The always obsequious Larry King is no doubt all warmed up for the softballs he will lob to Dubya and Sue-Ellen tonight on "Larry King Live," hyped on CNN as a "candid conversation on North Korea, Iraq, and more..."
So let us suspend disbelief and imagine that LK will not squander the opportunity and will actually ask relevant, probing, meaningful questions.
When you stop laughing, join me below the fold for suggestions of questions Larry could ask if he were a "real" journalist.
AMERICAblog (where I shamelessly lifted the "Sue-Ellen" reference from the comments) has been playing this version of "Let's Pretend" and I think
Dan Froomkin perfectly articulates a question I have:
Given that Bush obviously knows more about the White House and OVP involvement in the Plame leak case than his semi-retarded claim that he's like to know who leaked it but was somehow prevented from actually asking the people he works side-by-side with about their involvement:
Isn't it about time Bush stopped pretending ignorance about this story -- and came clean on his own role? Why should that information only be shared with criminal prosecutors?
Is it approved White House procedure to distribute misinformation? Is it okay to out a covert CIA operative? If it's not okay was he disappointed in how top deputies like Cheney and Rove -- both still very much at work at the White House -- carried out his orders?
Obviously, given Dub's limited capacity to hold a thought and respond with the appropriate talking point, the above questions would have to be broken down and asked one at a time.
Another great topic would be how the rhetoric of "supporting our troops" works with this administration cutting their benefits. Let's set the question up:
The Veteran's Administration, plagued by recent budget cuts, has had to resort to charging new veterans entering into its system a yearly fee of $250 in order for them to receive treatment. It is a sad irony that the very people being sent to fight the war are going to have to pay to treat the effects of it.
According to the Veteran's Administration, 28 million veterans are currently using VA benefits. Another 70 million Americans are potential candidates for such programs. This amounts to a quarter of the country's population. Veterans and their families will sadly begin finding that they have no place to turn for their medical treatment as V.A. hospitals across the country face closing their doors. With the budget shrinking, staff will be let go. This could mean the loss of over 19,000 nurses. Without these nurses, this leads to the loss of over 6.6 million outpatient visits. Approximately one out of every two veterans could lose their only source of medical care. That is, if they even realize help is available to them. The Bush Administration recently ordered V.A. medical centers to stop publicizing available benefits to veterans seeking assistance. This follows discontinued enrollments of some eligible veterans for healthcare benefits as of January, 2003. Bush Administration funding cuts will also prevent veterans from receiving their disability pensions. Making matters worse, forty percent of Vietnam Veterans are homeless. They went from the jungles of the war to the jungles of the street. Before President Bush decided to declare war, maybe he ought to have considered correcting this situation first. How many current veterans will return home, only to find themselves in the same situation?
Whew. Let's go to our viewers and take some calls...what would you like to ask President and Mrs Bush?
Don't hold back.