ARI FLEISCHER STOMPS BERET WEARING SOCK PUPPET AT BRIEFING

White House ^ | MARCH 5, 2003

[Cinnamon Girl]

Excerpt from today's briefing:

Helen: Ari, since there is an atmosphere of the imminence of war in this White House, and since we have no direct access to the President, will you state for the record, for the historical record, why he wants to bomb Iraqi people?

MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, I dispute the premise of your question, first of all. There's regular -- there's regular access to the President. The President is asked questions all the time. And when the President --

Helen: He hasn't had a press conference for months.

MR. FLEISCHER: And when 14 of your colleagues spend 36 minutes asking scores of questions to the President just two days ago --

Helen: Well, that's not a news conference.

MR. FLEISCHER: -- they asked the President a similar question, although they phrased it a little differently than you did. They asked the President why does he feel so strongly about the need to use force, if it comes to that, to disarm Saddam Hussein. And the answer from the President was that, given the fact that the world changed on September 11th, the threat to the American people was brought immediately to our home and to our shores and to our families, the President thinks it is in the interest of peace to make certain that Saddam Hussein does not have weapons of mass destruction which he can use against us, either by transferring them to terrorists or using them himself.

Helen: There is no imminent threat.

MR. FLEISCHER: This is where -- Helen, if you were President you might view things differently. But you have your judgment and the President has others.

Helen: Why doesn't he prove it? Why don't you lay it out? When have they threatened in the last 12 years?

MR. FLEISCHER: They have attacked their neighbors. They have gassed their own people.

Helen: Twelve years ago.

MR. FLEISCHER: They have launched attacks.

Helen: With our support.

MR. FLEISCHER: And September 11th showed the United States is vulnerable to those who would attack us. And one of the best ways to protect the homeland is to go after the threats abroad.

Helen: You haven't linked terrorism to Saddam Hussein, in terms of 9/11.

MR. FLEISCHER: It's not -- the threat is what took place on 9/11. You don't have to make a direct linkage between Saddam Hussein and 9/11 to know that others who are planning can try to do it again, Saddam Hussein included.

[Cinnamon Girl]

Please share this with people who think it's about oil, etc. Especially the ignorant high school kids who decided to leave classes today to hold signs outside against President Bush.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Ping!

Nomination for Title of the Day!

[browardchad]

Seconded -- a primo title!

[Archangelsk]

You know, I haven't heard such a testy exchange like that since the great Reagan/Donaldson flare up or the Bush I/Rather "yell and miscommunicate" fest. Either way, both Ari and Helen provide some great comic relief.

[Husker24]

This wasnt near good enough, he should have told her to shut up and sit down.

[Dont Mention the War]

Please share this with people who think it's about oil, etc. Especially the ignorant high school kids who decided to leave classes today to hold signs outside against President Bush.

Anyone who claims this is about oil is either an intentional liar, or too damn stupid to be saved. It is physically, fiscally and mathematically proven that this cannot POSSIBLY be about oil.

And the ignorant high school kids that skipped even a single class should receive an unexcused absence and NOT be allowed to make up any work or tests they missed. And if that makes it impossible to pass a given class, or even to graduate, all the better.

[TADSLOS]

He showed an extraordinary amount of restraint and part of the job, as distastful as dealing with that hag must be.

[Darksheare]

Augh.. Helen Thomas is an ignorant terrorist sympathizer who needs a lobotomy, but I don't think any proctologist wants anywhere near her.

[Green]

I am not often home during the day and so don't get the opportunity to watch these briefings regularly. I did happen to be home today and saw this one. This woman needs to be put out to the pasture. Her days of being a reporter have long since passed. I swear Ari Fletcher deserves a medal for putting up with her every day and not losing his cool.

[sinkspur]

In the spirit of Lent, I pray for a happy and blessed death.

And not for a bald White House press spokesman.

[Howlin]

Whatever they are paying Ari isn't enough.

[Cinnamon Girl]

http://video.c-span.org:8080/ramgen/hdrive/iraq030503_whpb.rm

[O.C. - Old Cracker]

She really is a sad excuse for a bag of guts.

[ScholarWarrior]

I have a case of good scotch in the basement waiting to help celebrate the deaths of these apparatchiks, one by one.

Godspeed to our men in battle.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Helen: Ari, since there is an atmosphere of the imminence of war in this White House, and since we have no direct access to the President...

I love it when the libs complain that Bush doesn't come to their skiffy parties and eat lunch with them like Klinton did.

[JusPasenThru]

That Helen, she's our babe. Makes one glad to be a liberal //profuse vomiting in the background//.

[bpjam]

I just listened to some Special Ops guy on Imus this morning (God, please forgive me for watching Imus) and he said that he was pulling documents, bank accounts and forged ID's off Taliban soldiers all over Afghanistan when we wiped that place out. This soldier who was actually on the ground hunting for Bin Laden said that it was an obvious connection which everybody in the military knows about. Don't know why the WH doesn't hand Helen Thomas a few Iraqi passports seized from Taliban fighters and ask her how she explains the connection.

[Cinnamon Girl]

It's at exactly four minutes in on the link.

[giznort]

Helen Thomas is an old, hagged out, Clinton groupie wannabe who should look in the mirror and realize that even the late Buddy wouldn't hump this old bag's leg, and neither would the former fornicator-in-chief impeached scum-sucking President Clintscum. Holy S-it, where's the Tylenol? (to paraphrase Natl Lampoon's Christmas Vacation)

[Cinnamon Girl]

Even though Ari stays cool, I've noticed he gets extra edgy the days there are bombings in Israel.