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| Helen Thomas - PWN3D!!!1; ...at Bush's press conference | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 21 2006, 11:06 AM (1,373 Views) | |
| The 89th Key | Mar 21 2006, 11:06 AM Post #1 |
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Well done, Mr. President! ![]() BUSH TAKES ON PRESS AND HELEN THOMAS TOO Tue Mar 21, 2006 13:34:11 2006 Helen Thomas, who in January grumbled that President Bush was a "coward" for not calling on her at a press conference, today was granted a question for the first time in several years. The doyenne of the White House press corps, who once called Bush the worst president in U.S. history, seized her chance with gusto, essentially debating Bush instead of questioning him. Here's the transcript: THE PRESIDENT: Helen. After that brilliant performance at the Grid Iron, I am -- (laughter.) Q: You're going to be sorry. (Laughter.) THE PRESIDENT: Well, then, let me take it back. (Laughter.) Q: I'd like to ask you, Mr. President, your decision to invade Iraq has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans and Iraqis, wounds of Americans and Iraqis for a lifetime. Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true. My question is, why did you really want to go to war? From the moment you stepped into the White House, from your Cabinet -- your Cabinet officers, intelligence people, and so forth -- what was your real reason? You have said it wasn't oil -- quest for oil, it hasn't been Israel, or anything else. What was it? THE PRESIDENT: I think your premise -- in all due respect to your question and to you as a lifelong journalist -- is that -- I didn't want war. To assume I wanted war is just flat wrong, Helen, in all due respect -- Q: Everything -- THE PRESIDENT: Hold on for a second, please. Q: -- everything I've heard -- THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me, excuse me. No President wants war. Everything you may have heard is that, but it's just simply not true. My attitude about the defense of this country changed on September the 11th. We -- when we got attacked, I vowed then and there to use every asset at my disposal to protect the American people. Our foreign policy changed on that day, Helen. You know, we used to think we were secure because of oceans and previous diplomacy. But we realized on September the 11th, 2001, that killers could destroy innocent life. And I'm never going to forget it. And I'm never going to forget the vow I made to the American people that we will do everything in our power to protect our people. Part of that meant to make sure that we didn't allow people to provide safe haven to an enemy. And that's why I went into Iraq -- hold on for a second -- Q: They didn't do anything to you, or to our country. THE PRESIDENT: Look -- excuse me for a second, please. Excuse me for a second. They did. The Taliban provided safe haven for al Qaeda. That's where al Qaeda trained -- Q: I'm talking about Iraq -- THE PRESIDENT: Helen, excuse me. That's where -- Afghanistan provided safe haven for al Qaeda. That's where they trained. That's where they plotted. That's where they planned the attacks that killed thousands of innocent Americans. I also saw a threat in Iraq. I was hoping to solve this problem diplomatically. That's why I went to the Security Council; that's why it was important to pass 1441, which was unanimously passed. And the world said, disarm, disclose, or face serious consequences -- Q: -- go to war -- THE PRESIDENT: -- and therefore, we worked with the world, we worked to make sure that Saddam Hussein heard the message of the world. And when he chose to deny inspectors, when he chose not to disclose, then I had the difficult decision to make to remove him. And we did, and the world is safer for it. |
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| Aqua Letifer | Mar 21 2006, 11:09 AM Post #2 |
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ZOOOOOM!
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| I cite irreconcilable differences. | |
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| Mikhailoh | Mar 21 2006, 11:10 AM Post #3 |
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
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Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball | |
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| The 89th Key | Mar 21 2006, 11:12 AM Post #4 |
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I want to see it live. He totally pwn3d her, after she "finally" got a question. He crushed her question with an unscripted, well spoken, organized, and logical response - a rare thing for any President now. Mr. President. I salute you!
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| ***musical princess*** | Mar 21 2006, 11:13 AM Post #5 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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If i knew who she was, i might care. x |
| x Caroline x | |
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| The 89th Key | Mar 21 2006, 11:14 AM Post #6 |
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:lol: She's just some old fart. ...probably your boyfriend's sister! ![]()
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| QuirtEvans | Mar 21 2006, 11:14 AM Post #7 |
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I Owe It All To John D'Oh
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I watched it live. I read the transcript. He didn't own her. He made his point, forcefully, but it doesn't exactly answer her question, now does it? He keeps referring to the Taliban and Iran, and never truly established a link to Iraq. In particular, this is the follow-up he never addressed:
The only people who think Bush owned Helen Thomas are those who already drank W's Kool-Aid, a long time ago. And that is from someone who thinks W did a pretty good job overall at the press conference. |
| It would be unwise to underestimate what large groups of ill-informed people acting together can achieve. -- John D'Oh, January 14, 2010. | |
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| ***musical princess*** | Mar 21 2006, 11:15 AM Post #8 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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ExCU!!se me! Pedro is most CERTAINLY not an old fart. ![]() x |
| x Caroline x | |
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| Aqua Letifer | Mar 21 2006, 11:15 AM Post #9 |
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ZOOOOOM!
