Readers react to Brian Williams' interview with Bush

MSNBC: http://dailynightly.msnbc.com/2006/08/new_york_state_.html#comments

Hopefully this is not a dupe.

Here are some comments:

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Great job Brian! I think I would have had a hard time keeping a straight face as Bush spoke...can you believe he was actually elected?
J Pelton, Salt Lake City, Utah (Sent Aug 31, 2006 12:07:53 PM)

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BW,
Thank you for showing us the real raw footage of a Figure head who is a totally incompetent cowboy. Most muscle men are not known for their brains as in the case of our rootin' gun-toting, deliver us from terrorist, election stealing puppet, Mr. Bush. Your interview, was harsh as it should be. Katrina showed us a side that was so raw and inhuman that it made people realize what poverty does to Americans. You cannot blame those who were trapped at the Superdome/Convention Center for the conditions they were left in for 5 days as the Feds, the State,and the local government grossly failed them. Those of you who anonymously post saying garbage like they should have had a better plan or they should have gotten out of site egregiously fail to realize that those people were poor, they were elderly, or they seeked refuge in a place that they thought would protect them from the storm. They had no where to go and no food or water to eat. America failed not just the feds. Most of you dont realize that people who are poor meaning they make under 20K a year for their entire families have lived like this for generations while the privlidge in this country have had wealth and access for over 400 years! This debacle is just a result of history and how discrimination has crippled our nation. Mr. Bush is totally out of touch and he is lying in the face of the cameras. He blatantly lied when he said he didn't intend to go after Hussein because his former secretary of treasury has confirmed this to be true from the moment he stepped into office.

At anyrate, Brian and the people of NBC, thank you thank you, thank you for the courage to ask the hard questions. Please encourage people to vote and to write letters. Katrina has given me direction.
Ianta Summers, WDC (Sent Aug 31, 2006 12:08:31 PM)

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If you don't like Bush, turn off the t.v. If you don't like Williams, turn off the t.v. If you don't like what's happening in the United States, TURN IT ON. Yes, TURN "yourself" ON and go out and make a difference in the next presidental election by VOTING. Who are "we" to complain when "we" don't vote. Don't say that you do because you know you don't. In life I've found out that most of those people that complain are the exact ones that either created the problem or are too lazy to be involve in the solution. So, don't blame Bush or Williams until you've asked yourself "what can I do to make a difference".
John doe, Virginia Beach, VA (Sent Aug 31, 2006 12:07:45 PM)

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Your contempt for the President was more than obvious...Shame on you. You had a chance to provide a good public service, but could not get past your own bias. We expect more from someone in your position.
Steve Walker, Hagerstown, MD (Sent Aug 31, 2006 12:04:36 PM)

how's it feel to be an on your knees ignorant motherfucking whore for a liar, a drug abuser, a military deserter, a racist, and like you he has no use for the constitution. I got a big ole log of veteran contempt hanging for ya steve. You don't deserve your constitutional liberties.

Probably sitting in his bedroom in mommy's house typing his responses out. He needs to be sent an enlistment form.

:grr:

On the latter topic, I was taken aback somewhat by what seems to be the prevailing (70/30) opinion -- apparently echoed today by Rush Limbaugh -- that I was somehow "disrespectful" in the interview.

Several things here: While I don't know the President outside of the parameters my job, he has always shown me great kindness, we've always gotten on well, and when we parted company yesterday, he was of good cheer and seemed satisfied with our time together (and notably was in NO hurry to end the interview) as were members of the White House staff. My job, remember, is to report...ask questions...and serve as advocate for our viewers who don't get the chance to ask questions of the President themselves. Any charge of "disrespect" deservedly gets my attention, because of my profound respect for the office and its occupants. In fact, one of the topics of conversation any time I'm with the President is our shared interest in Presidential history -- which we discussed during some private time yesterday. I note that one viewer has written complaining of "unprofessionalism" in my "tone of questioning and facial expressions."

Perhaps some background will help. What we aired yesterday, and will again tonight, was a rather spontaneous, strolling interview in the hot afternoon sun in New Orleans. It was to have been taped an hour later, but the President was understandably anxious to greet the people who'd been waiting for him and Mrs. Bush in the heat -- so we gladly obliged, and things got underway very suddenly. He is, as has been widely reported in this space and elsewhere, a man who truly seems to enjoy the give-and-take and verbal "combat" that often comes with good conversation. He indicated to me more than once yesterday that he was anxious to have a robust discussion. Perhaps because the backdrop and circumstances of yesterday's interview differed so much from the norm -- the conventional presidential interview we've become used to seeing -- people saw something different that struck them as negative in some way. Asking tough questions is one thing, but I am constitutionally unable to be disrespectful around the President of the United States.

But as in real combat he can't understand when he's losing.

BI-A-TCH!