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Carole Coleman's Bush interview not bad international |
anti-war / imperialism |
opinion/analysis
 Thursday June 24, 2004 23:46 by Eoin Dubsky
 When I saw Carole Coleman trying to press George Bush for answers on Iraq tonight on Prime Time, it reminded me of her better days as RTE's environmental news reporter. Carole Coleman interviewed George Bush in the White House for RTE's Primetime tonight, on a day dominated by the news of carnage in Iraq. She didn't quite make a citizen's arrest, but she put him on the spot and left him in no doubt what sort of a welcome he can expect tomorrow in Ireland. { indy editor note: listen to the MP3 of the interview: http://radio.indymedia.org/uploads/rte-carol-coleman-bush.mp3 {indy editor note: read the transcript courtesy of the Whitehouse here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/06/20040625-2.html |
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Why should she? He is a liar and a war criminal, why repsect someone who is constantly acting when the camera is arround???
I say put him, and all those behind him pulling his strings, into jail!
President or not, justice should prevail, expose all his evil doing and get things right!
And for those that don't know, or deny, the truth, here's the facts, and facts cannot lie:
http://www.scholarsfor911truth.org/
Please read the simple facts with an open mind, and then you'll agree with my pretty straightforward thinking....
What the heck does "bleeding hearts" have to do with anything? Don't you ever get tired of saying that ridiculous phrase?
The thing you're missing about her interrupting the Great and Glorious Man-God Bush, is that she only had a ten-minute allotment to ask questions and have them answered, and didn't want to see it filled with the same stock digressive pablum answers he spoons out over and over again. To hell with courtesy.... too seldom is it already that any serious questions are asked of him. Politeness and courtesy are not important enough to let them be a refuge for the President to avoid accountablity to the public.
after reading many of the comments it was interesting to view the interview, in truth in wasnt that tough an interview.
If you are invited to do an interview or you accept a request for an interview then I guess it is basic good manners to answer the questions put forward instead of getting angry about simple questions or doe eyed when asked about your relationship with god,
for me it was more weird to read the various comments and to see a lot of peoples complete over reaction to the interview, finding insults and attacks everywhere, chill out people, its not much of a surprise the worlds in the state it is when such a simple interview can cause such over reactions
Boy, mainstream Republicans sure can dish it out but, I´ll be damned if you can take it. I´m amazed that this type of interviewing is a surprise to anyone. I think it´s a real testament to the corporate media where everyone is so used to pre-scripted fully rehearsed crap that any deviation is seen as some kind of insult to their pride. You know, I think right now your whining is drowning out the quote unquote Democrates white noise. LIsten, I would take you guys more seriously if you were able to critisize Bush as well as rant for him.
Please reply. I dare you. Evron
I know this shows no tact but mine went out the window when we started slaughtering the third world in the name of Beer, Bean Dip and making love in the back of recreational vehicles.
My Inaugural Address at the Great White Throne Judgment of the Dead, after I have raptured out billions!
At: http://www.angelfire.com/crazy/spaceman/
Your jaw will drop!
eschatology,End Times,second coming,rapture,secret rapture,Second Resurrection,Great White Throne Judgment of the Dead,
End of days,Day of the Lord,Endtime,Judgment Day
Just saw the interview for the first time of Irish tv with Bush. Whatever cretin penned the previous post to which I am responding I will say the chimp did not aquit himself well, but showed lack of class due to never being challenged like that from an obsequious American press. It took a woman from Ireland to show this dirtbag what an impetuous privileged creep he is when he kept interupting her not her interupting him. He wanted to filibuster and dance around questions as he is allowed to by the joke that is the American media. Everytime he has his staged public appearances with selected audiences he can only read from the script that Rove has written. This brave lady tried to get him to impromptu respond to questions and he couldn't and wouldn't do it. I am proud to be an American, but I am ashamed of my government
You nazi loving "bush supporters" make me sick. deferential treatment is expected for the prez?? are you kidding? what planet are YOU from??? what about the way they went after clinton?
i am not Irish, by the way, but Alabamian.
i think Carole did a wonderful job. you can't just let these fuckers just babble away like that! you have to sometimes shut them up! interrupt them! like Amy Goodman's interview with Clinton. I understand he was not too happy with the lashing Amy gave him, interrupting his answers, which were the same stuff he always tried to say.
also, bush is not the president anyway; he is an anomoly. rage against rightwing politics is relentless. someone said the "logic" of the right. are you insane, or completely dumb? no, you are obviously all suicidal. so i don't support the prez, at all, and that makes me prosaddam?? does that mean that those that didn't like clinton were supporting kosovar violence?
i don't care for the rightwing bill clinton too much, that was for the sake of making an example.
all you rightwingers should leave the usa. we do not need you. we have real problems here that need real solutions, not recycled josef goebbels propagandary and bs that would make orwell roll over in his grave.
bush is a fanatical fascist falling apart and you all are more than welcome to go down with him. you get no sympathy from me, you sick f***s!!!!
....By now the White House had vented its anger to the Irish embassy in Washington. To make matters worse for the administration, the interview had made its way onto American television and CNN was replaying it around the world and by the end of the day it had been aired in Baghdad.
Had I been fair? Should I just have been more deferential to George Bush? I felt that I had simply done my job and shuddered at the thought of the backlash I would surely have faced in Ireland had I not challenged the president on matters that had changed the way America was viewed around the world.
Afterwards I bumped straight into the taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, who was waiting to go on air.
“Howya,” he said, winking.
“I hope this hasn’t caused you too much hassle, taoiseach,” I blurted.
“Arrah, don’t worry at all; you haven’t caused me one bit of hassle,” he smiled wryly.
I don’t know what he said to the president, who reportedly referred to the interview immediately upon arrival, but if the taoiseach was annoyed with me or with RTE, he didn’t show it.
When I returned to my little world on the street called M in Washington, I felt a tad more conspicuous than when I’d left for Ireland. Google was returning more than 100,000 results on the subject of the 12-minute interview. The vast majority of bloggers felt it was time a reporter had challenged Bush.
At the White House, the fact that I had been asked to submit questions prior to the interview generated enquiries from the American press corps. “Any time a reporter sits down with the president they are welcome to ask him whatever questions they want to ask,” Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, told the CBS correspondent Bill Plante.
“Yes, but that’s beside the point,” replied Plante.
Under repeated questioning, McClellan conceded that other staff members might have asked for questions. “Certainly there will be staff-level discussion, talking about what issues reporters may want to bring up in some of these interviews. I mean that happens all the time.”
I had not been prevented from asking any of my questions. The only topics I had been warned away from were the Bush daughters Jenna and Barbara, regular fodder for the tabloids, and Michael Moore — neither of which was on my list.
Q Mr. President, you are a man who has a great faith in God. I've heard you say many times that you strive to serve somebody greater than yourself.
THE PRESIDENT: Right.
Q Do you believe that the hand of God is guiding you in this war on terror?
THE PRESIDENT: Listen, I think that God -- that my relationship with God is a very personal relationship. And I turn to the good Lord for strength. And I turn to the good Lord for guidance. I turn to the good Lord for forgiveness.
But the God I know is not one that -- the God I know is one that promotes peace and freedom. But I get great sustenance from my personal relationship. That doesn't make me think I'm a better person than you are, by the way. Because one of the great admonitions in the Good Book is, don't try to take a speck out of your eye if I've got a log in my own.
Q You're going to meet Bertie Ahern when you arrive in Shannon Airport tomorrow. I guess he went out on a limb for you, presumably because of the great friendship between our two countries. Can you look him in the eye when you get there and say, it will be worth it, it will work out?
THE PRESIDENT: Absolutely. I wouldn't be doing this, I wouldn't have made the decisions I did if I didn't think the world would be better. Of course. I'm not going to put people in harm's way, our young, if I didn't think the world would be better. And --
Q Why is it that others --
THE PRESIDENT: Let me finish.
And so, yes, I can turn to my friend, Bertie Ahern, and say, thank you, thanks for helping, and I appreciate it very much. And there will be other challenges, by the way.
Just noticed the other critiques, you've got to be kidding! She called him on his lies repeatedly! And if you were subject to the robots of our Washinton DC whithouse press corps you would and should consider this woman a hero. As far as her looks, what are you smoking? she's fine as hell. Can you imagine the Bebe suit and the chairs when the cameras are off? You guys are obviously Kool Aid drinkers because this woman has received much praise for the past two years,
Well, it's about time. Amazing that a woman with one time access to Bush got a better interview than all his 20 press conferences put together. Bravo!!
Sir,
George W. Bush has a LONG history of lying, committing crimes, and being a bully, all of which he is used to doing with impunity because of his family name. He acted exactly as I expected him to act in this interview. He shut out her questions and spouted out the same canned bullshit answers that he usually does. This man has had, BY FAR, the fewest press conferences of any U.S. president in modern history and it is obvious to those who know him why. What does he have to fear by letting her ask her questions? Answer me that....a tough good-ole-boy like him?...a military man (well, not quite)?
It has been shown TIME AND TIME AGAIN that this man is an incompetent leader. Do you know what he and his brave administration did despite repeated warnings about airplane hijackings many months before 9/11?......DICK, that's what! Killing people is an absolute LAST RESORT, yet this man marched into Iraq with NO HARD EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER. There are literally books and books of information that are meticulously researched which show his dishonesty in amazing detail. This world will be better off when he is defeated in November.
..............................Bush SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do yourselves a Favour and elect Kerry and Edwards for the sake of your country.
God bless America...............and Ireland.
Rather the hatchet-faced wench, this can't be the best Ireland has to offer. Poorly framed questions allowed the nitwit murderer to go to his memorized responses. Unskilled, run-of-the-mill interview techniques cannot upset a practiced liar like duhbya. You get a shot at bush and that's the best she can do? This chick belongs doing cookie recipes and getting a nose job.
As hard-nosed as Carole was, she apparently did not have either the facts or the time to call Bush on his lies. America gives more foreign aid than anyone? Not even close. Compared with other developed nations the US is among the most miserly. Food aid? The US uses food as a weapon in it's foreign policy war against the rest of the world. The fact is that the rest of the world understands all too well that the action of "a few soldiers" in Abu Grahib (sp?) does, in fact, represent the "values" of the United States. Take a look at its own prison system for evidence of this ugly truth. Bush is a dangerous man, and his actions have made the world a much more dangerous place. There is certainly enough evidence for him to be impeached for war crimes. The UN never intended, nor did it approve the US (and UK) actions in Iraq, nor did it authorize the no-fly zones. The US continues to obey the rules as it benefits the US, and ignores them whenever it chooses. It is the US that is the major threat to world peace, is the biggest arms supplier, and the nation that truly is the world's leading terrorist nation. Simply because the US has the technology that allows it to kill from a distance does not place its actions into a diffferent category from toerh terrorists. Unprovoked aggression is a war crime, and ought to be punished accordingly (not that the US would accept the authority of anyone other than itself; the World Court ruling as regards Nicaragua, eg.) What other nation in the world has used nuclear weapons against civilian populations, apart from the US? The world will only become safer when these myopic and misguided politicians are removed from power.
First, I am amazed by the obviously coordinated right-wing spamming of these boards!
In "the land of freedom and peace-loving liberty" that is BushAmerica, the Bush crew continues to shred the US Constitution.
Crackpot right-wingers rabidly shout down anyone who dares question Bush, an Orwellian shouter of double-speak lies.
Bush is the little man in the Trojan Horse, spouting cliches about freedom and democracy while he kills what little is left of american corporate democracy.
We americans are such corporate media puppets that we let it happen. Gore's people rolled over in Florida with a whimper.
Bush's Texas crew were those screaming crazed stormtroopers who terrorized the vote counters and scared off Gore.
Remember 2000. Keep a hard shell. Focus.
"What was revealed here (I'm an American) is Bush's belief that he should never be questioned--he was condescending, illogical, and typically rambling. It's shameful."
VOTE!
Bush just can't seem to get the full picture can he.If he wins another term he will go after Iran?????What is this man trying to prove.He's already an asshole,dumbass and a mass murderer.He thinks he's great because he freed Iraq from the work of Saddam(oh by the way dubya where are the weapons of mass destruction?)I'm Irish I'm 15 and still I know more about whats happening in Iraq more than he knows well............................how to be the biggest spanner to enter this universe.Going back to the interview carol was asking him questions whilst in the meantime Bush was talking about what he had for dinner the night before.His father sucked as president and so does he,well its good to see he's carrying on the family tradition.Maybe he should go on a little trip to Iraq and see how the prisoners are being treated.Why would you free a country from the tyrant and then abuse the people more times than Saddam.And his visit to Ireland was the biggest load of crap I've ever seen in my life.Lets build a big ring of steel around dromoland castle and get 5000 troops for a man who was there for 18 hours and he would be asleep for around 10,11 of those.Millions of the taxpayers money was wasted for a man we didn't want to enter our country in the first place.
I pity every american citizen at the moment.
You're quite right about that "enemy combatant" classification being against the Geneva Conventions. So is having ghost detainees and detention centers that aren't registered with the red cross and other humanitarian groups, but we're doing that too. In times of war, America has a way of disregarding not only International law, but domestic law and civil liberties. Basically the executive branch tries to become as powerful as possible in times of war, and uses the catch-all phrase of "protecting national security" to excuse any violations incurred during this time. I do have faith in my country though (NOT in this administration) and if anything, I have faith in the courts to see through this bullshit and cut to the chase. Rule of law is what makes america a REAL democracy, not flag waving, duplicitious rhetoric from congress and the president. I'm so happy that the "detainees" have been granted the basic right of haebius corpus (forgive the spelling) by our supreme court, that they may finally contest their detention. I would like to see them tried in a FEDERAL court and not a military tribunal though. I love how the people of this country commit a grevous error, then turn around and forget it, only to commit it again. Makes you wonder when we'll ever learn.
Isn't is absolutely, mind-bogglingly funny that the US is going mad about foreign combatants in Iraq?
Yes, but who determines whether you are a foreign combatant? According to article 4 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which are recognised by the Constitution of the US as legally binding (domestically, as are other international treaties ratified by the US), it should be an independent tribunal. Unfortunately, however, the detainees at Guantanamo and at various other detention centres run by the US around the world used to hold 'terrorists' or 'foreign combatants' have not had an opportunity to have their status determined by any tribunal, never mind an independent one. Therefore, the US is violating the Geneva Conventions and its own law in detaining these men as 'foreign combatants'.
What was revealed here (I'm an American) is Bush's belief that he should never be questioned--he was condescending, illogical, and typically rambling. It's shameful.
We specifically say we're not anti-american we're anti-bush.Not once did we say ''we hate america'' no we said ''we hate bush''.why would we hate america they provide us with a vast majority of jobs here and there are an odd 30 million irish people in america.I love America.I haven't been there yet but I am hoping to.So I've got that clearly stated so think again when you tell us to Fuck off.Oh and by the way Ireland was neutral during the war so technically we wouldn't have been affected by it anyway.
listen to the person who called carol a flea bag i think your extremely wrong on this matter.Carol was doing her job by asking bush questions that needed to be answered just because nobody else had the guts to say anything like that to him doesn't mean she shouldn't.I thought it was great but i didn't realise it was that bad cause a few days later i heard the whitehouse wrote a letter to bertie saying to get rid of her but he refused cause after all he is a politician and he's not exactly going to give up that easily.She's also not irresponsible(and other irish journalists).If Bush didn't want those questions to be asked he should not have become a politician and clearly you have not seen an irish politician being interviewed because believe me as far as i'm concerned bush got off fairly easily
carol well done for a great job!!!
Well done. Finally an interview with Bush with questions put to him that he didn't choose.
Bush is controlling USA's media with scripted interviews and banning of coverage of the war dead.
If a soldier dies for his country the country should be able to grieve publicly, it is a travesty that these dead boys and girls in the US forces are not given this degree of respect.
Just because Bush wants no coverage of funerals and coffins and families of the dead soldiers.
God bless our troops and the Iraqi civilians
God help our troops to act humanely.
God help the AMerican people elect Kerry and Edwards, to bring back the traditional allies of the USA.
Peace.
On June 24th, on the eve of the President's visit to Ireland, Carole Coleman, a reporter for RTE, Irish public television, arrived at the White House for an interview with George Bush. As part of a general White House policy of tightly controlling the press, questions were submitted in advance ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20268-2004Jul1.html ) and she was not even allowed to use her own cameramen and technicians but "was taped by White House staff television technicians." ( http://www.irishecho.com/newspaper/story.cfm?id=14792 )
More links and info....
http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=1543
Dear G,
Gee G, if you're going to gain glee from other people's gastrointestinal ruminations, like my friend R (inv)Isible, give great credit where credit is due. Don't ignore the follow ups I posted for R.
Even in Texas a little gentility of discourse would be appreciated.
When you decried my so-called lack of response to R, you conveniently forgot to include the fact that I included a couple of answers to him/her as teasers to further conversation. Unfortunately, R had no interest in anything other than unfettered access to toadying left-leaning acolytes like the majority of the responders on this so-called "independent" media outlet. (Kind of clever. First liberals decided to be called 'progressives', because that terminology didn't have negative baggage. Now, it's shifted to 'independent'. It's hard to keep tracking you folks down. Stick with one moniker and be happy, for heaven's sake!)
As for your 'libertarian' bent... true libertarians don't shill for liberal causes as do you. True libertarians adopt a 'live and let live, just don't screw with my territory' philosophy. If you're a libertarian, what's up with the "not to rescue a clueless president's approval ratings and enrich his oil and defense buddies with non-competitive, fraudulently executed government contracts" screech in your email?
As long as it doesn't impugn on your ability to live to yourself, why should you care?
Oddly, this looks very similar to most left/liberal attitudes you'll find here. Say it isn't so, Joe.
Also, when did libertarians become conspiracy theorists? Engaging in revisionist history (ie. Pearl Harbor) wouldn't seem to be a favorite occupation of libertarians, either, would it? Or are you still watching out for those black unmarked helicopters that the left was screaming about in the early '90's?
Anyhow, ask away if you want to engage. And next time, leave your email addy. It's an indication of strength of character.
Thanks, S
P.S. For those of you who keep sending me viruses just because you love leftist cyberterrorism in anonymity, I can only say "I'm flattered to be of such great concern to you." Get a life. Preferably one with a clue.
What are you on about European journalists being more "respectful" than Carole Coleman?
