Ireland: I wanted to slap him (bush)

George W Bush was so upset by Carole Coleman’s White House interview that an official complaint was lodged with the Irish embassy. The RTE journalist explains why the president made her blood boil

With just minutes to go to my interview with George W Bush, I was escorted to the White House library, where a staff member gave instructions on how to greet the president: “He’ll be coming in the door behind you, just stand up, turn around and extend your hand.”

I placed my notes on the coffee table, someone attached a microphone to my lapel, and I waited. The two chairs by the fireplace where the president and I would sit were at least six feet apart; clearly I would not be getting too close to him.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,2766-1817008,00.html

A very, very, very, very long line.

because someone was doing her job reasonably well.


Who would he protest to if United States reporters started doing their jobs even close to as well?

He could then look down upon the journalist from his high and mighty perch.

bush is such a whiney-a** petulant freak.

And the "line forms way in the back," is right!

I just want him impeached along with all the other criminals, but I'm having some empathy for him here.

He did actually prepare for an interview with a reporter and he may not have liked it, he may have been full of talking points and other stuff, but at least he did it the way other presidents do.

Our little chimpy is growing up.

""You were given an opportunity to interview the leader of the free world and you blew it," she began.

I was beginning to feel as if I might be dreaming. I had naively believed the American president was referred to as the "leader of the free world" only in an unofficial tongue-in-cheek sort of way by outsiders, and not among his closest staff.

"You were more vicious than any of the White House press corps or even some of them up on Capitol Hill . . .The president leads the interview," she said.

"I don’t agree," I replied, my initial worry now turning to frustration. "It's the journalist's job to lead the interview"

It was suggested that perhaps I could edit the tapes to take out the interruptions, but I made it clear that this would not be possible.

As the conversation progressed, I learnt that I might find it difficult to secure further co-operation from the White House. A man’s voice then came on the line. Colby, I assumed. "And, it goes without saying, you can forget about the interview with Laura Bush."

Clearly the White House had thought they would be dealing with an Irish "colleen" bowled over by the opportunity to interview the Bushes. If anyone there had done their research on RTE's interviewing techniques, they might have known better.

MC also indicated that she would be contacting the Irish Embassy in Washington - in other words, an official complaint from Washington to Dublin."

that she had a chance to interview the president(sic) of the USA and she did Exactly the right thing and showed up the mealy mouth Washington press corp for what they are..presstitutes.

We've all known about the press manipulation the adminstration tries to keep in a stranglehold.

The President leads the interview? Nobody speaks until he addresses them? That's the rudest thing ever. I thought the point of our way of government was that we don't have kings who are "above" any other citizen.

replying now so I can find later.

Moore did notice RTE’s interview with the president and in the weeks that followed urged American journalists to follow the example of 'that Irish woman'.

"In the end, doesn’t it always take the Irish to speak up?" he said. "She’s my hero. Where are the Carole Colemans in the US press?"

Where are they? Scared Shitless!

"We don't speak to the President unless he speaks first."

WTF????

I love how she is so candid about how the whole event made her feel. She's very honest.

Kudos to Ms. Coleman. :applause:

Great article, I remember clips of the interview being posted on line

Thanks for posting the article here.

Good find, nominated.

K & R, belongs on the front page.

Great article. Thanks for sharing!

I read the whole thing and I am glad she was a journalist who "leads" the interview. I am glad she wanted "new" answers who does he think he is and his staff with all their "bushit" shaming and blaming...they are disgusting.

http://www.lies.com/wp/2004/06/26/the-carole-coleman-interview/

Click on the words "real player" in the first paragraph.

It's killing me--I just have to know. Also, how is it pronounced?

http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/index.asp?locID=195&docID=-1

He/she is like a prime minister, and it is pronounced teeshock. :)

The Taoiseach (plural: Taoisigh) or, more formally, An Taoiseach, is the head of government of the Republic of Ireland and the leader of the Irish cabinet1. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of parliament), and must, while he or she remains in office, enjoy the confidence of the Dáil. The current Taoiseach is Bertie Ahern,TD of the Fianna Fáil party.

from Wikipedia.

The way I read it, the pronounciation is tee-sach(k). If this is hard for us to pronounce, can you imagine Bush trying to?

is "teashop", so MissMarple's pronunciation sounds the correct one.
Mind you, the English are generally very poor at pronouncing foreign languages, so....

is that he's not addressed as "Mr. Taoiseach" or something like that. Just "Taoiseach."

Imagine addressing the Bush boy like that: "Hey, fuckface!"

