Bush just REFUSED to address whether he ordered Gonzales and Card to Ashcroft's bedside

[DeepModem Mom]

In a press conference with Blair, he was asked by Kelly O'Donnell of NBC if he ordered them to Ashcroft's hospital room. He answered by talking about the enemy, and how NSA programs are necessary.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

You thought he'd tell the truth? n/t

[Demeter]

1. Thanks Mom

Hope the bastard's starting to sweat.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. Jesus told him not to lie

[havocmom]

5. Nah, his handlers just didn't give him the answer to that one

He is just the echo chamber. No voice of his own.

[TwilightGardener]

3. "Look! Over there! Terrists!"

[Norquist Nemesis]

4. In 'polspeak', by not denying he confirmed it. n/t

[tinymontgomery]

21. The reporter

should have said just that "I take that as a yes" and see what the POS said then!

[Junkdrawer]

6. I take that as a Yes....

If you asked me if I beat my wife and I said that my wife is a bad person deserving of punishment, I'd say you'd be probably right in assuming I meant Yes...

[wryter2000]

11. Ding, ding, ding

We have a winner.

That was all the confirmation I need. Most likely, someone's going to testify in the Senate that he made that call. He has no way to squirm out of it.

[Junkdrawer]

19. Comey did yesterday...see Post #13 n/t

[wryter2000]

45. He waffled

He said he had some recollection that it was Bush but he wasn't sure. I had to wonder whether that was honest doubt, he was trying to give Bush an out, or he was honestly afraid to say it was Bush.

In any case, he gave Bush some room to deny it. The fact that he had the opportunity to do so today and didn't confirms it pretty well, imho.

[Lost4words]

7. That was a "yesserie you bet I did" in my book.

IMPEACH

[sheerjoy]

9. Exactly!!!!

Mission accomplished.

[bdamomma]

8. he is so arrogant!!!

[wryter2000]

10. Lord, I hope this gets some press

I keep watching ABC to see what they're putting out as "mainstream." How can they not cover this?

[grasswire]

12. good for Kelly -- wow!

That took some chutzpah from her, to do her job.

[Bumblebee]

20. Actually Bush tried to butter her up before she asked her question

He was told that it's her birthday today (true, she confirmed it), so he offered to sing happy birthday to her with Blair, and there was loud laughter from his WH staff, of course. Good cheer was had by them all -- and then she still asked the question.

[calimary]

24. Oh how sweet. (SARCASM!!!) Did he have a nice, adorable, cutesy-pie nickname

for her, too?

I have one for him, but I doubt he'd appreciate it.

Actually, I have hundreds.

No, besides those, I have more than three thousand others. From Iraq. Which would lead me to nickname him "MURDERER."

[Bumblebee]

25. No nickname but he did talk to her in that "cutesy-pie" way he reserves

for women reporters and occasionally men, like David Gregory. Winks and all. And he did appear to knock her off her stride some since she stumbled a bit while asking the question -- but she did it, and there was no laughter after that.

And she did come through with a follow up -- "so did you send them?" or something like that, but he ignored it.

[SammyWinstonJack]

31. Condescending little jerk was just trying too derail her. These journalists should be

on to his little game by now. :shrug: He shows such disdain for them, usually.

[quiet.american]

13. COMEY: I have some recollection that the call was from the president himself...

....COMEY: I have some recollection that the call was from the president himself, but I don’t know that for sure. It came from the White House.

I agree -- Bush's non-answer has now provided confirmation of Comey's excellent memory.

[Ganja Ninja]

14. I'll take that as a "yes".

He's not saying "no".

[bdamomma]

15. if he was avoiding the answer the question I would also take that

as a YES response.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

16. Is there any question now...

That one of the most important reasons that this domestic spying program(s) was/were in place was because they were going to spy on their Democratic opponents in the '04 elections?

Not here. I see it as one of the greatest reasons for their stonewalling, lying and obfuscation.

[leftchick]

36. no question at all

they were spying in every state and on every candidate they saw as a threat.

[dogday]

17. I smell another signing statment.....

That the President of the US can officially harass the Attorney General when he is in ICU... Yeppers, that should do it.... :sarcasm:

[question everything]

18. He probably would not know one way or the other

This is why he had all the "adults" in his administration: Cheney, Rumsfeld and others - to really run things as they see fit while he watches TV, eats pretzles and go early to bed.

[WiseButAngrySara]

22. IMPEACH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so sickened by this ongoing ____ ....n/t

[WiseButAngrySara]

23. KNR. n/t

[alfredo]

26. He should be asked that question every time he comes to the mic.

Same with Tony Snow.

[Beetwasher]

27. Yup! If Clinton Was Asked About Monica Every Time He Was At A Mic (And He Was)

then Bush should be hounded by this. I won't hold my breath for the "liberal media" to do it's job though.

[alfredo]

29. So true. We should be shouting about the double standard.

[GoldenOldie]

32. It is his modus-operandi for not confirming or denying

If he doesn't respond it never happened.

Did it with his TANG AWOL/Desertion. POOF! gone

[alfredo]

49. Keep asking. Sooner or later the public will wonder why they are

asking this question over and over again.