If you look at the British and Italians, coincidentally the US closest allies in Iraq journalists have been fired for asking awkward questions as in the David Kelly affair and Lilli Gruber's departure from RAI Uno again over her coverage of the illegal occupation of Iraq.
The fact is that right wing elements like you see no reason to question the behaviour of governments even when they are obviously doing wrong.
The best response to this is to take them on at the polls.
Top Italian TV news reader quits
Lilli Gruber resigned after criticising Berlusconi over his media influence
A leading television journalist in Italy has resigned from her job, after criticising Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi over his media influence.
Lilli Gruber quit state broadcaster Rai, saying the corporation mainly reflected the government's views and Mr Berlusconi's "unresolved conflict of interest" hurt Italian democracy.
She says she will run in the European elections as an opposition candidate.
Given that we are living in a government controlled media dictatorship hopefully Irish and British journalists will take a leaf out of Lilli Grubers book by taking on the autocratic 3 B's (Bush-Blair-Berlusconi) and beating them like she did.
---------------------------------------------------
Famous TV journalist beats Berlusconi in elections
---------------------------------------------------
Famous Italian TV news reader Lilli Gruber, who had resigned from state
broadcaster Rai after criticising Silvio Berlusconi's media influence,
received double the number of votes he obtained. Italian prime minister
Silvio Berlusconi suffered a big defeat in the European Parliament
elections, where his party was beaten by his arch rival Commission
President Romano Prodi’s centre-left ‘Ulivo’ coalition. "I take full
responsibility", Mr Berlusconi said referring to the decline in votes of
his party, putting the blame for the government's bad result on the
current negative economic cycle. Mr Berlusconi had hoped to attract
votes by heading the lists of his Forza Italia party. But famous TV news
reader Lilli Gruber, who ran with the ‘Ulivo’, got double the number of
votes he obtained. "I beat the master of TV", Ms Gruber said, who had
resigned from state broadcaster Rai after criticising Mr Berlusconi's
media influence.
Source: http://euobserver.com/?sid=9&aid=16627 - EUObserver.com
The sooner we rid ourselves of these tin-pot dictators the better for real democracy!
The Bush team has made it clear to US journalist, if you ask tough questions you wont be invited back to meet the president. Ask Helen Thomas the most senior White House correspondent.
One could call the Bush teams tactics a from of censorship, but apparently US Citizens find it acceptable.
By the way Mr. Bush must have a different Bible than most of us...
European interviewers are certainly robust, and ask their eladers searching questions but they're not rude and ignorant like that Coleman creature. God, she's a disgrace to Irish people.
For the benefit of all Americans (left or right) I would like to make it clear that Coleman's interviewing technique is standard fare over here in Europe.
Our journalists actually DARE to ask questions as opposed to kissing arse. Bush wouldn't last 5 minutes as a politician over here......
THEROC said:
"I guess Britain is a better friend to us than Ireland"
NOPE! I can assure you, Bush is despised just as much here. Blair has had to expend ALOT of political capital to support him.
All of you folks who say that Coleman was "rude" need your heads examined! This style of interview is standard fare over here in Europe. Your media would do well to grill your leaders harder.
Just becuase he is President doesn't mean he should be immune from strong questioning! If harder questioning had been given in the first instance the rationale for the Iraq war might have foundered before any civilians lost their lives.
Don't you people find it obscene that a president can order the bombing of a city; order, by proxy, the deaths of hundreds or thousands of people and yet you feel that a journalist shouldn't subject him to tough questioning?
Simply unbelievable.....
Dear Ireland - So sorry that you had to be exposed to our lame embarrassment of a president . What is even sadder is that polls show 42% of Americans steadfastly stand behind this president. That's beyond sad, it's frightening. I'm so grateful that the internet gives me the opportunity to read broadly. If only Air Force One would get rid of Sports Illustrated and supplant it with worldwide newspapers and a diverse variety of magazines. Alas, he'd probably just read the headlines (the heck with knowledge) and then turn to the Bible for strength. !
How I wish more USA folks would listen to news from other nations. Ms. Coleman was super. Bush was his usual arrogant - and incompetant self. Believe me, any body but Bush is my motto. (For awhile we had the letters "ABB" going around to make that statment!) Many of us here know, that if John Kerry is elected......he really won't be elected, it will be because Bush is NOT elected.
I would be overjoyed if both the Republican and Democrat candidates stepped down and the parties then selected candidates who were good men without hidden agendas and histories of deception.
An American
PS I also want to believe in the tooth fairy.
If given the option, I'm sure baby Bush would have filled up the entire 11 minutes with his empty "freedom" rhetoric. Iraq is no more free than it was before the US, illegaly and under false pretenses, invaded the place. The fact is, Bush NEVER has a good answer to a good question. Apparently for some on the right, all he has to do is state his good intentions and he's home free. Oh the US is such a freedom-loving country. He knows that's a load of shit. Our government has been complicit in numerous overthrows of legitimate democracies that didn't go along with US dictates. How about Vietnam and Chile and El Salvador? Where was the love for freedom then? Come on people. This empty, untruthful rhetoric. It feels good but its not real!!!
> It should be fairly easy to impune such a right-wing, hawkish media outlet as the BBC
Yes, it is actually.
> The Brits and the Poles are just Bush lapdogs anyway.
Duh ! If not as supine lapdogs, then how else would you describe these snivelling worms.
Fact is, the only European country with any real balls in this affair is France, though the new Spanish government has the guts to stand up to Bush as well.
It's amazing how many Yanks think that the BBC is leftist or anti-war. Then again, they also think that CNN stands for "Commie News Network". There simply is no common language in which to discourse with people who think that "Apres Fox, the anti-semitic commie Saddamite Jihadis".
For your information, the BBC news routinely echoes Pentagon communiques as the whole news and nothing but the news, and confidently ascribes each new attack in Iraq to "Islamic militants".
Only a few of their reports break through the fog of lies, and an audit published shortly after the war showed definitively that the BBC gave less airtime to anti-war voices than other British news channels, and it even ranked behind CNN and Murdoch's Sky.
Published on Tuesday, June 29, 2004 by the Capital Times / Madison, Wisconsin
Pampered Bush Meets a Real Reporter
by John Nichols
On the eve of his recent sojourn in Europe, President Bush had an unpleasant run-in with a species of creature he had not previously encountered often: a journalist.
He did not react well to the experience.
Bush's minders usually leave him in the gentle care of the White House press corps, which can be counted on to ask him tough questions about when his summer vacation starts.
Apparently under the mistaken assumption that reporters in the rest of the world are as ill-informed and pliable as the stenographers who "cover" the White House, Bush's aides scheduled a sit-down interview with Carole Coleman, Washington correspondent for RTE, the Irish public television network.
Coleman is a mainstream European journalist who has conducted interviews with top officials from a number of countries - her January interview with Secretary of State Colin Powell was apparently solid enough to merit posting on the State Department's Web site.
Unfortunately, it appears that Coleman failed to receive the memo informing reporters that they are supposed to treat this president with kid gloves. Instead, she confronted him as any serious journalist would a world leader.
She asked tough questions about the mounting death toll in Iraq, the failure of U.S. planning, and European opposition to the invasion and occupation. And when the president offered the sort of empty and listless "answers" that satisfy the White House press corps - at one point, he mumbled, "My job is to do my job" - she tried to get him focused by asking precise follow-up questions.
The president complained five times during the course of the interview about the pointed nature of Coleman's questions and follow-ups - "Please, please, please, for a minute, OK?" the hapless Bush pleaded at one point, as he demanded his questioner go easy on him.
After the interview was done, a Bush aide told the Irish Independent newspaper that the White House was concerned that Coleman had "overstepped the bounds of politeness."
As punishment, the White House canceled an exclusive interview that had been arranged for RTE with first lady Laura Bush.
Did Coleman step out of line? Of course not. Watch the interview (it's available on the www.rte.ie Web site) and you will see that Coleman was neither impolite nor inappropriate. She was merely treating Bush as European and Canadian journalists do prominent political players. In Western democracies such as Ireland, reporters and politicians understand that it is the job of journalists to hold leaders accountable.
The trouble is that accountability is not a concept that resonates with our president. The chief executive who gleefully declares that he does not read newspapers cannot begin to grasp the notion that journalists might have an important role to play in a democracy. And, if anything, the hands-off approach of the White House press corps has reinforced Bush's conceits.
Bush would be well served by tougher questioning from American journalists, especially those who work for the television networks. And it goes without saying that more and better journalism would be a healthy corrective for our ailing democracy.
Come to think of it, maybe one of the American networks should hire Carole Coleman and make her its White House correspondent. It would be Ireland's loss and America's gain.
Copyright 2003 The Capital Times
From reading the interview I get the sense that Carole was not really asking questions or genuinely interviewing Bush. She didn't come across at all as being interested in what president Bush had to say.
Rather it seems she found a platform to state her vehement disagreement and opposition to Bush under the guise of "asking questions." If anyone is being disingenous here I feel Carole Coleman is. And unforunately a large amount of people are being hoodwinked into her tactic rather than seeing it for what it is.
Reporting is most disingenuous when it appears noble and brave but in reality it has alternative agenda at it's core.
She may be lauded by some for being straight - but the fact is if she was really being straight with Bush she would have said something like - 'Mr President, I actually don't want to ask questions to find out what you are thinking - I've already decided that in my mind - what I want to do is state my views of how I and my peers oppose you and regardless of what you say I'm not really interested in what you think'. Of course the interview would have ended there. But it would have been genuine.
Any person who is asked a question but gets a sense from the listener that they don't want to hear their answers will be offended. Why ask the question in the first place. Bush was offended primarily because of this it seems to me. I would have been offended by someone who pretended to be interested in my answers but it later was shown they had no interest at all.
It sure appears to me that even if Bush did come up with a perfectly good answer it would have been dismissed by Carole - or her peers, or it would have been misrepresented and not received at all - simply because of a previously clear bias against him.
Fortunately there are reporters out there - Irish ones too - one both sides of the issue - who represent the peoples genuine quest to ask questions and listen to the answers given.
Yes, it also struck me odd that the USA liars would not try to "play up" the discovery of these - instead of playing it down and actually minimalizing these warheads. These seem to be the "smoking gun" that Bush needs - why would they not make a big deal of them? Certainly they would not be telling the truth when even just a little exageration of these "Cyclosarin Missles" could put Bush detractors on the defense? Maybe this US Army spokeperson is a John Kerry supporter.
I see a conspiracy in here somewhere! Maybe the US has actually planted some fully functional atomic weapons in Iraq and will "find" them just prior to the elections. They will take them out to the desert border near Iran to defuse them, and on the day that the meteorologist predict the best winds - there will be a "terrible accident" that sends a radioactive cloud over Tehran. Bush has his WMD's, Saddam can be blamed, and Iran can then be invaded. And since many Iraqi's hate the Iranians - the US will the broad support of the Iraqi people. Sounds plausible to me! Somebody call Michael Moore so we can get him started on his next project.
the bit that pops out at me is
"But the US military said the agent was so deteriorated it posed no threat. "
ah the etneral difference between Saddam "had" and Saddam "has" a difference even Bush is pointign out these days...
The reason that White House complaint about the interruption was simple: Bush does not know how to answer an impromptu question. He is just following the script. And he can even remember that.
The BBC is reporting that the Poles have found 17 missle warheads in their sector - containing Mustard Gas and Cyclosarin. Even worse news for Carole is that Iraqi Terrorist, er.. - I mean Freedom Fighters were trying to buy them. Even more worrisome is the fact that Saddam never told the UN Weapons Inspection Team that Iraq had cyclosarin - the most deadly varient of this gas. This completely undermines Carole's argument, er.. I mean line of questioning. Maybe she can appologize to Bush and ask for another interview. Better yet, let's just pretend the US planted the warheads in the Polish sector and made the whole thing up. It should be fairly easy to impune such a right-wing, hawkish media outlet as the BBC anyway. The Brits and the Poles are just Bush lapdogs anyway.
President Bush accidentally allowed to be interviewed by a real journalist
http://www.boingboing.net/2004/06/29/president_bush_accid.html
THANK YOU for standing up to george bush, the Village Idiot who says he is the president of America. Other so-called "journalists" who interviewed him were scared of his regime and let him cow-tow them into asking namby-pamby "wimp" questions. YOU, on the other hand, have a much larger set of balls and a strong backbone! I am an American very proud of our country, but definitely ASHAMED of bush.
Bill Clinton signed the National Economic Security And Reformation Act on October 10, 2000, but bush and his handlers have kept it from being announced - the NESARA "law" eliminates bush immediately and ALSO declares peace immediately.
This just showed how shallow Bush is. Can't keep his cool. Can't remember script. Can't stand opposite opinions. Can't chew a cookie. What an idiot.
King George will be gone this coming November.
It's not because the right wing lapdogs in the right wing corporate media are afraid that he would look too GOOD just a few weeks before the election when his polling numbers are dropping through the floor! It's because we americans have been kept from seeing bush away from his handlers. And, even in this instance where he had the questions in advance and had rehearsed the answers he couldn't keep his cool and answer intelligently.
What a pathetic idiot! What a national embarrassment! Worst president in American history!
Bush said "let me finish" about a dozen times, not because he was being interrupted, but because he wanted the interviewer to look hostile....and make himself look like the 'compassionate' victim. The fact that he responded to her question about daily bombings with "What happened on September 11?" shows that he confuses Al Qaeda with Iraq.
When she asked about the lack of support from Europe, Bush responded with, "You mean France?" Now, just a few weeks ago, Bush was saying that he and Chirac are 'friends' once again, yet he quickly switches to France-bashing when he's lost the support of Spain, hasn't had it from Germany, and is only getting token support from a few other countries.
Bush deserves to roast on the flames of his own fire. What an asshole.
Thanks for putting up the link.
is posted at URI below:
Carole did an excellent job in saying exactly what the world is thinking; I'm not talking about the US, I'm talking about the world. She did her job and Bush took offense as would any other war-mongering, self-serving liar, who has done more irreparable harm to the world than any other single man in our generation, including Saddam Hussein.
There are only 4 or so million of us, so the odds of you representing "millions" are somewhere between fuck and all. As for Bush, he was as welcome as Cholera.
Re the individual on the "leftist" tendencies of Dublin 4 - isn't that the minister for "Just Us", michael mc dowells patch?
I am curious what people's responses to the interview would be if Carole Coleman was a man. Hard hitting? On target? Journalistically brilliant? I thought she was very straightforward in her questions, but Bush's responses were not.
As an American, I was embarassed to hear Bush, trying to steer his way through a minefield of questions he couldn't answer.
Though I don't think the Irish people believe that all or even most Americans agree with or support the President's position, it was difficult to hear him be so inarticulate on matters he should know well and be fluent in.
I applaud Carole Coleman, on what I thought was good journalism. You can tell RTE isn't owned by General Electric, who is part of the huge military industrial complex, which supports......
R. Isible, you rock! I am referring specifically to your posts of Jun 25 2004, where you so rightfully call for more facts and less opinion, and call Stuart out.
When Bush's defenders call his critics "leftists," I feel like I'm been sucked into a time-warp back to the McCarthy era. It seems that using this label as an epithet is the militarists' catch-all ad hominem response to any criticism of Bush or US policy.
Bush is not only impeachable but indictable, as are several of his henchmen. Murder by depraved indifference. Please visit http://911research.wtc7.net/ for SOLID evidence of US government complicity in the 9/11 attack. There are many sites with ridiculous theories, advanced either by incompetent ideologues or disinformation specialists. This one is sober, concise, and referenced. See also The New Pearl Harbor by David Ray Griffin: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1566565529/103-9802606-2386216?v=glance
For the information of Bush's defenders, I'm basically a libertarian. Please look this up. It means something very different from "liberal" (which is also different from leftist/communist). It has something to do with defending the Constitution against all enemies, foreign AND DOMESTIC... namely, not going to war for any reason other than to defend the US... NOT to enhance US corporate profits, NOT to free oppressed peoples the world over, and certainly not to rescue a clueless president's approval ratings and enrich his oil and defense buddies with non-competitive, fraudulently executed government contracts.
How was Coleman rude? She kept asking questions he wouldn't answer. Every time she asked an easy question to answer he prepared to ramble on for 10 minutes about the freedom "he gave" Iraq, or how much safer the world is now (nonsense). Plus, when you watch Bush, if he doesn't know the questions in advance (and even when he does) he pauses for what seems like eons between sentences. And since none of his replies ever address the question anyway, who can tell when his answer is done or not.
People are saying she was rude for interrupting. Wrong! He was rude for accepting an interview and then not having the courtesy to answer the questions. If she asks a question, and he starts on a totally unrelated answer, shouldn't she be able stop him and bring him back to the original question? Yes.
She was a disgrace to Irish people. How dare she tell President Bush he's not welcome in Ireland?
Bush was gracious and showed her up to be biased, incompetent and emotional.
I am one of millions of Irish people who felt honoured by a visit from Dubya. Media bias has really got out of hand in Ireland.
RTE has been totally infiltrated by the Leftist tendency (well, it is in the heart of Dublin 4).
Is there any possible way for me to get a text copy of the Carole Coleman interview with George Bush? I think the American press could learn a thing or two from Carole when it comes down to how best to do an interview with a lying, buffoon, War Criminal of a politician! Bush has gotten a free pass from our press people here in the States ever since 9/11 and it's not right!
THANK YOU CAROLE COLEMAN!!!
The Bush-Coleman interview reached my country only tonight, and I think Ms. Coleman did a great job, exposing this man as an arrogant, incompetent, monomanic and hypocritic prick.
Thank you Carol Coleman for having the courage to act like a normal human being by breaking the rules in this world of make-believe!
HELP!!! HEELLLPP!!! ANYONE!! Help us, PLEASE!! Is Bush the best that we can offer the world!!?? Oh GOD, if you are listening please hear our prayers...remove this thorn from our eyes!! Did this guy make it through Colors and Shapes in grade school? You gotta love our Christian Cyclops who only relate on one level...THEIR OWN. What ever happened to compassion and love. The world is now more divided than ever since the un-elected idiot came to power. For those countries out there who wish to have a free country and taste REAL freedom simply do this...DO NOT FOLLOW OUR LEAD, thanks!! Is there any more room for an expatriate free thinker in Europe? If so, please let me know so I can bail out of here before the whole damned thing collapses...happy trails, David
I believe Carole Coleman was properly respectful of the President. She asked him hard questions in a proper tone of voice. Bush responded with annoyed "let me finish" whines that sounded a lot like Ross Perot in his embarrassing debate a few years back.