Gaelic. Tough language to learn.

Edited because I left out a letter.

That's why they wanted her to ask about it - he could show off his knowledge of Irish culture & perfect Gaelic in one shot! Maybe that's why he got so annoyed with her.

I wanna see him have a temper tantrum and start throwing things and swearing. THAT'S why they can't talk about him...

I found that very odd. Can't talk about Jenna and Not-Jenna, . . . oh, and Michael Moore.

Not Saddam.

Not OBL.

Not Al Qaeda.

Michael Moore.

Hmm. . .

And that's all I'm going to say about that.

The most interesting passage for me was this:



Megalomania?

And this is the President that feels so close to the worker man?

in an ungrateful world.

I wish someone would ask him about Moore! We might be able to see him go all "Exorcist" on us ... his head spinning around on his shoulders and pea soup spewing from his mouth. Hey, a girl can have a dream, can't she?

emailed to my clan!

anyone have a link?

one that would, and it's here, in case your firewall seems to interfere with your Real Player a lot, like mine:

http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/33970

The first link worked for me.

Thanks to the original poster for this great info. He's one nasty subject for an interview. He is completely ungracious, inhospitable, and self-centered. He's s-l-o-w. That's probably why he's so hostile.

(Comment by ME: Adolph Hitler: "Listen nobody LOVES Tyson foods more than I do....."

“Listen, I think that God . . . that my relationship with God is a very personal relationship. And I turn to the Good Lord for strength. I turn to the Good Lord for guidance. I turn to the Good Lord for forgiveness. But the God I know is not one that . . . the God I know is one that promotes peace and freedom. But I get great sustenance from my personal relationship.”

Actually his bible has a few things to say about false prophets like himself:

Zechariah13:3 And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the LORD: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.)

That would be a pay-per-view special right there: Seeing Poppy Bush and the Witch chasing Junior with flaming swords of righteousness.

What are the odds you think that the Neo-Christian Supreme Court will pass this little passage into law? well considering that most if not ALL Republican politicians would be guilty

of this crime I wouldn't bet on it.

As Miichael Moore said "she's my hero" and "when will the American media stand up to bush".

One thing I don't understand is why is the (then) head of the EU - Bernie Ahern - called taoiseach (sp)?

and I was getting confused LOL

The words Taoiseach and Tánaiste (the title of the deputy prime minister) are both Irish Gaelic and of ancient origin. Though the Taoiseach is described in the Constitution of Ireland as "the head of the Government or Prime Minister", its literal translation is "leader" or "chief". Some historians suggest that in ancient Ireland, from whence the terms originate, a taoiseach was a minor king, while a tánaiste was a governor placed in a kingdom whose king had been deposed.

http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Taoiseach

:)

Bravo again to Carole Coleman!

Tell us about it George, as you do so seem to embrace it as a policy.

He certainly displayed some royalty-level rudeness. Coleman seemed to be saying that George would pause, and then when she jumped in, he would pitch a bit of hissy with "Let me finish! May I finish?!"

He is despicable filth. How ashamed can I be of this man who represents my nation? There is no bottom to it.

Submit the questions in advance, then shut up and listen to him promote his propaganda. What a turd.

Lodged a complaint? "Mommy, the Irish lady was mean to me. Waaaaa...."

Props to Carol Coleman for burning Bush on this one.

And so are every single one of his clueless loyal followers. That's why they say: "I like him cuz' he's just like me."

Lordy that * is a strange, strange man.

ugh.

I sure wish the US could get some serious alternatives to Pravda Press on TV, so that I wouldn't have to constantly feel like I'm surrounded by pod people who have no idea of the real tenor of this government. Of course, none of them would have any idea of this, and if I tried to tell them, they'd tune out because they hadn't heard it from Fux or their pastor......Sheesh, I'm not nearly as well informed as alot of people here, but compared to those podpeople, I feel like a freakkin scholar.

Now, now, that's not very nice!

Hehehehe.

but he is not only STILL lying about WMDs and Saddam.

Give me a break...this lying lunatic is deplorable.

let the Iraqi's suffer more" as if HIS WAR IN IRAQ helps the Iraqi people.

Thanks for posting this! I'm starting to understand why Bush has such a hold on the American press - it's classic carrots (don't you want an exclusive?) & sticks (well not if you go off the script!). Bush himself seemed to be making an effort to intimidate her into being quiet. And what was with that "Do you interrupt a lot in your country" comment? He was just tryng to make her feel uncomfortable and apologetic when he was the one being rude.

Good fucking grief.