February 14, 2006
The Bulldog Press (Or, The Last Days Of Rome)
Who says the White House Press Corps can't sink its teeth in deep? Just look at hellacious tenacity displayed in Monday's Press Conference, keeping Scottie dancing like a cat on a hot tin roof:
Q Scott, is it really appropriate for the --Q So as the Press Secretary, are you satisfied with the way this was handled? [...]
Q But let's just be clear here. The Vice President of the United States accidentally shoots a man and he feels that it's appropriate for a ranch owner who witnessed this to tell the local Corpus Christi newspaper, and not the White House press corps at large, or notify the public in a national way? [...]
Q But were you aware they were just going to allow a private citizen to inform a local paper of this, and not beyond that? Did you not have a suggestion on how to inform the public? [...]
Q What time on Sunday morning did you learn that Vice President Dick Cheney was the shooter? [...]
Q Was it Cheney's gun? Is that his gun, that shotgun?
MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry?
Q Was it the Vice President's gun?
MR. McCLELLAN: You ought to talk to the Vice President's Office and check that fact.
Q You don't know?
MR. McCLELLAN: You can check with their office. [...]
Q This doesn't make any sense, though. This happens at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, and you're saying that until the morning, the President of the United States --
MR. McCLELLAN: No, I didn't say that. I said there was additional information coming in later that evening and into the morning hours of Sunday.
Q You've got to clarify this timeline, Scott; it just doesn't make any sense.
Q When did the President know that the Vice President was the shooter? What time? [...]
Q Katherine Armstrong talked to CNN Sunday evening. She said that she thought this was going to become a story, so she was going to go to the local press. She also told CNN that she did not believe the Vice President's Office was aware that she was going to go to the local press. How do you square that with your account that they were coordinating their --
MR. McCLELLAN: The Vice President spoke with her directly and they agreed that she would make it public.
Q So you're saying that she is lying, that her statement is not correct?
MR. McCLELLAN: No. You ought to check with her.
Q Well, we did check with her. So you're saying that's not correct? [...]
Q Scott, it's getting very confusing to try to figure out who knew what when, and why, you know, once Mr. Whittington's immediate medical needs were being addressed, it sounds like everything just shut down. Was there no staff member with the Vice President -- [...]
Q Who was gathering the facts? Who was doing that?
MR. McCLELLAN: I think there's the information on the ground there, as well as information then being provided -- from the ground there being provided back here.
Q Right, and who was doing -- who was doing the providing, and who were they providing it to? [...]
Q So he knew Saturday evening? Scott, definitively, did the President know or --
Q -- the question.
MR. McCLELLAN: -- some additional information, yes, and the Vice President --
Q -- or hear that it was the Vice President?
MR. McCLELLAN: -- and that the Vice President was involved, but didn't know the full facts of what had occurred.
Q How is that possible?
Q He did know -- wait -- details here. Scott, he knew Saturday night?
MR. McCLELLAN: Carl, go ahead.
Q Straight chronological questions. We don't have to yell it.
MR. McCLELLAN: Sure. [...]
Q All right, if I may then, the Chief of Staff, at 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., tells the President that there was an incident. Later in the evening, the Deputy Chief of Staff tells the President that the Vice President was, in fact, the shooter; is that what you're telling us? [...]
Q Wait, wait, hold on. Human beings are not normally this inefficient. I mean, was the Vice President immediately clear that he had accidentally shot his friend, or not? Or did that information become available later? You make it seem like there's all this information that had to develop.
MR. McCLELLAN: I wouldn't suggest that at all. I'm sure that that was the case. I mean, Mrs. Armstrong was there and saw that --
Q I don't understand what information had to trickle in? [...]
Q But you've got a Situation Room here, you've got people who monitor stuff -- it's impossible to find out -- I mean, the Vice President knew immediately, oh, no, I've shot somebody accidentally, and it takes 22 hours for that --
MR. McCLELLAN: And you know what his first reaction was? His first reaction was go to Mr. Whittington and get his team in there to provide him medical care.
Q I'm sure his first reaction -- absolutely. But why is it that it took so long for the President, for you, for anybody else to know that the Vice President accidentally shot somebody?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, early the next morning, Mrs. Armstrong reached out to the Corpus paper -- that's her local paper --
Q Oh, come on.
MR. McCLELLAN: -- to provide them information.
Q But that's ridiculous. Are you saying that you don't know within the White House? What took you so long? [...]
MR. McCLELLAN: Go ahead, Bill. We've got three people from each news organization here -- [...]
Q Are you kidding? They're right there, they're out there with him. They have communications -- [...]
Q And it also sounds as though your suggestions about how to handle this were disregarded by the Vice President's Office.
MR. McCLELLAN: Again, I'll keep those conversations private.
Q Well, you might as well say that. [...]
Q I just want to clarify one thing. Is it appropriate for a private citizen to be the person to disseminate the information that the Vice President of the United States has shot someone? [...]
