Other Important Issues and News

The Hubris and elitism in Washington DC as led by George Bush and
Dick Cheney and rest of the Motley Crew of GOP Neocons just became crystal clear…

Here’s the exchange between Whitehouse Spokesperson Dana Perino and the press.

Full story below - link;

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/03/20080320-7.html

Q Dana, can I just follow on our colleague Martha Raddatz’s interview with the Vice President? Let’s set aside the meaning of the word “so” for a second, and get to something the Vice President then said about fluctuations in the public opinion polls: “You can’t be blown off course by fluctuations in public opinion polls.” That would suggest that at any point in recent memory that the American public has been behind the war. It’s not that there’s been fluctuations in polls; it’s been different degrees of opposition to the war. So is the Vice President saying it really doesn’t matter what the American public thinks about the war?

MS. PERINO: No, I don’t think that’s what he’s saying, and obviously I haven’t spoken to the Vice President since he’s traveling today and was in Kabul visiting with President Karzai a the request of the President. But what he went on to say is that President should not make decisions based on polls. And we fully recognize that people across America are unhappy with the war; possibly they didn’t agree with the decision in the first place. They might have been unhappy with the conduct of the war. They might have disagreed with the President’s decision to send in more troops, which was a very unpopular decision across the board.

But what the President has said is that while people might not like the decisions that he makes, he has to do what he thinks is right for the country, and he cannot try to chase an opinion poll and try to make things better that way. He has to act on what he thinks is right, and that’s what he’s done.

Q So at what point – I mean, I guess I just – there is the impression that the Vice President doesn’t care about what the American people think in policy like that. Is that a wrong impression? And does the President share that impression?

MS. PERINO: I think that is the wrong impression. I think that the Vice President and the President both, together, all of us across the administration, would like for people to support the President’s decisions. We realize that that’s unrealistic, especially in a time of war – and in particular this war. And while we’re not able to change public opinion, we also have to follow a principle and stand on principle. And you have to ask yourself, what kind of a person do you want in the Oval Office? And America will have this choice to make in November of 2008 – before I get ahead of myself.

So we believe that the President stood on his principle. He hasn’t chased public opinion polls. He’s aware of them, but he hasn’t made decisions because of them, and I think there’s a distinction. Just because you don’t make decisions based on opinion polls doesn’t mean you don’t care what people think. We are all Americans. We care deeply about what people think.

Helen.

Q The American people are being asked to die and pay for this, and you’re saying they have no say in this war?

MS. PERINO: I didn’t say that, Helen. But, Helen, this President was elected –

Q Well, what it amounts to is you saying we have no input at all.

MS. PERINO: You had input. The American people have input every four years, and that’s the way our system is set up.

Q Every four years.

MS. PERINO: And we listen to –

Q It sounds familiar.

MS. PERINO: – different points of view. The President, in fact, had many meetings with members of Congress leading up to his decision about the surge.

Q Supposed to be a government for the people, of the people, by the people?

MS. PERINO: I would submit to you that people across America, if asked what type of a President do you want: one that stands on principle or that one that chases polls? And I think that they would want –

Q What’s the principle of going to war against the people who did nothing to us?

MS. PERINO: Helen, the President went to war to remove Saddam Hussein. He talked all about this yesterday in his speech. I’ll refer you to that.

Perhaps someone in the DC press Corps will act like they have a backbone and start
calling Dana by the new nickname she has earned. Baghdad Bobbi….

(My Apologies to the original Baghdad Bob, The Iraqi Minister of Information).
http://www.davidstuff.com/bagdad-bob.htm

Sorry Dude you have a pretender trying to take your place.

More on this at link below.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/22/123942/085/887/482190