The Bush and Blair Press Conference

Yeah, I watched it. Did I gain any new insight from watching it? No, I can't say that I did. Immigration wasn't brought up. Neither was the Plame case. NSA wiretapping wasn't brought up from the time I turned on the television. What was mainly discussed? Iraq and Iran.

It amazes me how they're able to look people straight in the eye, speak with confidence and certainty, and be lying about what they're saying. Perhaps, since they've spoken these lines time and time again, these words seem accurate and real to them. It's the mere-exposure effect. The more often they hear these same words spoken, the more likely it is that they'll start to believe these very words.

What did Bush and Blair state time and time again? That the war is about spreading democracy and freedom. Freedom is a universal concept and should be experienced and shared by all. They make it sound like this was the plan all along. No, sorry, this whole "democracy-spreading" idea wasn't mentioned until plans A-C failed. So, while Bush, Blair, and others would like us to believe that their plan all along was to spread freedom and democracy in Iraq, I don't know how else to say it, but they're full of you know what. Blair subtly lead on with the false dilemma. He didn't state outright, "You're either with us or against us" like Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, and others did. But, that's what he was basically leading on at times, only in a more sly and sophisticated manner. Blair is a good speaker, much better than Bush. But, what's that really saying?

Then, after the conference, some "analyst" on MSNBC stated that 90-95% of all Iraqis want U.S. Troops to stay put. I don't know why, but I can't see how this is possible. How many Iraqis have been killed in this war? We don't even know. We'll never know an exact number. But, let's just estimate a minimum of 30,000-35,000. Multiply that by seven friends or family members who want to get back at the U.S. for their loved one's death and that's 210,000-245,000 and that's just a rough estimate. There's no way that 9 out of 10 Iraqis want us to stay put. Imagine if Iraq sent an army to our country to alter our government. Do you really think that 9 out of 10 Americans would want the Iraqi army to stay put? It'd be the direct opposite. Nine out of ten would want them out of the country. Heck, the majority of Americans want to send hard-working minorities back to their respective countries. Imagine the overwhelming majority of Americans who'd want to send an army trying to transform our government and culture back to where they came from.

What cracked me up during the conference? Besides the lies? Besides the dodging of questions? Besides the answering everything but the questions that were asked? One question that Bush did answer (sort of). He was asked what his biggest mistake or regret was during this war. Besides the events at Abu Ghraib, his biggest mistake was his "cowboyish" rhetoric at times that got misinterpreted by some around the world. What rhetoric was this? "Bring 'em on!" and "Wanted dead or alive!" Yeah, that was his biggest mistake. He even mentioned this before he mentioned Abu Ghraib. The weapons of mass destruction claim wasn't brought up. Neither was the link between Iraq and Al Qaeda or Iraq and Osama Bin Laden. The misestimation of how much we'd spend on this war wasn't brought up. Nope, just his "cowboyish" sayings. Has he learned from that? Oh yes, he has, so he said. He certainly has, so don't go expecting any more, "Bring 'em on!"-type sayings anytime soon from the president, because he's a new man. He's learned from that most dreadful mistake.

Lies, lies, more lies, euphemisms, fallacies, avoidance, and did I mention lies? That's about all you need to know about the press conference. One could have the television on mute and anytime either Blair or Bush opened their mouth, you could point and say, "That's a lie!" and be accurate 90-95% of the time.