Q Has the Vice President always had a hunting license whenever he's gone hunting? There was an item in one of the wire stories this morning that he had a license prior to November, but other stories say he goes every year to Texas --
MR. McCLELLAN: Check with his office. I don't have those facts.
Q Do you know whether he's taken a hunting safety course? [...]
Q Has he also -- has he taken a hunting safety course in Texas?
MR. McCLELLAN: I'd check with his office. I don't have those facts, Mike. I haven't checked into that.
Q Will the Vice President be available soon to answer all questions, himself, about the incident?
MR. McCLELLAN: I think you ought to direct questions like that to his office. He has a press office you can direct questions to.
Jessica -- keeping with the practice of at least two or three reporters from each news organization today.
Q You've repeatedly said that the Vice President's Office will share this information with us. Will you tell us -- will you now ask them to share this information with us, because they're not.
MR. McCLELLAN: Share what information?
Q Details of what happened during the shooting and more information about --
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, Mrs. Armstrong provided that information. She was the eyewitness to what took place.
Q Can we get someone from his office in here to answer --
Q Why can't we get someone from his office to answer some questions?
Q Or get him?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, talk to his office. I think they have provided a response to the questions.
Q Not that information.
Q We're not getting any of that information.
MR. McCLELLAN: Go ahead, Connie. [...]
Q Is it proper for the Vice President to offer his resignation or has he offered his resignation --
MR. McCLELLAN: That's an absurd question. Go ahead, Ken. [...]
Q Who was the third hunter?
MR. McCLELLAN: Check with his office; I don't know. [...]
Q Scott, when you consider the chronology you're trying to go through here, and all of the various wrinkles of how long it took for the primary information that the Vice President was the person who shot this fellow to get through to the President, himself, is there any notion here of reviewing your own communications apparatus? I mean, this is sort of reminiscent of the levee story, frankly, you know?
MR. McCLELLAN: I reject that. I disagree with that fully, Peter. I don't know what you're referring to there, but I reject the insinuation there. [...]
Q Well, surely they immediately knew that the Vice President of the United States shot someone?
MR. McCLELLAN: And you know what the immediate response was? To makes sure he was getting the medical care.
Q Yes, we --
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, no, you may know that, but people that are listening need to hear that, too. The Vice President went over to him and was making sure that his team was getting to him and taking care of him. That's what the first priority always ought to be. Now I know that it's important to inform the media, and I have told you I believe it's important to get that information out as quickly as possible.
Q The immediate --
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think he was informed in a relatively reasonable amount of time.
Q Relatively. [...]
Q Scott, under Texas law, is this kind of accidental shooting a possible criminal offense? [...]
Q Scott, would this be much more serious if the man had died? Would that change the -- [...]
Q Will the Vice President -- and the President, for that matter -- continue to go hunting? And is there some thought about maybe this is too dangerous an activity for such an important person? [...]
Q Can I go back to the topic du jour, if I may. How long did it take until everyone involved was sure that Mr. Whittington was in the proper medical care that he needed? Did it take 12 to 14 hours?
MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know all the specific facts. Mrs. Armstrong and/or the Vice President's Office may be able to provide you additional information. And, no, he was taken to a hospital that evening in Texas.
Q So any concern about making sure he had the medical attention he needed was quickly dissipated. That was not a reason for not divulging what happened, was it? [...]
Q Isn't the Corpus Christi paper a member of the AP? Scott, isn't the Corpus Christi paper a member of the AP? Aren't they a member of the AP?
MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sure they are.
Q Why didn't the AP pick it up?
MR. McCLELLAN: Martha, go ahead.
There's plenty more where that came from: I've only selected the choicest, most funniest bits. (The harvest is so fecund that in choosing a personal favourite, the best I could possibly do is narrow it down to the best three or four: "Q Was it Cheney's gun? Is that his gun, that shotgun?"; "Q When did the President know that the Vice President was the shooter?"; "...who was doing the providing, and who were they providing it to?"; "Q I don't understand what information had to trickle in?"; "Q Who was the third hunter?"; and, of course, "Q Isn't the Corpus Christi paper a member of the AP? Scott, isn't the Corpus Christi paper a member of the AP? Aren't they a member of the AP?".)
As I say: hellacious tenacity; cat on a hot tin roof. But now look what happens when the topic turns to Iran. Recall that during roughly the same news cycle that it was learnt that the VP had gunned down a fellow human being, it was also reported that an attack upon Iran (which may or may not occur on March 28) is expected to kill thousands of people "in the first wave of attacks".
While one would perhaps expect that it was this news that sent the "three people from each news organization" scurrying to the briefing room; in point of fact he quail-hunt-from-hell occupied some 5,300 words of the Press Corps' and Scottie's time; possible war with Iran, 574.
So that gives us an idea of the Press Corps' priorities.
