We're All Harry Taylor

Yesterday, during one of of the President's carefully hand-selected 'war on terror' town hall PR meetings, a bit of truth snuck in through Mr. Harry Taylor who probably will not be getting an invite to the President's next speech in town...

Q You never stop talking about freedom, and I appreciate that. But while I listen to you talk about freedom, I see you assert your right to tap my telephone, to arrest me and hold me without charges, to try to preclude me from breathing clean air and drinking clean water and eating safe food. If I were a woman, you’d like to restrict my opportunity to make a choice and decision about whether I can abort a pregnancy on my own behalf. You are –

THE PRESIDENT: I’m not your favorite guy. Go ahead. (Laughter and applause.) Go on, what’s your question?

Q Okay, I don’t have a question. What I wanted to say to you is that I — in my lifetime, I have never felt more ashamed of, nor more frightened by my leadership in Washington, including the presidency, by the Senate, and –

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: No, wait a sec — let him speak.

Q And I would hope — I feel like despite your rhetoric, that compassion and common sense have been left far behind during your administration, and I would hope from time to time that you have the humility and the grace to be ashamed of yourself inside yourself.

The President thanked him and wanted on to say that he would not apologize for his decisions in regards to the wiretapping. You can read the transcript of this exchange- here. The President's response is a non-stop parade of spin. He clearly expects/knows most people don't know enough about this scandal to tell the difference... Let's play a game; see if you can count the lies. I got four just on a first reading (Bush's legal support crew came up with the idea of this program, not people in the security/law enforcement agencies; the idea of listening to Al Qaeda's phone calls wasn't a new one, the issue here is the laws that govern that; the decision was taken to Congress only after the fact, and late in the game, to only a few members who were not allowed to voice any public objections; and FBI officials and others have confirmed the program was not used on a limited basis). How many did you get?

Video- here.



The best part? Look at the women in that picture... they're so scandalized!

And they booed him. They booed a man for voicing his opinion. Bush's bubble must be comfy.

Meanwhile, in the real world, the President and the GOP's ratings have hit new lows.

[See also the AP article- Bush Defends Surveillance Policy]