[guitar man]

28. did she get a follow up??

If she did, this would be the exact response to follow up with :evilgrin:

http://strmkr0.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/just_answer.mp3

[DeepModem Mom]

34. This, according to Bumblebee in post 25:

And she did come through with a follow up -- "so did you send them?" or something like that, but he ignored it.

[malaise]

30. That's a yes then

I M P E A C H

[DemGa]

33. This is where playing dumb has an advantage

Clinton could never get away with this non-answer.

[valerief]

35. Any different response would be a shocker. nt

[TahitiNut]

37. It's beyond question - no matter how delusional - that Chimperor Disgustsus ordered it.

We're talking about two people who DIRECTLY reported to the Chimperor, without ANY other Constitutional role in government, in an administration that elevates personal LOYALTY to the BOSS above any other 'value,' who embarked upon a 'mission' not otherwise within the scope of their formal roles in government, taking extraordinary steps to coerce specious cover and concealment for the excesses of this regime. They had absolutely NO independent AUTHORITY to pressure an Attorney General themselves and could ONLY approach him on behalf of the Chimperor.

There's absolutely no possible interpretation that would absolve the Chimperor. None.

[grasswire]

40. yes, I noticed that

they were both part of his personal team. How DARE they interfere in the workings of the DoJ??!! How dare they impose an illegal spy program on the American people?

One is gone. The other is Attorney General.

[radfringe]

38. so why didn't he answer the question? pick one

1. He didn't know the answer.

2. His handlers didn't know the answer.

3. He hoped the reporters would just go away.

4. He's hiding something.

[leftchick]

39. the transcript is up...

PRESIDENT BUSH: That's right. Kelly O'Donnell.

Q Thank you, sir. There's been some very dramatic testimony before the Senate this week from one of your former top Justice Department officials, who describes a scene that some senators called "stunning," about a time when the wireless -- when the warrantless wiretap program was being reviewed. Sir, did you send your then Chief of Staff and White House Counsel to the bedside of John Ashcroft while he was ill to get him to approve that program? And do you believe that kind of conduct from White House officials is appropriate?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Kelly, there's a lot of speculation about what happened and what didn't happen; I'm not going to talk about it. It's a very sensitive program. I will tell you that, one, the program is necessary to protect the American people, and it's still necessary because there's still an enemy that wants to do us harm.

And therefore, I have an obligation to put in place programs that honor the civil liberties of the American people; a program that was, in this case, constantly reviewed and briefed to the United States Congress. And the program, as I say, is an essential part of protecting this country.

And so there will be all kinds of talk about it. As I say, I'm not going to move the issue forward by talking about something as highly sensitive -- highly classified subject. I will tell you, however, that the program is necessary.

Q Was it on your order, sir?

PRESIDENT BUSH: As I said, this program is a necessary program that was constantly reviewed and constantly briefed to the Congress. It's an important part of protecting the United States. And it's still an important part of our protection because there's still an enemy that would like to attack us. No matter how calm it may seem here in America, an enemy lurks. And they would like to strike. They

would like to do harm to the American people because they have an agenda. They want to impose an ideology; they want us to retreat from the world; they want to find safe haven. And these just aren't empty words, these are the words of al Qaeda themselves.

And so we will put in place programs to protect the American people that honor the civil liberties of our people, and programs that we constantly brief to Congress.


http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070517.html

[Ganja Ninja]

42. Doesn't sound like a "No" so it must be a yes. n/t

[DeepModem Mom]

43. Thank you, leftchick! And I see Think Progress has it. Now let's see if MSM...

picks it, and its significance, up.

Think Progress, via maddezmom: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x908296

[leftchick]

47. LBN thread

if this does not make the M$M news shows tonight there is not any hope for journalism in this country


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2849582

[DeepModem Mom]

48. Thank goodness! AP is a good start -- AP means it'll be widespread. nt

[Bumblebee]

50. So they decided not to include the happy-birthday-bit

because it did not work and she was, after all, not worth it? :)

[Trillo]

41. Interesting. Define "enemy".

Would that be "political" enemy?

[Blackhatjack]

44. She should have asked the question this way....

"Is there any reason to believe that you did not send Gonzales and Card to the hospital bedside of Mr. Ashcroft?"

Puts the burden on him to come up with reasons not to believe that statement is true.

[triguy46]

46. Not wavering in his tradition of "No straight answer for any question." nt

[Canuckistanian]

51. DAY ONE - Bush refuses to answer

When will he answer to America?.

(what will we tell the chilllllldren?)

[Raksha]

52. If there was any way Shrub could have denied it, he WOULD have....

as inconceivable as it is to think Gonzales and Card acted on their own authority, it's even MORE inconceivable that if they had, Shrub would have kept quiet about it. The great buck-passer and finger-pointer of all time, NOT take an opportunity to shift blame? Absolutely inconceivable. Of course he could have lied and said they took it upon themselves, but apparently that was too much of a whopper even for him. Or more likely, he already knows they won't take the fall for him, so the only out he has left is a non-denial denial.