Arrgh..I wrote you a long answer, and had a bad word in it, and when I went back (sm)
Posted By: MeMT on 2008-11-06
In Reply to: okay, lets go with that....(sm) - Just the big bad
my message disappeared! I am trying to finish some work so will have to rewrite it later.
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Last-word/long-postitis.
Unacceptable answer for word verbiage. Do people actually let you get away with that?
You must run in really tolerant debate circles. Best stay in them. This kind of behavior is not tolerated in most political circles I know of. But it is a good example of how far we have slipped into the he said/she said atmosphere of debate in this country. Just say anything and never have to prove it. It works well for the MSM, of which you seem so fond. Well, should have known better. I am off for greener pastures and debate fields where people actually have to prove what they say. Imagine that!
You'll be waiting a long, long time, then, cuz she's going to do
You cannot type it word for word, just provide a link.
.
He died a long, long time ago! (If he was ever
Don't force your beliefs on others. It further devalues your faith in the eyes of others.
I remember the debate. And of course this is not word for word, I NEVER said...sm
*because I'm not.* This is a LIE that I got tired of arguing with them about then. Unless you are confusing me with an old poster that went under the moniker Demo.
Sambo thinks last word=best word...
su
Then what did you mean when you wrote
You accuse me of drinking and then cry when it happens to you. SM
WHAT happened to ME, Brunson Burnout?
Who wrote this??????
I just wrote him
do you think he will ever actually read it?
I am not the one who wrote it, but
probably meant PROMOTE, not promite.
I still say they should have just wrote a
check to every TAXPAYER for around $50,000. That would have saved a heck of a lot of money being spent on this stimulus package. We would definitely buy a car. Then we could concentrate on paying our bills off, which would have stimuluated the economy even more...LOL
I think he's the guy who wrote
The Purpose Driven (fill in the blank - there have been several.)
Yes, agree with all you wrote.
Yes, King George seems to be pretty angry lately, looking like a cornered animal. It did look like he was going to hit Matt Lauer or something; he was soooo defensive and agressive. At this point I am afraid of what he might do next, as it seems he's running out of options. Pretty scary. :-(
I agree with everything else you said.
My thoughts on what you wrote about
I have heard same thing about his life might be in danger, and think it is so horrible that this country still could be remotely about that. But, as you have experienced and witnessed, it is still there. And some rural and other places are saturated with it. I don't live in an area where it is obvious. I haven't heard that word that you mentioned in forever, and I am thankful for that.
Here's the thing. Though many and even me have said/thought that this country is not ready for a black president - he is getting overwhelming support from Democrats and Independents. This makes me think or wonder that either people who are afraid of him or are indeed some form of racists are 1) not voting (in the Democratic primaries), 2) they are more afraid of Hillary (which doesn't make sense if they are truly racist), or, 3) they are mostly Republicans (I know that sounds like a slam on Rep, but I don't mean it to be) and they will vote for McCain anyway... ? Maybe I am naive here.
So even though we may not be ready, it seems that we better hurry up and get ready? ;-)
Yup another no brainer wrote this one too.
I listened to his speech and found it very good. In all fairness I will be listening to McCain's speech with an open mind. I want to hear what he has to say. I'm listening to both sides and taking it all in and then will base my decision.
I get pretty sick of one side making it look like their candidate is the second coming while the other side is whatever. It's all very childish.
All you did was cut & paste. Whoever actually wrote
.
an individual wrote this and -
every individual has a right to his/her own opinion, but that does not mean that the countries are saying we were duped. The people in other countries are just like the people in America - you either love him or you hate him - there is no in between for Obama.
I personally think that we have him now as POTUS and we should stand behind the man and show respect for the office he is holding and give him a chance to do something before we continue to tear him down.
I hear people say Obama has already broken this promise or that promise, but how can he break promises he made when he is not even the president yet? Give him a chance - if he messes up, then talk about it and be upset -- and even though I voted for him, I will be upset right along with you.
You don't know the guy who wrote the article so
how do you know he's a pub? There are dems criticizing the stimulus. This man been in the road construction business for years. He knows what's needed and what has to be done. What he's saying is there was not enough money given for the road and bridge infrastructure.
IMHO, I don't think money for teachers should be part of this. Teachers in my area make around $50K a year and the administrators make over $100K. We are definitely not city and the average taxpayer here only earns $24K if they go out of the county for work. Otherwise, the average salary around here is $14K a year...yet our schools do not prepare the kids for college like they should. Too much emphasis is placed on sports and not on education. The teachers do not teach the important things. Most of them don't know how to count money without a calculator or cash register to tell them how much change they should give back. They don't know how to read or write (spell). I see it all the time.
