I try to read the transcript of every presidential speech, but they tend to get monotonous and repetitious. The real fun ones, however, are those rare occasions when Bush opens the floor to questions. When the president is reading a prepared text, I know what to expect. When Bush responds to a question, he’s more far more likely to say something entertaining.
Of course, that only works if the questions come from reporters or regular Americans. Today, the president spoke to the Associated General Contractors of America, which showered Bush with the kind of support and affection that the president craves.
Here are all of the questions:
1. “In May of 2006, my second cousin was on his second tour in Iraq. Corporal Cory Palmer, he’s in the Marines, he was on patrol in a Humvee, and they ran over a roadside bomb. He and many others in that Humvee perished. What do I need to do, what does the media need to do to help you, so that my second cousin, and others like him, have not died or been injured in vain?”
2. “I’d like to know, like a lot of other people in this room, we have family members — we have family members who are actively involved in the security of this country in various ways. From them, we’ve received positive information that we consider credible, who say about the success and the good things that are happening as a result of us being in Iraq. I would like to know why and what can be done about we, the American people, receiving some of that information more from the media.”
3. ” What do you pray about, and how we can we pray for you?”
4. “You talked about the terror of 9/11, and what I wanted to share with you, my wife and I had our first child two months after 9/11. We named her Grace, because we felt that the world needed some grace at the time. And what I wanted to (inaudible) is the fact that our appreciation and keeping my family and also the families of America safe for the past five years.”
No one got around to asking, “Mr. President, how do you maintain your youthful good looks,” but I think that’s because the president stopped after four questions.
As for the answers to these softballs….
1. Bush said the way to make sure the troops don’t die in vain “is to remind legislators that regardless of their position on the war, that they have got to fund our troops, that they have got to make sure that without conditions of — that say you’ve got to withdraw by a certain date.”
2. Responding to the notion that the media isn’t giving us the good news out of Iraq, Bush said, “You’ve got a kid in Iraq who is emailing mom daily, talking about the realities of what he or she sees. Information is moving — you know, nightly news is one way, of course, but it’s also moving through the blogosphere and through the Internets. It’s amazing how many emails I see from people that are writing in what they think and what they hear.” (Yes, he really said “Internets.” And no, he apparently hasn’t heard about the crackdown on the troops’ blogs.)
3. As for the praying, Bush said, “The fact that you would ask the question, how can I pray for you, speaks volumes about the United States of America. I have been amazed by the fact that millions of Americans of all faith, all political backgrounds, pray for me and Laura. And it is unbelievably sustaining. It is comforting. It is humbling to be prayed for.”
4. As for little Grace, Bush said, “[T]he question is, will Grace live in a peaceful world, today and tomorrow? Today, we will continue to stay on the pressure. And we’re sharing intelligence and we’re on the offense. And my attitude is, is that if the United States ever let up, it would embolden, it would send the wrong signal. So we’re pressuring.”
I really don’t know the point of having the president talk to a room full of sycophants who believe his arguments and laugh at his jokes, but I suspect it makes him feel better.