Posted on 09/28/2004 4:31:34 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
If Katie can be an expert on colonoscopies, and Dan Rather an ace document authenticator, why can't Matt Lauer be an armchair psychoanalyst?
Move over Sigmund, here comes Matt. In a just-completed interview with senior Bush advisor Karen Hughes, Lauer suggested W was "in denial," and "living in fantasy land" because of the optimistic statements the president has made about the situation in Iraq.
Lauer's litany of purported failure in Iraq included the number of US casualties, the car bombs, beheadings, and areas where elections could not be conducted.
Hughes wasn't buying. She defended W's view of the war, and in particular his statement in the O'Reily interview that the "mission accomplished" carrier visit and remarks made there were justified.
Stumped there, Matt moved on to the essence of the Bush campaign's anti-Kerry strategy: the fact that the lugubrious, Gallic-looking windsurfer is an inveterate flip flopper.
Lauer suggested that W had changed his position on steel tariffs and the 9/11 Commission, and asked if W had "evolved" on those issues and if it is nececessarily a bad thing?
Karen wouldn't be lured into Matt's line of reasoning. Instead she focused on Kerry, pointing out that on as crucial an issue as Iraq, it is dangerous for a leader to have "8, 9 or 10 different positions."
Karen was tough without being unpleasant, and Lauer's agreeable tone at the end seemed to acknowledge that he knew he had been had by a better . . . woman.
My pleasure - thanks for your encouragement.
And the blatant way in which the Kerry campaign and the MSM are parroting the same lines is striking, isn't it?
I did read something recently saying that some of Kerry's advisors have gotten just that point: they try to be the "last" one to get Kerry's ear before he speaks.
Whatever happened to "gravitas"? Oh, that's right - it was used as a slam against President Bush in 2000, implying that he didn't have it.
Also, "nuanced" has sort of fallen off the radar screen. Could it be that the average American soon realized that it implied that we were all too stupid to understand JF'in's flip-flops?
An MSNBC aside: I'm watching an interview right now with Kerry advisor Tad Devine. Whenever I see him I'm always puzzled as to how the Kerry people could possibly think he's the face of the campaign they would want to put forward.
He wears a perpetual sneer that looks as if he's just smelled something bad. And he mouths the most pitiful talking point platitudes non-stop.
He literally just said: "Kerry will make us stronger at home and more respected abroad." Gag me with a DNC placard!
The Hughes interview is on here..and I am listening just because I love to see her in action...but this is tough..Kerry spoke and that's "a bridge too far" for me to go!
Hang in there, MEG, you can handle it!
Hey, I just thought of something. Now Kerry is even flip-flopping about . . . his complexion!
Thank you for reporting on the doings at the Today show.
I don't think my blood pressure can take it right now.
Tad Devine - how can anyone with a name like that be taken seriously? I'm not usually one to pick on someone's name but that one is just so wrong.....
That ORANGE glow has got to go!...LOL
If the Coppertone don't fit, you must acquit!
"ugubrious, Gallic-looking windsurfer".
Your write ups are the best!! Too funny.
"particularly when I receive encouragement from my fellow FReepers."
Let me add my thanks for your work. Even if I don't post all the time, I love reading your analyses. They are always well-written, insightful and humorous. :)
Thanks so much, PAIC. Glad you get an occasional chuckle out of the threads. Humor in the pursuit of mocking our opponents is no vice ;-)
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