...and the evidence of this shameless political exploitation of a senseless and horrible tragedy goes well beyond mentioning it.
And while the event was scheduled on Friday, and announced monday, something highly significant changed between Monday and today. The format.
Every article that mentions Bush's impending visit to Tipp City in the local press from Monday until today mentions him giving a speech. None of them mention a town hall format. Indeed, I could find no reference to "Town Hall" until the actual event was being reported.
In fact, it was only on Wednesday that the possibility of Bush answering questions was mentioned -- and the local organizer of the event thought it was "just going to be a speech"
http://tinyurl.com/...
Although McDermott said he does not know how the event is being moderated, he believes President Bush will open up to questions.
"I believe it is just going to be a speech," McDermott said. "But, one of the things that is very unique about this president is he is very willing to go out into the crowd and answer questions and connect with his constituents"
But a look at the video (see http://tinyurl.com/... ) of the even shows that the chairs are clearly set up in a circle in the round "Town Hall" format, and while the speech lasted about half an hour, Bush took questions for another 50 minutes.
And if you look and listen to the video, you will see and hear the event described as a "town hall"
Its glaringly obvious that Bush changed the format because he knew it would get better coverage as a "Town Hall meeting" with "average citizens" rather than just another speech about Iraq. And its also obvious that Bush is using the bounce he thinks he is getting for his pantomime of grief at Virginia Tech to push his spin about war funding.
Its just disgusting....but its Bush, so what else is new