Behind the Curtain Is...

Yes, another Daily Show inspired entry about a story that is both outraging and depressing me.

Early Thursday (last week) President Bush had an informal "candid" chat with soldiers stationed in Iraq where he asked some ah-sucks real heart-felt questions. No surprise, his staff ran through his opening remarks with the soldiers prior to the live satellite broadcast. Then the staff ran through some questions without the commander-in-chief being present. Then they instructed the soldiers in how to respond.

That this setup took place isn't all that surprising in our spin-driven, media strategy driven political world. I would expect it to be common to use a trial run to want to ensure things go smoothly when the President arrives. But what is astonishing is that the staffers allowed the preparations to be recorded by the media. By doing so they are truly revealing the man behind the curtain - and increasingly he's looking like an incompentent and confused fool. Help! Help! World Leader lost in Conversation! Send in spin doctors!

In the "chat" there were also several factual inaccuracies about the situation in Iraq that misrepresent the official military view from the ground. /sigh/