Bush to hold 17th news conference (10:30 EST today)

Bush to hold 17th news conference

President to review accomplishments, lay out challenges ahead
NBC News
Updated: 9:39 a.m. ET Dec. 20, 2004

WASHINGTON - President Bush plans to review his administration’s accomplishments in 2004 and discuss the challenges ahead at a news conference Monday, a senior U.S. official told NBC News.

At the 10:30 a.m. ET news conference, Bush planned to deliver opening remarks focused on Afghan elections, Iraq, and the domestic priorities he wants Congress to focus on when it convenes in January before taking questions from reporters, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Such open-ended sessionss with the press have been relatively rare under Bush.

As of early this month, he had held 16 solo news conferences, compared to 43 for Bill Clinton and 84 for George H.W. Bush and 26 for Ronald Reagan at similar points in their presidencies, the Washington Post reported, citing research by Martha Joynt Kumar of Towson University.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6737149/

The president prefers to answer questions in the format known by White House insiders as the “two plus two” – meetings with foreign leaders and other dignitaries at which the White House press corps is allowed to ask him two questions, with two others reserved for visiting reporters.

This will be the shortest press conference ever. President Bush plans to review his administration’s accomplishments in 2004

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!

so about one every four months and with the usual soft ball questions.

I can just imagine a few of them today, "Gee Mr. President, when did you find out you were TIME's person of the year?"

or

"Have you finished your Christmas shopping?

blocked them from my memory) more than 4 or 5.

Now if they are counting his taking questions when foreign dignitaries visit, I suppose it may be that many.

Also, if they are counting while he was campaigning, then it might be that many?

Possibly if they count all of his Q&A during his first campaign then there might be that many?

Ahh, I think they are still fudging on the numbers.

nm

When Democracy Failed: The Warnings of History
by Thom Hartmann

....
But the warnings of investigators were ignored at the highest levels, in part because the government was distracted; the man who claimed to be the nation's leader had not been elected by a majority vote and the majority of citizens claimed he had no right to the powers he coveted. He was a simpleton, some said, a cartoon character of a man who saw things in black-and-white terms and didn't have the intellect to understand the subtleties of running a nation in a complex and internationalist world. His coarse use of language - reflecting his political roots in a southernmost state - and his simplistic and often-inflammatory nationalistic rhetoric offended the aristocrats, foreign leaders, and the well-educated elite in the government and media. And, as a young man, he'd joined a secret society with an occult-sounding name and bizarre initiation rituals that involved skulls and human bones.

...
A year later, to the week, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia; the nation was now fully at war, and all internal dissent was suppressed in the name of national security. It was the end of Germany's first experiment with democracy.

As we conclude this review of history, there are a few milestones worth remembering.

February 27, 2003, was the 70th anniversary of Dutch terrorist Marinus van der Lubbe's successful firebombing of the German Parliament (Reichstag) building, the terrorist act that catapulted Hitler to legitimacy and reshaped the German constitution. By the time of his successful and brief action to seize Austria, in which almost no German blood was shed, Hitler was the most beloved and popular leader in the history of his nation. Hailed around the world, he was later Time magazine's "Man Of The Year."

Most Americans remember his office for the security of the homeland, known as the Reichssicherheitshauptamt and its SchutzStaffel, simply by its most famous agency's initials: the SS.

We also remember that the Germans developed a new form of highly violent warfare they named "lightning war" or blitzkrieg, which, while generating devastating civilian losses, also produced a highly desirable "shock and awe" among the nation's leadership according to the authors of the 1996 book "Shock And Awe" published by the National Defense University Press.

Reflecting on that time, The American Heritage Dictionary (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1983) left us this definition of the form of government the German democracy had become through Hitler's close alliance with the largest German corporations and his policy of using war as a tool to keep power: "fas-cism (fbsh'iz'em) n. A system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership, together with belligerent nationalism."
more
http://www.awitness.org/journal/bush_hitler.html

It amazes me that people still deny bush* is hitler II !

:bounce:

over and over.

One thing I remember from Randi's show today when she was talking about Hitler.