I know teachers are the backbone of our society and future for our kids, but some don't belong in the world of teaching. They're in it for the money and benefits only.
I coudl go on and on with what is wrong with this package, and what they should do, but now I have to go and work for my slave wages. 
Yeah. Let's count them: First, we have the one who wrote for everyone to see
"I spent 19 years in the military."
It's not until someone thanked her for her service and asked what branch she was in that we found out that she was in a military FAMILY. Was that a lie? OF COURSE NOT AND DON'T ANYONE DARE SAY SHE LIED.
Another poster (maybe the same as the above) really displayed the extent of her intelligence when she responded to a poster by referring to their "vaucity." When asked what that meant, she responded by saying look it up. When a poster responded that she tried BUT IT ISN'T IN THE DICTIONARY, she replied that it's a "combination of 2 words" that can be found on blogs all over the net. (When asked WHICH 2 words, she couldn/didn't respond.)
Turns out, it was a typo and was supposed to read "vacuity." The irony was that she was trying to tell the original poster that they were stupid, but who REALLY looked stupid during all this???? Can she say it's a typo? NO. And as far as a "blog" term that doesn't exist, SHE DID NOT LIE, SO DON'T CALL HER A LIAR.
Best part is if a little HONESTY could be employed by these people, there wouldn't be an argument. It's absolutely honorable to be a member of a military family, and they, too make sacrifices and should be thanked for that. But it is NOT the same as saying "I spent 19 years in the military." I know people who actually DID spend 20 years in the military and retired at a very young age. Still, it is very honorable to be a member of a military family. At least in my eyes it is. Guess it wasn't in hers or she would have been honest about her role.
Also, instead of saying "I made a typo, and I meant to write vaucity," again, the invention of "facts" about a combination of two nonexitent words.
Another member of their gang... well, just go visit the Conservative board for yourself and read the entire thread about the activist judges/groups who are responsible for not letting the poster place a nativity scene in her own yard. She was questioned by someone, and it's not until the fourth post that she begins by saying, "I'll be up front with you." HOW NICE. It's quite comical. If you haven't read it, you should. Turns out it had nothing to do with "activist judges/groups" at all. BUT SHE DID NOT LIE!!!!!
When I come to these boards, I start out with the belief that everyone has credibility. It's only after they prove to me THEMSELVES that they don't, by their very OWN ACTIONS AND WORDS that they can't be believed, that I begin to form negative opinions.
What you wrote is a perfect example of someone whose credibility is definitely ... uh.... challenged. (trying to be kind)
And yes, LOL, I'd bet a psychiatrist could make a mint from some of these people.
And riled? Yeah, used to a little bit, but now I just find them more comical than anything. But I'll grow out of it like I did with the OTHER Curly, Larry and Moe.
He wrote about Jews and communism. sm
He read many of Henry Ford's writings when he (Hitler) was in prison. He included these thoughts/tenents in Mein Kampf.
That sounds like a kindergartner wrote that. Seriously. nm
//
Not directed at you, Kiki, just the guy who wrote....
this article...verrryyy slanted.
But all it says to me is that she is doing the job as governor of her state to take care of her people and it looks like she was doing a mighty fine job. Hence the 83% approval rating.
What I would be interested in is the same author looking at the lower 48, and seeing how much of their profits are off the top before a product leaves their state? I would imagine it is very close to that. It is a governor's job to look out for the people of the state, and she obviously put her people first. More power to her! If she pushes for the same principle on a federal level, we will do nothing but benefit.
Good grief, this person castigates the woman for doing her job and doing it well. At least she didn't siphon off a chunk for herself like many other corrupt politicians..it went right back to the people of her state.
And the interviewer could not resist the class warfare jibe: "Well I guess that means the Alaskan people are more important than we are..blah, blah, blah."
If this guy lived in Alaska he would be singing a different tune...sour grapes, class warfare. Typical.
Yep, I would be interested to know how much revenue from oil from Texas, oil from Oklahoma, coal from West Virginia...how much of that revenue is kept at the state level? My guess is as much as Palin kept in Alaska from Alaska's oil.
This article just reinforced for me why her influence is needed in Washington. She looks after the people who put her in office. Exactly what she SHOULD be doing IMHO.
What if McCain wrote a book
And in his biography, he made statements like not ingratiating myself to blacks.
Showing loyalty to the white masses
Or made a statement saying I never emulate black or brown men.....
Do you think there would be any chance he'd be a presidential candidate right now?
