Our Guys in Ohio Weigh in
Don Gonyea and David Greene, who are covering the Bush and Cheney speeches today, just weighed in from the sites of the speeches.
Bush is speaking to the City Club of Cleveland. Gonyea writes:
"Fact sheet about the City Club boasts 'All speakers must answer unfiltered, unrehearsed questions directly from the audience.' Not something the President does often."
Gonyea includes this gem from the City Club's creed (as included in press materials in the White House filing center):
"I am the product of the people, a cross-section of their community - weak as they are weak, and strong in their strength; believing that knowledge of our failings and our powers begets greater strength. "
And this:
"I have no axe to grind, no logs to roll. / My abode shall be 'information' not 'reformation.' "
Not bad.
NPR's David Greene, at my new favorite locale in Ohio, the Spread Eagle Tavern, offers:
"Cheney's fundraiser is expected to draw several hundred people -- potentially doubling the population of tiny Hanoverton. Cheney is speaking at the Spread Eagle Tavern and Inn, a restored 19th-century watering hole owned by prominent local Republican David Johnson. As for the name Spread Eagle? 'Everybody asks that question -- how did you come up with the name,' Johnson tells me. He points to a patriotic, stone-engraved eagle (with its wings spread) above the tavern entrance that was carved in 1837, when the place first opened. But which came first, the carving or the name? Johnson couldn't say for sure, but assumed it was the name, then the plaque. "
Ohio Questions: I Don't Know
While listening to David Green’s report on Vice-President Cheney’s visit to the Spread Eagle Tavern and Inn, I am horrified, but not shocked, by the comment of Sharon Braunstein. When asked what she thought of Cheney’s speech, she replied:
“I don’t even know what he said... I know it made me feel like a real American.”
This concise nugget reveals completely the American public’s sad comprehension of the state of our nation and democracy. Unfortunately, this administration relies on blind and silent patriotism rather than intelligent debate. Luckily for them, it appears that there is no shortage of blind patriotism.
I wish that Mike Shuster’s March 20th piece “The Path to War” were required listening for all Americans. It was a clear delineation of the sequence of events leading us to this point in time. Maybe you can send a transcript to Ms. Braunstein?
Ohio Questions: The Truth
I thought the President did a great job answering the questions posed. No, he did not agree to attend the Hungarian celebration in October. And no, he said he had not thought of the circumstances in the Middle East as pointing to an imminent apocalypse. And no, he did not say what the questioner wanted him to say about Pakistan. How could he have been prepared for questions like that? How could he have answered more politely, kindly, and still honestly?
And if you presume that everything Bush or Cheney say are lies, then you will never know truth when you hear it.
Bush Questions: Lies
It really doesn't matter what questions are asked of President Bush &/or Vice President Cheney the answers will ineveitalby be lies.
Bush In Ohio: No Answers
I saw the first three questions asked to President Bush. In my opinion he did not answer any in the manner they were asked. So the people may be allowed to ask any question they want the speaker still does not really have to answer :-(
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