The President's Speech And Press Conference

The speech was strong (we are no longer surprised by this); the press conference was not weak (yes, this is a bit surprising). Bush-bashers undoubtedly ground their teeth throughout what must have been a long evening - one could almost hear them when Bush spoke about finally learning the truth about Saddam's WMDs, and when he argued that no one had foreseen hijacking planes and crashing them into buildings (he did toss in "on that scale" to assist folks like me).

Bush supporters, and anyone still undecided, saw a man who was genuine, firm and resolute in his goals; I could not imagine Kerry delivering such a presentation with similar conviction, but that may just be me. Kerry may need to study the old Hollywood advice: sincerity is everything in this business; once you can fake that, you've got it made.

Here is a transcript, and links from Glenn.

Comments

[Leslie]

Could you imagine John Kerry apologizing for a 9/11? And being believable? Not bloody likely.

[obelus]

The President is clear in his unmistakable resolve to "move heaven and Earth" to thwart ugly truths, hens coming home to roost, key facts, and even common sense, if need be,--anything required will be provided--in the defense of his assertion that he is a flawless performer on the world stage, quite beyond reproach with a place assured in history; there shall be no greater gift than democracy to others after we have ceased to practice it ourselves usefully.

[upyernoz]

are you serious? the press conference was "not weak"? did the man answer a single question? who exactly is sovereignty going to be handed to on june 30th? he was asked, but we don't know. why are he and cheney going to testify together before the 9-11 commission rather than separately as the commission requested (and indeed, as every other witness has testified so far). it was asked twice at the press conference, but we don't know. just how far have we lowered the "weak" bar?

i did not watch the entire press conference, but throughout the bit that i did see, i had a profound and growing feeling of embarrassment that this moron was supposed to be representing me.

sometimes i think we all see just what we want to see when we watch political speeches. but it still blows my mind when i see that others' impressions are so radically different than my own.

[rlm]

The whole presentation was painful and cringe-inducing, reminding me most of Nixon during the later stages of Watergate -- his "I am not a crook" phase.

Waiting for the Plame indictments...

[bushgirlsgonewild]

"Weak" would be a compliment; this was the most asinine speech I have ever seen by a public official…he should have taken some coaching from Admiral James Stockdale. Bush could then have started the press conference with, “Where am I?” “Why are we in Iraq?”…

[bushgirlsgonewild]

Oh, one more thing while I'm on the subject; an apology to the American people for his performance at the press conference (for wasting our time by not saying anything new and saying the same old s*** so boringly) would mean as much to me as an apology for 9/11--one was as difficult to watch as the other.

[bushgirlsgonewild]

No one could even make this stuff up:

"And the credibility of the United States is incredibly important for keeping world peace and freedom."

I almost wet myself from laughing when I heard Bush say that...I wonder if he knows how funny he is?

Bush is INCREDIBLE!