Those who watched: How effective do you think * was tonight?

[Nikki Stone 1]

Especially with the political middle. I am concerned that his message actually might have calmed the fears of the uninformed. (That is, if they were watching...)

[swag]

1. Nobody watched that shit.

Even his fans are tired of him.

Put him in diapers on a Big Wheel in a reality TV house with Flava Flav. He's done.

[laugle]

14. I love it!!! LOL

[Digit]

2. Odd, but nobody who is uninformed wants to be my friend.

Nor do I really care to be close to them.

[ewagner]

3. Just from following

the threads here on DU....I can't believe that anybody with as much as a high school education bought his explanations about anything....


Anybody with as much as a high school education KNOWS how to debate. Knows at least some logic...knows at least SOME critical thinking...

they cannot be blind enough to be taken in by this bumbling fool.

for the record...I watched about two minutes of him on CNN before my blood pressure started rising......

[damntexdem]

4. Oh, that's right: Randi Rhodes said he'd be on tonight.

I missed his lies. Too bad. ;-)

[MichiganVote]

5. Effective? As an asshole I'd give him a 10, as president I'd vote a -1

[Erika]

6. He was pathetic, not impressive

His command of the issues was sadly and deeply lacking. He has zero connect with average citizens.

[Nikki Stone 1]

7. I wonder how the other side perceives it.

nt

[whistle]

8. He was advocating the same old Bushit...

...still lacks credibility, just looking at his facial expressions, body language and his general demeanor, he still comes across as a president who can't be trusted, will say whatever he thinks the people will swallow and remains true to his base of ultra wealthy.

"Polls don't matter", he says. Give me a break! To Bush, to KKKarl Rove, to the republicans, to the religious right, to the neo-conservatives, the polls matter a great deal. Everything he said in his speech and in his answers were focus group tested talking points, designed to affect poll results to s3wing more in favor of the president's agenda.

His whole social security plan which he laid out is a total scam, designed to reduce benefits for all present and future SS beneficiaries by 46%. The numbers will not lie. Privatization is designed to gut the program and in 20 years there won't be a social security safety net if we follow Bush's proposal of privatization. It's total Bushit.

Then he also contradicted himself by suggesting that his proposal will even address risk averters by letting them invest in totally safe guaranteed U.S. treasury bills and not ten minutes before he said that the social security cash box is an illusion filled with worthless paper notes, which happen to be U.S. treasury bills. Liar, liar, pants on fire!

[EVDebs]

9. Any fool knows to fix SS all you do is raise the Payroll Tax cap

from the current $90K to $120K. But Shrub nixed that tonight. I think the Democrats should FIGHT LIKE HELL TO RAISE THAT CAP !!!!!

It's a simple fix for the desperately bankrupt Social Security System that Bush just said was going down the toilet in seconds tonight. I think the Dems should 'call him' on it and call his little bluff tonight.

Raise the payroll tax cap and be done with this 'private accounts' bulls@*t. If you want private accounts they're already available in existing IRAs, annuitys, bonds, etc. Want one, go get one on your own right now. Keep Bush out of your wallet and you'll be o.k.

The Red Ink Republicans and their Credit Card Congress need to be taught an economics lesson. Maybe the Dems are up to being UNITED this time and can dish it out.

[laugle]

15. amen, we really have to keep up the pressure

on that when the time comes.....and it will...

[burn the bush]

31. Does shrub still pay into it? If not, that could be a point for arguing

for raising the cap. We can act like he doesn't want to take the simple way out by raising the cap because then he and his fellow rich people would have to start paying it again.

How much would they get if they collected? I know someone who makes almost 1000.00 a month of ss. Thats 12 thous a year. Now if they live only ten years they will have collected 120,000. thats more than they put in. They will live another 10 or 15 years. I am imagining that the super rich people (they do still collect ss don't they) would live at least as long as an average person. So they will obviously collect many times the 90,000 cap that they have paid. Why can they stop payiing? That cap was probably set when people lived a shorter time. There should be no cap at all in my opinion. Maybe a lesser rate after a certain level but continue to pay as long as youreceive wages.

imo

[burn the bush]

He didn't make any big gaffs like we were hoping.

He didn't blink like a strobe lite. He actually did fairly well for shrubbery. I don't think he gained anything either though because the press did at least bring up many questions that I don't think they would have in the very recent past. That is bigger than if shrub pulled a few people into his web.

