SideStep-Spin-Pullback-Twist-QuickStep-Spin-Strut

A new dance? No. Just George Bush yesterday doing a Press Conference One-man Tango. The 47-minute press conference made clear that the President of the United States cannot answer a simple question on his own. It’s not so much that George Bush wants to dance around issues and misinform the public. It’s that in a press conference setting, he is incapable of answering the questions thrown at him because he doesn’t know the answers. Yesterday, he constantly consulted his notes. Which, no doubt, are a comprehensive FAQ list drawn up for him to address possible questions. But failing to find an answer, he either answered a question that had not been asked, or he went for one-size-fits-all cliches. Unless the details of White House policies are written for him, such as in the upcoming State of the Union address, George W. Bush cannot tell us what he plans to do. Because he doesn’t know. Or worse, he can’t remember the plans the White House has laid out for him. There are two possibilities concerning what is going on in the Bush administration: 1) The White House doesn’t keep the President in the loop because he’s too stupid to retain information, or 2) George W. Bush’s memory is so impaired by medications and mental problems that he cannot remember the instructions he gets from his minders. Take your pick. They are woeful options. If given his druthers, or if he could remember what his druthers are, it may be that the President would have opted to bring up the subject of the horrible helicopter deaths in Iraq yesterday. But Prez Bush only says what his minders authorize him to say. Thirty Marines and one Sailor were killed in the helicopter accident. Coupled with the deaths of four soldiers in Anbar, one soldier in Dulurya and one soldier in Baghdad, thirty-seven of our men died yesterday. It was the worst death count since the beginning of the war. And it brought the total American soldier deaths in Iraq to 1,420. But Prez Bush said nothing because he hadn’t gotten the go-ahead from the White House to say anything. When prompted by a question from a journalist he said, “We mourn the loss of life.” Later he said, ” We honor the memory of our loved ones by completing our mission." What a hideous, insensitive, self-serving moronic thing to say to the mothers and wives of 37 men who were killed yesterday by the Bush administration’s war of aggression. After the press conference, we were treated to amplifications of what the President really meant, when “communications strategists”, nameless “advisors”, the president’s “counselor” Dan Bartlett and WH press secretary Scott McClellan all scrambled to re-write and rephrase the Presidents remarks. New York Times writer Elizabeth Bumiller reported this morning that a Bush advisor said it was “part of a long-standing White House practice to avoid having the president mention some American deaths in Iraq but not others.” Another nameless advisor said they “did not want Mr. Bush to be consumed by headlines.” And Dan Bartlett said, "If a helicopter were hit an hour later, after he came out and spoke, should he come out again?" Yes, I would say so. I would say the Prez should make a very big thing about helicopter deaths, and all deaths in Iraq. The Bush administration caused these deaths. How about facing up to the consequences of war? We also were told that the press conference was a hastily-planned event and was the President’s idea. Which of course is a total load of crap. If the President were capable of having an idea on his own, which he isn’t, it wouldn’t manifest itself as desiring a press conference which he fears more than he fears debates without an earpiece. The president’s advisors say they are planning a “communications offensive” to coincide with the State of the Union address on February 2nd. One hopes one of the people communicated with will be the President...but it isn’t likely.