Well, I wanted to see Bush on Meet the Press this morning, but I overslept. So I might catch it as a rerun later but I did go ahead and read part of the transcript on MSNBC. I want to ask all the Dopers who saw it: did Bush’s appearance clear up any questions you might have had? Will it be good or bad for Bush?
Well, it reminded me why I can’t stand listening to him. That Drunk Girl character on Saturday Night Live is more coherent.
Russert asked good questions on Iraq and the economy, but the first 55 minutes were more like a rehersal of talking points, which means I really doubt that this interview is going to change anyone’s mind about where they stand on Bush right now. OTOH, I thought Bush did really well in the last five minutes or so. He seemed to loosen up a bit and give some thoughtful responses. I bet if Bush had performed like that for the whole interview, it would have been a great day for the White House.
Personally, I thought the most interesting part was when Tim Russert brought up Skull & Bones, and how Bush and Kerry are both members of a secret society. Bush’s response was something along the lines of, “Yeah, so secret I don’t talk about it.” That was pretty funny.
The one thing that sticks in my mind was Bush’s comment that diplomacy had failed in Iraq, whereas it has not failed elsewhere (such as North Korea). I nearly hit the roof when I heard this. Let’s see – North Korea has been a rogue nation for about 54 years now, there’s 10 years of fruitless diplomacy to end its nuclear weapons program, it apparently has the ability to strike South Korea, Japan, and perhaps soon, the United States with a nuclear weapon, and Bush goes off and claims that diplomacy failed in Iraq, which has only been regarded as a danger to the US for a little over a decade, and which had arms inspectors in there carrying out their duties? Talk about fuzzy math.
I can’t wait for the arguments that the key to spreading democracy in the Asia-Pacific is to effect regime change in North Korea.