719-8.html

Q Prime Minister Blair took full personal responsibility for taking his nation into war under falsehoods -- under reasons that have been determined now to be false. Is President Bush also willing to take full, personal responsibility --

MR. McCLELLAN: I think Prime Minister Blair said that it was the right thing to do; that Saddam Hussein's regime was a threat.

Q Those were not the reasons he took his country into war. It turned out to be untrue, and the same is true for us. Does the President take full, personal responsibility for this war?

MR. McCLELLAN: The issue here is what do you to with a threat in a post-September 11th world? Either you live with a threat, or you confront the threat.

Q There was no threat.

MR. McCLELLAN: The President made the decision to confront the threat.

Q Saddam Hussein did not threaten this country.

MR. McCLELLAN: The world -- the world, the Congress and the administration all disagree. They all recognized that there was a threat posed by Saddam Hussein. When it came to September 11th, that changed the equation. It taught us, as I said --

Q The Intelligence Committee said there was no threat.

MR. McCLELLAN: As I said, it taught us that we must confront threats before it's too late.

Q So the President doesn't take full responsibility?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President already talked about the responsibility for the decisions he's made. He talked about that with Prime Minister Blair.

Q Personal responsibility?

MR. McCLELLAN: Terry, go ahead.

***********************************

God, I love that woman!

[shoelace414]

1. Helen. The last memeber of the white house press corp

:mad:

[NewJeffCT]

8. and, she is a true, patriotic American

I'm sure if Kerry pulls off the upset & wins, she won't go soft on him...

[InkAddict]

2. But, but, but, how can Helen

ask G-d to take full personal responsibility for speaking thru the mouth of the Shrub?

GO HELEN!

[Warren DeMontague]

3. Whooohooo! She obviously doesn't realize, however...

That the Bushbot has only a few responses, randomly interchangeable:

"September 11 Changed The Equation"
(translated; Sept. 11 means we we can do whatever the fuck we want)

"Saddam Hussein was a threat"
(what I tell you three times is true)


"It taught us we must confront threats before it's too late"
(Translated; it taught us we must confront threats before they actually are threats. Because of Sept. 11.)

[CBHagman]

12. Don't forget this talking point from Frank Luntz.

"It's better to fight the terrorists in the streets of Baghdad than in the streets of New York City and Washington, D.C."

And Republican senators and congressmen dutifully parrot those words when speaking to reporters.

The only problem is that they're COMPLETE and utter drivel. Does the GOP think that anyone with bomb-making tendencies or weapons is going to helpfully show up before the Marines or the U.S. Army and say, "Here I am, boys; come and get me"? What's to stop the next Timothy McVeigh or Mohammed Atta from using a truck bomb on a building or a high-powered rifle on a chemical tanker?

But those sound bites work so well and sound so macho and reassuring at the same time, like much of the lying that is done in politics.

[Warren DeMontague]

18. And, it's the same crap they've been peddling for 50 years..

"We must fight the communists in Vietnam/Nicaragua, or we'll be fighting them in Hawaii/Texas."

[Wind Dancer]

4. McClellan is so rude and dismissive whenever

Helen asks questions. She is the only one left in the WH press willing to ask the hard questions and not back down - I love Helen and email her constantly with the stories not being covered by mainstream media.

[melv]

5. Thank you, Helen! n/t

[King Coal]

6. When Kerry gives his first STOTUS

We need to be sure and send Helen the biggest shit-load of roses Washington has ever seen. Who's up for that?

[CBHagman]

13. Good idea, oldtimer1942

And Kerry needs to be sure to call on Helen first. She'll be tough --she's tough with everybody -- but calling on her would be the right thing to do.

[faithnotgreed]

25. i think we should do it before that! this woman is one of the last

reporters or treasures there are.....

i know where to send them from - organic bouquet. eschaton blog, i think, recommended them because they donated flowers to a jk fundraiser (or something great like that)

anyone know how to get in touch with her or where i could send them...

[AZCat]

7. Watch for this technique in the prez debates

Bush will use the same trick Snotty uses here.

1) If the answer reflects badly on you, don't answer the question asked, answer the one you want to.

2) Ignore any attempts to redirect the question back to the original intent.

3) Repeat your main point as many times as necessary.

He used this to great effect against then-Governor Ann Richards in the Texas gubernatorial debates in '94. There's a good Atlantic Monthly article on this, but I can't find the link.

Edit: found link here.
You really should read this article, it has lots of good info on Bush.

[aden_nak]

9. She actually wanted an ANSWER instead of an unrelated talking point.

[Rob H.]

10. ""The issue here...

...is what do you to with a threat in a post-September 11th world? Either you live with a threat, or you confront the threat."

And for American citizens, the all-important third choice: you vote the threat out of office.

[TexasSissy]

11. This is why she no longer sits in the front of the press corps at news

conferences. Kudos to Thomas, a real journalist who asks the hard questions.

[Rob H.]

14. This one made me sneer like Cheney

MR. McCLELLAN: The President already talked about the responsibility for the decisions he's made.

Technically, he did. Unfortunately, he blamed the intelligence community for giving him faulty info and thereby passed the responsibility to someone else, just like he's done with every other screwup in his life. (That, or it's some variation of, "Jebus made me bomb them terra'ists, and Jebus ain't never wrong.")

I'm beginning to think he should just get it over with and buy a plaque for his desk that says, "The buck stops anywhere but here."

[Don_G]

17. Something Like This?

[Rob H.]

19. LOL!

That's even better!

[TrustingDog]

21. the way back machine and the CIA reports pre-Iraq war...

am I dreaming here or did I really hear on the big news networks like CNN, that the CIA/FBI had doubts as to the involvement of Iraq in anything 911 related...

anyone have a link/source? I swear that was flying around the media..

so... how is it that Bush can claim he got bad intel?

see how they fuck with us?

[Rob H.]

26. Yep, the CIA and FBI did, indeed, disagree with the WH

Here's an article that mentions exactly that: Efforts to show Iraq-Qaeda link cause friction within FBI and CIA by James Risen and David Johnston, The New York Times, Monday, February 3, 2003.

Excerpt:

At the FBI, some investigators said they were baffled by the Bush administration's insistence on a solid link between Iraq and Osama bin Laden's network. ''We've been looking at this hard for more than a year, and you know what, we just dont think its there,'' a government official said.

[Toucano]

15. You don't stick around as long as Helen Thomas has

if you're not damn good at your job!

Thanks as always, Helen.

[spanone]

16. Helen has more balls than 99.9% of the White House press corps.

[Karenina]

20. GOOOO HELEN!!!

The little McTurd never did answer the question... :eyes:

[in_cog_ni_to]

22. Helen Thomas is

a NATIONAL TREASURE!

[GreenPartyVoter]

23. Way to go, Helen!

[eleny]

24. I can hardly wait for Malloy on Air America

He did the best critiques of Scotty!

Yay Helen!!!!

[Sparkly]

27. Email her and tell her!

[e-mail]

She often sends a note back. :)

[cally]

28. And bushbot 'Terry' let him off the hook

Instead of following up on Thomas' point and questions, he gave an easy question to McClellan. He's more at fault for this than McClellan.

Q Two things. First, you do sound a little cool to this idea of the 9/11 Commission, that there should be new Cabinet-level intelligence.

[democrat_patriot]

29. Anyone have Helen contact info?

We all need to write and express our gratitude!