I thought it was a good, professional interview with tough questions without petty badgering. Well done, Ms. Coleman.
BRAVO CAROLE COLEMAN!!!! BRAVO!!!
She sure made the male journalists look weak and stupid.
Psychopath, or sociopath that's what this tribe of Hoods is called.
THANK YOU Ms. Coleman for going for the throat with this fool. I am an Embarrassed American who hates, and detests this crowd of thugs and hoodlums in the White House. These loony toons do not represent 52% of the American public.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU
You sure showed up Tass (CNN), and Pravda (Fox). I'm proud that some of my ancestors were Irish, even if they were Orange. Sorry!!
Your name is Stephen C. Pelletiere ... or are you just having us on ......
In the event you feel inclined to do the homework you won't get on the 6 o'clock news.
The accusation that Iraq has used chemical weapons against its citizens is a familiar part of the debate. The piece of hard evidence most frequently brought up concerns the gassing of Iraqi Kurds at the town of Halabja in March 1988, near the end of the eight-year Iran-Iraq war. President Bush himself has cited Iraq's "gassing its own people," specifically at Halabja, as a reason to topple Saddam Hussein.
But the truth is, all we know for certain is that Kurds were bombarded with poison gas that day at Halabja. We cannot say with any certainty that Iraqi chemical weapons killed the Kurds. This is not the only distortion in the Halabja story.
I am in a position to know because, as the Central Intelligence Agency's senior political analyst on Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war, and as a professor at the Army War College from 1988 to 2000, I was privy to much of the classified material that flowed through Washington having to do with the Persian Gulf. In addition, I headed a 1991 Army investigation into how the Iraqis would fight a war against the United States; the classified version of the report went into great detail on the Halabja affair.
This much about the gassing at Halabja we undoubtedly know: it came about in the course of a battle between Iraqis and Iranians. Iraq used chemical weapons to try to kill Iranians who had seized the town, which is in northern Iraq not far from the Iranian border. The Kurdish civilians who died had the misfortune to be caught up in that exchange. But they were not Iraq's main target.
And the story gets murkier: immediately after the battle the United States Defense Intelligence Agency investigated and produced a classified report, which it circulated within the intelligence community on a need-to-know basis. That study asserted that it was Iranian gas that killed the Kurds, not Iraqi gas.
The agency did find that each side used gas against the other in the battle around Halabja. The condition of the dead Kurds' bodies, however, indicated they had been killed with a blood agent - that is, a cyanide-based gas - which Iran was known to use. The Iraqis, who are thought to have used mustard gas in the battle, are not known to have possessed blood agents at the time.
These facts have long been in the public domain but, extraordinarily, as often as the Halabja affair is cited, they are rarely mentioned. A much-discussed article in The New Yorker last March did not make reference to the Defense Intelligence Agency report or consider that Iranian gas might have killed the Kurds. On the rare occasions the report is brought up, there is usually speculation, with no proof, that it was skewed out of American political favoritism toward Iraq in its war against Iran.
I am not trying to rehabilitate the character of Saddam Hussein. He has much to answer for in the area of human rights abuses. But accusing him of gassing his own people at Halabja as an act of genocide is not correct, because as far as the information we have goes, all of the cases where gas was used involved battles. These were tragedies of war. There may be justifications for invading Iraq, but Halabja is not one of them.
I commend Carole Coleman for her brilliant interview with George Bush; it is what journalist is about. I am a journalist and photographer but refuse to be employed by media houses here or anywhere because most are sold out and dictate what to say and what not to say.
So, I have chosen to go self employed obtaining my earnings as a multi media producer and to offer my services of journalism and writing by freewill to my country and to the world and I do not pamper. As always truth is rebuffed by the more often accepted lies of main stream society. Even though I believe in be courteous I believe that being courteous should in return coupled the purpose and intent of my interview.
We need more journalist with the nerve and heart to step forward for their world and their country and step from beneath the cloak that focus the sight upon their selfish and personal ambitions.
Keep up the good work Carole the world needs you more than it does Bush.
Before this war began I sent out a request to journalist in the USA and here is what I said:
1.) It is quite clear that war is non-favored by the people to save this economic game we all play in, 1990 is our proof. Once again the game is threatened, but this threat is because of bad players in the game not Saddam alone, we can not blame this problem on Saddam alone, neither attacking Iraq is the fix. Should Saddam step down and Iraq became the perfect supporter of the economic game it alone will not be the fix or save the crash of the game. To save the game we must change the players.
Bush has the wrong attitude (cowboy like), no ideas and no patience and this is the only thing required to save the game. War creates the illusion of a quick fix, but 1990 is proof that it is not the solution; it fixes nothing other than high cost (death, anger, cash and poverty). War is no fix it is not the play to fix the economic game, perhaps Bush must go.
2.) It is definite that Bush this time do not have the international community support, he has less of the American support and even perhaps less than half the support of his own administration.
3.) I listen to the US news media and it is clear that Bush has the support of most of the news media which at most time speaks in favor of war or Bush ideas for war. I am aware that most of the news media houses are owned the upper class supporters of Bush (government), and in this way journalist are functions instead as journalist as opportunist and celebrities in the field of journalism rather than a true willingness to report according present facts and evidence.
The general public depends on the media as it did religion once ago, but religion has lost its credibility, the greater number of people is turning their back to it. Iraq and war requires real facts and tangible evidence in this case and journalist should and must cease directing the attention of the public in their favor.
It is important that journalist and the media avoid the avenue of deception, opinions, personal vendetta's, avoided the risk and encouragement of war and simply report the news the old way, the way it use to be, the way the general public expect present facts and evidence. The media has the grip on the attention of the general public, it is no longer the word of the politician or the word of the preacher but rather the media and its journalist don't lose this grip.
The journalist must report as news and the news as facts and evidence as it was once ago unless we all stand the chance of losing our last hope, the journalist who stands up for the truth of the people.
Thank You for your time...
Teddy P. Forbes, Ph.D.
Just with regards to some of the comments from Michael and others above on the freedom "given" to 60 million Iraqis and them building statues to Bush etc
If freedom was something that was "given" by the likes of the US shure we'd all have it - Freedom (as the Americans themselves discovered once a long time ago) can only
be taken.
Freedom is built from below.
Anything "given", "delivered" or "imposed" from above and without is never freedom.
While I'm more than happy to see the over throw of a brutal dictator as a COLLATORAL GOOD in a war for oil and power
BUT-Its just not within the remit of the US war machine to deliver liberation on a plate.
They can only do what all imperialists do and that is repress and murder. And thats what they'll do until they're kicked out!
Conor
Bush may be the president but he does not speak for the masses. I praise this interviewer for attempting to ask questions in a way that American journalists are forbidden from doing by the Whitehouse. Bush needs to be questioned on his actions. Does he honestly believe the false words that come out of his mouth? Does he have the ability to coherently defend his reasons for turning his back on American citizens, soldiers, and the world?
After listening to the interview. That is clearly a "no". He rambling, got annoyed, and stuck to his boilerplate talking points that failed to address the questions he was asked.
As a US citizen, I am disappointed with our court appointed leader and apologize for whatever it is worth to the world. We can only hope that intelligence in this country is not as bad as it was in 2000 and we the people will make a change to vote him out.
your interview with bush was astonishing!
our american excuses for tv and radio journalists hammer on about bill clinton's sex life without batting an eyelash, but when faced with interviewing bush about anything that matters, cower like frightened children.
my hat's off to ms. coleman.
Whats more sickening about a president who cannot simply speak are comments like people like yourself who totally distort the facts. Bush has had the fewest press conferences or interviews than any president in modern history and the reason is clear. He can't think on his feet, on his own without the VP or someone scripting what he has to say. It is embarassing when a foreign press correspondent cannot get answers from our own president. Bush cannot handle a simple interview without resorting to rude tactics himself, and his canceling his wife's interview with Coleman as punishment is unamerican, unprofessional and an emberassement to the American people. Bush talks childish, acts childish, thinks childish and is an embarassment. It's not that he is to stupid; its that he is to stupid to be president. He has never made a mistake according to himself. No president has EVER been re-elected with poll numbers so low and Bush will go down like his father. Bush Jr. is a total failure. Whats more disappointing is that people like you are totally blind to the facts and still somehow find the twisted logic to vote for him despite his miserable record as a leader.
I am a Citizen of the U.S., and believe that our so-called "media" WOULD NEVER ask these types of DIRECT questions.
She is BRAVE INDEED!
If she had been an american reporter they would have likely carted her off in handcuffs. I have SEEN IT happen before.
I suppose the only lesson she should come away learning from this is, it's not polite to interupt someone when their "still" talking.
GEE, WHO DOESN'T DO THAT???
But who cares?? He interupts reporters ON A REGULAR BASIS!
I thought she did a WONDERFUL job. Way to ask the tough ones Miss Coleman!!
NO FEAR!!
You have A LOT OF RESPECT among the Citizens of the United States and the world.
Well gee Bushbots, thanks for opening my mind to a previously unglimpsed world of Euro "liberals", mainsream media communists and (most laughably of all) Saddam as a world-threatening Hitler.
Didn't somebody above even dismiss female reporters as "pushy women" ?
You New World lamebrains really do live in a parallel dimension. Still, look on the bright side ... y'all gonna get Raptured soon !
You don't even talk the same language as us. In the real world, "liberal" means a free-marketeer in the economic sense, and in the political sense a smarmy apologist for imperial aggression, who feigns compassion and open-mindedness, but always tries to steer you in the Right (sic) direction.
In the politically illiterate wreckage of your non-society, it seems to be a random term of abuse, ranging from Commie to Nazi in its imputations, depending what you’re ranting about at any given instant.
If you’re going to butt in, please try to learn the proper meanings of words first.
In reality, the BBC and RTE are classic establishment puppets who seek to systematically deceive their audience about western abuses. This study by Glasgow University shows up the US/Israeli bias of the British media for what it is, and I can assure you the Irish media is just as bad.
http://www.gla.ac.uk/sociology/Israel.pdf
If anything, RTE is even more gutless, as even the BBC had the balls to challenge the farcical reporting restrictions on Sinn Fein (think Section 31).
You wanna talk about freeing Europe from Hitler ? Well it was the Soviets who did that, after you initially hailed him as somebody who could free Europe from communism.
You want to talk about a "war on terror" ? You're the terrorists who originally sponsored Bin Laden !
You wanna talk about Saudi Islamic barbarism ? You're propping up the Saudi regime too !
You want to talk about freeing Iraq from Saddam ? You're the ones who put him in power to rob and murder his people on your behalf in the first place, and since you turned against him in 1990, you've killed 2 million Iraqis through war and blockade ("sanctions" doesn't quite capture the scale of the strangulation), and carpeted the country in depleted uranium.
http://www.wandsworth-stopwar.org.uk/du
And now you're trying to turn Iraq into another Saudi Arabia, where women have to cover up and are afraid to go out. That's your vision for the Middle East. That's what you mean by Democracy and Freedom. Quite frankly, you can stick it up your bottom.
Your hysterically titled "war on terror" is simply a final drive against the Arabs, so that you can complete your brutal ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Far from “getting tough” with your pets in Al Qaida, you have instead introduced them into Iraq, to help you stir up chaos and divide and rule.
And then, inevitable, some fuckwit tells us to "get over" Florida !
Do y'all think we all Democrats down here ?
The only difference between Clinton and Bush is that Clinton had charisma, and new how to talk, and the only difference between Bush and Kerry is that Kerry can string a few sentences together, and reads his own briefing papers. They all have the same economic and foreign policies, and quite frankly, I'm not interested in who nominally presides over the Zionist sewer that is American politics.
The strangest thing is that most of the US population don't benefit from their government's policies either. 3rd-world health care coverage, crap education, a shrinking middle class, etc. But these loons are so overcome by religious fanaticism that they don't seem to mind.
Well, as long as some reporters around Washington still have the balls to put Bush in his place I can be somewhat happy.
Go Carole!!!
But Carole is lucky Bush didn't run off and get Cheney to tell her to fuck off! HAHA
just because people are anti-bush does not mean they are pro-saddam. that black-and-white thinking is one of bush's failings as a person and as a leader.
The White House had Coleman's questions 3 days before the interview. If Bush's handlers couldn't come up with some kind of response to them in that time, it's their own fault.
At least the man can hold to a script even if his answers were unresponsive to Ms Coleman's questions.
Two things strike me in retrospect :
First, was Bush claiming that "terrorists take innocent lives.." How many have we taken in Iraq? ohh that's right I forgot, "we don't do body counts."
and secondly was his statement that people become terrorists when they are without hope. This is the first true thing I can recall Bush ever saying. And wouldn't it be nice if he REALLY tried to apply that logic to our FoPo?
Instead of sending fighter jets and rockets to the Saudi's and Israel. Instead of allowing DOW to side step responsiblity for Bhopal.
andonandonandonandonandon.....what a slippery guy.....well coached, notice how he repeated the "I'm the first preident to call for the formation of a Palestinian state..." line. Good boy George! Good boy! I don't even know if that's true or not.
Bush definitely came off petulant, and unused to any sort of interruption. How long did he expect a reporter to let him ramble and (as said above) recite his own press releases without breaking in to ask an actual question? It was very nice to see a reporter not back down from (or stroke off) Bush. Indeed, she gets an "A" for bravery (akin to Amy Goodman's unflinching interview of Clinton back in 1999 or 2000).
That said, I wasn't super impressed with her questions, as questions. She was often kinda speechifying, and without a specific question in her question. It'd be best, for example, if she didn't ramble about how she saw "four bodies," as if that's a question of itself. Ask Bush, yes or no, if the world would have been better off if those four G.I.s were still alive. Ask if the liberation of Iraq was worth those four bodies. Give him "yes" or "no" limbs from which he can hang himself. It would have made the interview better.
Still though, she was no less polite than required. The U.S. doesn't have a king, folks, we have a president, and he's no more deserving of her deference and submissive silence than any other American citizen would be.
i dont think that red suit made coleman look as tough as she wanted to. i felt she was too weak in the face of that grinning chimp. in some ways they were both as bad as each other. admittedly, he went off on specially prepared tangents, and all i could really think when he was talking was 'squatting the white house.'
but i really wish, with this one golden chance to pin him down and really make him squirm, RTE should have deployed someone who wouldnt interject, but would come across as having OBJECTIVELY (isnt this the point of journalism?!) brought that spanner to his knees, begging for them to stop.
What a shock to Junior to face a genuine journalist after years of getting a free pass from sycophantic, ass-licking US cheerleaders masquerading as journalists. Go Carole!!!
As an American watching this interview, all I've got to say is "Carol, you ROCK!" Our bloodless chickensh*t press corps doesn't have the balls or access to nail Bush down in a one-on-one interview. You asked pointed, specific questions, only to be met by The Chimps same old circuitous non-sense. It was just nice seeing him twisting in the wind without his handlers whispering the correct answer in his ear. We -and I think that I can speak for a great many (at least six or seven of us) Americans are totally embarrased by this guy, and are horrified by the prospect of another four years with this monkey.
Just seen the interview over the Internet. Wouldn't have known about it if Bush hadn't protested to the embassy. That got some coverage.
I just wish the reporter had managed to respond to the stupid things he said but he's obviously been taught how to respond to an uppity reporter.
He did that very well.
She was not allowed to get any kind of rebuttal out to his Orwellian version of reality.
On Iraq, on the 20,000 dead, and unknown injured.
On Israel, where the funding of the US is completely running this show.
On his delusion that a CIA operative appointed and a US appointed bunch of .....is going to bring even his version of 'democracy' to that beleaguered country.
You want to see some photographs on Iraq:
http://www.thewe.cc/contents/more/archive2004/may/war_2004_may_images_2.html
on the Palestine/Israel conflict:
http://www.thewe.cc/contents/more/archive2004/may/war_2004_may_images_4.html
P.S.
The psychological term for delusional:
A false belief strongly held in spite of invalidating evidence, especially as a symptom of mental illness.
I don't think all Americans would be on the side of the president. He didn't really answer her questions but fumbled, repeating the same phrases all over again. I feel Ms. Coleman was very respectful but I feel the president was a bit condecending to her. I suppose he needs more practice at interviews with real journalists.
Is Bush made of glass? Give me a break - for once, you get to hear a REAL journalist ask tough questions, and the right-wingers go ballistic.
But honestly, if the worst thing you can say about Coleman is that she's rude, well, that's nothing.
The world IS more dangerous - even the administration's own terrorism report shows that terrorist activity has skyrocketed since the Iraq war - both in number of terrorist events and in the toll of each event. And that doesn't even include events in Iraq, which were counted as armed conflicts and not terrorism.
(Unless you believe the BS about Saddam having "ties" to Al-Qaeda. Well, I'm too annoyed to refute that - read the 9/11 report instead.)
Wearing a cowboy hat and using "tough" rhetoric isn't enough. The terrorists ARE winning. Read _Imperial Hubris_ (by a senior CIA analyst) if you don't believe me.
That's the thing I don't get about the rhetoric of people on the far right - they accuse leftists of being wimps and terrorist supporters, then get their panties in a bunch when they incur any criticism, and look the other way when Bush plays right into bin Laden's hand.
Good for Carole Coleman! Three cheers for Europe for not caving in to this F*cking asshole.
More than half of all Americans hate this guy and want him GONE!
George Bush is the leader of the FREE WORLD? We can't do any better THAN THIS? Jesus Christ! You've got to be kidding me.
Shows you want happens when:
1. Half the people sleep and don't vote.
2. A political party STEALS the election and has the Supreme Court in their pocket
3. Government, Religion and Corporate interests come together for mutal interest and screws the regular people.
Middle class American Republicans are getting screwed along with the rest of us, but they're turning around and saying, "Thank You! I Love You!"
From Yesterday's Herald (page 4):
RTE's Carole praised for Bush rapping
Carole Coleman has gone from reporter to hero following her controversial head-to-head with George W Bush.
The RTE Washington correspondant is being lauded by the anti-war movement and the White House press corps following her interview with the US President.
Ms Coleman's exclusive interview with Bush on RTE's Primetime programme, broadcast on the eve of President Bush's visit on Thursday night, has generated mixed reactions here and abroad by pundits and viewers alike who either viewed here aggressive stance as brave and unflinching or rude and unprofessional.
