So, Uh, Did Rummy Ever Get Back to You?

Radley Balko | September 24, 2007

This Bush Q&A from last April seems rather relevant now.

Comments

|9.24.07 @ 12:37PM|#

There's really very little reason not to string this guy up at this point.

|9.24.07 @ 12:45PM|#

Good christ he's a moron. I don't know what else to say...

|9.24.07 @ 12:53PM|#

Don't his handlers like prepare him and stuff? Like, you know, to artfully answer or even dodge questions? No one really expects the president to be an expert on everything, and, perhaps, it would be nice if they didn't pretend that they were. However, I don't exactly feel a great deal of confidence in the current occupant when he seems scared of some college kid (I assume) asking him a question.

|9.24.07 @ 12:58PM|#

Oops, my handlers screwed up. Let's restate: No one really expects presidents to be experts on everything, and, perhaps, it would be nice if they didn't pretend that they were.

W|9.24.07 @ 1:04PM|#

"...I'll be here all week..."

|9.24.07 @ 1:07PM|#

What Bush was thinking...

"I wander what Mr Cheney would want me to say..."

|9.24.07 @ 1:16PM|#

So, Uh, Did Rummy Ever Get Back to You?

What difference would it make? It sounds like Rumsfeld had lied to the questioner about Order 17 previously.

oncogenesis|9.24.07 @ 1:22PM|#

No one really expects the president to be an expert on everything

Sure, but the laughter all around -- from president, questioner, and audience alike -- does not bode well for the health of the republic.

The Extispicator|9.24.07 @ 1:28PM|#

W: So, Don, I had this question come up at a Q&A. What law applies to private contractors in Iraq?

Rummy: Well, Mr. President, that's an easy one. You see, [crinkles piece of paper near phone] oh, wait. Hold, on. I'm in a ... bad ... cell ... have to ... call .... later [hangs up].

|9.24.07 @ 1:33PM|#

oncogenesis,

Actually, I'd prefer that the presidency (and the rest of the federal government) be so weak that this sort of ignorance would be of little consequence.

|9.24.07 @ 1:39PM|#

I wish more politicians would occasionally admit "I don't know".

iih|9.24.07 @ 1:43PM|#

Four and half years into this and they don't know what law Blackwater has to abide by?

Question: When Blackwater operated in New Orleans under a state of emergency, what law did they have to follow? None?

|9.24.07 @ 1:45PM|#

Question: When Blackwater operated in New Orleans under a state of emergency, what law did they have to follow? None?

Don't be silly. Iraqi law, natch.

|9.24.07 @ 2:22PM|#

Maybe they have some mal-practice insurance?

You know, in case an operation goes badly?

Seriously, this is one time I'd be rooting for the Trial Lawyers.

|9.24.07 @ 3:39PM|#

I am not a fan of the President's by any stretch but it seems to me that the issue of private contractors, in a war zone, is interesting but a side issue.

Again, I'm no fan but I found the candor refreshing. I cannot recall another president as comfortable with the concept "I don't know."

I was also quite impressed with the questioner.

Bill Walsh

GILMORE|9.24.07 @ 3:45PM|#

Holy mother of zeus.

|9.24.07 @ 6:08PM|#

Bush:

That's how I work. I'm a...I'm a...

Puppet?!

|9.24.07 @ 7:38PM|#

William Walsh -- I don't disagree that it was refreshing to see a politician say "I don't know" when he didn't. For me, however, the problem wasn't the non-substance of the response, but the smirking, juvenile way Bush acted during the entire conversation. I really don't understand how anyone can look at him and think, "Leader."

|9.24.07 @ 8:17PM|#

"I am not a fan of the President's by any stretch but it seems to me that the issue of private contractors, in a war zone, is interesting but a side issue."

Total fucking bullshit.

William Walsh,

Take a wild guess at who represents the second largest security force in Iraq. You guessed it! It's the "side issue" guys!

So, to sum up for the pres and his obtuse fellow travelers, the second largest security force in Iraq is running around in the war zone of Bush's own creation, mowing people down at will, beholden to no laws, and it's a side issue for you and apparently to Bush. I guess it's on par with that Shia Sunni Kurd thing that Bush also chose not to learn about before he pushed for invasion.

So maybe you can help me out and let me know what the real issues are.

thoreau|9.24.07 @ 11:44PM|#

If he or any of the goons around him had realized how devastating her question was there's no way she would have been allowed to finish asking it. Her point about the Iraqi gov't being unable to enforce its laws was pretty much a perfect indictment of Bush's disaster.

Weird-O|9.25.07 @ 9:00AM|#

Bill Walsh, I think we've found a president who's terribly fond of the phrase, 'I don't know.' Perhaps he doesn't use it as often as he should, of course...