If McCain wrote a book, this is what it would say sm
McCain's book would say this:
Chapter One:
I am an admiral's son. I was a POW for 5 years. My wife waited for me and I ditched her when I got home for Cindy. A month after my divorce, I married Cindy the botox queen who bobs her head and makes $100 million a year. I don't want to be her little houseboy so I'm trying to be president so she can be proud and I can help all her corporate friends.
I'm skanky and old and I follow what GW Bush says and does, although now that he tanked our country, I'm trying to backpedal on that until after the election. Right now we are trying to figure out how to steal votes in a less sleazy fashion than the past 2 elections. We have the power and we aren't giving it up easily.
My worst idea ever was getting Sarah Palin but I cannot admit mistakes so now I just go and defend her before anyone even opens their mouths. I say ISN'T SHE GREAT, while inside I'm kicking myself. She made me lose long time republicans. I know if I die after hopefully being elected the big bad repubs will impeach her butt in a heartbeat. Speaking of heartbeat, I'm sorry I slobbered and gasped so much during the debate last night. I don't want my supporters to think I'm sick...I was just trying to distract people who were listening to Obie. He is really stealing the show.
I don't know why the Hillary supporters don't like Palin. Do you suppose they aren't as dumb as I'd hoped? I was hoping they would be satisfied with those 2 having as little in common as labia majora and a a vijayjay. Oh well. Can't please everyone.
By the way, did you know Palin's husband belonged to a fringe group that tried to get Alaska to secede from the Union? That will be the grounds to impeach her if I kick the bucket. Oh heck yeah, we good ole boys have it all figured out.
Anyone have a clue why Jackson Brown, Survivor, Heart and all those other bands won't let me use their music? I sure can't ask the Dixie Chicks now can I?
Ain't it a shame how everyone came down on them girls for speaking against Bush when they were 100 percent right? Whoops, well I can say that now that I'm trying to distance myself from the C student whose daddy got him into Yale. But he is a rich boy and I only hang with rich boys.
Let's see now. One more thing. I was brilliant last night with my Joe the Plumber. Good thing nobody found out until after the debate that he was a republican plant. He was on talk radio, the right wing hater shows, even before the debate. Yeah, he was a plant, not just some random thing but haha fooled everyone for a night. Now if I can just fool them until the election.
Peace! I mean WAR. More war more war more war!
FactCheck.org wrote about this in August
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html
Teddy wrote books about something other than himself!
You can hardly compare Obama's narcissistic biographies with Teddy's books where he researched and wrote about something other than himself!
Who wrote the stimulus bill, do you know?...
//
Someone wrote a letter to the editor
in our local paper and asked why are they giving them bonuses when they should be firing them for making such a mess in the first place.
She probably thinks she WROTE the Bible.
.
Also I was responding to the person who wrote that
say the opposite. BT stated it correctly.
Now nuff said.
As I wrote to him, Tom Tancreda or Duncan Hunter.
I suggested a REAL Republican like one of those fine men for his running mate.
do u mean the founding fathers that actually wrote our constition?
The ones that didn't wipe their a$$e$ on it? The ones that wanted to separate church from state? The ones that wanted liberty from tyranny?
This is what I wrote in my message below called outrageous
Their blatant glutton is so sickening I could just puke! Families losing their jobs, homes, 401K's, retirements. People are in such hard times right now, bailouts after bailouts after bailouts and congress (all pretty close to millionaires if not more) goes and just gives themselves a pay raise. I'm am so sick to death of the whole political scene.
JTBB wrote 7 lines, you say she conflated them into
16 issues and can't answer. Did I read you correctly, you're going to be an intelligence analyst? OMG!!
yep. Its Fox. Just googled it. word for word. nm
nm
Not one word. One defitinion of a word.
Cult: 1. A system of religious worship or ritual.
Or how about this:
Cult: A system or community of religious worship and ritual.
Or my personal favorite:
Cult: A self-identified group of people who share a narrowly defined interest or perspective.
I made a mistake and was trying to respond to the post below by *LOL* when I wrote that.
in the article you posted, nor did I see the word *impeach* anywhere in the article.
I agree with your comments and with the article you referred to, and I understood the comments of LOL to mean that the article was responding to some sort of "talking points" and using the word impeach often, when in fact, it can't be found once in that article.
As far as impeaching Bush, I believe time will tell. I personally believe he's guilty of war crimes, and that his war will be judged to be illegal before the end of his "reign as King of the USA." (if we all manage to survive that long).
The mere fact that he led us into this war based on lies should be enough to impeach him.
If I offended you, then I truly apologize. I agree with you and I'm glad you posted this article. I surely wouldn't have referred you back to the very article you obviously read and posted and tell you to educate yourself, and in no way, shape or form do I believe you are ignorant; far from it.
