I have to admit that I enjoyed seeing Bush get caught lying last week over the “Mission Accomplished” banner used in his May 1 photo-op aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. The New York Times’ Elisabeth Bumiller had a nice follow-up story today that’s worth reading if you found this flap amusing.
If you’re just joining us, Bush distanced himself from the banner at a White House press conference last week, saying it was “put up by the members of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, saying that their mission was accomplished.” He acknowledged that the media attributed the sign to “some ingenious advance man from my staff,” but denied White House involvement.
Almost as soon as the words left Bush’s mouth, John Kerry’s presidential campaign was reminding everyone that in May, a New York Times report quoted White House officials saying the sign was part of a well-choreographed event, orchestrated carefully by Bush staffers.
The day after Bush blamed the poorly-worded banner on the Navy troops he was using as a prop just a few months ago, White House press secretary Scott McClellan tried desperately to spin his way out of this mess by saying Bush was technically correct — the crew of the USS Lincoln did literally “put up” the banner, just as Bush had said.
McClellan said the Navy crew “asked us to do the production of the banner, and we did. They’re the ones who put it up.”
In other words, the White House created the banner, brought it to the ship, coordinated its placement to maximize camera angles, but is denying responsibility for it because Navy troops were literally responsible for putting the banner on hooks.
Welcome to the Responsibility Era that Bush promised us during the 2000 campaign.
As Wesley Clark’s wisely responded, “I guess the next thing we’re going to hear is that the sailors told him to wear the flight suit and prance around on the aircraft carrier.”
But the funny part of Bumiller’s story today is documenting how no one wants to claim responsibility for making the sign or coming up with the idea for the first place.
McClellan referred all questions to a Navy spokesman in Washington, who said he believes the ship came up with the idea but did not have first hand knowledge of the situation. The public affairs officer aboard the Lincoln also said the “sailors came up with an idea of a banner,” but he, too, did not have first hand knowledge of how and why the banner was made.
Scott Sforza, a White House communications staffer who oversaw production of the event on the Lincoln before Bush arrived on board, presumably would know more of the details about who did what, but he refused to return the Times’ phone calls. Go figure.
The one thing that does seem clear at this point is that the White House, which worked so hard to make this event the perfect photo-op for a campaign commercial, has let this story get away from them. Considering the controversy, it seems highly unlikely that Bush-Cheney 2004 will be airing ads featuring the now infamous Lincoln footage.
I guess the president ended up exploiting the ship and its crew for nothing after all.