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How I do wish that Tony Snow was back as his job doing the White House press briefings! Dana Perino just flat out annoys me.
Today we are going to look as some of her briefing from this afternoon.
"The president is vetoing the bill to provide money for soldiers -- readiness, health care, armaments, etc and a timeline to get out of Iraq."
White House Press Briefing April 23, 2007
Q Does the White House think that Congress should have any role in talking about the Iraq war, setting deadlines or anything like this -- that they should have any voice?
MS. PERINO: Well, I think the Congress does have a voice and does have input. And the President has said from the beginning that if they have ideas and they have concerns, that he wants to hear them.
One thing that concerned me today is I heard that Senator Reid said that the President is in denial about the war. And I think that any quick glance in the mirror would show him that he's in denial on several things -- that Senator Reid is.
First of all, he's in denial about the enemy that we face. This is a vicious and brutal enemy that wants to kill innocent men, women and children of Iraq, people who enjoy and love freedom, and that includes Americans. So it's not in our long-term national security interests in order to not deal with this enemy now.
Secondly, he's in denial about the conflict that we are in, how al Qaeda is inciting sectarian violence. He is in denial about the new Baghdad security plan and the new changes that we've implemented in al Anbar province. He's also in denial that a surrender date he thinks is a good idea. It is not a good idea. It is defeat. It is a death sentence for the millions of Iraqis who voted for a constitution, who voted for a government, who voted for a free and democratic society.
Here's what happens. The U.S. withdraws from Iraq and all hell will break loose. I seriously doubt if millions of Iraqis will die when the various insurgents start killing each other but it will be a very great number. This death rampage is going to happen sooner or later no matter how things go in Iraq. The minute that the United States leaves the country, the blood will spill. Based on other United States involvement in other wars, this has happened every time the Americans have left. This will be no different! The Iraqi groups who have supported the Americans will be the ones to suffer most of the bloodshed, as was the case in Vietnam after we left. There is nothing that the United States can do about it, period. Unless, of course, we stay in Iraq and play daddy to everyone. I do believe that is Bush's plan and has been all along.
The Democrats in Congress obviously don't have the votes to override the President's veto, and so it is incumbent upon them to work things out, to reconcile the House and the Senate bills, and to send the President a bill. Now if it's one that he can sign, that was what we would prefer. But if it's one that he has to veto, he will do that.
Bush would prefer a blank check like the ones the past Congress ( Republican ) kept on giving him. It ain't gonna happen this time pal!
On Alberto Gonzales testimony:
Q One more follow on this. I understand that point you're making about what was proper and improper, but the fact of the matter is, that after the testimony you could call all over this town -- I'm not just talking about the Jon Stewart's of the world, the late night comics -- I'm talking about Republican senators and congressmen and women who were saying, you know what, the Attorney General has no credibility, he did a lousy job on Capitol Hill yesterday. And now the President seems to be the only one saying, you know what, he's doing a fantastic job.
MS. PERINO: Look, I understand that there are people who disagree, who are not supportive of the Attorney General. The President is. He appreciates the work that he's done to combat terrorism and to protect children from predators and to stamp out corruption in government. And the President stands by him.
Q Dana, to follow on that, you just used a phrase that the President did today, "he answered as honestly as he could." Isn't honesty sort of black and white?
MS. PERINO: I think what I mean by that is that I know that there was frustration because there were several types of questions that the Attorney General could not answer with a "yes" or a "no" because he didn't recall. And I think that's what the President meant, and that's what I mean now.
Q There were about 64 variations, according to some accounts in the media, 64 variations of "I don't recall," "I don't remember. So what about that testimony in which he said "I don't recall," some variation, 64 times, that made the President say he now has increased confidence in the Attorney General?
MS. PERINO: Look, Ed, I think that you had testimony that lasted I don't know how many hours, over seven hours, and so many of those questions were repeated over and over. And the Attorney General, who is an honorable and honest man answered truthfully. And I think that's all that we can ask of any public servant or any of us in this room.
Q But did the President actually see the testimony?
MS. PERINO: He got regular updates from us while we were on the road -- we were on the road that day, on the way to Ohio.
Q So how can he say he has increased confidence if he got updates from other people? So he didn't actually see the testimony, himself, because --
MS. PERINO: He got updates from us, and I think he saw some news coverage of it later that day.
Ms. Perino may need some help with pulling her head out of her ass, any volunteers?
IMPEACH! INDICT! IMPRISON!
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