If you posted the LOL statement below, then I apologize for misunderstanding what you meant by it.
I made a mistake when posting my post, and instead of winding up under the intended post, it wound up under yours instead. Again, I'm sorry if I offended you.
Didn't read your response before I wrote mine....
lol. Good post :)
Pubs wrote the book on voter fraud.
nm
Thomas Sowell wrote the article, maybe you should read it...
not my facts, chicky.
I'm glad you wrote bible with a lower case
Because there are a million bibles out there...bible simply means book. But the Holy Bible there is only one of, of which there are thousands of manuscripts, and of which authenticity was proved (again) by the manuscripts found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
I've told you a million times that I do not make that call, Jesus Christ does. All authority has been given to Him. I'm just one of many messengers.
And since you have no idea who I am, don't confuse yourself with thinking I am in a little locked-in box. You have no idea the kind of life I have led, the things I have seen, and the things I have done. I spent six years trying as hard as I could to disprove Jesus and Christianity. To this day I still doubt many things, but doubting is good, it makes you search for the truth that much harder. I question points all the time, but i do so in sincerity, not facetiousness. Therefore God reveals the answers to me. However, He didn't do so until I honestly asked Him.
McCain's speech was well written (for him, I doubt he wrote it himself), but he is not a great s
He does not have 'it'.
Obama has 'it'.
Well done, Obama.
I think you wrote a wonderful post; but the "giving money to the rich,"....sm
historically has been the rule of the day while the Republicans were in power, I think Mr. Cheney prospered the most during the Bush administration and his cronies. And I agree it is NOT a partisan thing, right is right, wrong is wrong, but at this point in time we have a new president who has only been in office a month; he is ambitious, forward-thinking, altruistic, decisive, and strong. I agree some of those programs SHOULD have been left out, but perhaps he had to make those concessions in order to get the more important social programs and reforms this country needs. He is tring to perform a MAMMOTH, HERCULEAN task, I respect him for it, and he deserves more of a chance than he is getting. I he has made many speeches saying that he proposes to hold more and more corporations and institutions ACCOUNTABLE for their actions and suffer consequences. Can we give him the time to do so? JMHO
why do you answer so stupidly, the right answer
if you had any brains, would have been......
'well, she made a mistake.'
But telling me that I need a job, is so stupid, yes, stupid AND a very weak point.
get on back, neocon, get on back
Tell ya what, sweetheart, last I checked this is the LIBERAL BOARD and I havent been banned, as I dont break the rules, so I can stay as long as I want..Seems to me, conservative, you are the one who should mosey on by and get back to drink more Kook-Aid.
I wrote: I second JTBB's post, 'watcher's post is misinformed crap...sm
pYou have also to read what's posted 'inside' the message.
how long
back and forth through my working day about 20 minutes or less.
Very long and quite sad
At least she got to go home to Ireland.
The Sunday Times October 09, 2005
Ireland: I wanted to slap him
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.
*
The room was well-lit, providing the kind of warm background conducive to a fireside chat. Several people had crowded in behind me. I counted five members of the White House film crew, there was a stenographer sitting in the corner and three or four security staff. I was still counting them when someone spoke. “He’s coming.”
I stood up, turned around to face the door and seconds later the president strode towards me. Bush appeared shorter than on camera and he looked stern and rather grey that day.
“Thanks for comin’, Mr President” I said, sticking out my hand. I had borrowed this greeting directly from him. When Bush made a speech at a rally or town hall, he always began by saying “Thanks for comin’” in his man-of-the-people manner. If he detected the humour in my greeting, he didn’t let on. He took my hand with a firm grip and, bringing his face right up close to mine, stared me straight in the eyes for several seconds, as though drinking in every detail of my face. He sat down and an aide attached a microphone to his jacket.
Nobody said a word. “We don’t address the president unless he speaks first,” a member of the film crew had told me earlier. The resulting silence seemed odd and discomforting, so I broke it. “How has your day been, Mr President?” Without looking up at me, he continued to straighten his tie and replied in a strong Texan drawl, “Very busy.”
This was followed by an even more disconcerting silence that, compounded by the six feet separating us, made it difficult to establish any rapport.
“Will Mrs Bush be seeing any of our beautiful country?” I tried again, attempting to warm things up by adding that I had heard that the taoiseach would be keeping him too busy for sightseeing on his forthcoming trip to Ireland.
“He’s putting me to work, is he? Have you not interviewed Laura?” “No, I haven’t met your wife.” I suggested that he put in a good word for me. He chuckled. By now he seemed settled and the crew looked ready, but still nobody spoke. I was beginning to worry that the clock may have already started on my 10 minutes.
