[DEBATE] : 2x "elected" president needs interns to fill seats for briefings

[Miles Teg]

White House tapped interns to fill seats after few reporters show up for 
Bush
John Byrne
Published: Tuesday January 13, 2009


    
    
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Various television personalities -- from Anderson Cooper to Campbell 
Brown -- expressed dismay or outright shock at President George W. 
Bush's final press conference, particularly his responses regarding 
Hurricane Katrina. Bush took umbrage with a reporter's question: Why did 
the government take so long to respond?

But perhaps the most significant measure of Bush's diminished media 
earning power was the lack of reporters who actually showed up for the 
event.

According to a story by former Washington Post White House correspondent 
Dana Milbank, who now writes a snarky tongue-in-cheek column, the White 
House ordered interns to fill two rows of empty seats in the press 
briefing room.

"With seven days left until he surrenders power, Bush will have to do a 
heck of a sales job to convince the nation of this," Milbank wrote. 
"Further complicating his last-minute legacy rehabilitation: Nobody 
seems to be paying attention. The White House had high expectations for 
yesterday's final, historic news conference. 'ONE CORRESPONDENT PER 
ORGANIZATION,' proclaimed the bulletin sent to reporters. 'STANDING ROOM 
ONLY FOR NON-SEAT HOLDERS.' But when the appointed hour of 9:15 a.m. 
arrived, the last two rows in the seven-row briefing room were empty, 
and a press aide told White House interns to fill those seats."

"In his own way, the outgoing president acknowledged that the past five 
years have, by many measures, been one long pratfall," Milbank wrote. 
"But he spoke as though he were an innocent bystander, watching the 
mishaps rather than having any culpability for them. To Bush, they were 
not mistakes -- just disappointments. 'Abu Ghraib obviously was a huge 
disappointment during the presidency,' he said. 'Not having weapons of 
mass destruction was a significant disappointment -- I don't know if you 
want to call those mistakes or not, but, they were -- things didn't go 
according to plan, let's put it that way.'"

Speaking Monday night, CNN's Anderson Cooper and analyst David Gergen 
appeared flummoxed by Bush's claim during his press conference that his 
Administration had reacted appropriately in the aftermath of Hurricane 
Katrina.

"It's sort of a red herring to talk about the flyover," Cooper said. "To 
talk about what the Coast Guard did, which was valiant and courageous 
and brilliant, and totally forget about ... on Friday, days after the 
storm had passed, not even remembering people in the convention center 
-- it just boggles the mind."

Analyst David Gergen agreed, calling Bush's response on Katrina "the 
most stunning thing, I think, that happened in the press conference."

"I thought maybe that people would have some sense of warmth about 
George Bush as he leaves office," Gergen continued. "I think I was 
wrong. ... I don't think we've had a time since Richard Nixon left 
office ... when people were so relieved to see the end of a presidency."

Watch the video of Cooper and Gergen here.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/White_House_tapped_interns_to_fill_0113.html