Posted on 11/12/2004 2:06:43 PM PST by Uncledave
Blair appears to cringe at 'poodle' query
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- It was the last question Prime Minister Tony Blair wanted asked, and he seemed to cringe as President Bush answered it.
"The prime minister is sometimes, perhaps unfairly, characterized in Britain as your poodle," began the questioner at a joint appearance by the two leaders Friday at the White House. "I was wondering if that's the way you may see your relationship? And perhaps, more seriously, do you feel for the -"
Blair broke in: "Don't answer 'yes' to that question," he mockingly admonished Bush, prompting laughter.
Joking aside, Bush offered a serious answer.
"Plenty capable of making his own mind. He's a strong, capable man," the president said. "When times get tough he doesn't wilt. You know, when the criticism starts to come his way - I suspect that might be happening on occasion - he stands for what he believes in."
An endorsement of his leadership qualities from the American president, no matter how hearty, is of little help to Blair.
A wide section of the British public deeply dislikes Bush, viewing him as a unilateralist. The detention of four Britons without trial at Guantanamo Bay, his refusal to sign the Kyoto global warming protocol, his rejection of an international criminal court, and his invasion of Iraq without a specific green light from the United Nations add to his unpopularity.
Blair's critics are unlikely to be swayed from their conviction that the prime minister doggedly follows U.S. foreign policy without exerting any real influence.
No wonder Blair appeared a bit uncomfortable. Still, he couldn't resist offering a little self-defense.
"As long as I remain prime minister of our country it will carry on being strong - not because that's in the interests of America simply or in the interests of the international community, but because I believe passionately it is in the interest of Britain," Blair said.
Major League Clymer
Big time!
Bush should have just waded out into the press core and started pummeling this fag. I don't think most Americans would have objected.
What a tastless, ignorant questions -
Blair should have shot back "we hear from other journalists that you are an a**hole , how do you respond to that"
Who was the reporter who asked the question?
Just once I wish Blair would respond with this question.
"where were these poodle comments when I was an ally of Bill Clinton?"
If I were the President, I would have said: "I'm sorry if I was unclear. I asked for a question from a journalist. Who's next?"
awesome - I'd like to see that as well!
This reporter doesn't seem to realize that he just made a clymer of himself.
People on the live action thread said that the reporter was a Brit. No more information than that.
I think the jerk should be outed for pulling a stupid trick like that on his country's leader while meeting with the leader of the free world outside of Britain. There's a time and a place for everything, and this was decidedly not the time or place.
Hey, this is what you get at press conferences with reporters, and it explains why Kerry avoided them like the plague the last four months of his campaign
nick
," began the questioner at a joint appearance by the two leaders "
That's interesting that the article refers to him as 'the questioner.' I think good reporting would tell us who the journalist is who asked this. What an awful question to ask the Prime Minister. This is a disturbing new twist, where journalists are now also attacking foreign heads of state. Joe Lockhart and countless journalists still should have to answer for referring to Iraq's Allawi as a 'puppet.'
These idiot journalists just don't seem to understand that there are actually foreign leaders supporting Bush. They are operating under the assumption that everything Bush has done on the war on terror he has done alone. Therefore, they have to imagine that any foreign leader that is supporting Bush is in fact being forced into submission by the Bush Administration.
However, beyond that, the truth is the truth. The British government, the former Spanish government, the Aussies, the Italians, the Polish, etc.... have all committed troops and support to our government's fight in Afghanistan, Iraq, and all over the world.
This paragraph sums it all up:
"A wide section of the British public deeply dislikes Bush, viewing him as a unilateralist. The detention of four Britons without trial at Guantanamo Bay, his refusal to sign the Kyoto global warming protocol, his rejection of an international criminal court, and his invasion of Iraq without a specific green light from the United Nations add to his unpopularity."
THESE ARE THE EXACT REASONS WHY WE RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT BUSH. SO, GREAT BRITIAN, SCREW YOU.
Note that even AP was embarrassed for him, kindly keeping his name out of the hands of the unworthy masses who might properly label him a scumbag.
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