“Are we all ready to go then?” I asked, looking around the room. The next voice I heard was the president’s. “I think we have a spunky one here,” he said, to nobody in particular.
MC, a White House press officer whom I’ve decided not to identify, had phoned me three days earlier to say that President Bush would do an interview with RTE. “Good news,” she had said. “It goes this Thursday at 4.20pm. You will have 10 minutes with the president and Turkish television will talk to him just before you.”
My initial excitement was dampened only by the timing, much later than I had hoped. The interview would take place just three hours before I was to fly back to Ireland to cover his arrival at the EU summit at Dromoland Castle in Clare and just 15 minutes before the start of RTE’s Prime Time programme on which the interview would be broadcast. It would be practically impossible to have the president on air in time for this.
“That’s fabulous,” I gushed, “but is there any way I could go before the Turks?” I had previously explained about the Prime Time programme, so MC knew the situation. “I’ll look into it,” she offered.
The interview sounded like quite a production. We wouldn’t be able to just saunter in there with a camera. It would be filmed by a White House crew, which would then hand over the tapes to me to be copied and returned the same day.
MC asked me for a list of questions and topics, which she said was required for policy purposes in case I should want to ask something that the president needed to be briefed on. The request did not seem odd to me then. The drill had been exactly the same for an interview I had conducted six months earlier with the then secretary of state, Colin Powell.
“What would you ask the president of the United States?” I enquired of everyone I met in the following days. Ideas had already been scribbled on scattered notepads in my bedroom, on scraps of paper in my handbag and on my desk, but once the date was confirmed, I mined suggestions from my peers in RTE and from foreign policy analysts. I grilled my friends in Washington and even pestered cab drivers. After turning everything over in my head, I settled on a list of 10 questions.
Securing a time swap with Turkish television ensured that I saw the president 10 minutes earlier, but there was still less than half an hour to bring the taped interview to the production place four blocks away in time for Prime Time.
Still, with the arrangements starting to fall into place, the sense of chaos receded and I returned to the questions, which by now were perpetually dancing around my head, even in my sleep. Reporters often begin a big interview by asking a soft question — to let the subject warm up before getting into the substance of the topic at hand. This was how I had initially intended to begin with Bush, but as I mentally rehearsed the likely scenario, I felt that too much time could be consumed by his first probable answer, praising Ireland and looking forward to his visit. We could, I had calculated, be into the third minute before even getting to the controversial topics. I decided to ditch the cordial introduction.The majority of the Irish public, as far as I could tell, was angry with Bush and did not want to hear a cosy fireside chat in the middle of the most disputed war since Vietnam. Instead of the kid-glove start, I would get down to business.
*
On Thursday June 24, Washington DC was bathed in a moist 90-degree heat, the type that makes you perspire all over after you have walked only two blocks. Stephanie and I arrived at the northwest gate of the White House that afternoon, and were directed to the Old Executive Office building, Vice President Dick Cheney’s headquarters, and were introduced to MC, whom I had spoken to only by phone. An elegant and confident woman, she was the cut of CJ, the feisty White House press secretary on The West Wing television drama.
A younger male sidekick named Colby stood close by nodding at everything she said and interjecting with a few comments of his own every now and then. Colby suggested that I ask the president about the yellow suit the taoiseach had worn the previous week at the G8 Summit on Sea Island in Georgia. I laughed loudly and then stopped to study his face for signs that he was joking — but he didn’t appear to be. “The president has a good comment on that,” he said.
The taoiseach’s suit had been a shade of cream, according to the Irish embassy. But alongside the other more conservatively dressed leaders, it had appeared as a bright yellow, leaving our Bertie looking more like the lead singer in a band than the official representative of the European Union. It was amusing at the time, but I was not about to raise a yellow suit with the president. “Really?” I asked politely. But a little red flag went up inside my head.
Then MC announced that she had some news for me. “There may be another interview in the pipeline for you,” she said.
“Me?”
“We’re not supposed to tell you this yet, but we are trying to set up an interview with the first lady.”
She indicated that the White House had already been in contact with RTE to make arrangements for the interview at Dromoland Castle, where the president and Mrs Bush would be staying. As an admirer of Laura Bush’s cool grace and sharp intellect, I had requested interviews with her several times previously without any reply. Now the first lady of the United States was being handed to me on a plate. I could not believe my luck.
“Of course, it’s not certain yet,” MC added. And then her sidekick dropped his second bombshell. “We’ll see how you get on with the president first.”