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Nope, you're not going to bait me into arguing this one. I just don't see the big deal. He didn't completely abolish the concerns for the war she was getting at, and I've heard him say the exact same thing in previous speeches and press conferences. I don't see what the big deal is. |
| I cite irreconcilable differences. | |
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| The 89th Key | Mar 21 2006, 11:16 AM Post #10 |
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Bush explained very well that it's not about retaliatory defense. The way we defend our country DID change on 9/11. We can no longer sit back and watch terrorists gather, and plot, and laugh at us, and get ready. Iraq was a threat, and it's now a liberated country. He very much answered her question. |
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| The 89th Key | Mar 21 2006, 11:17 AM Post #11 |
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Aqua, I just think it's nice to see the president have an unscripted debate a veteran of the press - one that has called him the worst president ever. I think, at least by the transcript, that he did a great job answering her question and addressing the issue. |
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| QuirtEvans | Mar 21 2006, 11:18 AM Post #12 |
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I Owe It All To John D'Oh
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No he didn't, 89th. He gave his stump speech, but never addressed why we needed to invade Iraq. That's OK, the justification for the war was WMD, and that justification has fallen apart, completely. He really has only crap left to work with. |
| It would be unwise to underestimate what large groups of ill-informed people acting together can achieve. -- John D'Oh, January 14, 2010. | |
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| Mikhailoh | Mar 21 2006, 11:20 AM Post #13 |
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
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See the bestiality poll. http://s10.invisionfree.com/The_New_Coffee...?showtopic=8983 |
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Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball | |
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| The 89th Key | Mar 21 2006, 11:20 AM Post #14 |
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Yes he did: THE PRESIDENT: Helen, excuse me. That's where -- Afghanistan provided safe haven for al Qaeda. That's where they trained. That's where they plotted. That's where they planned the attacks that killed thousands of innocent Americans. I also saw a threat in Iraq. I was hoping to solve this problem diplomatically. That's why I went to the Security Council; that's why it was important to pass 1441, which was unanimously passed. And the world said, disarm, disclose, or face serious consequences |
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| Mikhailoh | Mar 21 2006, 11:23 AM Post #15 |
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
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I think he did, Quirt. If you go back and look he identified Iraq as where Al Queda and other terrorists trained, which I believe is well documented. Every day more evidence comes out pointing to Iraq's involvement with various bio and chem weapons. |
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Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball | |
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| Rick Zimmer | Mar 21 2006, 11:30 AM Post #16 |
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Fulla-Carp
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Well, that's a total lie. The UN Inspectors were all over Iraq. The US was tellng them where to go, where the US was sure the WMD's were. They went to every place. Never found a thing. The US was running out of places to send them to. The Inspectors left only because Bush told them to because he was about to attack. They did not want to leave and argued to stay. Hussein told them to stay. Bush refused to go back the final time to the Security Council because they would have voted against the invasion and for more inspections. If this is what Bush actually said, it is a lie -- plain and simple. Hussein also sent thousands of pages of documentation to the UN. Within less than 24 hours, Bush had rejected it. Yet, we now know it was, for the most part accurate. Bush's assertion that Hussein did not disclose is also a lie -- plain and simple. No matter how he handled Helen, he lied. Could it be that his assertion that he did not want a war is also a lie? |
| [size=4]Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul -- Benedict XVI[/size] | |
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| John D'Oh | Mar 21 2006, 11:45 AM Post #17 |
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MAMIL
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I'm forced to say, that on reading the transcript, if that's being pwn3d!!!!1 in todays world of politics, I reckon I should run for Governor. I admit that this might look better on video than it does on paper, but have skills of oratory sunk to such shambolic levels that this is considered to be an effective and incisive put-down? |
| What do you mean "we", have you got a mouse in your pocket? | |
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| Aqua Letifer | Mar 21 2006, 11:47 AM Post #18 |
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ZOOOOOM!