She stated that once Hitler convinced the people that the church and the state should not be separated, the death squads started to separate the Jews from the Christians.

I always heard Hitler was a devout Catholic. People don't believe these things when you tell them. They do not want to hear the truth. They are blind to pure evil incarnate.

Ohio to you as he promised? A cabinet position, an ambassadorship?"

I hear he suddenly, quitely resigned a couple months back

UNITED KINGDOM
William S. Farish
$142,875 to the GOP*


There was little, if any, surprise when President Bush chose William S. Farish as ambassador to Great Britain. Farish, a millionaire horse breeder and chairman of Churchill Downs, which hosts the fabled Kentucky Derby each year, is a big Republican donor and a close family friend of the Bushes, whom he has known for more than 50 years.

Farish has a history of close ties with President Bush's father. He owns a trust company in Houston called W.S. Farish & Co., and was tapped in 1980 to manage Vice President Bush's blind trust. He and his wife, Sarah, gave Millie, who became known as the White House dog, to George and Barbara Bush. Farish and the elder Bush are known to be occasional tennis partners.

Farish owns the Lane's End Farm near Lexington, where he and Sarah have played host to Queen Elizabeth, another longtime friend and the royal head of the country in which he will serve, pending confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

Farish contributed $26,875 to Republican candidates and parties in 1999-2000, including the maximum $1,000 to President Bush's campaign. He also contributed $100,000 to the Bush-Cheney inauguration committee and $5,000 to the Bush-Cheney recount committee. His support for Democrats amounted to a single contribution of $1,000 to the unsuccessful campaign of former Rep. Scotty Baesler (D-Ky.).

Sarah Farish made $11,000 in contributions during 1999-2000, all of it to Republicans. Like her husband, she gave $1,000 to President Bush's campaign.
http://www.opensecrets.org/bush/ambassadors/farish.asp

than this moron...I think my blood is actually boiling...

Don't you get the feeling that we're the only ones in on this joke of a President and the press just keep asking him stupid questions like he really can answer them???

This is sickening...why can't someone stand up and just yell at him about what a bafoon he is!!

value their paycheck and their nice houses and private schools for their kids above all else or they'd be laughing out loud at the moronic responses. I live for the day when some journalist with a shred of integrity asks the chimp a tough question that puts him on the defensive. I'm not holding my breath, though.

is just fine!

"Mr. Kerik, was Judith Regan any good in the sack? Do you think she might have been cheating on you?"

"Mr. Kerik, in today's real estate market, how much of a kickback should I expect from a contractor for the privilege of constructing my vacation home in Red Bank, New Jersey? And should it be in cash or wired to an account in the Caymans or Belize?"

"Mr. Kerik, where can I get the best price on 'bulk smokes' and what percentage of my budget should be allocated for bribes and 'looking the other way'?"

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Can't stand to look at the babboon

Can't stand to listen to the babboon

NOT my president...

anwer them"

That's our Man of the Year!

everything is rosey.

... so hard when he said that. LOL :smoke:

Not actually answering any questions. Turning it back to talking points. No follow-up questions. The media has totally failed this country.

The media has rolled over since 9/11 and has lost their passion for the truth...it's disgusting that this President has been given a free pass...

probably earlier

but starting then it was all anti-clinton--->anti-democrats--->republicans are the only 'good and true and real American patriotic christians'

If the media had done its job in 2000, we would not be contending with this asshole today.

No Shit? The rest of the world would like you to find somebody that's actually intelligent.

...did anyone catch it when GW stated that, "bombs are great propaganda tools,"?

On CNN the heading under live news event says: "Terrorist determined to disrupt elections in Iraq."

Gee, but didn't we already go through this kind of crap during our own elections. Now this jerk-off is spreading his evil propaganda to another countries election process.

Damn I hate this guy!! And I usually don't hate anyone, but he and his crowd are so beyond contemptible it staggers me.

Too bad there's not a can of roach spray big enough to make him go away.

:grr: :mad:

Terra Lerts now that the pilfering of the election is over.....

early in the conference.