I’m sure I continued smiling, but I was stunned. What I understood from this was that if I pleased the White House with my questioning of the president, I would get to interview the first lady. Were they trying to ensure a soft ride for the president, or was I the new flavour of the month with the first family?
“I’m going to give the president his final briefing. Are there any further questions you want to pass on to him?” MC asked.
“No,” I said, “just tell him I want to chat.”
Stephanie and I locked eyes and headed for the ladies’ powder room, where we prayed.
Mr President,” I began. “You will arrive in Ireland in less than 24 hours’ time. While our political leaders will welcome you, unfortunately the majority of our people will not. They are annoyed about the war in Iraq and about Abu Ghraib. Are you bothered by what Irish people think?”
The president was reclining in his seat and had a half-smile on his face, a smile I had often seen when he had to deal with something he would rather not.
“Listen. I hope the Irish people understand the great values of our country. And if they think that a few soldiers represent the entirety of America, they don’t really understand America then . . . We are a compassionate country. We’re a strong country, and we’ll defend ourselves. But we help people. And we’ve helped the Irish and we’ll continue to do so. We’ve got a good relationship with Ireland.”
“And they are angry over Iraq as well and particularly the continuing death toll there,” I added, moving him on to the war that had claimed 100 Iraqi lives that very day. He continued to smile, but just barely.
“Well, I can understand that. People don’t like war. But what they should be angry about is the fact that there was a brutal dictator there that had destroyed lives and put them in mass graves and torture rooms . . . Look, Saddam Hussein had used weapons of mass destruction against his own people, against the neighbourhood. He was a brutal dictator who posed a threat that the United Nations voted unanimously to say, Mr Saddam Hussein . . .”
Having noted the tone of my questions, the president had now sat forward in his chair and had become animated, gesturing with his hands for emphasis. But as I listened to the history of Saddam Hussein and the weapons inspectors and the UN resolutions, my heart was sinking. He was resorting to the type of meandering stock answer I had heard scores of times and had hoped to avoid. Going back over this old ground could take two or three minutes and allow him to keep talking without dealing with the current state of the war. It was a filibuster of sorts. If I didn’t challenge him, the interview would be a wasted opportunity.
“But, Mr President, you didn’t find any weapons,” I interjected.
“Let me finish, let me finish. May I finish?”
With his hand raised, he requested that I stop speaking. He paused and looked me straight in the eye to make sure I had got the message. He wanted to continue, so I backed off and he went on. “The United Nations said, ‘Disarm or face serious consequences’. That’s what the United Nations said. And guess what? He didn’t disarm. He didn’t disclose his arms. And therefore he faced serious consequences. But we have found a capacity for him to make a weapon. See, he had the capacity to make weapons . . .”
I was now beginning to feel shut out of this event. He had the floor and he wasn’t letting me dance. My blood was boiling to such a point that I felt like slapping him. But I was dealing with the president of the United States; and he was too far away anyway. I suppose I had been naive to think that he was making himself available to me so I could spar with him or plumb the depths of his thought processes. Sitting there, I knew that I was nobody special and that this was just another opportunity for the president to repeat his mantra. He seemed irked to be faced with someone who wasn’t nodding gravely at him as he was speaking.
“But Mr President,” I interrupted again, “the world is a more dangerous place today. I don’t know whether you can see that or not.”
“Why do you say that?”
“There are terrorist bombings every single day. It’s now a daily event. It wasn’t like that two years ago.”
“What was it like on September 11 2001? It was a . . . there was relative calm, we . . .”
“But it’s your response to Iraq that’s considered . . .”
“Let me finish. Let me finish. Please. You ask the questions and I’ll answer them, if you don’t mind.”
His hand was raised again as if to indicate that he was not going to tolerate this. Again, I felt I had no choice but to keep quiet.
“On September 11 2001, we were attacked in an unprovoked fashion. Everybody thought the world was calm. There have been bombings since then — not because of my response to Iraq. There were bombings in Madrid, there were bombings in Istanbul. There were bombings in Bali. There were killings in Pakistan.”
He seemed to be finished, so I took a deep breath and tried once again. So far, facial expressions were defining this interview as much as anything that was said, so I focused on looking as if I was genuinely trying to fathom him.
“Indeed, Mr President, and I think Irish people understand that. But I think there is a feeling that the world has become a more dangerous place because you have taken the focus off Al-Qaeda and diverted into Iraq. Do you not see that the world is a more dangerous place? I saw four of your soldiers lying dead on the television the other day, a picture of four soldiers just lying there without their flak jackets.”
“Listen, nobody cares more about death than I do . . .”
“Is there a point or place . . .”
