Oh my god he talked to me! He likes me again! It's nice, I guess, that all the recent whoring for Presidential favor on A1 has finally paid off: today the zombie trio of Elisabeth Bumiller, Richard Stevenson and Donald Sanger, having been suffered to present themselves in the Oval Office for forty minutes of (futile) brain-hunting, do the best typing they're capable of and serve up the results as the Times' lead article.

President Bush said in an interview on Thursday that he would withdraw American forces from Iraq if the new government that is elected on Sunday asked him to do so, but that he expected Iraq's first democratically elected leaders would want the troops to remain as helpers, not as occupiers.

"Bush Says Iraqi Leaders Will Want U.S. Forces to Stay to Help"

That lead paragraph, by the way, represents the highest pitch of newsworthiness the interview manages to reach, so you can spare yourself the rest of the thing. Focusless, contentless, ever so carefully deferential: for all the writers bring to it they might just as well have delivered the transcript straight, though at least this is shorter.

But I'd be remiss if I didn't quote you the moment of pure cringe-making weirdness that intrudes in the middle of the article:

But even while acknowledging that Iraq is at a pivotal point in its history, Mr. Bush appeared far more relaxed than he was in August, when he was last interviewed by The Times, in a changing area off a men's room, during a campaign stop in New Mexico.

Which conjures up images of the poor thwarted Times minions hiding behind the coat hangers waiting to ambush Dubya and by God make him acknowledge their existence. Possibly the more relaxed affect now has less to do with Dear Leader's optimism about Iraq and more to do with his not being accosted this time in a changing room—especially considering how Lizzy Boo probably just couldn't stop eyeing his Little General through those flimsy boxers ...

posted by michael  9:24:21 PM  
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