Mood Split in Town Where Bush to Speak

Associated Press ^ | 6/28/05 | ESTES THOMPSON

[longtermmemmory]

Actually I though it was interesting that troops had to be ORDERED to applaud and "be nice" for Clinton visits.

Then you saw images of polite applause.

Just to the GWPresidency.

You see cameras, a president wading into the soldiers to help them pose with the president.

and yet

The MSM only sees malaise. (MSM: using burned out flashlights to see in broad daylight)

[Red Badger]

If I am an investor, I am not so quick to buy a company stupid enough to advertise on CNN.

Maybe it's because they know that the viewers' collective IQ would barely melt butter..............IOW, easy pickens......

[Mo1]

Oh Good Grief ... could the AP be any more obvious?

Seems to me the press is worried about this speech tonight

[blackie]

~~ and how about the almost 43,000 innocents that are slaughtered every year on our highways ~~ where is the hue and cry for these worthies.

The MSM are a bunch of gutless wonders!

Hang 'em High ~ Bump!

[SeaBiscuit]

AP raining on parade. Just more MSM pre-W-speech drizzle.

[alnick]

But among those in the military here, it was hard to find anyone who questioned the troops' resolve.

I'll take the word of our active-duty military over that of uninformed and/or ill informed civilians on this matter any day.

[Coop]

Seems to me the press is worried about this speech tonight

Yep. :-)

[rlmorel]

I was in the USN 75-79...we were in the North Atlantic, had to hot-swap foul weather gear and suff them with rags to make them warmer. Carter was a great President...NOT!

[OESY]

Speaking To The Choir?

President Bush will give a speech tonight from Fort Bragg to revive American support for the extended effort needed to secure Iraq and establish a major base for the expansion of democracy in the Middle East. With unrelenting negative coverage coming from Baghdad, Bush hopes to use his prime-time address with a presumably enthusiastic Fort Bragg audience to highlight the mission's successes and the progress made towards democracy. Bush hopes to bolster the national morale and secure a mandate for our continued work in that effort.

According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll, that may not be as tough a sale as first predicted. Despite some skepticism about our efforts to reduce the insurgency so far, a majority of Americans already reject the cut-and-run option:

As President Bush prepares to address the nation about Iraq tonight, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds that most Americans do not believe the administration's claims that impressive gains are being made against the insurgency, but a clear majority is willing to keep U.S. forces there for an extended time to stabilize the country.
The survey found that only one in eight Americans currently favors an immediate pullout of U.S. forces, while a solid majority continues to agree with Bush that the United States must remain in Iraq until civil order is restored -- a goal that most of those surveyed acknowledge is, at best, several years away.

Amid broad skepticism about Bush's credibility and whether the war was worth the cost, there were some encouraging signs for the president. A narrow majority -- 52 percent -- believes that the war has contributed to the long-term security of the United States, a five-point increase from earlier this month.


I had suspected that the supposedly plummeting numbers supporting the war effort and establishment of democracy in Iraq had been overstated, and this appears to confirm those suspicions. The numbers are even more striking when considering the sample, a pool of adults rather than registered voters, which usually tilts such surveys away from Bush and the GOP. In fact, despite the media coverage that focuses almost exclusively on terrorist attacks in Iraq, optimism about Iraq's future has increased nine points since December, showing that the elections gave Americans a clear idea of the commitment Iraqis have to a democratic future.

Not all of the numbers give Bush much reason to cheer. Majorities fault him for misleading the country into war, his administration of the Iraq phase of the war on terror, and feel that the US has become "bogged down" in Iraq and that we cannot effectively fight elsewhere as a result. Bush has to address those perceptions in his speech tonight to succeed. He has to show that far from being bogged down, American and Coalition troops have accelerated training for Iraqi security forces, that the latter have taken on a larger role in providing security, and that we retain enough global flexibility to address other security risks, such as Syria, Iran, or North Korea.

For his primary goal -- extending support for the immediate mission of securing Iraq as a democratic state -- the President has a nation waiting to be affirmed in that desire. All he needs to do is to present his case about our many successes in specifics, and he can rally the nation behind him again.

-- Captain Ed, captainsquartersblog.com/mt/

[shield]

I've got family at Bragg...this is a pile of crapola. I talked to him last night and he's going to the speech. In fact he's an Army Captain MI, he helped prepare the post for the President's visit (ahead of the preparations the secret service do). Everyone is very excited about Bush coming to Bragg to give this speech. He told me this was going to be like a 'State of the Union' speech.

Only Bragg soldiers will be allowed to watch the speech..no family members. The only family that'll see Bush are those who've lost their love ones in our present conflicts.

Typical of the MSM and their lies!!!!

[Soul Seeker]

My, my. The MSM is scared witless that Bush will have semi unrestricted time to talk to the American people and tell them the truth. Smell the desperation in this pieces.

Give them Hell tonight Mr. President.

[Soul Seeker]

Wish him well from us!

[white trash redneck]

While I'm sure they could find some anti-war lefties in Fayetteville if they looked hard enough, I would think that the mood is split in the home of Ft. Bragg, the 82 Airborne, and the Special Forces just about as much as the opinion is split on whether the moon is made of green cheese.

[fso301]

[Bluedaddy]

I know Estes, he is usually pretty fair. He must have been pressured to write this one.

[Alia]

Maybe.

Fayetteville, the "town" is run predominatly by Democrats. Amazing, no? But it's true. The town "surrounding" Fort Bragg is run by Democrats.

[Carolinamom]

I saw a news report last night that some 80,000 were outside wanting to see President Bush.

[Alia]

Where'd you see this? Wow. I know how tight security was, there. And local TV did a wee bit of coverage on "anti-war" protestors, huddled from the rain in downtown Fayetteville. But nothing, on these supporters. I know I sure was calling in favors trying to get a ticket.

[Carolinamom]

A poster on Little Green Footballs posted it.

[Alia]

Thank you, I just took a look. I'd be interested in knowing where "Reaganite" got that data. I know lots of other military who wanted to be there; but the tickets were key. And the military was being properly ordered in whom they gave tickets to; not necessarily fans; but squadron leaders, captains, etc -- tickets going to those heavily involved with command in the WOT. And they were right to do so: military was hearing from its Commander in Chief.