Press Conference

[frazzledspice]

I'm listening to the President's first press conference since last spring.

There was one question where I felt absolutely sure he had one of those little receivers in his ear and that people were feeding him answers (I saw this once on "Spin City" when the Mayor was debating.)

Someone asked him a question about Avian Flu.

He said, "Thank you for asking that question. I really appreciate it....."

And then there was just dead air.

After about 10 seconds of dead air, he started spouting all this information about bird flu, a mile a minute, as if he had known it all along....

I am not an admirer of President Bush (as most of you know) but this really bothered me.

Is anyone else listening? What was your impression?

[erik_kosberg]

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...0051004-1.html

The policy decisions for a President in dealing with an avian flu outbreak are difficult. One example: If we had an outbreak somewhere in the United States, do we not then quarantine that part of the country, and how do you then enforce a quarantine? When -- it's one thing to shut down airplanes; it's another thing to prevent people from coming in to get exposed to the avian flu. And who best to be able to effect a quarantine? One option is the use of a military that's able to plan and move.

Whoa. Does anyone think that such a quarantine could be effectively enforced?

[rmthunter]

One option is the use of a military that's able to plan and move.

What about an exit strategy for quarantined areas?

[poseidon]

Then, when an avian flu outbreak doesn't materialize, guess who will accuse the president of lying about a flu outbreak?

[rmthunter]

Ok, I give -- who?

[erik_kosberg]

Nobody, but that doesn't matter?

[rmthunter]

Wouldn't it be simpler just to be sure that we have adquate supplies of vaccine on hand? There are also apparently a couple of drugs that are useful in treatment -- how about sufficient supplies of those?

I really have to wonder why any possible crisis, real or imagined, evokes an immediate response of "more power to the federal government and we'll use the military."

[drmomentum[$]]

If the president doesn't have a plan in place to nuke any major US city that has an avian flu outbreak, yes I blame him.

So, what were we smoking again?

-JP

[nicholmere]

The other is to embed our troops with Iraqi forces to teach them not only how to fight, but how to have a proper command and control structure

"embed" - It sounds so permanent.

I think it's essential that people own something if they're going to have a stake in the future of the country. I think part of the divide occurs because some people own a home and others don't. I think there's something so powerfully healing about a society in which more and more people have ownership.

He is just so out of touch with reality. How on earth could everyone in a city own a home? Are apartment dwellers less interested in the future of the country than home owners?

frazzledspice said

There was one question where I felt absolutely sure he had one of those little receivers in his ear and that people were feeding him answers

I am convinced he is a robot.

[erik_kosberg]

Not robot, Borg. It does explain a lot.

[drmomentum[$]]

It took 10 seconds for them to upload the avian flu data into the president's brain?

What are they using, a 300 Baud modem?

-JP

[erik_kosberg]

“Unqualified Crony in Charge of Pandemic Response”

I feel safer already.

[frazzledspice]

Thanks for the link to the press conference.

And there's a spray, as you know, that can maybe help arrest the spread of the disease, which is in relatively limited supply.

Well, heck, if the disease is in relatively limited supply, what are we so worried about?

My, oh, my, it reads even worse than it sounds.