Presidentin' is work. It's hard work. Oh, and.......I'm gonna try and git Congriss to change the name of the country to.....The United States of Dumbf*ckistan."

"not complicated, but complex" or something like that....

Again, I repeat - this bozo is our president? wake me up.....this is a nightmare...

shiny bauble. Used it about four times in the next 30 seconds.

The author of "Bush on the Couch" addressed that specific behavior. He said there is raging anxiety in Bush's brain and he perseverates on a particular word in order to keep himself focused, which is very difficult for him, and to keep the anxiety at bay.

and he would completely unravel. Why can't any of today's journalists do their job. At the very least there should have been a follow up when he said immigrants are doing the jobs no american would want to. Ask him what jobs. I want a list of jobs me and mine aren't ever supposed to apply for.

if effective propaganda.

Yeah, that it is. Shock and Awe.

Sure as hell not here, you dumbass.

How long has he practiced that in the mirror?? Does he think it's charming?? Ok...this goes off - I can't stomach it...

re-building......

"Mass Medias".

those Americans that voted for this moron must be - or else shocked and appalled.

that just floored me.

you KNOW jon stewart's gonna have a field day with this one.

or is he 'on vacation'?

sticking hot pokers into my eardrums.

"but I can't tell you what to ask me. That's not the holiday spirit."

Dumb stupid fucking moron.

I can not stomach him to find out. If it is I pity the person cleaning up this transcript!

the silence was deafening.

Nearly crushed the remote in my paw. He is such a train wreck. I can't believe this freak.

Yay, in the "holiday spirit" he said we could ask questions. Whoopie for free speech.

coming in". Thanks for clearting that up.

Who was the mystery reporter who asked this one?

"Mr. President, the November election results in Ohio are in court over allegations of improper counting. If the results in Ohio ultimately show without a doubt that Senator Kerry was the winner there, even after your inauguration, will you vacate the office of the presidency?"

Well, sorry, I went off into fantasyland there for a second. Never mind.

with any integrity would ever be allowed to ask a hard-hitting question at a chimp press briefing. More whores in the room than at a Nevada brothel.

Get me to negotiate with myself...
Not going to negotiate with myself...

Don't bother to ask me, or ask...that's not the holiday spirit...

How about letting Helen ask a question????

like a complete idiot. He really can't speak at a level above grade school kids. That may actually be an insult to grade schoolers.

What an absolute idiot! :eyes:

How brave of him. LOL

"But Uncle Karl told me I can't negotiate with terruhists."

Geez, I'm thinking slow today. Belated Hahahahaha.

:thumbsup: :D

..."I will not negotiate with myself......negotiate with myself.... get me to negotiate with myself...." so many times, I thought he was having a personality conflict with himself.

would be form of abuse to the negotiator. So I guess he's saying that he refuses to participate in self-abuse.

Coulda fooled me. :evilgrin:

Wanker.

that being president might be hard work.

I knew that would pop in somewhere.

His incoherent ramblings are something, aren't they? Where's the box under the suit when he needs it? This is painful.

answer these questions.....very hard to do this self negotiation....

PATHETIC

telling the Press that he won't be tricked into showing his hand....tricked into "negotiating with himself". Should be: "Look I don't introspect, I don't look at myself, my motives, or admit my mistakes".

he said that.

He is defending all the spending.

"Senator Hastert"

Did he say "beheading" the budget?

they cut coverage. The reporter then said he wondered if Bush read the same newspapers as the rest of the world - ROFTL - this dude is craZEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Oy.

Surely everyone sees this.

This is really bad, and bush slipped it in unchallenged. This change is what allowed pension plans to get totally screwed, and now he wants to bring to social security. Defined contribution a high risk of no reward. Social Security should not be about that.

Damn this guy is a disaster.

No argument from me.

Part of reforming SS, is telling seniors they will get their check.

Lies?

gaffes, policy screw-ups and simply unbelievable comments.

Why do these asshats laugh at his stupid jokes?

edit to add: Every person that voted for this man should be forced to sit and watch this entire performance.