Most people who watch him are either shrub lovers or like many of us who watch to look for weaknesses and blatent assholiness that bring us so much comic relief.

the rest of the country is just pissed that the asshole is on the tv and will not watch.

I'm sure some of the press questions were planned and all but they at least did bring up many facts
insurgency not decreased
terrorism increase
economy suffering
gas high
torture planes

they didn't push him nearly hard enough but I think they did better than usual. I think the tide has turned.

so I think shrub pulled off one of his better question sessions but the press did much better at pointing out some of the bullshit that is going on.

[candy331]

10. I deliberately allowed myself to be tortured tonight in watching one

whole hour of empty nonsense with no new points. The kicker was at the end of the press messaging CBS just cut away, no fade/nothing just cut away and the reason why is I could see Bush had lost it and any minute he would have went ballistic.

[burn the bush]

30. deleted

deleted
thanks

[sandnsea]

11. It doesn't matter

All that matters is the spin. I thought we all knew that by now. Make shit up and email news people and tell them he was awful. That's what they're going to do.

[ginnyinWI]

39. spin not looking so good

I watched the half hour of commentary on ABC, and they were clearly underwhelmed. George Steph. seemed like he was trying not to laugh in derision. He caught the contradiction of * first saying there was nothing left but IOUs, then expecting people to trust the gov't. to invest their money safely.

Then I turned to MSNBC, and David Gergen was also saying that *'s performance was unimpressive, or some words to that effect. We'll see what the rest of them say tomorrow.

[NightOwwl]

12. He's toast.

50% think he deliberately lied about WMD. No one (except fundies and freepers) believe a word he says about anything.

[ChiciB1]

13. Anybody Hear Any Stats??

I didn't even watch the spin!! I always get a pit in my stomach, get light-headed and want to :puke:

Dick-Tatter (sorry, I stole it again) is SUCH A TURN-OFF!!!

[Cha]

17. Look at buzzflash's headline!

http://www.buzzflash.com

[Nikki Stone 1]

20. Thanks for the link!

61% dissatisfied. :)

[ChiciB1]

34. Thanks, Guess I Could Have Waited For My

BuzzFlash tommorrow, but I just knew someone hear always is way ahead of the game.

I also heard that some networks cut his "whatever" short! Amazing!

[NVMojo]

36. DU the poll!!!!

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050428072909990002&ncid=NWS00010000000001

[ChiciB1]

38. Great Poll!! And The Results Were

Phenomenal! Just wish The Boy King EEEEIIIdiot would check them out!

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Nikki Stone 1]

18. Are you talking to me?

nt

[geckosfeet]

19. errr,,, ya.

[Nikki Stone 1]

22. Then, you have a lot to learn.

nt

[geckosfeet]

21. sorry about the dimwit thing,,,,

[Nikki Stone 1]

24. Apology accepted.

nt

[bklyncowgirl]

23. Not very but then I'm prejudiced.

Actually that phony Texas twang makes me start screamin obscenities so I'm clearly not the most objective of judges.

[Nikki Stone 1]

25. I'm with you on the phony Texas twang thing

It's grating.

[flaminbats]

26. confuse the enemy..

if he's against the majority it works.

[Blue Topaz]

27. Meh, boring as hell

I thought he was stiff as a corpse and incredibly dull during the scripted portion. He (as usual) didn't really answer the questions, but used them to springboard off into his favorite themes and phrases.

I don't think he damaged himself, but neither will anyone really care about this press conference. *yawn*

On the Q&A with Lehrer afterwards on PBS, David Brooks was asked what the purpose of this press conference was. His immediate response: to get the focus off Tom DeLay, Terri Schiavo, judicial nominations. And this from Brooks! Refreshing honesty.

[MADem]

28. I don't think he helped himself at all

He was petulant and querulous. Not good qualities. When the standard becomes "He didn't fuck up as badly as he could have," then it is time for him to git gone.

The only reason he did this presser is because it was way overdue, and he is "last gasping" his failed efforts to push his misguided agenda of raping the earth and stealing our retirement on the American people. It's one thing to spend political capital, but he has squandered his.

Putz!!! That's him, in a word.

