MidEast Report

PRESIDENTIAL PRESS CONFERENCE
I thought he did relatively well, that is, according to the depressingly low expectations which we have all learned to bring to such appearances. Measured against the level of facility and command of facts which I think a modern society should be able to expect from its leaders, it was of course an embarassment from beginning to end. There were a lot of choice moments, I'll get to more of them later, but here was my hands-down favorite:

QUESTION: Mr. President, why are you and the vice president insisting on appearing together before the 9-11 commission? And, Mr. President, who will we be handing the Iraqi government over to on June 30th?

BUSH: We'll find that out soon. That's what Mr. Brahimi is doing. He's figuring out the nature of the entity we'll be handing sovereignty over.

And, secondly, because the 9-11 commission wants to ask us questions, that's why we're meeting. And I look forward to meeting with them and answering their questions.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) I was asking why you're appearing together, rather than separately, which was their request.

BUSH: Because it's a good chance for both of us to answer questions that the 9-11 commission is looking forward to asking us. And I'm looking forward to answering them.

And I'm looking forward to hearing him answering them. So everybody's looking forward to something.

posted by Matt Duss @ 10:40 AM