Editor and Publisher calls Wednesday’s White House Press Briefing a “wild” one, with McClellan facing tough questioning:
Q Scott, does the President retain confidence in his FEMA Director and Secretary of Homeland Security?
MR. McCLELLAN: And again, David, see, this is where some people want to look at the blame game issue, and finger-point. We’re focused on solving problems, and we’re doing everything we can —
Q What about the question?
MR. McCLELLAN: We’re doing everything we can in support —
Q We know all that.
MR. McCLELLAN: — of the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA.
Q Does he retain complete confidence —
MR. McCLELLAN: We’re going to continue. We appreciate the great effort that all of those at FEMA, including the head of FEMA, are doing to help the people in the region. And I’m just not going to engage in the blame game or finger-pointing that you’re trying to get me to engage.
Q Okay, but that’s not at all what I was asking.
MR. McCLELLAN: Sure it is. It’s exactly what you’re trying to play.
Q You have your same point you want to make about the blame game, which you’ve said enough now. I’m asking you a direct question, which you’re dodging.
MR. McCLELLAN: No —
Q Does the President retain complete confidence in his Director of FEMA and Secretary of Homeland Security, yes or no?
MR. McCLELLAN: I just answered the question.
Q Is the answer “yes” on both?
MR. McCLELLAN: And what you’re doing is trying to engage in a game of finger-pointing.
Q There’s a lot of criticism. I’m just wondering if he still has confidence.
MR. McCLELLAN: — and blame-gaming. What we’re trying to do is solve problems, David. And that’s where we’re going to keep our focus.
Q So you’re not — you won’t answer that question directly?
MR. McCLELLAN: I did. I just did.
Q No, you didn’t. Yes or no? Does he have complete confidence or doesn’t he?
MR. McCLELLAN: No, if you want to continue to engage in finger-pointing and blame-gaming, that’s fine —
Q Scott, that’s ridiculous. I’m not engaging in any of that.
MR. McCLELLAN: It’s not ridiculous.
Q Don’t try to accuse me of that. I’m asking you a direct question and you should answer it. Does he retain complete confidence in his FEMA Director and Secretary of Homeland Security, yes or no?
MR. McCLELLAN: Like I said — that’s exactly what you’re engaging in.
Q I’m not engaging in anything. I’m asking you a question about what the President’s views are —
MR. McCLELLAN: Absolutely — absolutely —
Q — under pretty substantial criticism of members of his administration. Okay? And you know that, and everybody watching knows that, as well.
MR. McCLELLAN: No, everybody watching this knows, David, that you’re trying to engage in a blame game.
Q I’m trying to engage?
MR. McCLELLAN: Yes.
Q I am trying to engage?
MR. McCLELLAN: That’s correct.
Q That’s a dodge…
My declining to call this “tough” questioning has perhaps to do with my failing to understand the insistence on getting McClellan to answer if Bush has confidence in Brownie when Bush and his buds are all sociopaths already making reservations for a Southern plantation experience at Trent Lott’s brand new B&B.
As far as I can tell, the only purporse White House press briefings serve is an excuse for paychecks.
Look, see Scottie sweat.
Maybe he wil stumble into a double negative statement that everyone can leap upon and tussel back and forth as to whether it was a simple grammatical slip.
Or maybe don’t look, see Scottie sweat. See Scottie smile. Scottie appeared to be at several points to be enjoying the badgering, calculating game points as the ball bounced back and forth.
Why do we have to have the answer to if Bush still has confidence in Brownie when Brownie and Bush are happy travelers in the same yacht? Why waste the time? Why these broad horizon to horizon questions when there are so many concrete acts to fling bam at Scottie’s podium, not that any answers would be forthcoming but at least the repugnant acts would go on record as brought to Bush/McClellan’s attention.
Why not go tooth and nail instead over a question like, “Why did FEMA cut Jefferson Parish’s emergency communication lines on Saturday? Why did the Sheriff of Jefferson Parish feel he had to post armed guards to protect the emergency communication lines against Homeland Security?”
Q: Why did FEMA cut Jefferson Parish’s emergency communication lines on Saturday?
McCLELLAN: I’m unaware of that. You’ll have to talk to FEMA.
Q: Bush is FEMA.
McCLELLAN: Bush is not FEMA. FEMA is a recording. There’s a phone number on their web site. Give them a call.
That Scottie plays at batting the ball at all, considering the amount of non-information that is divulged, seems nothing more than putting on the show of Shop Open for Business.
Ah, right, the ritual of the Press Briefing. The visitors expect it at D.C. Disneyland. Can’t disappoint. And that way they have the impression we’re dialoguing with the peasants.
It’s all dodgy.
