Bushed

During Bush's rare press conference, I was trying to see if Jay Rosen's thesis would prove out. My interpetation of it is that they only reason in their right minds they would hold this event would be to position the press as an enemy of the sitting President we all must follow.

Usually they pre-select the beginning and ending question -- and that was the clearest indicator I could see of Jay being right. The transcript of the first and last questions:

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President.

Mr. President, April is turning into the deadliest month in Iraq since the fall of Baghdad, and some people are comparing Iraq to Vietnam and talking about a quagmire. Polls show that support for your policy is declining and that fewer than half of Americans now support it.

What does that say to you? And how do you answer the Vietnam comparison?

QUESTION: But I guess I just wonder if you feel that you have failed in any way. You don't have many of these press conferences where you engage in this kind of exchange. Have you failed in any way to really make the case to the American public?

The press didn't ask smart questions, and it did come across as hammering him on the obvious ones. Its hard to see this event as a positive for Bush given his off message insecurity. But making such a prediction is folly because the masses are such asses. But if he did succeed in positioning himself vs. the press he shores up support when they attack him for his next blunder, something Dean could have used.