The President's Press Conference

What impressed me most was that the press corps were serious and respectful. They asked good questions, occasionally even quite tough questions, without being rude or frivolous. I never really expect this from the press. The President's performance was also quite strong, which I expected, though the somber mood was surprising.

A lot of the followup, particularly from Senator Hart, struck me as frivolous and partisan. This is not really an appropriate approach to such serious matters as the defense of the Nation. But then again, I seldom expect the Democrats to act with any real decorum or forethought. It wasn't always this way - I would still vote for Senator Boren if he chose to return to politics and run for President.

The most telling moment was when the President was asked whether he would be making the decision soon to go to war. His answer was, in part:

That's what the United Nations Security Council has been talking about for 12 long years.

It's now time for this issue to come to a head at the Security Council, and it will.

As far as ultimatums and all of the speculation about what may or may not happen after next week, we'll just wait and see.

The way he stumbled over that past sentence, I believe indicates that he has decided that he will give the order next week, barring the very remote chance of Sadaam suddenly deciding to comply or abdicate.

Posted by Jeff at March 6, 2003 08:17 PM | Link Cosmos