This is just awful.

he think he is? WHERE does he think he is? Doing a Mystery Science Theater 3000 play on an old western? He defines the word buffoon

You're pretending to be a president, you embarrassing moron!

"Complex, complex hard work...and it's complex. And hard!"

Friggin' idiot. I watch his press conferences for the same reason many people watch NASCAR...to see the crashes.

Go PATS, squish the fish.

with Miami was pivotal? This year we have to worry about it being a "let-down" game.
I gotta admit though, since Bill Belichick came along there's not much let-down in the Pats. :D

Squoosh the Boosh!

...do many of his supporters watch his press conferences?

Or are we the only ones watching/reading/listening to these train wrecks?

gahd. Mencken was right.

The others no doubt sit in goggle-eyed amazement at his "wisdom".
:puke:

"As democracy is perfected, the office of president
represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of
the people. On some great and glorious day the plain
folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at
last and the White House will be adorned by a
downright moron."

-- H.L. Mencken (1880-1956)

suppose he means those new people that don't have pretty faces??

Bush is fumbling as usual..."staying on the hunt"... Also asked about torture at GITMO...he is totally ducking that issue saying we are a nation of laws...

STUPID stupid man...

It'll be over by 10:30:05.

He'll be deported by noon.

What a bullshit answer though.

OMG!!! Asked if he finds it offensive that Rummy didn't sign condolence letters and that was his response...!!!!

In some circles?

He said that the US is a country of laws, BUT we must defend the country. To me that means if torture is necessary to protect the country then its OK.

Based upon his definition of what it means to defend the country. Essentially saying that he has the say over who can be tortured or not.

The convention against torture says, that UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE IS TORTURE EVER ACCEPTABLE!

Damn him.

Why are you willing to excuse Rummy for not signing the condolence letters? Why didn't he answer???

edit: typo

is raising her brows at this level of stupidity. Damn the rest of the world should be tramautized.

a camera should be in her face everytime the Frat Boy in Chief has a press conference.

Quick, alert the Christian Taliban. They won't be very happy about this AT ALL.

:mad:

his righties.....oh my, Dobson and Buchanon will be on this

wrong here, Rummy did nothing wrong. Every fucking thing Rummy has said about Iraq has been wrong, but not a thing is wrong.

is trying to destroy the moral fabric of this country?

CHRISTMAS UNDER SIEGE CONTINUES!!!

Bush must be spending too much time in his "stable" to try to save Christmas.

It never fails. Listen this afternoon if you can stand it, and by the time Dope Rush, Insanity, and Faux News are through analyzing this so called press conference, the dildo-heads will be convinced that it was Trumanesque, Reaganesque, Kennedyesque, and FDR all rolled into one.

What a great and strong, intelligent, bold and inspiring leader he will be.

Sorry folks, but I just can't make that shit up.

performance - is it drugs, or massive payoffs?

doing some hard werk.

"Happy Holidays" The Fundies are crapping their pants now.:evilgrin:

:evilgrin:

I wonder how good they feel shrub hasnt mentioned the gay marriage question since election.

It's just more of the same from the first debate with Kerry. I couldn't believe anyone would still vote for him after that debacle.

When are people going to wake up??? :mad: :nuke:

are saying that "there will never be a better president"

watch the speech and the q&a.
It was pain ful on several levels. We all know what a terrible speaker he is and it was no better today. I don't know how many times I heard the word terror but it was more than once.
Then the lame attempts at humor and lightness. He also appeared defensive and stated that one reporter was "trying to get me to re-negotiate with myself" or trip him up I guess. He voiced a concern that he felt as if some were trying to trap him in his statements.
All in all, a miserable attempt to tell us everyting was going ok and that overall the US, the world and the people in Iraq ware all better off due to the Saddam removal.
:puke:
edited for puking :)

"Do you have confidence in Rummy?"

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3080261/


82% NO (Hey! I'm in the majority finally!!)

The other link is just a partial, doesn't include Q&A's and I hate the commercials.

How he ordered the abuse Iraq prisoners...