Schlepping, Forrest Gump, and The Downing Street Memo

I love this. I'm leaving the Nuclear Compromise to other, more well-versed bloggers and pointing out some of my favorite stories of the day. First, here's this gem:

Intern Briefing

The White House calls it a "press availability."

If that's the case, then why did so few members of the White House press corps show up for yesterday's question-and-answer session in the East Room with President Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai?

So few reporters were on hand, in fact, that the White House hurried to have White House interns fill the empty seats. "That way it wouldn't look bad for the cameras," says one White House insider.

What gives?

A member of the press corps we spoke to yesterday equated reporters at such staged White House functions with "props." He explained that because the president only takes four questions at each press availability -- two from U.S. wire service reporters and two from foreign scribes -- many in the press corps don't bother to show up.

"Since we can't ask questions, why schlep over there?" he reasons.

(Italics mine)

Is anyone out there taking notes? Hmmm? Hello? Bring in the interns!

Here's a definite quote of the day:

Run, Forrest, run

"Politicians remind me of Forrest Gump's box of chocolates. They're either firm, soft-centered or nutty."

So says Jan LaRue, chief counsel of Concerned Women for America, who remarked yesterday on the filibuster over Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen -- President Bush's nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals -- "You can't be sure what you'll get until it's time for them to vote."

Keep watch for in upcoming days for more on the Downing Street Memo. It's been speculated on, and spoken about for years now, that Bush never planned to use diplomatic options and intended to invade Iraq from the very beginning, despite what he told the public and Congress at the time.

Neo-cons have managed to beat down many of the credible news stories here in America, leaving the public with a sorry aftertaste on the war in Iraq at not having found any weapons of mass destruction, but with no attempt to begin formal inquiries. Hopefully, this memo will finally change that.

Bush has made serious attempts to identify supporting the troops with supporting him, but this is what he wants us to perceive, not what truly is. There needs to be accountability, and he needs to be held to task for the damage he has wrought to a country who was not harboring terrorists.

Too many American soldiers and innocent Iraqi civilians have died because of this Administration's obsession with Iraq. To investigate the Administration will be supporting our troops.

Let them at least have died so that this kind of manipulation of Congress and the American public cannot happen again - instead of dying for oil and poorly planned war mongering, which is what is happening now.

Lightness and Fluff from a group post

A Senate staffer is taking a stroll around Capitol Hill when he meets a little girl carrying
a small basket with a blanket over it.  Curious, he says to the girl, "What's in the basket?"

She replies, "New baby kittens" and opens the basket to show him.

"How nice," he said. "What kind are they?"

The little girl says, "Republicans."

He smiles and pats the little girl on the head and he continues on.

About three weeks later, he and another member of the Senate staff are again strolling on
Capitol Hill when he sees the little girl again with the same basket. 

He says to his colleague, "Watch this; it's very cute," and they approach the little girl.

He asks the girl how the kittens are and she says fine. 


He then says, "What kind of kittens are they?" and she replies, "Democrats."

Somewhat abashed, he says, "Three weeks ago you said they were Republican!"

"I know," she says, "but now their eyes are open."