[Vektor]

29. About as effective as tits on a bull. n/t

[Blue_Roses]

32. I'm too biased

against Bush to make a rational, objective view of tonight. Basically more of the same dum stuff he always blabs:give the rich more, take more from the poor--that about sums it up:crazy:

[AmBlue]

33. If you believe in bullshit, um..... VERY!! n/t

[thecai]

35. POOR

I wasn't the only one who thought so...
AOL Poll:

How satisfied are you with what Bush said during his press conference?
Not at all 63%
Very 29%
Somewhat 8%
How would you rate Bush's overall job performance?
Poor 58%
Excellent 23%
Good 11%
Fair 8%
Total Votes: 76,687

[Contrary1]

37. He effectively made me gag...

does that count?

[cry baby]

40. He didn't do himself any good tonight.

nothing new, and he looked like an idiot. "I can only speak to myself" he says.:wtf:

[AP]

41. his mannerisms, inflection, phrasing, etc., is wearing very thin.

I can imagine that there was value to his rorhshatz-like (sp?) verbal stylings in the past. But I think people are looking for clarity now and Bush is not bringing any on.

[Sparkly]

42. Looked like a very bad, smarmy snake oil salesman

Smiling inappropriately, totally phony, trying lines that very few would fall for now (such as teachers liking NCLB, terrorists killing more people than ever because we've successfully caused them to act, things are getting better, things are getting better, things are getting better).

[Terre]

43. And if I EVER hear him say one.more.time

"We're makin' progress" - I'm gonna  :puke:

and then -

:rofl:

[Zen Democrat]

44. He was acting like it was the BIG JOKE that it was.

His entire viewpoint was toward business -- couched as "small business owners" -- and how the price of gas was effecting them. He was speaking to THEM. Mentioned "families" almost as an afterthought and shrugged it off.

When he said he thought lower income people should have the same opportunities as the investor class -- and made that weird face when saying "investor" that seemed to be saying that investor class was something he's just heard about -- like it was an unknown group of people to him - like the so-called investor class. The disingenuous nature of that was very telling and should have been obvious to everyone watching.

He made a weird comment about wanting America to be a "hopeful place in the future." Like we don't have anything to be hopeful about now.

It was just a big flop for him. He spoke volumes in his obvious insincerity tonight.

[pie]

49. He was so insincere it made me very very angry

I have not been that angry since the 'election'

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

45. I was very distracted by his shifting back and forth

During his opening speech, he kept switching his weight from one foot to the other, rocking back and forth like a slow-motion Stevie Wonder. I found I was watching that more than listening, I must confess and it was very distracting. And Bush was wearing very heavy make-up with cheek blush. His eyes also looked made up. Maybe it's Maybelline?

[jfs1000]

46. Bad day to be a republican

I don't think he made anyone feel better, especially the middle class.

All in all it wasn't a good night to be a Republican, especially a conservative one.

On Social Security I believe he just lost it. Politically it was a fatal blow. Not 10 minutes after the press conference, we had Republicans balking at mean's testing. Dems won't support this, and the poor doesn't want it. Especially since all young people think they are going to be rich. No one thinks they are going to be poor. He has no support for this.

Secondly, conservatives will look on this as a type of welfare re-distribution. It was actually funny watching the Repubs say NO, minutes later.

On energy: I like Bush's thoughts, but the best way to lower prices is not increase supply, but lower demand. Americans gotta conserve and become more efficient. People know this.

On judges: I like what he said, but the religious right probably isn't happy he rejected them saying that faith is personal. He was actually right when he said Dems oppose because of their philosophy , a reactionary activist philosophy.

It was funny. His body language, comfort and all the things that don't matter was very good and appealing. That doens't matter now.

[Nordmadr]

47. I keep wondering to myself why he thinks it is a good thing to

tell the American public that they are blowing our Social Security money. It is easy, stop spending it on stuff like wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and we will have our damned retirement money!

Can't afford medicaid, but let's throw in another 106 billion in tax cuts for good measure.

Not sure how much more I can stand.

Make the Department of Defense figure out what the hell it did with the 2-3 TRILLION dollars it can't seem to account for.

This country is going totally to shit!

As the musician Jack Johnson says..."Where'd all the good people go? I've been changing channels I don't see them on the tv show".

...Now where did I put that info on Canada...?

Olaf

[blindpig]

48. local RW commentator was pissed

Dipshit Rus Cassel(sp?) was frothing about the suggestion of means testing for SS benefits. He also made some sport of bu$h's word use and pronunciation. This jeck is a uber-libertarian who finds the Repubs too far to the left.................

didn't watch it myself, knew I could get the skinny here and my bloodpressure don't need that shit, life's too short.