But hundreds of viewers who logged onto anti-war website IndyMedia - many of them normally media-sceptic - congratulated Coleman for pulling off a coup that no journalist has so far succeeded in doing: rattling a media-shy politician who rarely speaks to reporters without a carefully rehearsed script.
According to IndyMedia editor, Eoin Dubsky: "She didn't quite make a citizen's arrest, but she put him on the spot."
I would never have considered myself to be anti-American, I lived there for 6 years in the 90's,. My one abiding memory of living there was the feeling of living in a fortress, people there are very cosseted there, but when you grow up with that you are probably not aware of it. It's a well known fact that less than 10% of the population of the U.S.A. have a passport, ergo less than 10% have been outside their own country, (except perhaps Canada) to me that speaks volumes about your average American and how they perceive those who are outside their "fortress". Perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised by some of the particularly nasty comments about Ireland from some of you Americans, after all there is a strong chance that you've never been here, (one contributor said of Ireland that it was dirty and irrelevant), the same person insulted our neutrality, I do admit that neutrality is something that we need to have a serious and hard think about,
but I will say that there is a place in this world for neutral countries, a very important place.
I felt proud to be Irish last thursday night watching that interview, proud because someone from my small irrelevant country was willing to challenge the warmomger that
is the President of what many people see as the promised land.
I'm glad to see that there are others who are not fans of that "smarm" Mark little, talk about bland, I read a short interview with him somewhere recently, where he spoke about his philosophies in life, all I could do was cringe. He really fancies himself as an intellectual, I'm not sure who is impressing, was it Karl Marx who said that "the Masses are Asses" ?
If that is what reporters end up like after living in the U.S. for several years maybe RTE should bring Carole Coleman back to Ireland post haste!!
Maria above mentioned Mary Robinson, someone else mentioned our current President Mary McAleese, and as for Carole Coleman....maybe the world needs more Irish women like this out there who are prepared to stand up and tell it like it is. I hear that Laura Bush refused to be interviewed by Carole........that just smacked of childish behaviour or maybe Laura just couldn't be trusted to say the right things, I mean being married to a man like George W, she couldn't be very bright either, but then again they do say that love is blind! (but the neighbours ain't!)
I cannot believe that Bush is being perceived by so many as a 'freedom giver' for Iraq. How short are your memories? He was in office less than 100 days when he virtually threatened to wage war against China because they held in custody some US pilots that were found flying over undesignated flight zones; they were fully entitled to do this as the US was actually in the wrong considering Chinese-Western relations at the time. This strategy merely proved that he was hungry for a war from day one. And stupid too! China is the world's dark horse with regard to armies and munitions. No one knows for sure how many soldiers they retain, or how many (not 'if') nuclear warheads they have.
And as for North Korea, if Bush wants to pick a fight with a dictator, why hasn't he decided to storm into that part of South East Asia to bring 'freedom' to the people? Something to do with an actual and very real presence of WMD, methinks. And as for Rwanda,(although I appreciate he wasn't in office at the time) if 800,000 people being hacked to pieces in the space of two months isn't a damn good reason to go to war, then what is? I'm not against war per se, but there should be a worthwhile and worthy reason to willingly enter into a situation where people will die.
And if anymore Americans reading this still believe that Europe should be on her knees thanking the US of A for help in previous wars, your attention should be drawn to the fact that the US Government were reprimanded in a VERY professional speech by Mary Robinson (Another 'uppity Irish twerp' - God, I'm proud to be an Irish woman) for not paying their full fees as members of the UN. In fact, they were in arrears to the tune of many millions...She retired a short time after, having received pretty nasty responses from the US government, effectively cutting her dazzling career short, effectivley stopping her from taking on from Kofi Annan in time to come, as they found her rude too....Poor little things, so sensitive.
If you think Carol Coleman was rude, you should see Miriam O' Callaghan taking on some of our wishy washy 'leaders' - no bullshit there, I tell you. And as for Paxman, he'd make mincemeat out of Bush for some of those pathetic attempts to evade the question. This European style of interviewing comes from a deeply held belief that members of government are public servants, paid for by the public to serve the public, and as such are very much accountable to the public. We want answers, not distractions.
Before leaving Washington, Mr. Bush sat through a contentious television interview broadcast Thursday night on state-run RTE television. The reporter, Carole Coleman, began the interview by asking Mr. Bush how it felt to come to Ireland knowing that the majority of the Irish did not want him in their country.
"I hope the Irish people understand the great values of our country, and if they think a few soldiers represent the entire of America, they don't really understand America," Mr. Bush replied, referring to the soldiers charged in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. "If they say this is what America represents, they don't understand our country."
Often, when Mr. Bush paused, Ms. Coleman started another question, and Mr. Bush held up his hands defensively and admonished, "Let me finish."
Source New York Times, 25 June 2004. (Free Subscription) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/25/international/europe/25CND-PREX.html
I did find the interview appalling, not because of Carols behavior, but because of Bush's. I am American and found it refreshing to see a reporter unafraid to do the job, not fearful of being blacklisted or losing a White House Press Pass. Please be assured that we are not proud of what is happening in our name, at least the Americans that read and question what they are told. I am still astounded at the number of people I come across that believe the lies we have been fed for the past 3 1/2 years. Thank God for Air America Radio, which is reaching a lot of open-minded folks, and infuriating others. You can hear it on a live stream through their website. To see what we are up against, look at what the Radical Right Wingers are doing to Michael Moore. There is no limit to the low levels they will stoop to achieve their revolting, corrupt agenda. They are trying to make it illegal for him to advertise his film after July 31, but I am certain it will still be legal for the horrid, despicable talk show hosts on Fox News to tell lie after lie after lie about John Kerry. I have broken down in tears many times when I think that Bush could actually be elected again, (I mean be put in office again.) We need your prayers and help to make sure they don't steal the election again. Please tell all of your relatives and friends that live here to register and to vote for John Kerry.
Also, go to Al Gore's website and listen to the speech he gave at NYU, and see what many of us are feeling, and what a moving and incredible speech it was. They are trying to make him out to be a lunatic, but sadly, as we know, the lunatics are running the asylum.
You think RTE should have send a decent reporter?, I bet you would have prefered Mark "Lick America's Arse" Little!
Good on you Carole!, keep up the good work!.
I have yet to speak to anyone who had anything negative to say about Carole Coleman, so I reckon you are in a minority. I can't see how you could be ashamed and embarrased by her interview. I would have been ashamed had Carole NOT behaved in the manner in which she did. I believe that President MacAleese was pretty critical of Bush on Saturday morning in Dromoland to his face, even though certain members of the government would have prefered if she had kept her mouth shut, now she was elected, were you also ashamed by her?. We need more people like these, people who are not afraid to ask questions, people who are not afraid to speak their minds. You must be one of those people who think that the U.S.A is the promised land and that we shouldn't rock the boat, because they are creating so many jobs in Ireland, as someone said above, they will stay as long it's economically beneficial for them and not a moment longer, then they will scoot off to eastern europe or souteast asia, regardless of howmuch "brown nosing" we do. What colour is your nose?, shame on you!
How dare she say to Bush that he's not welcome in my country? I didn't elect her to speak on my behalf.
She was appallingly rude and unprofessional and showed up the whole Irish nation. RTE used to have some decent reporters at onetime, they should have sent a reporter who was up to the job.
Trying to get answers from the subject of an interview is not being rude, its being professional. Invading a country without sanction would be, to put it mildly, rude, not to mention illegal, immoral, and, as has been clearly shown, quite murderous. Given the free reign Bush has given to the PNAC element, and his dependence on guidance from the "good lord", putting a round in his head would have been a service to humanity, (though his ass may contain the vital organ).
And Pro Americans - please keep vapid suggestions about some Irish debt to the US to yourselves - we went there and worked for a living - you invested here when the wage costs were low and are now off to either Poland or India untill they get "uppity". The US issues no free lunches.
If there was ever something for the US to be embarassed about it's Bush. How can such an idiot be the in charge of the worlds biggest stock of weapons? Since the US is a democracy then it should be fair to say that Bush is representative of the American people, so I think the world can be forgiven for thinking that many Americans are as retarded as Bush is. The faster America gets rid of Bush the better for all of us.
During the interview he made a complete fool of himself and directly insulted the Irish people by saying we don't understand what's going on! This is coming from a child with an IQ less than that of the rotting tea-bag that is lying in my bin presently (although my tea-bag hasn't started killing people based on a lie).
Based purely on Bush's actions it is clear he does not respect life. If he did respect life then far less people would be dead in Iraq and no US soldiers would be dead. Of course there's the usual right-wing crap about Sadam so before you maudlin start bickering about "but he saved us from Sadam" can I suggest the option of not putting Sadam there to start with. Just follow the money and you will find that America has been a big war monger for the past 50 years.
Dubya has been given a pass in everything in life.... Yale, AWOL, The Supremes, the deferential US media. It was good to see him being called on his BS by Carole Coleman. He acted like a spoiled brat. To be questioned like that is in keeping with the tradition of European journalists who are much tougher than their US counterparts.
Journalism is NOT about listening, it's about questioning.
It’s not about listening to the same old shit, it’s about questioning it.
http://www.all-creatures.org/aip/nl-3nov2000-frogs.html
«`We were terrible to animals,' recalled [Bush pal Terry] Throckmorton, laughing. A dip behind the Bush borne turned into a small lake after a good rain, and thousands of frogs would come out. `Everybody would get BB guns and shoot them,' Throckmorton said. `Or we'd put firecrackers in the frogs and throw them and blow them up.'»
In reply to Doug Who claims: Quote:(Please see World War I, World War II. We answered your calls for help then too. We now will not wait for you people to sit on your asses and let problems GET OUT OF YOUR CONTROL!)
First of all, thanks for proving to us, that you no nothing of history. It was Hitler who declared war on the US, and it was only then that the Usa got their arse in gear to help us in the fight against history.
And do not think we are not gratefull for the help of your ancestors.
But does that mean that we have to accept American fascism in return?
No way!
I like your filosophy to tackle problems before they get out of control. But don't you think that preventing war fits that filosophy rather than invading, bombing and killing a people that are destined to stand up and resist and hit back because it is a proud people?
If someone kills or maims your children what do you say? Thank you for liberating us? I think not!
Huh? Think before you repeat propaganda.
Ludd
You said it RIGHT, Eileen,
I have seen it on TV a day after the interview. I think that Bush was as rude as Cheney was (he cursed, using the F word to a US Senator).
In this Bush-Colman interview - it boils down to this - Bush is as always a whiney nin-com-poop trying to dodge cerebral questions (which his unreliable brain can’t understand) with pre-scripted one-liners!
He is supposed to be a stateman. No matter how lofty and powerful you have become the appropriate manner is to be less cocky, less arrogant. Show some poise! The higher you go the humbler you must act and respond!
Just prove GWB is no gentlemen, no stateman, no leader!
I wish there were more like Colman in the US women press.
http://www.ncplus.net/~pvd
Sadly, Carole Coleman’s interview with Bush will most likely be the end of her work in the US. The reason such interviews aren’t done by US journalist is that they know it would be career ending. Bushies do not forget.
There is a link to this indymedia story on www.freerepublic.com, the place where all the republican concubines hang out.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1160333/posts
My 2 cents..
What point does an interviewee stop answering tthe question that was asked and start making a pre-prepared speech? Whenever that is, the interviewer is perfectly entitled to interrupt the interviewee and request that the question that was asked is answered, or ask a relevant follow-up question.
When Bush said "let me finish" it wasn't to let him finish answering the question, it was to let him finish his speech that everybody has heard a million times before.
bush made a complete idiot of himself and I personally want to thank the interviewer for having the courage to challenge mr bush and not let him filibuster with his nonsense...and did mr bush really snort snot twice during this chat? I clearly heard him do that...what a common little man..
Answer: Because it would be hard to corner Bush in the Oval Office.
Firstly, to quote Bob Geldof "Irish-American culture has about as much in common with Ireland, as African-American culture has in common with Africa!, I think he hit the nail on the head. Most Irish people are deeply embarrased by "Irish Americans". Green beer?, I've never seen it in Ireland, it's an American sales tactic, along with the rest of the paddywhackery that has become part and parcel of our national holiday.
With regards to terrorism in Northern Ireland, it's money from the U.S. that has kept stoking that for the last 35 years!, I once had a coversation with someone in Lisbon who was so proud of the fact that his family had raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for NORAID, needless to say neither he nor his parents nor his grandparents had ever set foot on Irish soil. you people need to get out more and open your minds!
As a citizen of the United States, I am appalled by Bush's snot-nosed arrogance. Apparently he is too used to having his questions sent to him in advance and being coached by Karl Rove for 2 hours straight before a videoedited interview. All it took were a few REAL questions to make him squirm in his seat and show his true colors. When you shine light on something, that's the best way to disinfect it- - thank you carol for illuminating Bush's no-so-well hidden ugliness, arrogance and sheer ignorance of the situation around him.
To the rest of my fellow americans who are criticizing her for being "rude", last time I checked it was considered rude not to answer or to altogether evade questions asked to you. Can you honestly be proud of a leader who doesn't know how to answer simple questions with confidence without slipping into the redundant propoganda? Open your eyes and start thinking for once.
Hey, y'all.
Independent American here.
Ms. Coleman's sort of interview is long overdue. Just to remind those of you who may think she was over the top, Bush is neither royalty nor Jesus Christ.. The American media lacks the guts to raise tough issues in an assertive way. The fourth estate in the U.S. is pitiful.
Many, many or us are scared and disgusted with the direction of our country under the Bush gang. There is no polite way to deal with this scourge.
I for one was highly impressed with Carole Coleman, what was she supposed to do?,
kneel down and kiss his feet. RTE is a public service broacaster, "grilling" him is exactly what she should have been doing, that is her job. To all you Americans and Irish-Americans reading this who have lost touch with your roots, this sort of thing happens all the time on Irish and european television. If you think Carole Coleman's technique was
"insulting" to George Bush, then go back to watching the commercial channels, the right ones will always tell you exactly what you want to hear. Insulting?, I felt that G.B was talking to Carole Coleman as if she was a 6 or 7 year old child. With regards to interjecting, I have some really good American friends living here in Ireland, who constantly complain about this, my answer to that is that many Americans are too bloody long winded, (no offense!) padding everything out with the latest buzz words, that sound impressive if you are not particularly intelligent., but mean little, for example , how did we live before the phrase "Road Map" so beloved of G. B and his cronies came into use?
Thanks, but no thanks, Lesarch. The Irish Times already takes a syndicated column by Mark Steyn.
And as if that was not bad enough they also get frequent contributions from the likes of George Dempsey, a former "Diplomat", who pushes the line that the Irish are "anti-American".
We don't need any more of that type.
When Carole Coleman asked G.W. Bush why he thought others didn't get what he was about, and then when he responded that he had no idea, it suggested that he has little capacity or inclination for understanding points of view other than his own.
The righteous indignation and lack of respect Bush displayed during the interview was shockingly inappropriate and embarrassing for a person in his position. That the “leader” of the U.S.A. would chide an honest and earnest interviewer the way he did as though he were a strict parent lecturing a misbehaving child is shameful.
Memo to Bush: the interview wadn't s'pposed to be a free ride to railroad your righteous good ol’ boy crap without response, and people are wising up to you.
I hope everybody gets a chance to see the interview and see what an ass he is. See, I think, contrary to what Bush said in the interview, others do get what he's about, and he knows it. He’s just afraid they’ll point it out to others, just as Ms. Coleman did so effectively by simply “asking questions” - as he asked her to do so condescendingly. It wasn’t her fault that his responses were speeches rather than answers.
Bush said that his job was “to do his job.” If, during the interview, part of his job was to exhibit dignity - instead of crass bullying while eerily smiling at the same time - he did not do his job very well.
Carole Coleman asked refreshingly direct questions of this president – and he should know that many people will continue to want to know how he responds to them. Ms. Coleman performed intelligently and professionally in the face of extreme executive intimidation. She did her job very well indeed.
I am an American and I applaud Carole Coleman for having the courage to not be bullied by a rather snottish (and obviously panicked) Bush. I have shown that interview to many people and we shake our heads in shame and embarassment. Bush is visiting Ireland and this is how he chooses to enter that door -- for shame. Trust me, all of these so-called Bush supporters are coming out from under their rocks because they are being sent to this site (at the command of other wackos). They are not the norm. Carole, I lift my glass to you. If you could only teach our reporters/journalists a thing or two.
I thought she did an excellent job.
Bush had to resort to pre-programmed
propaganda statements rather than
tell the truth and answer her questions.
I wonder which unfortunate country is next to be “rescued” by this Fearless Fosdick and his band of fools
Carole Coleman is an Irish national treasure. To bad her kind is all to scarce in Bush Land. Any chance of trading one of our many journalistic ignoramuses for Ms Coleman?
Look at this typical crap:
--------------------
> What's brave about Coleman being rude?
by Carole Coleman - RTE Friday, Jun 25 2004, 10:18pm
> Is this what passes for journalism these days? Interrupting the interviewee? Carole comes off as a hack by doing what she did. If she doesn't want to hear straight answers, then perhaps Carole is better suited to writing editorials, where she can opine and ignore to her hearts content.
-----------------
*** where she can opine ***
Have you listened across America? There is only one person who repeats that phrase daily, and it is Rush Limbaugh. I have a brother who listens to Rush religiously -- and one day about 2 years ago he send me an email with that pompous stupid scripted word:
"If she cares to OPINE" ...
At least use your own language lady. We look stupid enough as Americans.
And what is your definition of "straight answers"? SOmeone who can run out the clock on one question verbalizing the rehearsed NEW WAY! to disarm the question of SADDAM and no WMD -- now that the Whitehouse has been totally discredited, making up phoney evidence to ramrod a war to fear-based Americans: Here it is:
"Mr. President, let's take it from the top again..."
BUSH: "Fire away. I got i now Karl."
KARL: "Suppose someone says 'you've lost support for the war you lead the world to believe would expose WMD -- yet you continue to simply repeat 'i KNOW we will find evidence"....
BUSH: "Well, I simply restate 'I *know* deep in my heart that we'll find the WMD, I just know it."
ROVE: "Excellent. Lather, rinse, repeat"
BUSH: "Lather, rinse, repeat, got it."
ROVE: How bout this one "Growing numbers of Europeans literally hate you, what do you think about that?"
BUSH: "Listen I know people are upset and are entitled to their opinions...."