“Let me finish. Please. Let me finish, and then you can follow up, if you don’t mind.”
By now he was getting used to the rhythm of this interview and didn’t seem quite so taken aback by my attempt to take control of it. “Nobody cares more about death than I do. I care a lot about it. But I do believe the world is a safer place and becoming a safer place. I know that a free Iraq is going to be a necessary part of changing the world.”
The president seemed to be talking more openly now and from the heart rather than from a script. The history lesson on Saddam was over. “Listen, people join terrorist organisations because there’s no hope and there’s no chance to raise their families in a peaceful world where there is not freedom. And so the idea is to promote freedom and at the same time protect our security. And I do believe the world is becoming a better place, absolutely.”
I could not tell how much time had elapsed, maybe five or six minutes, so I moved quickly on to the question I most wanted to ask George Bush in person.
“Mr President, you are a man who has a great faith in God. I’ve heard you say many times that you strive to serve somebody greater than yourself.”
“Right.”
“Do you believe that the hand of God is guiding you in this war on terror?”
This question had been on my mind ever since September 11, when Bush began to invoke God in his speeches. He spoke as if he believed that his job of stewarding America through the attacks and beyond was somehow preordained, that he had been chosen for this role. He closed his eyes as he began to answer.
“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.”
He sat forward again. “That doesn’t make me think I’m a better person than you are, by the way. Because one of the great admonitions in the Good Book is, ‘Don’t try to take a speck out of your eye if I’ve got a log in my own’.”
I suspected that he was also telling me that I should not judge him.
I switched to Ireland again and to the controversy then raging over the Irish government’s decision to allow the use of Shannon Airport for the transport of soldiers and weapons to the Gulf.
“You are going to meet Bertie Ahern when you arrive at Shannon Airport tomorrow. I guess he went out on a limb for you, presumably because of the great friendship between our two countries. Can you look him in the eye when you get there and say, ‘It will be worth it, it will work out’?”
“Absolutely. I wouldn’t be doing this, I wouldn’t have made the decision I did if I didn’t think the world would be better.”
I felt that the President had now become personally involved in this interview, even quoting a Bible passage, so I made one more stab at trying to get inside his head.
“Why is it that others don’t understand what you are about?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. History will judge what I’m about.”
I could not remember my next question. My mind had gone completely blank. The president had not removed me from his gaze since we had begun and I wanted to keep up the eye contact.
If I diverted to my notes on the table beside me, he would know he had flustered me. For what seemed like an eternity, but probably no more than two seconds, I stared at him, searching his eyes for inspiration. It finally came.
“Can I just turn to the Middle East?”
“Sure.”
He talked about his personal commitment to solving that conflict. As he did so, I could see one of the White House crew signalling for me to wrap up the interview, but the president was in full flight.
“Like Iraq, the Palestinian and the Israeli issue is going to require good security measures,” he said.
Now out of time, I was fully aware that another question was pushing it, but I would never be here again and I had spent four years covering an administration that appeared to favour Israel at every turn.
“And perhaps a bit more even-handedness from America?” I asked, though it came out more as a comment.
The president did not see the look of horror on the faces of his staff as he began to defend his stance. “I’m the first president to have called for a Palestinian state. That to me sounds like a reasonable and balanced approach. I will not allow terrorists determine the fate, as best I can, of people who want to be free.”
Hands were signalling furiously now for me to end the interview.
“Mr President, thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome,” he replied, still half-smiling and half-frowning.
It was over. I felt like a delinquent child who had been reprimanded by a stern, unwavering father. My face must have been the same colour as my suit. Yet I also knew that we had discussed some important issues — probably more candidly than I had heard from President Bush in some time.
I was removing my microphone when he addressed me.
“Is that how you do it in Ireland — interrupting people all the time?”
I froze. He was not happy with me and was letting me know it.
“Yes,” I stuttered, determined to maintain my own half-smile.
I was aching to get out of there for a breath of air when I remembered that I had earlier discussed with staff the possibility of having my picture taken with the president. I had been told that, when the interview was over, I could stand up with him and the White House photographer would snap a picture. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, I stood up and asked him to join me.
“Oh, she wants the photograph now,” he said from his still-seated position. He rose, stood beside me and put an arm around my shoulder. Taking his cue, I put an arm up around his shoulder and we both grinned for the cameras.
In my haste to leave I almost forgot the tapes and had to be reminded by the film crew to take them. I and my assistants bolted out to the street. We ran, high heels and all, across Lafayette Park. Running through rush-hour traffic, I thought that this had to be about as crazy as a journalist’s job gets.
