The stuff coming out of the White House is getting more and more ridiculous every day. Even our very docile and well-trained press corps couldn't keep quite about this one: Ari Fleischer was being pressed about White House deals where we were offering favors to Mexico and Colombia (guest worker programs and so forth) in exchange for their support for our invading Iraq. After much fumbling of the question, Mr. Fleischer replied "You're saying that the leaders of other nations are buyable. And that is not an acceptable proposition."
This was too much for the reporters and they laughed him out of the briefing.
You can read about it at the White House site or, if you prefer to watch the fun (as I did), go to C-Span and click on the White House Press Briefing (02/25/2003) link. Go about 28 minutes into the video and start watching.
I have to admit that when I heard him say that, my jaw dropped and I was wondering how the heck he kept a straight face. Hearing the press corps laughter reassured me that I wasn't the only one (thank goodness).
MR. FLEISCHER: This is a time -- no, the President is not offering quid pro quos.
Hmm...where have we heard that before...?
Re:Our docile and well-trained press corps
TorgoX on 2003-02-26T16:50:54
Yup, those kooky foreigners. I find that the US press is in general not totally feckless, but nowhere as perseverant with their questions as other presses. I guess the US press doesn't want to be seen as giving anyone a hard time. It's a laudable goal, but at worst it just makes journalists into glorified stenographers.
