Posted on 04/05/2005 4:32:38 PM PDT by denver larry
The second blogger allowed into the White House briefing room became the first blogger to actually ask press secretary Scott McClellan a question last week.
Eric Brewer, a scientist by trade and one of a handful of contributors to a small, liberal blog called BTC News, got his chance toward the end of Friday's briefing.
The question he asked was a good one, on a topic that's probably of great interest to an awful lot of people.
It's also precisely the kind of question your typical full-time White House correspondent doesn't ask anymore -- because there's simply no point. You're not going to get an answer.
Here's the question Brewer asked, by his own account in a shaky voice:
"Back to the report on the botched WMD intelligence, have the massive intelligence failures documented in the report caused the President to rethink his policy of preventive war?"
It's a good question because the doctrine of preemption is one of the most defining and precedent-shattering elements of the Bush canon. The apparently sorry state of the U.S. intelligence apparatus makes it entirely unclear whether the doctrine is still in effect -- and under what circumstances it could again be called into service.
In fact, it's a question that not only many Americans, but also many people across the world, would probably like answered.
But the response, such as it was, was classic McClellan. In fact, it could literally have been stitched together from previous McClellan responses to similar questions.
Here's what McClellan said, from the transcript...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Ari was very good. McClellan looks and sounds like he came from a temp agency. Yet, they keep him on. Someone must like him.
Liberal blog, knee-jerk liberal question. "When did you stop beating your wife?"
"Yes, jerk stain, it's still in effect. We are constantly working to improve our intelligence capabilities, but the bottom line is that the alternative to pre-emption is letting a nuke blow up in our backyard. How many pennies will be left for your precious entitlements after that?"
They make me sick. What do they think this is? Some sort of parlor game? A bunch of psychos are trying to kill us. Of course we're going to reserve the right to get them before they get us.
McClellan's mother, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, is the Texas state comptroller. and former mayor of Austin. His brother, Mark, is commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Grandfather was dean of UT law school. Major political connections.
"Gannon, whose real name is James Guckert, was cleared in by the press office almost daily for more than a year, although he used a pseudonym, had a colorful past, worked for an overtly partisan Web site and asked questions that tended to be more rhetorical than inquisitive."
Now, I'm wondering: are the phrases "botched WMD intelligence" and "massive intelligence failures", coming from a guy on a partisan website (not overly partisan, since the WAPO agees with its views) more rhetorical than inquisitive? Gee, that's a toughie...
They make me ill too. The writing is on the wall here, at least in my opinion. They are attempting to lay the ground work for fomenting opposition to doing anything about Iran. The WaPo has so much fun attacking President Bush, why let a little thing like a nuclear threat get in their way?
Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.
I'll be darn. I didn't know that connection. She may be running for Gov. here also.
Berger wrote me, in an e-mail: "About a month after Gannon-Guckert became a news item, it occurred to me that he had so damaged the entry bar that it might be possible to get one of my contributors in because we'd look like Edward R. Murrow in contrast."
No agenda here, eh larry?
It was a dumb question, because the premise was wrong. The doctrine of pre-emptive war, which btw is not new with the Bush Administration, is not dependent on WMD. 9/11 attacks did not include WMD. Pre-emption comes from the realization that America can not sit back and allow people to plan attacks on us from safe havens, ie Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries, whether or not those countries have WMD.
There had to be an explanation. It certainly isn't talent or good looks. Nepotism would make sense.
If we had done nothing about Iraq, and the sanctions had been allowed to expire, and Saddam Hussein had again used WMD against his neighbors or his own people or against us, these ninnies (I include the Wash Post in this group) would have been the first to accusingly demand of President Bush "this is all your fault - why did you drop the ball and do nothing to prevent this". Nothing but a bunch of childish armchair quarterbacks...
It's not a very good question. A full answer would tell our enemies how much terrorism they can try to get away with before we'll attack them.
The left would love to empower our enemies with this information -- but it's information they shouldn't have.
I like your nuanced style. You've got my vote!
That's the stupidest question i've ever seen wasted at a press conference. That question was relevent, maybe 2 years ago. It is refreshing though to see a question asked that was prefaced by a 2 minute diatribe.
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