Why aren’t the White House press people asking the kind of questions that reporters for stations like WWLTV have been dragging out kicking and screaming at press briefings the past week? I should have been recording those questions in my paraphrases of some of those briefings, but I can’t get it all down so I’ve been going with response. They may not get answers either but there are reporters demanding a real accounting rather than aiding the show of faux dialogue.
Whatever.
In the meanwhile, House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist “announced creation of an unusual joint House-Senate panel to investigate the government’s readiness for Katrina as well as its response.” They say Americans deserve answers and have set a deadline of February 15, 2006 for the report.
Is this Bush’s so-called investigation that he is going to personally oversee?
Never mind. We’re sick here today and I’ll have nothing of worth to add. The media has been more involved, but I feel like the White House press people aren’t hitting like they should be.
The press is being shut out when it’s not shutting itself out. No pictures of dead people, FEMA says. That was all over the web yesterday so I didn’t post on it. But now they’re having guns aimed at them as well. No, no, no. False paragraph capper. They were already having guns aimed at them. There’s no “now” about it. They were beforehand. And images confiscated. I read about that a few days ago and can’t find the story again. Reporters who had witnessed a heavy gunbattle (no, not Danziger bridge, aka the Industrial Canal Bridge).
Here’s the timeline for Hurricane Katrina put together by Think Progress. And here’s the list of FEMA blocking relief efforts that’s making the rounds and is incomplete but it’s difficult to keep up on everything FEMA has done or not done and 98% of it is still behind the scenes, the way it always is. 2% of the truth floats to the surface to get skimmed off.
Oh and here stands Cheney now in his blue worky-work shirt that doesn’t look too worky-work, no one’s going to be getting any physical elbow grease going in that. The blue worky-work shirt is intended to suggest mental elbow grease. It’s an eyewitness elbow grease kind of shirt. I went, I saw kind of shirt. A walking the street mental effort kind of shirt. His shirt sleeves seem rolled up in a very I’m-preparing-to-run-for-president kind of way.
He’s saying the president asked him to come down to look at things and look at the longer term, make sure getting search and rescue done. Longer focus too. Like everyone he sayss he’s been glued to the television set but he wants to say a word on behalf of many of the folks, police, first-responders et.c done a phenomenal jog, their homes destroyed and worried about family but out there 24 hours protecting folks. Tremendously impressed with messages from local folks in MS, their thanks for support from all over country, a Faith-based charity group out of Florida (notice he brings up Faith-based first), National Guardsmen, volunteers, local folks are thankful. There’s a lot of work to be done, construction, but everyone he’s met with is positive and upbeat. Very positive attitude that’s heart-warming and impressive. Phenomenal job of recovering. The president sent him down to make sure doing everything is being done that needs to be done. Later today they’ll go to New Orleans.
(Are the results becoming more acceptable? Has red tape gotten in the way?)
The progress they’re making is significant. A major National Guard Presence in Mississippi. Food and water. Starting recovery effort. Yada yada.
Someone yells something at Cheney and he must have been carted off, a reporter asks if Cheney has gotten a lot of that and everyone laughs.
Talking, talking, talking, I’m sneezing and don’t know what’s being said.
A reporter asks about the investigation and says Pelosi says the Dems won’t participate in it because of how it’s being handled and Cheney says something about the joint-committee of House and Senate for the investigation reminds him of one he is in and I start blowing my nose and can’t hear the rest.
The neighborhood Cheney is standing in, at least the couple of houses and yards behind, are like your upper middle class old Atlanta suburbs circa 1910s-1930s. Very similar. Here would be a neighborhood of mainly middle-aged, two-income professionals with 1.2 kids. And some younger folks. There’s hurricane litter in the yards but these houses are intact.
A helicopter flies overhead disrupting things. I think they must have been feeling stung by the news of helicopters having to be on the ground while Bush was in the area and so now they have helicopters flying directly overhead periodically…another helicopter passes over. I think that’s like the third pass since the start of the briefing.
Cheney says when all is said and done there will be thousands of Americans who deserve a vote of thanks from the rest of us for their courage…
It’s all dodgey. We’re here. We’re supportive, etc. We’re hard at work. See us work. We have a very few approved words that we string in assorted ways for you that will suffice for any situation, and that’s about the amount of it.
With the GOPs circling the Whte House en garde against Dem “attacks”, saying, “We’ll only take constructive criticism”, GOP D.C. claims higher moral ground and peculiarly digs its own moat around the hill against the flood.
Update: Crooks and Liars points to Raw Story with the news of what was yelled at Cheney during the press briefing.
Off camera, a protester shouts, “Go fuck yourself, Mr. Cheney. Go fuck yourself.” The camera remains on Cheney while we hear scuffling in the background.
CNN’s reporter asks Cheney, “Are you getting a lot of that Mr. Vice President?”
Cheney replies, “First time I’ve heard it., Must be a friend of John…, er, ah – never mind.”
Anyway, now you know.
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