[Mb-civic] A Punchy President Meets the Press - Dana Milbank - Washington Post Op-Ed

[William Swiggard]

A Punchy President Meets the Press
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By Dana Milbank
The Washington Post
Wednesday, March 22, 2006; A02

President Bush had a senior moment midway through his news conference 
yesterday. Referring to an earlier question from the Los Angeles Times' 
Jim Gerstenzang, who has covered much of Bush's presidency, Bush looked 
at the veteran correspondent -- and forgot his name.

"Back, to, uh, this man's question right here," he said, and then he 
looked down at his seating chart for a refresher before adding: "This 
man being Jim."

"Sorry, Jim," the president said after everybody had a chuckle at his 
expense. "I got a lot on my mind these days."

That he does. Bush's presidency is in trouble, his approval ratings are 
in the 30s, Iraq is approaching civil war, and congressional Republicans 
are in open rebellion. But Bush has maintained his equanimity. He may be 
a lame duck, but he seems to be enjoying his swim.

He identified Terry Hunt, the Associated Press's veteran White House 
correspondent, as the generic "AP Person." He accused New York Times 
correspondent Elisabeth Bumiller of sleeping through his speech Monday 
in Cleveland. After USA Today's David Jackson interrupted a Bush 
non-answer, the president queried: "Now, what is your follow-up yell?"

And he made a show of reading from his stage directions. Rambling his 
way through a question about interest rates, Bush paused to confess, 
"I'm kind of stalling for time here." Checking his seating chart before 
calling on a questioner, he confided, "They've told me what to say." 
After announcing that "there's going to be a P-5," the president 
translated his own jargon: "That's diplomatic sloganeering."

Whether it's the strain of the office, the weight of international 
crises, or simply his old Delta Kappa Epsilon roots showing, Bush has 
been President Punchy of late. In Cleveland on Monday, he said there 
were 16 U.N. Security Council resolutions about Iraq, then called on an 
unsuspecting Dick Keil, a Bloomberg News reporter. "I think 16 -- is 
that right, Stretch, 16?" Bush inquired, using the nickname he assigned 
Keil. "I like to, like, reverse roles sometimes," the president explained.

When an audience member prefaced a question by saying, "I'm 100 percent 
behind your fight against terrorism," Bush interrupted: "Why don't you 
just leave it at that." And he was suspicious of a man who introduced 
himself as Jose Feliciano, by chance the name of the blind singer and 
guitarist.

"No," the president challenged.

"Yes," the other Feliciano maintained.

"It's like the time I called a guy and said, 'Hey, this is George Bush 
calling.' He said, 'Come on, quit kidding me, man.' " For yesterday's 
session, called with 90 minutes' notice, Bush had a surprise: He ended 
his long boycott of questions from Helen Thomas, the venerable UPI 
correspondent-turned-anti-Bush columnist for Hearst Newspapers. He began 
by invoking her performance at a Gridiron Club dinner in which she 
played Hillary Clinton singing about her presidential ambitions.

"Helen, after that brilliant performance at the Gridiron, I am --"

"You're going to be sorry," Thomas warned.

"Well, then, let me take it back."

It was too late. Thomas hectored him with a question about how "every 
reason given" for the Iraq war was wrong, then repeatedly interrupted 
his answers to argue.

"I kind of semi-regretted it," Bush said after the ordeal-by-Helen. He 
reaffirmed that her musical performance was "just brilliant," then 
offered that Reuters correspondent Steve Holland's performance in the 
same show "was a little weak."

Bush's jests apparently did nothing to reduce the antagonism in the 
questions, but the president did succeed at entertaining his tormentors, 
and himself.

NBC's Kelly O'Donnell weighed in with a question about whether it's time 
to make some changes on his staff, which appears "tired and even 
tone-deaf." This prompted the networks to go to cutaway shots of Bush 
aides Dan Bartlett, Karl Rove, Scott McClellan and Steve Hadley, 
squeezed into small chairs along one wall, looking miserable. "Wait a 
minute," Bush interrupted cheerfully, "is this a personal attack 
launching over here?"

Asked about his lost "political capital" by Gerstenzang, Bush replied 
that he had just listed a series of accomplishments, offering, "I'd be 
glad to repeat them if you like." Bumiller waved her hand to indicate 
such a recitation would be unnecessary. "Please," Bush responded, "no 
hand gestures."

Bush took his revenge moments later, when, explaining his immigration 
policy, he asserted that "Elisabeth was half asleep" for his speech on 
Monday. When she protested, he insisted: "Well, the person next to you 
was. They were dozing off. I could see them watching their watches, kind 
of wondering how long he's going to blow on for. 'Let's get him out of 
here so we can go get lunch' is what they were thinking."

Perhaps. Or perhaps Bush was projecting. Seconds later, when he had 
finished his answer to the question, he added: "Listen, thank you for 
your time. I've got lunch with the president of Liberia right now." It 
was not yet 11 a.m.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/21/AR2006032101570.html?nav=hcmodule
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