More on Bush Today

If you missed the press conference, the transcript is up. The transcript by the way is good, I checked it against my Tivo. But what doesn't come through is his swagger, stutter, pauses, smirks or gestures. I think he looks the most unpresidential of any politician I've ever seen.

He made a couple of statements that seemed off the cuff and were meant to be jokes I think but I'd be surprised if I don't see it on the Daily Show tonight. One was "I'm kind of stalling for time here". The other was "Let's see here. They told me what to say...David."

He also had a number of back-and-forths with the press which seemed odd. One was "I also said that -- let me make sure, Steve, that you -- first of all, I'm impressed that you're actually paying attention to it. The people I saw in the press pool weren't. They were, like, Elisabeth was half-asleep -- (laughter) -- yes, you were. (Laughter.)" And another was "Cannon. No, you're not Cannon. That's Cannon. You're Ken. Sorry, Ken. You thought I said Cannon" It sounded like Who's on first?.

This banter did seem to get in the way. The second question was by Helen Thomas who asked why did he really go to war because "Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true...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?" He started answering saying "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 --" Think Progress has listed various sources saying he did..

He went on to talk about 9/11 and providing a safe haven to the enemy. She interrupted saying "They didn't do anything to you, or to our country." Bush interrupted her saying "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 -- " . Just amazing, can he really be confusing countries? Or is it deliberate? Just yesterday Bush said: " I don't think we ever said -- at least I know I didn't say that there was a direct connection between September the 11th and Saddam Hussein.". Today, Helen Thomaas interrupted Bush saying "I'm talking about Iraq" and he said "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." He then went on to say "I also saw a threat in Iraq" but didn't really elaborate aside from UN resolution 1441 and some other stuff. And he wonders why people think he said there was a connection between 9/11 and Iraq.

Anyway, it was annoying to watch this. Jon Stewart will make it worthwhile. Sad isn't it?