ROVE: "Yes, Exactly. You've got it, now go inot the spin..."
BUSH: "... but America is a good country, a kind country, and we help other nations -- like you --
ROVE: YES! YES! You're finally getting it. Point at them too, but not forcefully... Go on...
BUSH: "... in fact I wihsed they could have seen 7 of Saddam's people right here in this office... Saddam had cut off their right hands all because the currency devalued, and they etched an X in their foreheads --- and - and - and - it was an American surgeon who flew them here and when they visited me in my office they each had a new hand . Now that's the American spirit. Give people a hand..."
-----
Lady -- you are one dumbass American. I'll bet you won't go watch Fahrenheit 9/11 because your preacher told you it was immoral. Idiot. Hold fingers in ears "Blah blah blah I can't hear you, nah, nah nah, I can't hear a word you're saying."
But please, by all means OPINE all you like. you Ugly American.
As an American citizen fed up with this adminstration, I am glad that the Irish press was able to pin this guy down for an interview. He hasn't done an interview for American TV for a couple of months, so thanks for doing us a favor.
Arrogant. You bet. Chimpy kept interrupting with extended rhetoric and non-answers. Is he still drinking? He sure slurs alot. Pray for impeachment. He's retained a lawyer. Truth. Look it up.
As am American who is profoundly embarassed and dismayed to have that man running my country, it was certainly heartening to see at least ONE reporter attempting to put Bush's feet to the fire. However, I was hoping more pressing matters would have been addressed, such as the Bush administration's connection to the Halliburton Company and the Carlyle Group, as well as the emerging evidence we are now hearing regarding the coverup of the 9/11 attack.
I agree.
Thank you, Ms. Coleman, for the interview.
I believe when I both saw it and listened to it that you did pick appropriate pauses in which to follow up with questions. I also thought the nature of your questions were very on track.
I did notice a couple times you tried to help the President focus his answers by elaborating on your question. That was very generous of you. Sometimes people get on a tirade and have a hard time being focused.
I don't believe my President is used to being refocused.
We'll see if we can't get him properly focused into the private sector in 04.
Thank you for your journalisitc professionalism,
Darlene
Pakistan is a democracy?.. And Afghanistan?...Carol did a good job, but what can you do with this blithering parrot? He never answered the questions he was asked, but continued to babble on with the meaningless platitudes and lies which have become what mainstream media today laughably calls "news". Smug, arrogant, with that superior shit-eating grin which was the only thing he learnt at Yale..... What hope the world when this monster and his capitalist cronies rule us all, whatever country we live in.
All you people who are whining about Carol Coleman, good grief, get over it already. George Bush on Meet The Press with Tim Russert on 2 or 3 occasions cut Tim Russert off with his "let me finish" blah blah blah garbage. And he does it in press conferences too. It's not a matter of the interviewers being rude, it's a matter of Bush acting like his priveleged, elitist, ignorant whining self. I have no problem with his wanting to perhaps properly finish up an answer. But maybe he should act like an adult in his effort to do it.
Thank you so much for your bravery. I live in Texas, the hope of Bush. For the most part the press in the United States has been whipped by the Whitehouse. They are fearful of asking questions like you did as they may not be invited back.
You asked the questions that many American's have been wanting answered.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Jack E. Jett
Born again Bush who claims that Jesus is his fav philosopher managed to mangle the biblical quote from Luke saying to Coleman - ".....one of the great admonitions in the good book is, 'Don't try to take a speck out of your eye if I got a log in my own.' Has he actually read the bible?
Luke did say "why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, "Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye. "
You know if Bush put that principle into practice, 800 US soldiers killed in Iraq would still be living, alongside the 45,000 Iraqis sacrificed on the altar of terrorism by Bush and the neocons.
It is rude to kill and torture innocent people. it is rude to ignore international law. it is rude to mount a coup and scream democracy. It is rude to turn the world into a slave yard and scream freedom. it is rude to play little Hitler and his 4th Reich.
IT IS NOT RUDE TO ASK THE IDIOTS WHAT THEY THINK THEY ARE DOING TURNING OUR WORLD INTO A CESSPIT!
Anyone who understands what is going on in this world applauds someone with the guts to question the insanity!
Ahern's outfit wasn't so bad - just more informal than the rest of the men. You can see a picture of them at http://www.bundesregierung.de/Publikationen-Fotos/Fotos-bestellen-,11656.666206/bild/G8-Weltwirtschaftsgipfel-2004-.htm
And thank you again, Carol Coleman, for having the courage to expose that horrid emperor's lack of clothes. Or brains. No respect if you don't earn it, and Bush has earned only contempt from this American!
This just keeps getting better and better boys!!
They lodged a complaint!?! LOL
Lodge it up your arse Georgie ..the more she gets reprimanded by the bushists, the more popular she becomes to all these save the world by waving flags in parnell sqaure heads.
Anyone who even knew of this reporter beforehand has to find this amusing. She wasn't even rude, she done nothing wrong and all of a sudden she's a big issue. It's beautiful.
I think it gives the Irish a good insight into how the Bush's operate. Maybe when a president with a bit more sense and personality comes on the scene, she'll be invited back for a few million euro jaffa cakes at the white house.
Best of luck Carole. Coleman For Taoiseach!
On a more serious note,
I can understand that alot of americans might be pissed off at this lady's "treatment" of their president. But it's not exactly like she blew her nose on his fucking tie or some shit, she interupted him a few times because she was trying to fit in as much questions as possible and avoid him eating up her precious time with some irrelevant speech. He just proved to be an arrogant bastard who persisted on ranting, patronising the Irish people and making an even bigger idiot out of himself. I think before any american clicks "add comments" to post a big racist rant about the Irish, they should first look at themselves and wonder why they are reacting like that. Catch a grip, less of the icon worship ..you'll only make more enemies by generalising about the Irish people. No one has a problem with the average joe soap american. This lady didn't set out to offend anyone, it's just that Bush is so used to reporters licking his arse and him controling everything, that when a normal reporter asked a few awkward questions, he got his knickers in a twist.
I'm dying to know what was wrong with it.
It's down to the government to tell Bush that neither he (Bush) nor Bertie can not tell the Irish media what they can or can not say or write. If there are any attempts to shaft her she must have the full and unconditional backing of all Trade Unionists in this country. Bring it on, Georgie Boy!
(and Bertie, if you have any sense you will keep your head down)
The Irish Embassy in Washington has received a protest from the White House over the Carole Coleman interview (listen to it yourself by clicking on the URI in the top story).
A scheduled interview with First Lady Laura Bush was pulled when RTE suggested that Ms. Coleman do the interview.
Apparently the White House had suggested to Ms. Coleman and RTE (Radio Teilifis Eireann, the state broadcaster) that Ms. Coleman ask Mr. Bush about the outfit that An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern wore to the G8.
Full story at the link below courtesy of the Irish Independent:
Contact Form Submission
From: Stephen Gibboney ( mailto:gibboney1@verizon.net )
I have always been proud of my Irish heritage but never more than now
after hearing Carole Coleman backing our man Bush into the corner where
he belongs. Our media seems to be afraid of him. Her questions
reflect what the majority of Americans think. Way to go Carole
Contact Form Submission
From: Mary Mullins ( mailto:CircesCup@earthlink.net )
It was great! I only wish that I could have seen and heard the entire
interview. I'm an american patriot who marched against the war in Iraq
four times prior to the holocaust in Iraq, the "shock and awe", as the
Bush administration tagged it. I am only happy that now, the American
people are finally realizing that Bush has lied to them all along.
Thanks, Carole, for not letting him off easily, and I can only hope that a
good many Americans will see the entire interview. I'd love to see it
myself.
I love my Irish roots.
Contact Form Submission
From: MARTIN SOWINEK ( mailto:BISMARL25@MINDSPRING.COM )
Stupidity is her middle name. That creature should not be allowed to enter USA again. I knew that most of the liberal newsmedia reporters don't have any manners. It just so happen that she is one of them also. Stay in your green country and tend the sheep. That is all you are capable of doing.
Well, the Drudge Report has dropped the link to this website, so its web-traffic will be back to the level of a good proctology site in no time flat. .............. Loved the photos of the BIG MARCH. Glad to see the "average" Irish citizen so well represented. I saw Jew-Haters, Brit-Haters, Protestant-Haters, Sodomist, Socialist, Communist, and an odd mix of Sinn Fein signs which confuse me a bit. Maybe I had the wrong understanding of this organization? .... The thing that troubles me the most is the creeping anti-semitism that seem to undergird all of these European peace marches and looks to me to be very tolerated in the European press. Whats up with that? Very scary. The Germans (and note I say the Germans and NOT Hitler - as not confronting 'evil' lets evil become the norm) killed 6 million Jews. Stalin, the posterboy of many of these marchers, killed another 4 million, and threw in about 3 million Catholics for good measure. I would warn the "average" Irish citizen who opposes violence/war on a moral level to be careful of who you align yourselves with - these "fellow travelers" may not be what or who you think they are.
Contact Form Submission
From: W.J. ( mailto:gardnerw@erols.com )
Carole Coleman seems to be a reflection of a pushy woman...too bad.
Women are becoming more like men, and it isn't pretty. I guess that
is an insult to men...sorry, I should change that...Women are becoming
more like the 'women of today', and it still isn't pretty.
Carole Coleman has been insulting not only to the office but to a
President who respects 'most' women.
Ms. Coleman and others of her persuasion seem to forget that President
Bush tried hard to get the UN to do what they are supposed to do. I
guess they were too busy spending the money they made from the food and
medicine they made from the food and money for the Iraq children. I
also remember the threats of mass destruction that Saddam kept
threatening...What is a president to do...wait for another 9-11? I don't think
so. He did the right thing, get over it, get over Florida, get over
tunnel vision!
Contact Form Submission
From: Ian ( mailto:grouchyebeneezer@juno.com )
as a fellow irishman from Waterford I ask that you would lay off bush
until november
because the elections are coming up and the warmonger running against
president bush is satan himself and if he wins the election you can
gauruntee that the entire world will burn in hell
now i do encourage you to keep protesting against the war ,and we irish
here in america are doing whatever we can to help against this fight
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Via Contact Form Submission
From: Doug Smith ( mailto:smith.doug@sbcglobal.net )
"Bush Interview Not Bad?"
You make me want to vomit. Europeans are well known by us here in the
United States for letting problems go on and on and then squealing for
help when something terrible erupts and they need to be bailed out..
The "Carnage in Iraq", by the way, is caused by terrorist, not the US.
Of course, accidental deaths of civilians will happen, but the
"killing" is being done by the bad guys, remember, not us.
If lack the true perspective and understanding of the killing of
civilians and carnage, please visit your own Belfast.
If you Europeans had your way, you would leave Saddam to his own
devices, surely to expand his power to a level that you could not handle
and then...SURPRISE! "We'll call on the US to save our pink asses again"-
and by the time it would be that bad, then you would know what true
carnage is (Please see World War I, World War II. We answered your calls
for help then too. We now will not wait for you people to sit on your
asses and let problems GET OUT OF YOUR CONTROL!).
Tom Smith ( mailto:filkertom@yahoo.com )
I wanted to comment on Carol Coleman's interview with President Bush.
I'm not sure who to send this to, so I'm sending it to this site, which
seems to be close enough to what I need (you're hosting a copy of the
RealMedia).
Ms. Coleman, thank you. To your employers, thank you.
A lot of us in the U.S. have been working for years now, trying to
undo, or at least minimize, the damage Mr. Bush has done to our nation, our
reputation, and the world. Ms. Coleman went after him like a true
journalist, and his petulant hissy fit was right in character. So was the
White House's reaction afterwards.
Excellent work. Thank you for having guts, and thank you for making
the interview available. It is appreciated.
Sincerely,
Tom Smith
And I thought we were independent media.
We've nothing to do with RTE folks.
Same with the BBC they're still controlled respectively by Dublin 4 and the Queen of Engurland.
I think it all worked very well.
Sloppy Big Hugs all round.
Great Media machine when its needed.
We really ought see more indyRTE attitude.
oh btw check out the Black Pope Eoin photo on the BBC-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3842599.stm
talk to yiz 2mrw about it all if you're interested.
Sunday Papers on EU/USA Iraq Switzerland one year on- Torture and CAD one.
yeah a bit of brollies too tis the season,
and thanks all round.
prisoner list is short.
no deaths.
some pleasant surprises.
no need to write lengthy faxes
or satirical novels.
(and the trademarks are very handy aren't they?)
"That will probably be the last time his advisors allow a non rehearsed, non scripted, interview before the election."
I agree with much of what you say. However, the questions were submitted 3 days in advance. Thus, he had ample time to prepare, which makes him look even more like an arrogant, spoiled, sob, (if that's possible). His problem is that he's used to a press that just rolls over, allows him to speechify, and lie. It's even more embarrassing, (revealing), that he actually lodged a complaint with the Irish embassy- like the Irish govt controls the Irish press.
Once a person consents to an interview they lose the protection of the office and control. This is why American law allows you to ask your lawyer first before answering questions. No one, not even a President, should expect that they have any rights of the interviews direction or control of it once it has been agreed to. If an interviewer doesn't butt in periodically speeches result and interviewing time is wasted. A 5 minute interview means 5 minutes, and to not take control of the interview means the interviewer was not doing their job. To Carol, I say, good job. But you should have been tougher on him. That will probably be the last time his advisors allow a non rehearsed, non scripted, interview before the election.
Too bad more Americans aren't learning of the interview to see just what kind of arrogant, disconnected, person we are being asked to vote for this November. In the same fashion the American media is completly ignoring the fact that many Americans truly wished they had a viable third choice (how many voters know that both candidates are members of the Skull and Bones Society?) instead of the two peas from the same pod we have been presented with, so too has the American media ignored the Coleman interview and no trace of it is found on MSNBC news.com or CNN.com or on any of the broadcast media.
George W. Bush showed everyone what an ignorant fool he is and how arrogrant and vindictive the boy king can be. This fool is a disgrace to democracy and certainly one of the worst American presidents ever.
America wants to eat the world.
To hear that creature responding to Coleman's questions with self-righteous inanities, ignorant buffonery, limited vocabulary and tiny little thoughts compounds my outrage that he resides in the white house after being selected by an unelected Supreme Court and commits horrors upon the earth justified by "divine guidance" from his "Lord". It simply leaves me sputtering. This American is too ashamed of this government's (and its soldiers') actions to hold her head up to the rest of the world. Coleman is one of the VERY few journalists with the courage to ask real questions of this horrible, horrible man. Sure, there were a thousand she could have asked. She did what she could in the time she had.
I would like to apologize for the boorish, ugly comments of some Americans who have left nasty comments here.
Please remember that every country has their share of know-nothings, hicks and bigots.
Unfortunately we have someone in the White House who represents them. I promise we will do our best to have him evicted in November, and, God willing, tried for war crimes thereafter.
No one owes this man any respect. He isn't even the president ...he stole the election with the help of our highest court. Most Americans, including myself, remained quiet and patiently waited for the "system" to work, i.e. he'll be out in four years...how much harm can he do? How could we, how could anyone imagine how bad things could and have become? That "system", which is our constitutional government, is being dismantled right before our eyes. My husband and I are working very hard to see that this election will turn out differently. We are not alone, in fact I am confident we are in the majority. However, he's is supported by some very powerful factions and that includes a corporate-run press. If this monster is released upon the world for another four years, at least I'll know we went down fighting. I saw that interview and found it to be very inspiring. Thank you Ms. Coleman and thank you to all the people of Ireland who saw this petulant brat for what he is...."the man who would be king...HA ...not if I can help it!
I'm a citizen of the United States writing from Ohio. The number of posts fawning over Bush and admonishing this brave (although I feel a little too polite) journalist astounds me. Have you no ear for the condescension displayed by this arrogant bully toward the interviewer and the Irish people? In an interview, one expects a dialogue, an exchange of ideas; not a platform for canned rambling speeches chock full of lies and delivered as if talking to a grade school audience. The fact is, this man does not have the mental capacity to engage in discussion, only to recite what his handlers have spoon fed him. Bravo to the interviewer for not letting him get away with it! Shame on you detractors. If only America had more reporters like this one, theses criminals would not be able to repeat their lies ad nauseum until the dull believe them.
I'm an American and I was very interested in seeing this interview as they kept playing clips of it on CNN. As usual Bush displayed his usual lackwit stammering rhetoric. I can't understand for the life of me why all those people saying Carol was rude for trying to redirect the Pres. back to the original question when straying off terribly. It was nice for once to see a reporter with a backbone who refused to let Bush be evasive with his answers. I really can't see how anyone with more than 2 or 3 brain cells can come to Bush's defense anymore. Can't you all see through his redundant "america loves freedom, these terrorist killers hate freedom, 9/119/119/11 " diatribe? It;s as if when put to the hard questions, he flips through a note card and reads a standard "we love freedom, they hate it" simplistic, one dimensional type answer. The "terrorists" dont hate freedom, they hate America's exploiting of the people, resourses and politics in the region that have been going on since the cold war. Until he gets that through his thick noggon, I'll be digging that bomb shelter in my backyard because what goes around, comes around.
I just viewed a file of the interview. It was brilliant. Showed our President to be the whiny, petulant idiot he truly is.
If only we had real journalists here in the USA.
That comment from "Susan" wishing to "whip Irish butts" shows just how depraved American society has become. Its that sort of thing that got those soldiers in Abu Ghraib into trouble. Do try and keep your deviant sexual fantasies seperate from your politics, Susan, otherwise you become a tool for evil war criminals like Bush and Rumsfeld.
Of course I could have misunderstood you, and you may just be referring to cigarette butts. If you want any of them you should be able to find them on the ground outside most pubs in Dublin (its been like that since the smoking ban was introduced). Don't know why you would want to whip THEM though. Still, everyone to their tastes.
On behalf of all patriotic Americans, I want to thank Ms. Coleman for daring to stand up to the ugliest bully of the 21st century.
If we had journalists like her in the U.S., we wouldn't find ourselves in such a horrible mess. I hope that some day Ms. Coleman will be generous enough to give _our_ reporters a seminar on how to interview an alleged world "leader."
The Russians destroyed 3/4's of the Nazi war machine, and therefore, if Europe are collectively supposed to bend over to their "saviours", shouldn't it be for Russia?
Typical barstool ring-wing-republican-yank stupidity, grab a history book sometime before you open your mouth..........wider...
YEEEEE HAWWWW ! ! !
