Unmeet The Press

It wasn’t that long ago that the Bush handlers owned the news. You could frame Bush in front of Mt. Rushmore, have him fly onto aircraft carriers, wave off any reality with just the promise of resolve.

In another excellent piece this weekend in the NYTimes, Frank Rich discusses the sad fate of the White House reality-making apparatus. As a metaphor, he point out how Jessica Lynch and Pfc. Lynndie England have become bookends in a “public relations Presidency” that has almost completely derailed. Further evidence of this was in plain view this weekend, when a press handler for Colin Powell tried to yank him off Meet The Press in mid-broadcast. “I’ve been doing this program for 13 years and nothing like that has ever happened,” Russert said afterward.

Here’s a link to the Quicktime version on houseofwarwick.
Here’s the MSN video link if you have Windows.
(If you have trouble with any of the links above, Lisa Rein’s mirrors the video from three sources.)
Here is the transcript as it appeared in the Drudge Report.
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(photo from Daily Telegraph)