Half-Court Press
The impression I had watching Bush's press conference last week is that there was something staged and stilted about it, what with Bush calling on reporters off a seating chart and delivering his obviously-rehearsed answers in a forcibly-subdued and unnatural tone of voice. Nevertheless, I could not really imagine that the press would go along with a completely staged event, and that, despite appearances, these really were actual reporters asking actual (if unusually stupid) questions.
Of course, now it's common knowledge that the whole affair was scripted, and that the reporters and their news organizations were bribed, blackmailed and bullied into going along with the charade for fear of losing their privileged access to the White House. I guess it's only a baby-step down from the abysmal level of sycophancy and mindlessness to which the national press had already fallen, but it's still shocking to me on several levels.
First, where are the professional ethics? Weren't there any reporters willing to take the hit and refuse to participate in this mockery? How can they get up and look in the mirror in the morning knowing they abdicated their most basic journalistic responsibility and allowed themselves to be used, without even the cloak of plausible deniability, as tools in a propaganda campaign? Even now, the story is little-reported – probably because the journalists are deeply ashamed of their complicity in this fraud.
Second, why would the White House do something like this? If the President wanted to give a speech, why not just do that? If he wanted to answer canned questions, couldn’t they have gotten a single stooge like Larry King to read the script, rather than go to the trouble of simulating an entire White House press briefing? They had to realize how bad this would look when word got out. Everyone knows this President’s strong suit is not thinking on his feet, and that he has avoided open exchanges with the press more assiduously than any previous POTUS, but contriving a staged event to make the President look smart and articulate at the expense of a room full of witless press stooges represents an almost obscene indulgence in wish-gratification and control. It reinforces the common view that Bush is unwilling (and perhaps unable) to answer to anyone, and that he’s willing to bully his critics into silence by whatever means are within his power. Perhaps Bush and Karl Rove are simply beyond caring.
Finally, there’s the basic issue of the critical role of the press in our society. We are on the brink of war. The President ought to be obliged to explain himself and answer genuine, pointed questions from an independent press. Something fundamental about democracy has failed when the Administration insists on so much control and the press goes along with it.
10:10:59 AM 
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