This is one of the funniest pages on the internet, almost as good as the reader mail at whitehouse.org. I love dumb people, och the poor wee pets.
Dear Susan,
I didn't like the interview either. But don't you think that wanting to 'whip Irish butts' because of one amateurish journalist is a wee bit of an overreaction?
Regards
The Kerryman
It has become in vogue for liberal pip squeak journalists to pile on President Bush. Ms. Coleman was rude in her handling of the interview with President Bush many in America are offended.
As an American, I'm getting tired of the lack of respect we are getting from countries whose fucking asses we saved in WW2 (France, Ireland & much of Europe included). Next time you pansies get your butts in a sling, don't expect the United States to come over and save your ungrateful asses.
Dear Ms. Coleman, in the inimitable words of Vice President Cheney, "go fuck yourself"!
Contact Form Submission
From: Doug Smith ( mailto:smith.doug@sbcglobal.net )
"Bush Interview Not Bad?"
You make me want to vomit. Europeans are well known by us here in the United States for letting problems go on and on and then squealing for help when something terrible erupts and they need to be bailed out..
The "Carnage in Iraq", by the way, is caused by terrorist, not the US. Of course, accidental deaths of civilians will happen, but the "killing" is being done by the bad guys, remember, not us.
If lack the true perspective and understanding of the killing of civilians and carnage, please visit your own Belfast.
If you Europeans had your way, you would leave Saddam to his own devices, surely to expand his power to a level that you could not handle and then...SURPRISE! "We'll call on the US to save our pink asses again"- and by the time it would be that bad, then you would know what true carnage is (Please see World War I, World War II. We answered your calls for help then too. We now will not wait for you people to sit on your asses and let problems GET OUT OF YOUR CONTROL!).
As we say here in the USA "go girl go." I only wish that our American media had the courage and audacity of Carole Coleman. As an American of Irish heritage I was proud to see "one of our own" take on this consistent liar. He lied to us about WMD, about Saddam in league with Ben Laudin, about saving the Iraq people, about the war being over while dressed up in a airman's costume. He is a total fraud. Only those who refused to recognize the truth, can possible continue to support him. Again, congratulations to Carole for doing what the American media are too lazy to do.
Coleman did not ask the tough questions
As an Irishman, I was highly embarrassed by this interview. I think it displayed the worst aspect of the powerless moralising that we in our small little country are addicted to. We do nothing ( because we don't have the size or resources to do otherwise) and to console ourselves we criticise the bejayus out of those who actually have to deal with the world's problems.
For what it's worth I happen to think that Bush is a disaster for America's interests in the world, BUT,
I always thought that the job of a journalist was to ask questions, not to engage in pathetic point scoring moralising. The questions were like those of 16 year old.
To our US friends, don' t let this amateurish performance piss you off and don't listen to the ravings of underemployed trendy lefties on this website. The vast majority of Irish people love Uncle Sam, even if we hope for a Democrat in the Oval Office after November.
Bush was rude! I am embarassed to have that monkey as my president! He looks like he is losing his mind! What an idiot!
nobody likes you, and nobody cares if you think Ms.Coleman was 'rude'. We don't care.
Garry Ryan, while only around a few thousand protested Bush, where was the big welcome party for His Infernal Majesty George? Was it like, yourself and all three of your mates? In a shed?
Seriously, why were there no marchers welcoming George, like yourself?
The reason why is simple- people like yourself are oddballs and geeks, just like the plain, blkand personalities you had in school.
So hurrah, Carol was 'awfully' rude. Good.
Try hader if you really want to convince people , especially at this stage.
You will say ' He has helped rebuild Iraq'. Good, that is compensation for bombing 30,000 civilians. Years later, media will carry headers 'praising' Him.
But the ordinary man on the street won't buy, it is way too naff!
God bless Carole Coleman for showing Bush what a REAL journalist acts like, instead of the lapdog subservient media we have here in the USA!
> The Irish can say what they want but we most probably have more Irish here than you do in Ireland. To be lectured about our violence by the Irish is a joke. You have a country that has had religious motivated violence for years and years.
To be lectured about violence in Ireland by Americans is a joke, since it was helped at its recent height by so-called 'Irish-Americans' contributing greenbacks that were eagerly converted to Armalites and explosives.
Thanks for that, you fuckers. Think about that whenever you drink your green Guinnesses and pretend to be Irish every March.
Thank you, Carol Coleman, for doing what the press here in America is afraid to do: politely insist that the President answer important questions instead of spouting empty platitudes.
After watching Carol Coleman's performance, I'm proud to be an Irish-American. She was polite, but firm. It's no surprise to me that the White House cancelled further interviews: Fascists like Bush tend to get angry when they have to answer real questions from the media.
I have to laugh at the comments posted on this board from Bush supporters. They're all upset about Coleman's "rudeness," yet they cheer the Vice-President's cursing on the Senate floor? Typical hypocrisy from the Republican party.
Thanks again, Carol Coleman, for doing the job our frightened press refuses to do.
>> frankly, as an Irish-American I was embarassed at the lack of respect this "reporterette" showed President Bush.
Frankly, you're probably one of those fifth-generation 'Irish-Americans' whose connection to the mother country involves turning down a pint of Guinness and sending donations to the IRA. I believe Bono had a few choice words for you.
The interview was shown in the U.S. I thought that the interviewer did a good job, and that Bush seemed like a strangely angry old grouch.
well for God's sake, everyone is ranting on about showing blind and obedient respect to Bush because he is the President of the United States................soooooooooo were we disrespectful to the Leader of Germany during WW2? or how about the last US president when people forgot all about implementation of his policies because we wanted to hear about his sex life?
you get respect when you earn it!
Carole Coleman needs to cow down to the President of the United States about as much as any Irish citizen needs to kiss the Queen's glove!
Get over it!
I have been waiting and waiting for American reporters to do the job Carole did so well. Bush can only talk about important issues like going to war in bumper sticker style talk. He only seems to have 4 or 5 sentances to stream together and he should be called on it.
As an American who has lived in Ireland for the past 16 years - I can categorically state that NO dear Patrick Saturday, not ALL your fellow citizens agree with you! Carole Coleman exemplified quality journalistic behaviour with Bush. She wasn't rude in the slightest. She was shrewd enough to allow Bush to expose himself with his behaviour for the arrogant school yard Bully that he is! And like all bullies, they don't expect to or are happy about being asked to explain themselves. He didn't give any answers, just more political rhetoric as usual. I wonder Mr. Saturday if you are remotely concerned or aware of the regression back to a McCarthy - ite mentality of censhorship within the American media. The REST of the world and other democratic nations such as Ireland do not need to cow down to the blinfold ettiquette of the Bush administration. As a former employee of RTE as well, this is the first time I have truly been proud of the station for backing someone with the courage to "do their job" on the international stage of political journalism.
People don't like to feel that they are being lied to. Nor is it human nature to be anything but insulted when we KNOW we are being condescended to. How stupid does the Bush administration think that the general public is? Please don't speak for what you think the majority of Americans feel about Bush. He's a twit and Carol Coleman exposed him for what he is. She wanted political answers - where as the likes of you no doubt found Ken Starr's approach to the "nitty gritty" of Clinton's sex life of immense value in the world arena. You want to be entertained - you don't want to be forced to reconsider your black and white reality.
RTE, stand by your girl! and give her a raise
Dear dirk.
you should be ashamed you have irish blood, because you dont know shit about ireland. as a citizen In the Republic of Ireland, i have never in one day of my life feared that i may be bombed by a terrorist. be it going to the mall to spend my cash on crap tv told me to, or getting into my car to drive around on petrol(gasoline) it doesnt need to run on. tell me this, thanks to your version of the U.S of A, do you feel safe to walk around your streets at night? even if you happen to stroll into a predominantly muslim area, or wander straight into compton, or other such areas that are portrayed to us as being dangerous?
It's really interesting to see reporters congratulating themselves on how they "put 'im on the spot". What nonsense. Bush is the President of the United States, engaged in a war on global terror, and this Irish twirp thinks SHE's tough?! Because she demonstrates a lack of professionalism and personal manners.
It's probably correct that this idiot won't be seeing Bush again any time soon. But I don't appreciate foreign correspondents coming into the American White House and behaving badly with our President. I'm sure that in the end he felt somewhat embarrassed . . . for her. Such a promising career she had . . .
there is a reason he didn't get the dignity that is shown US presidents - he wasn't elected
besides that, it's not like presidents don't get respect. clinton was treated like a movie star, cause he did a good job and wasn't mentally deficient. it's only when the president has alienated the entire world, including his own country, and tries to take advantage of ireland for political exposure that he gets the treatment he deserves. it's a pity that you don't realize that he is only in ireland to capture the Irish-American vote this November.
it just shows your ignorance when you talk about how right bush's policies are. it's too bad that you have no idea what's going on. go to www.commondreams.org if you actually want to find out what his administration is doing, or you could keep arguing about it and keep looking uninformed.
-Matt, New Jersey
Over and done with now. Can't change what happened.
I couldn't give a f*ck what she said to him anyway, her questions were well filtered so all you shoulda-woulda-coulda's can rant and rave about what you'd say to Bush, but the reality is your knee's would have been knocking together when staring him in the eyes. It's alot easy to be a keyboard warrior than confront a man like Bush and I think she was brave to keep her nerve.
As for the interview, what interview? Did we actually get any info out of it? ..No, it was a sh*t interview but a good 'chat', almost a debate. A point was made, for better or worse.
Anyway he's gone, cost us millions to have tea and biscuits in one of our castles so move on and rant about something else.
I agree with Eileen in that I think Bush was the one that was rude and inconsiderate. He is good about rambling on with anything that he says. I thought Carol was just about as patient as she could be in allowing Bush to complete his thoughts then, when she tried to follow up or ask another question, he had to show that he was in charge and "let me finish" comments were designed to put her down. Go Carol. You did a good job as far as I am concerned. I wish the media here in America would have done a whole lot more pushing and asking the "right" questions. Maybe we wouldn't be involved in this God awful "unnecessary" war and maybe we wouldn't have gotten nearly 1,000 of our young men and women killed and who knows how many more to come. To this number, we must add the good soldiers of the United Kindom to it. Iraq was a "contained" country and would have been for years and years to come. Now, we have a haven for terrorists there and it will take a lifetime to make amends for the harm our countries have done.
have you come across 1 irish person that supported saddam? if i presume that no is your answer, then i will proceed. saddam has now being caught, hooray, he was a mass murdering scumbag. but at least he wasnt as sneaky about it and trying to pull a veil over the worlds eyes while blatantly doing it. And while you say he killed children in his own country, KILLING ANYONE of ANY AGE is WRONG. just because we(and not just the irish) do not support bush and agree with what he is doing is right, does not make us terrorist sympathizers. Its not all just black or white.
You did a fine job articulating how many of us feel here in the US. Though President Bush is certainly no orator, he does speak plain truth and knows what "is" is. The Irish reporter was amazingly rude and was not really interested in his answers as they did not fit in with her obvious liberal agenda. Most Americans that "care" know in their hearts and minds that there is a liberal agenda in the press, public schools, Universities and Courts. It disgust me to hear the American Liberals apologize to the hand wringing self righteous Euros for Amerces handing Freedom to over 50 million people of Muslim persuasion.
I am embarrassed as an American for what some US soldiers did. However to compare putting women's underwear over their heads to the brutal and gruesome beheadings is unreal to me. To blame the beheadings on this is preposterous, seeing how they have been doing this for 2,000 years and still do in Saudi Arabia.
Ireland has produced many great heroes. If you were to look at all the Congressional Medal of Honor winners you would be amazed at how many how Irish surnames.
In closing, the Irish chose poorly to have Carole Coleman be their star reporter to the President. Not for her questions, though clearly slanted, but for abject rudeness and obvious agenda, as a guest in the "people's White House".
ps I loved your link,,,
http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/ralph/workbook/ralprs36.htm
Politicians are trained like small pets to do certain things. One of them is to hog time during interaction with the media. This is done by using questions asked as sprinboards for long, "press release" like answers. The longer the answer, the more precious interview time is taken. In a sense, it is the people who are shown no respect by this textbook elitist politician. There is no reason for the interviewer to kiss his arse, and she should be commended for attempting to engage a true dialogue. Besides, anyone looking for a real dialogue with a leader of the U.S will have to wait until Cheney is told he can speak freely by the Israeli lobbyists that pull his strings.
The Irish can say what they want but we most probably have more Irish here than you do in Ireland. To be lectured about our violence by the Irish is a joke. You have a country that has had religious motivated violence for years and years. The USA is trying to bring freedom to the Middle East the LEAVE and that is what we will do. The middle east has shown that it wants to bring down the entire western civilization and by buring your heads in the sand and hoping that it will go away has never worked. Carole, sit home and wien about Iraq while we do something about it.
This Yankee listened to the interview (via a link on this site) and I didn't think Carole Coleman’s behavior was as unprofessional as described in the few US internet articles I read. Rude? Yes, but not nearly as rude and outrageous as our own Senators have been to the President in the last few months.
In light of the unhappiness in Europe as described by Carole Coleman, I'm willing to let Europe show us how the freedom of Western Civilization should be maintained.
This will be a great relief to the American Taxpayer who has carried on his back, for the last half century, the cost of maintaining the freedom of Western Civilization.
Now it is your turn, please - show us how it should be done! You will need an Army, a Navy and Air Force during this lesson because you are going to show us how to do it right, we won’t offend you any longer by helping provide for your security via NATO. Unfortunately this may be a burden on your economy but folks with such a righteous since of right and wrong will certainly carry on this chore with a smile.
The infant America will sit, watch and learn from the mature ones. During this lesson we will grow stunningly rich! We can divert the billions of defense dollars into maintaining our quality of life and extend to the American people the same sort of quasi-socialist welfare that Europe has been able to provide it’s people because it has not had to consider seriously it’s own defense in the last 50 years.
And during this period, forgive us if we help not at all, but sit on our arses and criticize your every move, we learned that from you as well.
If the world is a more dangerous place today because of George Bush, we must assume that you feel it’s fine that Americans be murdered in Embassies, Naval Vessels and Office Buildings because that is status quo, “the peace” you want us to “return” to. We must decline, for our own survival.
The relative peace and prosperity of post WW2 is over, it was an anomaly in the normal condition of mankind and it was wonderful. Unfortunately man has reverted to his usual state of being, slaughtering each other of grievances real and imagined. This is the reality that must be dealt with, ignore at your own peril.
Aye, indeed, and Vincent Browne would have made mincemeat of him. Now that would be an interview worth seeing, or even just hearing!
What are you lot on about? There was no interrupting of answers - because he never actually answered the questions put to him. "Mr. President, do you not think that the deaths of your soldiers on a daily basis means that the world is not safer than before the invasion" is not answered by "Well, I feel bad about those deaths". It's an old PR technique - answering the question you would like to have been asked rather than the question you were asked.
Frankly, if anything, she didn't interrupt with sufficent force - Hanly or Paxman would have crucified him for that.
Bush was using a tactic we are very familiar with, bringing in unrelated stuff and waffling, anything to avoid answering the questions he had been asked. Carole was right to cut through the waffle and demand answers.
The real issue here is not rudeness, or perceived rudeness. The real issue is accountability, and politicians are quite skilled at trying to avoid the issues when they are being interviewed, so journalists have developed techniques to draw out the politicians. The likes of Bush just want to avoid being answerable for their crimes.
While the existence of a free and independent media is of the utmost importance, reporters should adhere to basic standards of common courtesy.
Carole Coleman, in the interview with President Bush, rudely interrupted him at least 3 times, seemingly unwilling to allow him to finish answering the tough questions posed. Disagreement with a person/country's position on an issue, even an emotionally-charged one such as Iraq, does not warrant such unprofessional and rude behavior.
Sincerely,
A. Laginess
Cincinnati, Ohio
I would prefer a President who gets his rocks off rather than a screwed-up born-again recovering alcoholic.
Whatever our preferences between those two political careerists, there was a time when the American people made a choice between deference to a monarch and the establishment of a republic where, in theory at any rate, all would be equal. Now we have people arguing that we should not question those in the most powerful positions, in other words they want us to pay deference. I have to put it to you that behaving in such a deferential way is 'un-American'.
What has happened to that once proud nation, the United States Of America? Would they prefer to go back to being ruled by a monarch who can not be questioned about his wrongdoing? That is sad.
"It's the lefties who have to toe the party line, world-wide, 'cause if they don't they get put away in some physical or intellectual 'gulag' to pay for their insolence."
Well ain't that pretty rich coming from a US American .... I hear that you guys are getting pretty good at the gulag business yourselves these days .......
Or has your corporate controlled media censored all reporting about Gitmo and Abu Gharib .........
It's about time someone had some balls to stick up to the bully.
If Bush can't take this kind of heat without a script, can you imagine the meltdown he'll have in the presidential debates this year?
Oh, won't that be precious.
I liked the interview. She put him on the spot where he belongs. He was angry because he was not prepared to answer her questions, as always he needs someone to have the answer for him, which this time he did not. She caught him off guard...He needs to answer for all the mistakes, and his needless war. We here in America are straight up tired of all his lies, and it will show come November when we vote him out of office. We have lost a lot in the USA... If he is re-elected we will lose everything..he is by far the worst president we have ever had in office.
Bush owes Ms Coleman an apology. If the President of the United States can't take a little tough questioning without turning rude, it just shows he not fit for the job.
The people of the United States saw this interview. We are not happy with this White House idiot.
I think it's about time somebody in the press asked Mr Bush a couple of hard questions. It's just a shame that it was not an American Reporter. As an american I feel that the News Media in my country has done all Americans a disservice
Bush handled the interview quite well. No sterling answers or great oratory, but he answered the issues raised, and dealt with the interuptions gracefully.
A majority of the American news media is very much a leftist enterprise. Check out the Pew Reseach Center analysis of the US press. Not only do the most reporters admit being liberal, the ones that claim to be moderate and conservative, hold positions that make it clear they are way left of the public. The US public has little trust or repect for the news media. The Wall Street Journal and Fox News are outstanding exceptions.
The European press is off the charts. Calling them leftist is too kind. Clearly anti-American/Isreal feelings dominate, and reason is no where to be found. Is it any wonder most of the European public opposes Bush and the war against Islamic Facism, while most of the governments understand what is really going on.
Carole Coleman seems to be carrying the torch for the anti-US agenda. Bush has demonstrated repeatedly that he is not afraid to answer questions from this type of reporter, so I would not be surprised if she got another interview.
