Ferrablog

Obviously, I'd be one of the last people to give an unbiased, dispassionate critique of the President's news conference performance last night. But even after the usual lowering of the bar (to a level of, say, Peter Dinklage at a limbo contest) for his performances, last night was still painful to watch. Tom Shales captured it best in the Washington Post:

One reporter even asked Bush if what we had here was a failure to communicate. Had he not clearly articulated his intentions to the American people? "Gosh, I don't know," Bush said in what seemed an unguarded, honest moment.

Bush similarly struggled, a few minutes earlier, to cite the single biggest mistake of his presidency. He looked baffled and incredulous. "I'm sure something will pop into my head here," he said, noting the intense "pressure" of holding a news conference on TV. Of course people watching throughout the country expect a president to be able to handle that kind of pressure without blinking, based on the assumption that this is one of the milder forms of pressure that come with the office.

Earlier still, Bush stopped in mid-answer and for a few seconds appeared to have lost his train of thought. Looking anxious, he fell back on phrases and thoughts he'd used earlier, saying he and the world changed after 9/11, which was a truism, and that in the 21st century, America is no longer protected by the oceans on either side. But that's been true since the invention of nuclear weapons and of missiles to deliver them from halfway around the world.

After being asked about why it was necessary to have Cheney present when he meets with the 9/11 commission, his answer was on the level of "homina, homina". It also seemed at times that he might have had a small transmitter in his ear and was being fed lines, as he'd flounder for a moment, then suddenly forcefully state a talking point. Of course, that may also be the way his brain works. His father wasn't exactly Clintonesque in his articulation either, but usually made sense and made a point in most instances.