I had just been admonished by the president of the United States and now I was turning cartwheels in order to get the interview on air. As I dashed past a waste bin, I had a fleeting urge to throw in the tapes and run home instead.
At the studio I handed over the tapes. My phone rang. It was MC, and her voice was cold.
“We just want to say how disappointed we are in the way you conducted the interview,” she said.
“How is that?” I asked.
“You talked over the president, not letting him finish his answers.”
“Oh, I was just moving him on,” I said, explaining that I wanted some new insight from him, not two-year-old answers.
“He did give you plenty of new stuff.”
She estimated that I had interrupted the president eight times and added that I had upset him. I was upset too, I told her. The line started to break up; I was in a basement with a bad phone signal. I took her number and agreed to call her back. I dialled the White House number and she was on the line again.
“I’m here with Colby,” she indicated.
“Right.”
“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.
“I don’t know how we are going to repair this relationship, but have a safe trip back to Ireland,” MC concluded. I told her I had not meant to upset her since she had been more than helpful to me. The conversation ended.
By the time I got to the control room, the Prime Time broadcast had just started. It was at the point of the first confrontation with the “leader of the free world” and those gathered around the monitors were glued to it. “Well done,” someone said. “This is great.”
I thought about the interview again as I climbed up the steps to RTE’s live camera position at Dromoland Castle to account for myself on the 6pm news next day. By now the White House had vented its anger to the Irish embassy in Washington. To make matters worse for the administration, the interview had made its way onto American television and CNN was replaying it around the world and by the end of the day it had been aired in Baghdad.
Had I been fair? Should I just have been more deferential to George Bush? I felt that I had simply done my job and shuddered at the thought of the backlash I would surely have faced in Ireland had I not challenged the president on matters that had changed the way America was viewed around the world.
Afterwards I bumped straight into the taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, who was waiting to go on air.
“Howya,” he said, winking.
“I hope this hasn’t caused you too much hassle, taoiseach,” I blurted.
“Arrah, don’t worry at all; you haven’t caused me one bit of hassle,” he smiled wryly.
I don’t know what he said to the president, who reportedly referred to the interview immediately upon arrival, but if the taoiseach was annoyed with me or with RTE, he didn’t show it.
When I returned to my little world on the street called M in Washington, I felt a tad more conspicuous than when I’d left for Ireland. Google was returning more than 100,000 results on the subject of the 12-minute interview. The vast majority of bloggers felt it was time a reporter had challenged Bush.
At the White House, the fact that I had been asked to submit questions prior to the interview generated enquiries from the American press corps. “Any time a reporter sits down with the president they are welcome to ask him whatever questions they want to ask,” Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, told the CBS correspondent Bill Plante.
“Yes, but that’s beside the point,” replied Plante.
Under repeated questioning, McClellan conceded that other staff members might have asked for questions. “Certainly there will be staff-level discussion, talking about what issues reporters may want to bring up in some of these interviews. I mean that happens all the time.”
I had not been prevented from asking any of my questions. The only topics I had been warned away from were the Bush daughters Jenna and Barbara, regular fodder for the tabloids, and Michael Moore — neither of which was on my list.
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?”
© Carole Coleman 2005
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This article is extracted from the opening chapter of Alleluia America! by Carole Coleman, to be published by The Liffey Press on October 14 at €14.95.
Okay, as long as....SM
you don't mind you, your loved ones, or someone else's loved ones to be killed BEFORE we take action, we can sit around and see who attacks us next. But then of course, if Saddam had ordered an attack, or slipped the goods to someone to carry that attack out, you would have blamed Bush for not acting on all that intelligence we had before the war. You simply cannot have it both ways. In light of the fact that 3000 people perished in a couple of hours, I'm not afraid to stand behind a president brave enough to stand up to any threat.
What took them so long????
I heard the 34% was down to 29% for Bush and 18% for Cheney. It has taken this complete break down of our government for people to finally see what most of us have known all along. BUSH IS NOT QUALIFIED TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE ROTARY CLUB, LET ALONE THE U.S. The words incompetence and tin ear and arrogance are now coming out of the mouths of the staunchest of Republicans, senators, congressmen, strategists, advisors, etc. And the outright lies are finally coming to light, thanks to videotape. Of course we only have the pre Katrina tape but it shows those who absolutely refused to entertain the thought that his president was anything than honorable is, in fact, just a greedy arrogant politician like so many others. As I said before, time to storm the Bastille and throw them out, the whole sorry lot of them or we can always sell the country to the UAE. They would probably do a better job of running it than this poor excuse for an administration. As Isabel from Florida said on Lou Dobbs the other day, I could run this country better from my kitchen table. I believe her.
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