Press Conference Recap

It is unlikley that last night's press conference will do anything about Bush's most pressing problem--his tumbling approval ratings. News of cuts in benefits won't help him sell his Social Security scheme. Wonkette provides a pictoral view of the gaffe of the night:

There was plenty of absurdity even beyond this. When asked about terrorism, Bush claimed "The al-Qaida network that attacked the United States has been severely diminished. We are slowly but surely dismantling that organization." That's why terrorist attacks are way up. This has also been a strange form of "dismantling." Last year the Center for Strategic Studies in London estimated that al Qaeda operatives tripled as a consequence of increased recruitment among those angry over the invasion of Iraq.

Bush stumbled over foreign policy questions ranging from Korea to renditioning. He was asked, "Mr. President, under the law, how would you justify the practice of renditioning, where U.S. agents who bust terror suspects abroad, taking them to a third country for interrogation? And would you stand for it if foreign agents did that to an American here?"

Bush dodged and avoided answering, starting out by saying "That's a hypothetical." During the course of his rambling, amost incoherent answer, he even resorted to bringing up September 11 as justification, noting "We're still at war."

When asked about John Bolton, Bush said, "John Bolton is a blunt guy. Sometimes people say I'm little too blunt." Blunt barely touches the problems with Bolten. As for Bush, he got it wrong. People don't say he's too blunt, but that he's not very sharp.