By the way, the US people love Ireland, and consider it to be among the best of Europe. That respect could wane if the only examples seen are the likes of Carole Coleman.
Very disrespectful. If you ask someone a question, have the courtesy to allow them to answer. Don't interupt , that is disrespectful.
Bush, will be re-elected.
Sorry.
President Bush, you have our support!!
It was great for us in the States to hear Ms. Coleman's interview with President Bush. Although many print journalists here have some harsh truths to tell Mr. Bush, not many (if any, to my recollection) television journalists have the guts to go mano a′ mano with him in an interview. Without lessening my admiration for Ms. Coleman's style, in my opinion, she was much too gentle. To those of you who write that she showed disrespect, just think for a minute about what the US has done and will be doing under Bush's leadership. I am ashamed and heart-broken about our policies, both domestic and foreign, and outraged by the arrogance and self-righteousness with which the Bush administration acts upon our own citizens and the rest of the world. Mr. Bush should be challenged more often and more bluntly - there is no reason to be genteel with a liar and a bully. He is due no respect., no deference, and no second term! If he does win, then God help us all.
Carole Coleman is incredibly rude. If you ask a question in an interview you should allow the other person to answer it fully. She should have interviewed herself because it seemed that her opinion is all that mattered to her.
Carole Coleman MARRY ME! :-) ANYBODY KNOW WARE I CAN FIND A REAL IRISH WOMEN LIKE CAROLE! I LIVE IN MIAMI AND I AM SURROUNDED BY INDIANS! PLEASE HELP ME!
ZACARIA102@YAHOO.COM
Your girl bounced right down a long list of prejudicial assumptions without even listening for an answer or asking for a clarification. Amazing.
Neutral in WWII, neutral now, make yourselves small in the knowing that your treeless rock is an oversized soft target, and no surprise to any of it. Of course, it's not that realization that makes you weak -- it's that you also feel the need to convince yourselves that there is no evil and no good, that its all relative, and thus that its okay not to take sides.
So if it's relative, tell me: Who will you elect to serve as the modern Eamon De Valera. Who will you send to sign condolence books for Osama and Saddam, just as he surely signed for Hitler. It's all relative right?
I lived in Dublin for a year. Folks ask me about it sometimes. I tell them. Dirty. Poor. Irrelevant.
Dear Ms. Coleman,
Thank you for challenging President Bush like you did for RTE as you had more courage in doing such than many US journalists (which is why Americans like myself would rather pay attention to the foreign press/media instead as it usually does a much better job of coverage). Please review the mention of the new 'A Pretext for War' book (by James Bamford) which is discussed in the email below which I sent to Robert Fisk's editor (with the London Independent). It would be so beneficial if the Irish/British press/media would ask President Bush about what is mentioned in a 'Pretext for War' (you can see reviews for it via the following URL):
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/zone0/viewtopic.php?t=16388
Abu Ghraib Prison Torture Scandal Goes to the Highest Level:
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/zone0/viewtopic.php?t=16336
Forwarded:
Email to Robert Fisk's editor at the London Independent newspaper:
Dear Mr. Doyle,
I am emailing you to let you know that Robert Fisk is mentioned on page 142-143 in James Bamford's new book ('A Pretext for War') which is about how the (JINSA/CSP/PNAC) Neoconservative cabal in the Bush regime basically pushed the USA to war in Iraq for the Likud in Israel. Bamford's 'A Pretext for War' also mentions that the vast US support ( see the link at the upper left of www.wrmea.com ) for Israel's brutal oppression of the Palestinians contributed to the motivation for the tragic September 11th, 2001 attack and the earlier World Trade Center attack in 1993 as well. The following URL includes additional information about 'A Pretext for War':
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0385506724/qid=1088139174/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-3377541-3343350?v=glance&s=books
I actually have been in touch with Robert Fisk and had faxed him material that he used in association with the following articles:
http://www.robert-fisk.com/articles402.htm
http://www.counterpunch.org/fisk01142003.html
The following is an email sent to James Bamford recently:
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 16:22:44 -0700 (PDT)
Dear Mr. Bamford,
Good talking with you again on the phone earlier today (as it is good to keep in touch with you since it was so beneficial of you to read Captain Ward Boston's declaration after I was able to fax it to you in time for the USS Liberty panel discussion at the State Department this past January). More about Captain Boston appears at the following URL:
http://www.rense.com/Datapages/usslib.htm
I had been emailing Don Bustany about your new book and had sent him the Washington Post (Outlook) review of it. I just got off the phone with Don as he mentioned that you will be on his 'Middle East in Focus' program tonight (as I am looking forward to listening).
Here is the URL for that 'Long Night After' article by Uri Avnery which I also had sent through to British MP Tam Dalyell who is the Father of the House of Commons:
http://www.counterpunch.org/avnery04102003.html
Here is another article by Uri Avnery:
http://www.counterpunch.org/avnery04142003.html
MP Tam Dalyell who is the Father of the House of Commons (and is also the rector for Saint Andrews University in Scotland) spoke out against the JINSA/CSP/PNAC Neoconservative cabal in the current Bush regime which pushed us to invade/occupy Iraq for Israel and oil (Halliburton/Bechtel):
http://www.rense.com/general39/tenet.htm
I just noticed the following URL as well after doing an Internet search for Tam Dalyell:
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/may2003/lab-m22.shtml
I had first learned about JINSA via the following article by Robert Fisk for the London Independent newspaper:
http://www.robert-fisk.com/articles114.htm
The following is the URL for the 'Men from JINSA and CSP' article (from 'The Nation' magazine) which Fisk mentioned in the above article:
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020902&s=vest
There are JINSA (Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs) Zionist extremists who are also associated with PNAC (Project for the New American Century) as mentioned at the following URL:
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/zone0/viewtopic.php?t=1970
War Conceived in Israel:
http://www.thornwalker.com/ditch/snieg_conc1.htm
This article (found at the following URLs) was written by a very valued anti-Zionist Jewish contact/friend (Jeffrey Blankfort):
http://www.itszone.co.uk/zone0/viewtopic.php?t=14695
http://www.leftcurve.org/LC27WebPages/IsraelLobby.html
http://www.fpp.co.uk/online/02/12/Counterpunch_1.html
I have also been in touch with some of the lawyers for the seven MP soldiers charged in association with the Abu Ghraib prison torture scandal. The following URL conveys that the scandal goes much higher and that Israel is involved as well (as CACI Abu Ghraib interrogator Joe Ryan has mentioned that he was trained in interrogation in Israel even as CACI -which is mentioned in the Taguba report along with Titan- has denied that their interrogators have been trained in Israel). John Benjamin Israel, who is also mentioned in the Taguba report, has been living in the Los Angeles area for the past ten years and refers to himself as an Iraqi Christian when is name sounds very Jewish - please access the articles about him via the following URL as he could be former/current Mossad or Shin Bet or could have been trained in Israel like Joe Ryan was):
http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/signal/iraq/
Abu Ghraib Prison Torture Scandal Goes to the Highest Level:
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/zone0/viewtopic.php?t=16336
I have been in touch with Paul Bergin about the Israeli association to Abu Ghraib as he mentioned that he would bring such up during an interview for '60 Minutes II' that he is doing today.. He is the civilian for Javal Davis who is mentioned at the following URL:
http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/05/1680731.php
I am the friend of Captain Ward Boston mentioned in the San Diego Union Tribune article linked at this URL:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20040217-9999-1n17liberty.html
http://www.independent-media.tv/item.cfm?fmedia_id=4957&fcategory_desc=Under%20Reported
More on Captain Ward Boston is mentioned via the following URL:
http://www.rense.com/Datapages/usslib.htm
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/ussliberty.html
The message threads that appear at the top of the following URL are interesting as well:
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/zone0/viewforum.php?f=10
Whose War?:
http://www.amconmag.com/03_24_03/cover.html
Its great to hear all your comments on the interview which I just watched here in america....
Although I think carole tried hard... it was disappointing-like oil and water......but on another level it shows clearly that Bush and his evil shadows are operating in another dimension of law and logic...he really believes his crap...
Since when did Theroc care one bit about mustard gas in Iraq...t Sorry ya fool, but the truth behind george Bush is even more horrible than I want to believe, and you could fathom-...he's a dry drunk in denial, a religious zealot , and a coward and a fool who does not even have to wait for history to bare his true colours...they're seeping out as we speak- and his colors are all shades of blood
I'm proud to tell you all I will be voting for anyone 'cept bush on Nov.2 then i'm comin' home to Dublin to watch the fun..,
Love and peace...I'm a proud brave bleeding heart who knows how to take care of hearts.....
She did a good job in sticking it to him. I expect she will get a job in the BBC or CNN soon.
Now someone need to stick it to the illegal Irish and their Irish American fellow-travellers. You people are a fucking disgrace. You can't even spell your inherited Irish names anymore. You'll NEVER beat the REAL Irish, MacPaddies.
Bush paused and Ms. Coleman had every right to assume he was done answering questions. He didn't actually answer any questions and I wish US reporters asked these kind of questions. There are not even allowed to ask follow-up questions of Bush. This is no longer the land of the free. Bush keeps telling lies and the US reporters never call him on it, because they worried about losing their jobs because most of the media in the US is owned by these neo-cons.
The Marxists have infested our universities and our media in Ireland, just as in the rest of the developed world.
Don't worry though, this sorry excuse for a reporter is not represetative of the real Irish people.
So Elisabeth Bumiller (NYT) called it "a hostile reception":
"But the president got a taste of his reception during a contentious
television interview broadcast here Thursday night on RTE, the Irish state
broadcaster. The reporter, Carole Coleman, began the interview by asking
Bush how it felt to come to Ireland knowing that the majority of the Irish
did not want him in their country."
http://www.iht.com/articles/526675.html
UPI found out it was a lack of "courtesy"
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040625-030647-7851r.htm
and Dam Froomkin (Washington Post) took it as "The Irish Incident".
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5127-2004Jun25.html
Obviously, US politicians (and American readers/viewers) are
used to Larry King's "courtesy" style of interview instead of
Carole Coleman's (RTE) or Tim Sebastian's "Hard Talk" (BBC)
no matter whether it is a President or anybody else.
Mario Profaca
The Global Intelligence News Portal
Part of this interview was just shown on the nightly news here in the U.S., and frankly, as an Irish-American I was embarassed at the lack of respect this "reporterette" showed President Bush. I had no idea the socialist/marxist idealogs - - who have so cleaverly wraped themselves in the cloak of 'anti-war protestors' -- had invaded your media as well. I fully understand the inferiortiy complex Continetal Europe is suffering - the French "surrender-monkeys" in particular. How quickly they have forgotten where appeasement left them in 1940. I expected more from the Irish, however. I agree that this interview, if shown broadly in the U.S., would help President Bush. He shows the quality we Americans admire most in our Presidents- courage to act on ones convictions and be a leader........ Europeans -LEAD, FOLLOW or get ready to bow to Mecca several times per day!
Judging by your name you are most likely a practicing Moslem . It is fascinating to watch the fanaticism practice by so many of your ilk. You some how justify the savage and brutal beheading of innocence people. The bombing, rape, murder and torture of hundreds of thousands of Iraq's Muslim citizens.
The one thing that you are most terrified of is the middle eastern nations getting something they have never had and that is freedom.
When I ask Muslims why they have such hard feelings towards America, it is always because of America support of Israel. Does any one find it fascinating of all the countries America has supported, bled and died for?
Mr. Idris may God forgive your hatred.
Carole Coleman has really let Ireland down with her incompetence and rudeness.
I really hope RTE fire her, she's certainly not fit to interview heads of state. Don't forget, RTE is funded by us Irish taxpayers.
There are no other words to express it: Ms. Coleman was rude in her interview with Mr. Bush.
I have more than a quarter century dealing with the media both as an activist and in elected public office. I've been interviewed by hundreds of reporters in the U.S. both at the local, state and national level. Coleman is at the bottom on the dung pile among reporters.
If you want to ask tough questions that is fine. But give a person time to respond if you are truely interested in the answers and not ratings. To adapt a phras a bit, "it is not what you ask, it's how you ask it!
What a glaring blemish on Ireland.
This is no slag: Shame, shame!
Okay I just finished listening to the entire interview and would like to say Way to Go Carole Coleman!!! She kept interrupting him because he does not answer the question that is put to him. He goes off on pre-written responses and speechifying. I mean, come on, that ridiculous story about the handless Iraqi who came in his office, puhleeze! He was pulling crap on her, not answering questions, she would let him go on and then when it seemed like he was winding up the non-answer, she tried to follow up and he would jump in with the whining "let me finish, let me finish". I think HE was rude (not to mention embarrassingly idiotic) and I wish Carole Coleman would come to America and give assertiveness lessons to some of the stenographers who call themselves journalists over here. That interview was a great day for the Irish!!!
I have learned over the years that when a person can not legitimately and intelligently argue their ideas supported by, "God forbid" facts, they resort to name calling, personal insults and unsubstantiated accusations. That is a tactic that though perfected by the left, is neither ear marked for either the left or the right, but reserved for those who lack the ability to articulate whatever they profess to believe in. You have mastered that as evidence by your dogma. When history has time to unwind and the 60 million free people of Iraq raise statues to President Bush and the USA for giving them what NO one has given them in over 2,000 years, FREEDOM, then I wonder where "well wishers" such as your self will be sulking...
cos colin powell admitted it was the other week in terms of terrorists attacks anyway
They should send her to Darfur where she can indulge her self-righteousness all she wants.
I appreciate the fact that you'd model so wonderfully my point that lefties are so grim and grave, so lacking in ability to engage beyond the soulful mourning for social fairness, so out of touch with mainstream (oops, I didn't say all_of_those things earlier... well, there you have it... I must be all those evil things you said about my ignorance, and lack of intelligence... I feel so, so, ...emotional).
Anyway, you were a good foil for my argument.
Thanks. I'll remember you in my will.
S.
And you're not answering.
Come on, I'm lurking, and I've overstayed my online time just to get you to connect.
Last chance. Going, going........
S.
Since when did rudeness become a method of interviewing?
When did journalism become about the journalist?
Coleman represents all of what's bad about journalists these days:
* poorly educated
* lack of skill
* make themselves the news.
This whole episode is proof of the third point in that list... note that no one is talking about the CONTENT of the interview, they're now talking about Coleman.
She's as embarrassing as that other has-been in America media, Helen Thomas.
It's usually a good idea to use even a kernel of truth in order to come across as humorous.
You failed.
Carole failed, too. If she'd truly wanted to hear answers, she'd have allowed the answer to be heard.
Her agenda was clear.
I see that you avoided to answer "How is world more dangerous" question.
Ignorance is bliss.
I love how President Bush handled that flea-bag. NEVER INTERRUPT A WORLD LEADER! I notice that Irish journalists are very irresponsible. Maybe the populace will wake up to that reality soon.
P.S. R,
If you're a citizen in the United States, you can't be held incommunicado even if you're a terrorist. If you're a foreign combatant, the rules change. I only say this to counter your false accusation that I'm no patriot, and that I am anti-Constitution. If you'd gotten your facts straight, I wouldn't have to spend this extra time creating an addendum. Still, it's nice to be able to point out, fact by excruciating fact, how tenuous your hold on reality/truth is in regard to things that haven't been spoonfed to you by your comrades and fellow-travellers.
You should read around some more.
Gotta go.
Wish you'd engage.
S.
For so ,long I could not believe that nobody would ask President Bush the tough questions Carole Coleman did.
I'm an Anerican citizen these are the questions the whole world needs to ask Mr. Bush.
What world does he live in ?
If the world is such a safer place ,why does everyone now hate everything about America ?
Personally I am delighted that Carole asked him the tough questiions, could see his eyes flinch and him miss use his words in constructing his sentences.
I took delight in his personal discomfort and the tone of his stern voice that could not control Carole.
He sounded more like a school yard bully out of his element.
Could you please show the whole interview and Carole deserves a pay raise .
This is one occassion the the great propaganda machine of my beloved Country failed to protect Mr. Bush.
Nothing would be more noble, for Mr. Bush to admit he made a big blunder and I'm sure Country's around the world would reach out to help.
Thank God for the Irish.
Hamzat Idris
If the media were truly left-wing and anti-Bush the headline would have been:
"Timid Irish journalist fobbed off with evasions by War Criminal"
The content of the report would have pointed out that Coleman did not press Bush on whether or not he personally gave the go-ahead to the CIA to torture prisoners (starting in Afghanistan), did not press Bush on the whether he accepted complete responsibility as Commander-In-Chief for the torture and abuse of the prisoners at Abu Ghraib (if the soldiers charged with that stuff are found guilty and the orders came from the top then he should be held as responsible as them -- if not more so).
You're all complaining about soft-ball stuff because it's a mild representation of criticism. The real feelings of most of the rest of the people of the world are so critical that even the right-wing media has to allow a little mention of criticism.
Seriously, if you're upset by this stuff you should read around some more.
R,
Have you no recollection of Malcolm Muggeridge, and others, for God's sake?
Or, should I be more diplomatic and say "for any higher authority that you may envision as having some marginal, but probably not, controlling power's sake?"
Come on. Enter the game. I've only a few minutes left, and I have no way of getting in touch with you.
Be a good sport.
S.
Carole Coleman is in need of a lesson in civility when interviewing prominent figures. Her use of a meat-axe on President Bush was deplorable and unworthy of her profession.
It's hard for you to supply evidence of all those "left-wing" smarmy euro-journalists extolling the virtues of the Soviet Union because there weren't any. You can take that as _ad hominem_ if you like, but that isn't how it was intended.
I have _no_ interest in conversing with you until you supply some of the requested information. Personal bickering doesn't interest me. Don't bother to reply until you address the substantive issues and my _specific_ questions.
Here's how the Associated Press headlines it:
"Bush Gives Testy Interview to Irish TV"
That must be an example of the compliant media in the US, I suppose.
The last I checked, it took two to disagree, and yet you won't find a 'cause & effect' scenario played out in the reporting.
As usual, "It's all Bush's fault", according to the US media.
No doubt that Reuters et. al. will treat it even worse.
mcdowell and liz mc dowell on primte time the other night is hat all we hae to depend o to voice criticismhow do you wonder do they actually do that,
"o camp x ray bold boy so how's laura then"
The world is, according to some, "more dangerous" because of the US incursion into Iraq.
