The House of Cards is Falling

A NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows Bush's approval rating among blacks to be 2%. If the margin of error is more than 2, his numbers could be negative. HA!

And Bush has long been unwilling or unable to face ordinary people and speak on his feet. The vast majority of his appearances outside the White House have been in front of military audiences under orders to go along with the White House script. Bush's painfully obvious choreographed appearances have long been noted, though little serious attention has been given this fact by the press.

But then again, until now, there weren't "pictures", to use the TV jargon for video tape. Unless they have tape, it isn't "news".

In a revealing incident yesterday, a mid-level pentagon flack was shown coaching and rehearshing a group of hand-picked soldiers in Tikrit Iraq prior to what the White House falsely claimed was a spontaneous "chat" between Bush and the soldiers.

But as usual, prior to going live, the camera was on and a signal was going out on the raw satellite feed, which is able to be picked up by anyone with access to the feed. It was picked up and aired by the media providing stark evidence of just how phoney Bush's appearances are, despite their suggesting otherwise. This mistake was being pointed to by some as evidence of Karl Rove's absence from the operation.

It showed a pentagon flack saying to the troops, "The president's going to ask some questions and he may ask all 6 of them, all 3 of them. He might have such a great time talking to you. He might come up with some new questions. So what we want to be prepared for is to not stutter. If there's a question that the president comes up with that we haven't drilled through today I expect the microphone to go through to you Captain Kennedy."

During the actual "chat", the soldiers were stiff and robotic, appearing as if they were making a hostage tape.

The Washingtom Post writes:

President Bush yesterday sought to rally U.S. troops behind his Iraq strategy -- and he and his aides left little to chance.

Before the president spoke via a video link, his event planners handpicked 10 soldiers from the Army's 42nd Infantry and one Iraqi soldier, told them what topics the president would ask about, and watched them briefly rehearse their presentations before going live.

The soldiers did not disappoint. Each one praised the president, the war and the progress in training Iraqi troops. Several spoke in a monotone voice, as if determined to remember and stay on script.

The Iraqi, Sgt. Maj. Akeel Shaker Nassir, who is in charge of the Iraqi army training facility in Tikrit, had only a few words for Bush, but they were gushing: "Thank very much for everything. I like you."

Nassir's comments came near the end of one of the stranger and most awkwardly staged publicity events of the Bush presidency. It started with Bush, in Washington standing at a lectern, talking to the soldiers via video on a large flat-screen. They sat shoulder to shoulder and stared dutifully at the camera.

The president's delivery was choppy, as he gazed frequently at his notes and seemed several times to be groping for the right words. Bush told the soldiers they are facing a "ruthless and coldblooded" enemy intent on "the killing of innocent people to get the American government to pull you out of there before the mission is accomplished."

Two days before Iraq votes on a new constitution that Bush considers essential to creating a democracy in the Middle East, he said the United States is making steady progress in defeating the insurgents and in training Iraqi troops to take over full control of the military operation.

"We got a strategy, and it's a clear strategy," Bush said. "On the one hand, we will hunt down these killers and terrorists and bring them to justice, and train the Iraqi forces to join us in that effort." The soldiers were in complete agreement.

The Defense Department yesterday provided Congress a markedly more sober assessment of the progress in Iraq. It touted advances in the development and involvement of Iraqi troops, but also noted a recent increase in the number of insurgent attacks and problems meeting targets for the production of electricity and oil. At the White House, spokesman Scott McClellan said the troops at Bush's event were told "what to expect."

Before they spoke, Allison Barber, a mid-level Pentagon official, helped coach the troops on who would be asked what by Bush. Afterward, according to Reuters, she told reporters that "we knew that the president was going to ask about security, coalition and training" but not the specific questions.

This not a new technique for Bush; his White House has perfected the public relations strategy of holding scripted events featuring the president's supporters. During the first part of the year, Bush traveled the country to discuss his Social Security plan, while aides stacked the audience with Republicans and tutored participants in these town hall events on what to say.