Last night's speech

Published on May 25, 2004 By InfoGeek In Politics

Now, I am not the biggest fan of President Bush, but I have to vent about what happened last night.

When I grew up we had 4 channels, so when there was a presidential address or important event happening, if you were a kid, you were stuck w/ PBS (and not at the time the kids shows were on). So, I grew up with a certain expectation. The president speaks, the networks cover it and we listen. So, when I heard that President Bush was going to explain how he was going to get us out of the “big muddy”, his plan for Iraq and out fighting forces, I turned on the TV, and what did I see?

Fox news ran it.

What was on the other networks?

The Swan (Look, I still lack self esteem and have deep emotional problems, but I now have boobies!!!)

Fear Factor (Warning !!! Lark’s Vomit!!!)

Yes, Dear (Comic Genius on a stick)

A Beautiful Mind (We will not delay this movie not even for the President)

Yes, it was not a press conference. Yes, the room was filled with military personnel, a few who probably think Rambo was a tad liberal. It was a little like a coaches pep talk.

But the President was talking about his plan for Iraq and our soldiers.

Attention must be paid!

IG

Comments (Page 1)

kingbee

on May 25, 2004

i dunno where you live but it was live and preempted all three major networks and all the other stations that normally keep us apprised of the current hour's high- or low-speed chases + cnn.

InfoGeek

on May 25, 2004

Northeastern United States.

IG

kingbee

on May 25, 2004

im truly surprised that they didnt bump regular programming considering it was spun as trotting out major new policy tweaks--altho i didnt really notice much new. maybe the networks were ticked cuz he moved it back a couple hours into primetime there. here in socal it was on at 5.

Jeff George

on May 25, 2004

I'm in the NE U.S. and was actually trying to find it. I assumed it was going to preempt normal programming. I usually don't watch TV but ended up peeking at The Swan while waiting for the speech that never came. Boobies fascinate me.

Nakor

on May 25, 2004

As several network shows were having their finales... They're probably still smarting from "mission accomplished" pre-empting finales last May.

If I understood correctly, there are 5 more speeches planned before June 30th.

greywar

on May 25, 2004

The major networks simply cater to the consumer drone will of the broadcast audience. If the majority of folks out there actually voted last night with their remotes and didn't watch the drivel broadcast in the place of the speech then next year maybe they will carry it. If not well.... "the mob is Rome!"

jeblackstar

on May 25, 2004

Actually, the "networks" are only required to air certain comments of the president. Usually they do whether they have to or not, if they didn't then something was up. By the by, Fox, except the news channel, rarely airs political events. I didn't see the presidential address, I didn't even know about it, so it's possible it was big enough for anyone to care.

Cheers

JeremyG

on May 25, 2004

"But the President was talking about his plan for Iraq and our soldiers. "

Can you quote the specifics please? I watched it and didnt hear anything new.

InfoGeek

on May 25, 2004

No, there was not anything new (except the new prison). but the networks did not know that befor ethe speech happened.

And yes, except for one local station, only Fox News, not the fox channel aired the speech.

IG

JeremyG

on May 25, 2004

Here's the thing.....should the TV networks stop their programming anytime the president addresses a room full of people? He must give at least one speech a week. Sometimes people dont care about what's goin on "up there" and they just want to watch a funny show.

It's also dangeous during election time because a "speech" could easily be half of a campaign promotion at the same time which runs into all kinds of issues with "equal time" for canidates.

Larry Kuperman

on May 25, 2004

For those who missed it, a summary is at http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/05/24/bush.iraq.speech/index.html

Transcript ot the resolution in PDF format is at http://www.cnn.com/interactive/allpolitics/0405/un.sc.resolution/un.sc.resolution.040524.pdf

Hope this helps.

greywar

on May 25, 2004

Actually, the "networks" are only required to air certain comments of the president

Actually I am pretty certain they don't *have* to air anything other than emergncy addresses or warnings. I could be wrong, but I am fairly certain I am not.

forefather1

on May 25, 2004

I got busy chasin' my kids so I missed half of the speech. However, I liked what I heard. I heard a man reminding us that war sucks. He was to the point. He wasn't bragging, but he could have. The United States has accomplished so much in Iraq in the little more than a year that has passed. Today I heard one of the Iraqi interim leaders praising the speech and emphazising how very important it is that the U.S.A. be successful. George Bush put forth a vision for Iraq and its neighbors and the rest of the world that could happen if more of us would join the effort. He is the best man for the job and deep down (any of you been deep down lately) you know he is. He went on to say it is hard work. Say what you will, but keep in mind that he is the one doin' the job. We need to trust our leaders and look for ways to support them. Kerry has no real plan for this most important issue. They (the democrats) are just tryin' to get that big ol' democratic 'rave' goin' again, and if anyone takes the time to listen to what they are saying (I guess that was 'The Swan", 'Fear Factor" and all that other crap) you'll know it's time to 'vote like a man...vote REPUBLICAN!!!' Right? Right.

jeblackstar

on May 26, 2004

you are not incorrect Greywar, I was refering to states of emergency and the like. For other events, the Press secretary requests and the networks typically oblige. Since Fox News is the only Channel dubya watches, that's his own admission, maybe it was a private heads up to Fox News and not some slight by the networks.

Cheers

eieio

on May 26, 2004

I watched it on ABC (I'm in Texas), but what was really surprising was the lack of 'talking heads' afterwards to tell what the President 'really' said. No pontification, no Democratic response. I don't think I've ever seen that happen before.

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