WP, Milbank: A Punchy President Meets the Press

[DeepModem Mom]

A Punchy President Meets the Press
By Dana Milbank
Wednesday, March 22, 2006; Page A02

President Bush had a senior moment midway through his news conference yesterday. Referring to an earlier question from the Los Angeles Times' Jim Gerstenzang, who has covered much of Bush's presidency, Bush looked at the veteran correspondent -- and forgot his name.

"Back, to, uh, this man's question right here," he said, and then he looked down at his seating chart for a refresher before adding: "This man being Jim."

"Sorry, Jim," the president said after everybody had a chuckle at his expense. "I got a lot on my mind these days."

That he does. Bush's presidency is in trouble, his approval ratings are in the 30s, Iraq is approaching civil war, and congressional Republicans are in open rebellion. But Bush has maintained his equanimity. He may be a lame duck, but he seems to be enjoying his swim.

He identified Terry Hunt, the Associated Press's veteran White House correspondent, as the generic "AP Person." He accused New York Times correspondent Elisabeth Bumiller of sleeping through his speech Monday in Cleveland. After USA Today's David Jackson interrupted a Bush non-answer, the president queried: "Now, what is your follow-up yell?"...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/21/AR2006032101570.html

[Erika]

1. W was embarrassing today

[spindrifter]

2. Milbank is brilliant in this!

My favorite Helen quote: "You're going to be sorry."

[unblock]

3. punch drunk is more like it.

and you know the kind of punch i'm talkin' 'bout!

[DeepModem Mom]

4. Good one!

[DeepModem Mom]

5. a.m. kick -- I think the press, for once, may have seen the presser...

yesterday in about the same way we did.

[senseandsensibility]

6. I've often wondered why they DON'T see him

the way we do, as a fumbling, incoherent, idiot. It's so obvious, and yet they act as though they're actually afraid of the fool.

[DeepModem Mom]

8. Egg-zackly!

[Mass]

7. Irrelevant as most of what Milbank writes.

Why speak about the substance if we can paint Bush as a likeable and incompetent guy? It is not his fault.

It is urgent that we show IT IS HIS FAULT.

[wordpix2]

9. Article is funny, as is clown we have as preznit. If he weren't so danger-

ous, he'd be a hoot.

[wordpix2]

10. hahaha, LOL, "President Punchy"

snip:

Whether it's the strain of the office, the weight of international crises, or simply his old Delta Kappa Epsilon roots showing, Bush has been President Punchy of late. In Cleveland on Monday, he said there were 16 U.N. Security Council resolutions about Iraq, then called on an unsuspecting Dick Keil, a Bloomberg News reporter. "I think 16 -- is that right, Stretch, 16?" Bush inquired, using the nickname he assigned Keil. "I like to, like, reverse roles sometimes," the president explained.

:rofl:

[Lisa]

11. I misread this as "paunchy president"!

and I thought, "I know he's put on a few pounds since he gave up jogging, but I didn't know that even the press have noticed!"