Really?
More dangerous for terrorists, perhaps, but when one considers that the US was directly attacked 5 times (1993 World Trade Center, 1995 Embassy bombing, 1996 (twice) Embassy bombings, 2000 bombing of USS Cole) prior to 9/11, (a bit of a trend there, no?) and since our attacks on The Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and the attacks on the terrorist-associated regime in Iraq, there have been how many attacks on the US?
It is a dangerous world. If we had continued to ignore the obvious, then Al Qaeda and related terrorists would still be 100% as strong as they had been.
My dear "R",
What a pleasure it is to have someone jump to the game, only to have that someone bespoil themselves with an immediate ad hominem attack straight out of the gate.
It makes short work of your "objectivity" don't you think? Don't you think it's wonderful to be able to goad? I think so, eh? (Oh, yes, the email addy you see in some of my posts would have given you the clue that I'm Canadian, but I wouldn't expect you to put that much effort into close observation, I suppose)
Anyway, the point is that lefties aren't any fun. They're too easy. Always so grim and grave. No lampooning can be had, when there's so many souls to save, eh?
You're point in case number 1.
Would anybody like to be number 2?
By the way, in all seriousness, I'd like to set up a conversation with you, but I'm not going to be available for the weekend. My email is down the line a bit, what's yours?
That wouldn't be too challenging, now, would it?
S.
A prime example of the US media's left-leaning ways is the Abu Ghraib and the over-reporting it has received, with regard to the almost paltry reporting of the recent beheadings, AND the fact that it is a rare day when one might see the video replay of what happened on 9/11.
The bias of most American media is evident.
In an interview Thursday with Ireland's RTE television, Bush defended his decision to invade Iraq and insisted most of Europe backed the move. He also disputed the interviewer's assertion that most Irish people thought the world was more dangerous today than before the Iraq invasion.
"What was it like Sept. 11, 2001?" he retorted. "I wouldn't have made the decisions I did if I didn't believe the world would be better. Why would I put people in harm's way if I didn't believe the world would be better?"
over 70% of the readers of the right-wing rag "The Irish Independent" approved the strongly worded disapproval of Bush's policies in Iraq by the right-wing Minister McDowell.
Disliking the actions of the USA is not anti-American and it's not fringe left-wing groups. It's a reasonable reposnse to unreasonable behaviour. I'm sure you know that because I know there have been huge demonstrations in the USA against the war. In fact it looks to me right now that the real patriots are the ones that are protesting. The gulag-lovers are the ones that wrap themselves in the flag and declare anyone that disagrees with them to be anti-American.
Remember that movie a month ago called The Day After Tomorrow! At the end of the film when most of the world population is wiped out by the weather. The astronauts end the movie only to say..." Wow Have you ever seen the air so clear!!!" your kids and family are all statues and all they can think of is how clear the Earth looks... GIVE ME A BREAK LOL ... why the hell should we listen to anything they have to say with nuts that think like that... They are just as bad as the terrorists...
.... would you please supply some supporting evidence for the statements that you make? Otherwise we're in danger of assuming that you're really raving. For example when you write:
QUOTE: "[...]some of those self-righteous, smarmy little lefty Euro-reporters that used to promote the 'joys' of the Soviet Union"
It'd be great if you could give an example from any of the writers in the Irish Times that extolled the "joys" of the Soviet Union. Or, if you can't do that then something from Le Figaro or Liberation or Der Zeit will do just fine. It ought to be easy for you to find them because there must be loads of them from the way you talk about it.
QUOTE: "I believe that if we had just listened to our little lefty friends, we'd all be in a worker's gulag, oops, paradise right now."
And instead you're now living in a country where you can be arrested and held outside of the legal system established by the revolutionaries that broke free from the established church that represented God, the King that was appointed by that God, the Parliament that ruled with the approval of that God. You're living in a country where the media would not be allowed to report on that, the security services are able to gag journalists from even reporting that you're held and any lawyer that works for you could be prosecuted as a "terrorist". Hold your head up high Stu, pride and blind patriotism is all you've got left.
Just so you know, you look like a traitor to the ideals of the US Constitution and your attitudes are more in line iwth those of the anti-republican monarchists of yesteryear and the semi-fascistic communists of the Soviet Union.
QUOTE: "Please, please, come over and save our God-fearing, generous souls before we give all of our hard-earned money to some deserving charity cases, again. I just can't bear to pony up another 20 million today to the world Aids fight, when I know that dialectical materialism will save my material soul. Stop us before we give again. Please! Have mercy on our financial souls."
Was some of that 20 million harvested from Africa? Was it collected in "intellectual property" taxes on drugs? Or did it come from gold, diamonds and oil extracted at sub freemarket values by the support of mini-dictators? Was part of it from "savings" obtained by getting oil for much less than you would if there were democracies in charge of the oil-fields of the Middle East? If you can't answer "no" to those questions then your charity becomes an insult.
QUOTE: "Lefties aren't any fun anymore. It's too easy to satirize their positions."
Satire requires intelligence and humour. Regrettably for both of us you have neither.
The only reason I've bothered to reply to you is in case you are merely ignorant and not the intellectually and morally crippled animal that you represent yourself as. A slim chance, but who knows.
The visit has sparked protests in a country where visiting U.S. presidents, from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan, have traditionally been feted due to their Irish ancestry and the strong historical links between the two nations.
Between 5-10,000 people marched through Dublin Friday night to voice their opposition to Bush, and a smaller protest of around 600 people was staged at Shannon, although demonstrators were kept well away from the presidential entourage.
The focus of the protests is U.S. policy in Iraq and Ireland's own role in the war there. Ahern's government has been heavily criticized at home for allowing U.S. jets to refuel at Shannon en route to the Middle East.
"Whatever the arguments of last year, those arguments are dead," Ahern told Irish state television RTE shortly before Bush landed. "(Resolution) 1546 specifically deals with these issues, so that argument is now part of the history books."
"
nice choice of words from bertie there?
Irish police arrested three people who tried to row up the Shannon estuary in a tiny boat Friday morning to protest against the visit.
A police spokesman said they were the only detentions carried out all day and that the Dublin march had passed peacefully.
Seeing as we're on the subject of "arse-licking" it seems useful to mention that opinions are like arseholes: everyone has one. That makes them much less interesting than information which not everyone possesses.
I don't know if the US media is _more_ biased in favour of those that wield power in each respective society, but what I _do_ know is that both the UK and US media have been found to spin and distort the truth. This has been made especially clear by organisations like Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting which examine the supposed "left wing" and "liberal" media like National Public Radio in the US and find them highly biased and skewed in favour of the administration http://www.fair.org/
A similar job is done in the UK by MediaLens http://medialens.org/ which dissects the coverage of the supposedly "communist" BBC.
It's the _specific_ objections raised by groups like these that lead to accusations of the corporate media pandering to the elites: big business and their paid-for servants that call themselves politicians.
Just to take the Coleman interview as an example: that was _not_ a "left-wing" interview, it was pretty mainstream for most of us here. The "left-wing" would have a lot more harsh things to say and wouldn't have pussy-footed about with accepting his evasions. Until the people that are complaining about this understand that then you'll never realise that you're revealing yourselves as being definitely _not_ from this country and having lived a very sheltered and isolated life in terms of exposure to how the majority of the world views you.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/25/bush.irish.tv/index.html
In the sometimes combative interview with Irish network RTE -- the president at one point asking the interviewer to let him finish his answers -- Bush disputed the suggestion that the world is more dangerous with the focus on Iraq instead of Afghanistan and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Thousands of protesters are expected in assemble in Dublin and in Shannon near the summit site. Ireland will deploy 6,000 police and troops to protect Bush and the EU leaders.
Further polarizing Irish public opinion against the war has been the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.
Yeah, I guess you're right. We're duped over here. It'd be so good if we could just import some of those self-righteous, smarmy little lefty Euro-reporters that used to promote the 'joys' of the Soviet Union, before it crumbled into oblivion.
I believe that if we had just listened to our little lefty friends, we'd all be in a worker's gulag, oops, paradise right now.
Please, please, come over and save our God-fearing, generous souls before we give all of our hard-earned money to some deserving charity cases, again. I just can't bear to pony up another 20 million today to the world Aids fight, when I know that dialectical materialism will save my material soul. Stop us before we give again. Please! Have mercy on our financial souls.
Lefties aren't any fun anymore. It's too easy to satirize their positions.
But, then again, they're all we've got left. Right?
Hahah!
Oh, I see - American media should seek to be JUST LIKE the Euro-media, after all, the only arses they lick are the socialists.
I guess you fools are forgetting why America was established in the first place.
Pity.
She should have cut Bush off more, followed up on points instead of moving along so much. I'm not saying I'd have done better but she didn't call him on having put Saddam Hussein in power, on having supported the use of torture, on having absolutely NO proof of Hussein having WMDs, on the institution of the PATRIOT Act.
Any red-blooded American should be horrified at the anti-freedom nutbags that run big government in Washington. If they aren't then they are not patriots and they're not freedom-loving.
Coleman toed the line too much. If you bleeding-heart US right-wingers think that's rude then it shows you haven't had much exposure to anything other than FOX "news" or CNN (or if you're a real "liberal" then the oh-so-daring New York Times).
Rude? She should have come back at him each time and called him on his evasions. Questions about his "faith" are completely useless unless you're going to point out that he's part of a nutbag alliance of extreme Zionists and born-again-homophobic-evangelicals.
Arse-licking?
How humorous!
It's the lefties who have to toe the party line, world-wide, 'cause if they don't they get put away in some physical or intellectual 'gulag' to pay for their insolence.
Robust is the word for the significant, occasionally bitter, dialogue that goes on over here. To suggest that the leftist media in the U.S. is falling over itself praising Pres. Bush, tells me that your outlook is extremely provincial, my friend.
That's about as diplomatic as I can make it.
Why be diplomatic? I love Ireland. That's why!!
No doubt the Bush fans would prefer if the European media was as arse-lickingly compliant as the media in the USA. It is that compliance which has the USA in it's present mess.
I would guess that most of the pro-bush comments are probably posted by the same one or two warped individuals.
Does this Coleman woman practice leftist, gotcha journalism only because it's her last chance at reviving her career, or is she just representative of bad manners?
Bush comes out on top, here, because he looks presidential alongside a shrill, screeching leftist ideologue.
She'd look pretty good married to Michael Moore!
programme was when mr "Little"[I think,only switched on when that interview was on] was attempting to interview two American politicans and was perputally trying to talk them down.
One replied with "Sorry to talk while you are interrupting." A CLASSIC retort
.Pity Mr Bush didnt use that one to put Miss Coleman in her box!
It is smarter to let the other person talk,letting them finish.Then be able to come back with a more difficult well thought out question that might put your opponent on a backfooting.
But then that would be thinking,somthing most irish journalists are not very good at.
... common courtesy. Woefully lacking in Carole Coleman.
Here's a lesson for you, Carole, one I learned long ago from my parents:
"You'll learn a lot more by listening than by talking."
Ireland's reporter, Carole Coleman, had a chance to show class and respect for the US President, which that office deserves. Instead she had an agenda that did not include allowing him to answer her questions fully and was totally discourteous. Another example of a liberal not wanting to be confused with the facts. If it was Ireland being freed after decades of murder, rape and torture, I wonder how he would have been received then. Still anything is better than France, where my 19 yr old uncle died freeing those thankless frogs. It is everyone's favorite past time to batter the US. What friend would be there for Ireland if they were attacked? You should be ashamed of all your gloating and mindless piling on. The US has always been a friend to Ireland and this is our thanks.
Is this what passes for journalism these days? Interrupting the interviewee? Carole comes off as a hack by doing what she did. If she doesn't want to hear straight answers, then perhaps Carole is better suited to writing editorials, where she can opine and ignore to her hearts content.
Welcome to Ireland, Mr President
I want you to know that Ireland loves you and fully supports you in your resolute stance against terrorists.
Don't pay any attention to the pro-Saddam idiots with their silly banners or inept journalists like Carole Coleman, there are lefty nutcases in every country, as well you know!
So, welcome Mr President, we hope you enjoy your say.
From the people of Ireland: God bless you and God bless America.
I totally support America and welcome your President.
I thought the war criminal got an easy ride. I would love to hear him trying to cope with the robust discussions which take place on RTE Radio on The Sunday Show. He would be a nervous wreck after that.
It would have been really delicious if Vincent Brown had been the interviewer. The shrub would have felt like he was being eaten alive.
I have no problem with asking the President tough questions at all. However, being rude and ignorant is no excuse. If you disagree with the President, that's fine. But the job of a reporter is to get information from the subject without hindering. Bush did a HUGE favor doing the interview, he deserves praise.
You bleeding-heart Irish make me sick. Apparently all you care about is these terrorists rights more than the innocent people of Iraq who were tortured, raped, and killed by Saddam. America did the world a favor by getting this guy. Don't forget, Saddam used mustard gas on his own people killing children. This is the type of guy you hypocrites support. Name the country who stood by to support you with your troubles in the North?? I guess Britain is a better friend to us than Ireland. 'Tis a shame.
Coleman was downright rude to bush. No problem with asking him hard questions. these should be asked of any world leader but she should when she asks questions at least let him answer. Thats just basic manners.
It was heartening to see our national broadcaster muster the courage to use a rare one-to-one interview facility to ask questions rather than to curtsey deferentially as I had expected.
Bush was looking forward to an opportunity to read his press releases aloud but Carole stood her ground in putting the hard questions to him. His "lemme finish" whines were a clear attempt to bully and bulldoze one brave reporter from a small and powerless refueling airstrip. I'm sure his "good friend" Bertie has already offered a grovelling apology to the warmonger and that Ahern (the Dundalk skinhead, not the Drumcondra gooblydegooker) has been on to Montrose to make the appropriate threats.
Well done, Carole! It was worth the licence fee.
"Carole couldn't bacck Bush into a corner anyway, because Bush is right in what he's doing."
She couldn't back Bush into a corner because ALL of those questions were scripted.
I'd also like to understand a couple of things.
Lying to justify a war is right?
Breaking International Law is right?
Leaving Iraq in a worse situation than it was under Saddam is right?
Aiding & Abetting breaking of the law above is right (Use of Shannon)?
Violating our own constitution is right?
Prisoner abuse is right?
No rights for illegal combatants unaware of why they're confined is right?
I could go on and on but I think you see my point HardheaD - Love the name your comments made me think of an entity with bone form ear to ear. Quite a world you live in!
Bush:
"I can turn to my friend Bertie Ahern and say thank you, thanks for helping and I appreciate it very much."
This is what the supreme-court-chosen president of the USA said he would do when he arrives in Ireland tomorrow [extract from the Prime Time interview].
Fianna Fail needs to be constantly reminded of this - forever.
On the interview:
what ALL journalists seem incapable of researching or mentioning is that the USA (military aspect of the state - not the people) has operated the worlds largest torture training centre in Fort Benning, Georgia, USA, since 1961 [before that it was located in the US colony of Panama since 1946]. It used to be called The School of the Americas, now it is called The Western Hemispheric Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC).
The vast majority of Central and South America dictators, military commanders in dictatorships, and torturers since the 1940s/1950s have learned and trained at this facility. It's not like this is some whacko conspiracy idea - the torture manuals were released some years back, and lists of 'graduates' have been published, while families of those tortured to death in Brazil and Argentina by WHISC graduates have successfully sued against their torturers and used WHISC as evidence.
-----------------------------------
Websites to learn more that torture is a normal part of USA foreign policy:
http://www.soaw.org/new/
SOA Watch is an independent organization that seeks to close the US Army School of the Americas, under whatever name it is called, through vigils and fasts, demonstrations and non-violent protest, as well as media and legislative work.
---------------------------
http://www.ciponline.org/facts/soa.htm
Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (Former School of the Americas) Fort Benning, Georgia
----------------------------
http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/40/index-a.html
History of the School of the Americas (SOA)
Hartford Web Publishing is not the author of the documents in World History Archives and does not presume to validate their accuracy or authenticity nor to release their copyright.
-----------------------------
http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usamhi/usarsa/
• Official Website: USARSA •
THE US ARMY SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS OFFICIALLY CLOSED ITS DOORS AT 1200 NOON ON DECEMBER 15, 2000 AFTER A LONG TRADITION OF SERVICE TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS SITE IS AVAILABLE ONLY FOR HISTORICAL PURPOSES.
United States Army School of the Americas
-----------------------------
RTE am i impressed.
never got the idea you were capable of interviewing Caesar.
wow. we must be important. Oh well I'm in green today. Might even treat myself to a pint of guinness.
remember paint your windows white, and don't look at the mushroom cloud. and stick to long life milk for a few weeks.
"I'd agre hardheaD" - What do you mean that Carole Coleman didn't show enough respect? Was she just suppose to let him rant on about what he wanted to or was she suppose to interview him.
Thought she did well, although would have liked to see her push him more on his support for Israel, even though I know time was running out
http://radio.indymedia.org/uploads/rte-carol-coleman-bush.mp3
Wow...the way Bush handled himself was impressive, if folks in the US saw this interview they would naturally side with the president and be impressed with how the commander in chief handled the barrage of interjections and emotionally charged rhetoric. The fact that he did this interview was a HUGE courtesy to the people of Ireland. This wasn't shown in the US, so it wasn't to chase after Irish-american votes, however if they do see it, it won't do his prospects any harm at all.
She can indulge her emotional righteousness there.
Whatever you think about bush's policy's Coleman didn't show the proper respect that should be shown to a U.S. president,constant barracking and interuptions.She'll never get a serious interview in the states again after that one.
Bush eats them for breakfast. It's about time RTE stopped its headlong fall into lefty bias, it's nearly as bad as the BBC.
Carole couldn't bacck Bush into a corner anyway, because Bush is right in what he's doing.
Well done, Carole, a brave interviewer. i could almost feel that 'serious political reporter' clone Mark Little getting sweaty and uncomfortable as he watches Ms. Coleman ask some very straight questions.
Fuck it thought she got too emotional and righteous to back the fucker into a corner with REAL FACTS insteads of what came across like bleeding heart liberalism about bodies.
Well done though.
How long before she's recalled to Ireland to be the Midlands corrispondent?
http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0624/primetime/primetime56_1c.smil
"let me finish" - with that horrible grin.
"my friend Bertie Ahern, thank you for helping"
"My job is to do my job"
good interview, and i think she may have scuppered any further chances at an interview with him. (If he's there much longer).