And while the Corps did a "relatively" decent job of making Scottie feel uncomfortable, notice that it didn't dare ask the most important question that arises; to wit, why in fuck is the Vice President out hunting quail rather that hunting "terrorists"? Or saving Social Security? Everything's all fixed now? We can all go back to sleep? No more phone calls to listen in on? No more gajillion-dollar budget deficits? No more twenty-year-old grunts getting their asses blown off in Iraq? No more polar bears on the endangered species list?
I mean, that's what one would logically think, right, if the Vice President has nothing better to do with his time than to go hunting?
Has, by the way, McClellan ever, once been asked if the Vice President will be "made available, himself" to answer questions regarding his ties to Halliburton, or (to take another recent news item) allegations that he personally oversaw the "fixing" of intelligence leading up to the war in Iraq?
Or has he ever been asked whether, under International Law, the invasion of Iraq (not to mention Afghanistan) was a "possible cri
minal offe nse"?
So, lesson learned: blow up whomever you want, whenever you want; just make damned sure that you inform the Press Corps in a timely manner.
Now, who was the third hunter? For the love of god, who was the third hunter?????
Update: More hilarity (the "chain of custody of the information"!) from Tuesday's Press Conference:
Q That's fair, and that's your prerogative, and I've got my job to do, which is, try to get you to answer that question. Does the President think it's appropriate for the Vice President to essentially make decisions at odds with the public disclosure process of this White House?MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think that I've expressed my views, and we went through this yesterday.
Q But that's a non-answer.
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, that's what I was trying to indicate to you -- [...]
Q The Vice President basically decided on his own to not disclose this, which is at odds with how you do business and how the President does business, right?
MR. McCLELLAN: I don't want to make this about anything other than what it is. It is what it is, David. [...]
Q I understand that, but I'm not getting answers here, Scott, and I'm trying to be forthright with you, but don't tell me that you're giving us complete answers when you're not actually answering the question, because everybody knows what is an answer and what is not an answer. [...]
Q I have one final question, since that one wasn't answered. Is it appropriate for the Vice President to have waited 14 hours after the incident before he spoke with local law enforcement officials? And do you think that an average citizen would have been accorded that same amount of time before having to answer questions about a shooting incident? [...]
MR. McCLELLAN: Again, Suzanne, if you all want to continue to focus on this, you all can spend your time on it. We're going to keep focusing on the pressing priorities of the American people, like talking about how to make health care more affordable and accessible. We've got important work to do for the American people, and that's where we're going to keep our focus. You're welcome to continue to focus on these issues. I'm moving on. [...]
Q Two time line questions on this that I don't think was fully addressed yesterday. Could you tell us who it was in the Vice President's party who first informed the Situation Room? And could you tell us how it was that Mr. Rove learned of this and got involved enough, then, to call --
MR. McCLELLAN: I did answer that question yesterday. Karl spoke with Mrs. Armstrong.
Q But who informed -- I'm trying to understand the chain of custody of the information prior to that. In other words, who from the Vice President's party first informed the Situation Room? You told us the Situation Room --
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, he has an entourage that travels with him. I'm not going to get into -- he has an entourage that travels with him, from a military aide to Secret Service personnel. I'm not going to get into discussing specific people. I don't think that's -- I don't think it's necessary.
Q Can you tell us if it was a military aide or if it was a Secret Service person --
MR. McCLELLAN: David, I think I just answered your question. I'm just not going to get into naming specific people.
Q You're not going to tell us who informed the Situation Room?
MR. McCLELLAN: It was from the Vice President's traveling team.
Q We're asking, will you tell us who informed the Situation Room?
MR. McCLELLAN: I just told you. [...]
Q Okay. And then the third issue related to this is, we know and established yesterday through you that the President heard about it on Saturday evening. Could you explain to us why it is this piece of information was important enough for the President to hear about relatively quickly, within three hours of the event --
MR. McCLELLAN: David, as I --
Q -- but in your view, it was not important enough --
MR. McCLELLAN: -- as I indicated, there are some pressing priorities before the American people and they want us to spend our time on that, and that's where we're going to keep our focus today.
Q It's our briefing, we get to ask the questions. [...]
Q And could you provide cost estimates when the President [sic] takes these hunting trips -- like what it costs the taxpayers --
MR. McCLELLAN: Check with his office, Jim.
Q -- to bring both his staff and medical staff?
MR. McCLELLAN: Check with his office. I travel with the President. [...]
Q But, Scott, you didn't answer that particular question. You never answered why it took so long to inform you, who has a responsibility to inform the public. [...]
Q You said you found out, like 6:00 a.m. the next morning. Are you suggesting that he had plenty of ability to contact Washington and didn't use it?
MR. McCLELLAN: I'm suggesting that it's time to focus on the priorities of the American people, and that's what we're going to do. You're welcome to continue focusing on that.
Thank you. Go see the Longhorns.
So now we've got two pressing questions that still need answering: Who informed the Situation Room?, and Who in the fucking hell was the third hunter?
Posted by Eddie Tews at February 14, 2006 01:06 PM
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