to live coverage of Bush's campaign speech on Iraq before another crowd of soldiers.
Once upon a time, the only way most people could see an important presidential speech was on the networks.
Now such speeches are on CNN, MSNBC, Fox, CSPAN, etc., which are available in the vast majority of American homes.
It's not like he's going to say anything new, as in news, so why don't the networks tell the Bushites to go pound sand on this one?
Maybe the fact that the networks are owned by large corporations that depend on the Bushites' good will on a wide range of issues.
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This wouldn't be so bad, but still wouldn't qualify as news, if Bush were speaking from the East Room or the Oval Office.
What pisses me off is the Bushite campaign tactic of speaking only before well-screened, pro-Bush audiences. Many, if not most, of the soldiers ordered to listen to his speech are none too happy at the prospect of their second or third rotation into the Iraqmire. But they will applaud as ordered when Bush says the same old shit, creating the erroneous notion that the troops just love this lousy war.
Here's the
AP story about this:
Friday's meeting came as the White House makes plans for the president's prime-time speech about Iraq next week.
The speech -- Tuesday night at Fort Bragg in North Carolina -- will mark the anniversary of the return of sovereignty to Iraq. It's aimed at shoring up flagging public support for the Iraq mission.
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said the president wants the American people to hear his view of "the way forward" in Iraq.
McClellan said the U.S. mission there is at a "critical moment." He acknowledged that Americans are seeing "bloody images on their TV screen," but maintains they "haven't really heard" the administration's "clear strategy for success."
The bold part shows that this a purely political speech, cynically using soldiers as props.
The networks should recognize that there's nothing new here, move along, and ignore another no-news Bush campaign speech in front of soldiers.