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![]() A great orator, W. is certainly, certainly not. And this case is no exception. |
| I cite irreconcilable differences. | |
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| Mikhailoh | Mar 21 2006, 11:56 AM Post #19 |
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
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So your contention is that Saddam was fully cooperating with the UN inspectors? C'mon. They would be given permission to go to a place they wanted to go, only to arrive and be told they could not come in. There were a hundred variations on that theme. There was no real cooperation. It was a 12 year game of cat and mouse, cheat and retreat. Saddam used at least chemical weapons on Iranian troops and then on their own citizens in reprisal. He then played this game for years with the UN inspectors. It is not even borderline rational to believe that he had given up all these weapons. It is simply not believeable that a dictator of his ilk and his rule through terrorizing his own people would ever willingly give up that capability to inflict cruel damage. The fact that we have not found them means only that in those 12 years he was able to make these operations highly mobile and to clean up after them well. |
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Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball | |
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| JBryan | Mar 21 2006, 12:06 PM Post #20 |
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I am the grey one
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Resolution 1441 did not require Saddam to take inspectors wherever they wanted to go. It required Saddam to demonstrate to the inspectors that he had destroyed the prohibited weapons he was known to have had when he kicked the inspectors out in 1998. In other words, allowing the inspectors to run all over the country side was not compliance. Taking them to where the prohibited weapons were located for destruction or to the documentation that showed they had been destroyed would have been compliance. That, along with allowing weapons scientists to be interviewed outside the country with their families held safe, was what he refused to do which was non-compliance. |
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"Any man who would make an X rated movie should be forced to take his daughter to see it". - John Wayne There is a line we cross when we go from "I will believe it when I see it" to "I will see it when I believe it". Henry II: I marvel at you after all these years. Still like a democratic drawbridge: going down for everybody. Eleanor: At my age there's not much traffic anymore. From The Lion in Winter. | |
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| Luke's Dad | Mar 21 2006, 12:06 PM Post #21 |
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Emperor Pengin
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Didn't Saddam demand 72 hours notice from the inspectors? |
| The problem with having an open mind is that people keep trying to put things in it. | |
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| JBryan | Mar 21 2006, 12:08 PM Post #22 |
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I am the grey one
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Yes, he had to get the weapons all lined up nice and tidy for them to look at and that takes time. |
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"Any man who would make an X rated movie should be forced to take his daughter to see it". - John Wayne There is a line we cross when we go from "I will believe it when I see it" to "I will see it when I believe it". Henry II: I marvel at you after all these years. Still like a democratic drawbridge: going down for everybody. Eleanor: At my age there's not much traffic anymore. From The Lion in Winter. | |
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| Aqua Letifer | Mar 21 2006, 12:10 PM Post #23 |
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ZOOOOOM!
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Well, my mom always did get ticked at the census man for coming unannounced and seeing our house in such disarray. Saddam has a good point here. :rolleyes: |
| I cite irreconcilable differences. | |
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| Rick Zimmer | Mar 21 2006, 12:10 PM Post #24 |
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Fulla-Carp
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It is my contention that Bush lied to the country this morning. What you are claiming -- that he would deny entry to the Inspectors -- is not how it happened. Hussein was allowing them everywhere they asked to go. Every time they came up short, Bush claimed it was because they likely moved the WMD's. And he would send them off to another place. In his press conference, Bush did not say he went to war because of 12 years of cat and mouse (and given the impotence of the Iraqi government and military, obviously it was really 12 years of damned effective sanctions). No, Bush said: And when he (Hussein) chose to deny inspectors, when he chose not to disclose, then I had the difficult decision to make to remove him. At the time Bush decided to go to war (which he claims was only when he decided there was no other option -- at the very end) Hussein had been allowing inspectors for months and had turned over the documentation. Bush lied this morning. Plain and simple. Rationalize it all you want, Mik. But he lied. |
| [size=4]Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul -- Benedict XVI[/size] | |
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| George K | Mar 21 2006, 12:10 PM Post #25 |
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Finally
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Bush Lies and Saddam tells the truth. I see. David Kay - the darling of the "Bush Lied" crowd. n January 2004, Kay told Congress that the U.S. was "almost all wrong" in believing that Saddam had WMDs. But six months earlier in July 2003, Kay said he was sure Iraq had the banned weapons - based on millions of pages of internal government documents recovered from Saddam's regime. "I've already seen enough to convince me," Kay told then-NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw. "You cannot believe how many cases we have of documents and equipment that are stored in private residences," he added. Kay explained: "We're finding progress reports. They also got financial rewards from Saddam Hussein by breakthroughs, indicating breakthroughs. They actually took - went to Saddam and said 'We have made this progress.' There are records, there are audiotapes of those interviews which give us that." More than two years later, the documents that convinced Mr. Kay that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction remain a closely guarded secret, with a team of 200 Pentagon analysts reportedly still sifting through their contents. Some of the titles on the Iraqi documents were quite explicit: • Correspondence between various Iraq organizations giving instructions to hide chemicals and equipment • Chemical Agent Purchase Orders (Dec. 2001) • Cleaning chemical suits and how to hide chemicals • Chemical Gear for Fedayeen Saddam • Denial and Deception of WMD and Killing of POWs So, Rick, here are the options: 1] Saddam Hussein was able to spirit his WMD stockpiles out of Iraq in the nearly year-long run-up to the war. Or . . . 2] Saddam had his government forge, literally, millions of pages of documents falsely indicating that he not only had WMDs, but had made extensive plans to hide them. Which is it? |
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A guide to GKSR: Click "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08 Nothing is as effective as homeopathy. I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles. - Klaus, 4/29/18 | |
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