From: John Cuccia 

It's not that big a deal because we already know that nearly all Bush
appearances are staged.  We know that his most of his audiences are
carefully screened and prepped with friendly questions before he appears. 
And we know that it has to be that way because, when left to his
extemporaneous self, he almost always embarasses us.

On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 10:41:33 -0400, "Mark"
 wrote:

>I dunno Rich, I guess I just don't see what the big deal is here.
>
>"Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
>news:434fba1a$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>> Oh Right. The Iraqi voters were the intended target for a conference
>> between Bush and US Troops.
>>
>> 
>>
>> Reporter "Was the event with the troops choreographed?"
>>
>> Scott Mclellan  "No. But talk to the DOD about that. I don't
think it was
>> rehearsed."
>>
>>
>> It sounds more like Bush is trying to pep up US Troops prior to the Iraqi
>> elections. Nothing wrong with that at all. They didn't have to use the
>> 'spontaneous' ruse though
>> http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/10/20051013.html
>>
>>
>> "Mark"  wrote in message
news:434fb0c8$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>I don't suppose it occurred to you, that you were not the intended
>>>audience. Perhaps, just perhaps, Bush wanted some media coverage straight
>>>from the horses mouth to reassure the Iraqi voters -- hence the selected
>>>questions and the timing just before the constitutional referendum.
>>>
>>> So, yes, I think you (and the press, but they always do) did get caught
>>> up in insignificant side issues.
>>>
>>> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
>>> news:434fa1e3$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>> Yeah right. I reckon I just got caught up in 'side
issues'. The belief
>>>> that Bush would engage in an honest conversation with the troops.
>>>> ===
>>>> Later, at the White House briefing, Scott McClellan, the press
>>>> secretary, deflected questions about the choreography,
saying reporters
>>>> who asked about that were getting caught up in "side
issues."
>>>>
>>>> "Mark"  wrote in message
>>>> news:434f2ab0$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>>> Why in the world you'd think any televised interview
by anyone of
>>>>> anyone, would be anything but pre-planned for brevity
and content is
>>>>> beyond me Rich. "Caught?" with the cameras
running all along?
>>>>>
>>>>> But this is a most entertaining take on it:
>>>>>
>>>>> http://biglizards.net/blog/archives/2005/10/ap_response_to.html
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> "Rich Gauszka" 
wrote in message
>>>>> news:434ee31b{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>>>> The Bushies get caught again
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051013/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_iraq_8
>>>>>>
>>>>>> WASHINGTON - It was billed as a conversation with
U.S. troops, but the
>>>>>> questions President Bush asked on a teleconference
call Thursday were
>>>>>> choreographed to match his goals for the war in
Iraq and Saturday's
>>>>>> vote on a new Iraqi constitution.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "This is an important time," Allison
Barber, deputy assistant defense
>>>>>> secretary, said, coaching the soldiers before Bush
arrived. "The
>>>>>> president is looking forward to having just a
conversation with you."
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Barber said the president was interested in three
topics: the overall
>>>>>> security situation in Iraq, security preparations
for the weekend vote
>>>>>> and efforts to train Iraqi troops.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> As she spoke in Washington, a live shot of 10
soldiers from the Army's
>>>>>> 42nd Infantry Division and one Iraqi soldier was
beamed into the
>>>>>> Eisenhower Executive Office Building from Tikrit -
the birthplace of
>>>>>> former Iraqi leader     Saddam Hussein.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "I'm going to ask somebody to grab those two
water bottles against the
>>>>>> wall and move them out of the camera shot for
me," Barber said.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> A brief rehearsal ensued.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "OK, so let's just walk through this,"
Barber said. "Captain Kennedy,
>>>>>> you answer the first question and you hand the
mike to whom?"
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Captain Smith," Kennedy said.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Captain. Smith? You take the mike and you
hand it to whom?" she
>>>>>> asked.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Captain Kennedy," the soldier replied.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> And so it went.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "If the question comes up about partnering -
how often do we train
>>>>>> with the Iraqi military - who does he go to?"
Barber asked.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "That's going to go to Captain Pratt,"
one of the soldiers said.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "And then if we're going to talk a little bit
about the folks in
>>>>>> Tikrit - the hometown - and how they're handling
the political
>>>>>> process, who are we going to give that to?" she asked.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Before he took questions, Bush thanked the
soldiers for serving and
>>>>>> reassured them that the U.S. would not pull out of
Iraq until the
>>>>>> mission was complete.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "So long as I'm the president, we're never
going to back down, we're
>>>>>> never going to give in, we'll never accept
anything less than total
>>>>>> victory," Bush said.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The president told them twice that the American
people were behind
>>>>>> them.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "You've got tremendous support here at
home," Bush said.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Less than 40 percent in an AP-Ipsos poll taken in
October said they
>>>>>> approved of the way Bush was handling Iraq. Just
over half of the
>>>>>> public now say the Iraq war was a mistake.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> White House press secretary Scott McClellan said
Thursday's event was
>>>>>> coordinated with the Defense Department but that
the troops were
>>>>>> expressing their own thoughts. With satellite
feeds, coordination
>>>>>> often is needed to overcome technological
challenges, such as delays,
>>>>>> he said.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "I think all they were doing was talking to
the troops and letting
>>>>>> them know what to expect," he said, adding
that the president wanted
>>>>>> to talk with troops on the ground who have
firsthand knowledge about
>>>>>> the situation.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The soldiers all gave Bush an upbeat view of the situation.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The president also got praise from the Iraqi
soldier who was part of
>>>>>> the chat.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Thank you very much for everything," he
gushed. "I like you."
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On preparations for the vote, 1st Lt. Gregg Murphy
of Tennessee said:
>>>>>> "Sir, we are prepared to do whatever it takes
to make this thing a
>>>>>> success. ... Back in January, when we were
preparing for that
>>>>>> election, we had to lead the way. We set up the
coordination, we made
>>>>>> the plan. We're really happy to see, during the
preparation for this
>>>>>> one, sir, they're doing everything."
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On the training of Iraqi security forces, Master
Sgt. Corine Lombardo
>>>>>> from Scotia, N.Y., said to Bush: "I can tell
you over the past 10
>>>>>> months, we've seen a tremendous increase in the
capabilities and the
>>>>>> confidences of our Iraqi security force partners.
... Over the next
>>>>>> month, we anticipate seeing at least one-third of
those Iraqi forces
>>>>>> conducting independent operations."
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Lombardo told the president that she was in New
York City on Nov. 11,
>>>>>> 2001, when Bush attended an event recognizing
soldiers for their
>>>>>> recovery and rescue efforts at Ground Zero. She
said the troops began
>>>>>> the fight against terrorism in the wake of the
Sept. 11 terrorist
>>>>>> attacks and were proud to continue it in Iraq.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "I thought you looked familiar," Bush
said, and then joked: "I
>>>>>> probably look familiar to you, too."
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Paul Rieckhoff, director of the New York-based
Operation Truth, an
>>>>>> advocacy group for U.S. veterans of Iraq and    
Afghanistan,
>>>>>> denounced the event as a "carefully scripted
publicity stunt." Five of
>>>>>> the 10 U.S. troops involved were officers, he said.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "If he wants the real opinions of the troops,
he can't do it in a
>>>>>> nationally televised teleconference,"
Rieckhoff said. "He needs to be
>>>>>> talking to the boots on the ground and that's not a bunch of
>>>>>> captains."
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-5