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The Usual Mangled Speech but Bush is Let Off the Hook in Rare Press
Conference
Thursday, July 31, 2003
Independent/UK

The Usual Mangled Speech but Bush is Let Off the Hook in Rare Press
Conference

by Rupert Cornwell in Washington

It didn't reveal much, but the White House press corps were grateful for
anything. George Bush's press conference yesterday was only the ninth he has
held in 30 months of office and a offered rare chance for reporters to get
to grips with the most disciplined, and arguably the most secretive, White
House of modern times. Except that they didn't.

PLAYING SOFTBALL WITH THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS
President Bush reacts to a reporter's question during a news conference in
the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, July 30, 2003,
his first formal solo session with the press since before the Iraq War. (AP
Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

This ought to have been a tricky occasion for the President. His poll
ratings are sagging, budget deficits are ballooning, jobs are vanishing and
American soldiers are dying almost daily in Iraq. And not one of Saddam's
alleged weapons has turned up. But in the end it was a breeze.
The main lesson to emerge from the 50-minute session, the first since the
invasion of Iraq four months ago, was how easily the chief executive evaded
any serious damage - and how the reporters made it easy for him to do so.
The Bush on display was familiar: a bit macho, a bit matey and
condescending. On occasion he flashed that unappealing smirk, or a spark of
temper when a trusted aide was challenged. For a man who does not like being
asked to explain himself, he looked relaxed and in command not only of his
audience, but also (by his own unexacting standards) of the English
language.
There were the usual odd breakdowns in brain-mouth co-ordination. "I will
never assume the restraint and goodwill of dangerous enemies when lives of
our citizens are at work," he proclaimed during a chest-beating passage
about pursuing the war against terrorism. On occasion he moved his hands
silently groping for words. But the ones he finally came up with more or
less did the job.
As usual, reporters did not follow up each other's questions. At one point
Mr Bush was pressed on the dodgy pre-war intelligence (and the even dodgier
use made of it) about Saddam's supposed weapons' programs. Predictably, he
launched into an answer about how much better the world off was without
Saddam Hussein.
The reporter pressed him but Mr Bush cut him off, calling the next
question - which was about gay marriage. The President, as only to be
expected, didn't think it was a good idea. The chance to pin him down was
gone.

>From then on it was downhill all the way. We saw the truculent Bush ("Since

I'm in charge of the war on terror, we won't reveal source and methods," he
said of his refusal to declassify 28 pages of the congressional report on
the 11 September attacks). Then there was the carelessly dismissive Bush ("I
didn't expect Thomas Jefferson to emerge in Iraq in a 90-day period," he
said of the shambles there).
The 43rd President is known to view journalists as a tiresome accompaniment
to power. While this was only Mr Bush's ninth press conference, Bill Clinton
had held 33 by this stage of his presidency, and Mr Bush's father an
astonishing 61. If yesterday was anything to go by, he can risk a few more.

) 2003 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd