Just Say No

Maybe there was a good reason that George Bush has long avoided press conferences and public addresses (with other than hand picked audiences) after all. Now that he's venturing outside that bubble in which he resides, it's been nothing but trouble. If not for him, then for us. We have to watch the spectacle and it's painful.

He's defintitely the Stepford President, he rarely veers from script. Inquirer political reporter, Dick Polman, who is a favorite, has recently started a blog, American Debate. He has an entry, Groundhog Day in America, that echoes that sentiment. Describing Bush's recent PR efforts, Polman says:

But the problem is, he keeps saying the same things over and over; worse yet, he keeps repeating things that are contradicted by factual reality. As a result, the average skeptical American is starting to feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, who awoke over and over to the same morning and the same radio rendition of "I Got You, Babe."

Consider, for instance, the lyrics in today's press conference: Troop levels will be determined by the commanders in the field...He wants to "spread liberty around the world"...Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will not be fired, because "he's done a fine job"..."This is a global war, and Iraq is part of that..."

A visual, and extremely humorous take on this, is also provided by Jon Stewart, on the Daily Show. He weaves together a montage of Bush speeches, which masterfully combine to tell the same speech, in Stumped Speech (via Onegoodmove).

My Caption, and a portion of the Daily Show skit, refers to Bush's answer to this Q&A from an Ohio speech:

My question is that author and former Nixon administration official Kevin Phillips in his latest book, "American Theocracy," discusses what has been called radical Christianity and its growing involvement into government and politics. He makes the point that members of your administration have reached out to prophetic Christians who see the war in Iraq and the rise of terrorism as signs of the Apocalypse. Do you believe this, that the war in Iraq and the rise of terrorism are signs of the Apocalypse?