Black Box Report

One small step for Americans, one giant leap for bloggerkind!

Truly an historic event! A sitting president having a face-to-face meeting with bloggers! No pushover White House press corps lapdogs, but Citizen Journalists, bane of the MSM, hellbent on getting the real truth! No vague platitudes or simple talking points will do for this group! One can only imagine the tension-filled atmosphere:

Anyone who sat through an hour with this man as I did and came away unconvinced that he sincerely believes in the message of freedom and the necessity of this fight would have to be crazy. He exudes sincerity and passion when he speaks of this mission, and I'm simply baffled by anyone who tries to claim that it's all politics.

Real, uh, hard hitting stuff, though. This is the White House. None but the best, sharpest, most objective wits in the blogosphere would be chosen for...

But it was very cool. The President of the United States slapped my hand and called me "brutha". Top that.

Anyway, he also kidded Bill Roggio and Bill Ardolino (two of my personal heroes who were in Iraq attending the meeting via teleconference) for not wearing ties...they were wearing Under Armor shirts and Ardolino looked like a freakin' rock star...

I was able to shake Tony Snow's hand and tell him "You were there when we needed you..."

The President was very intelligent, razor sharp, warm, focused, emotional (especially about his dad), and genuine. Even more so than this cynical Chicago Boy expected. I was overwhelmed by the sincerity - it wasn't staged.

...wha...Well, I'm sure there were some pointed questions being asked:

I posed the following question to President Bush: We are fighting hot wars on two major fronts: Iraq and Afghanistan. In both conflicts, there are safe havens fueling the insurgencies in these nations. The Taliban and al Qaeda have regrouped and built redoubts in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province and are attacking the Pakistani government and military, striking from their safe havens into Afghanistan....

...That's not a question. Get to the question!

Syrian ratlines run into Iraq and feed al Qaeda and the insurgency. Iran actively arms and trains Shia terrorists, and is building Iraqi Hezbollah. Iran is also arming the Taliban in Iraq. With the current blurring of the lines between domestic politics and foreign policy, and the unwillingness of the American people to fight the current war, how do you get the American public to support the current and future conflicts?

All that, and the question is "how can you get the public to support you?" And Bush's answer "lies in national will?" The Green Lantern Theory of Geopolitics? You had an hour with the leader of the free world. Didn't someone ask a follow-up to that?

About that time Chief-of-staff Josh Bolten poked his head in, a signal that told the president that Marine One was ready to go. "I want to show you all the Oval Office before I go, though," he said as he rose from his chair.

I queued up behind him as he opened the big door to the Oval Office, and I was reminded of when Dorothy entered Oz. The colors, the lighting, the history (good and bad) . . . it was a rush. The president gave me one of his signature "it's good to be king" expressions and quipped, "Pretty nice, huh?"

"Yessir, Mr. President. Pretty nice."

What the....??? What kind of meeting was this?

President Bush Speaks With Bloggers and Embeds

Obviously, Blogdom is playing a key role in this fighting of the insurgency here at home.

....I shoulda known.

Milbloggers, unabashed war supporters, with nary a critical voice among them, would be the only ones the President would speak to. Like the rest of the rightwing All-Stars he's invited in to have his fluff sessions talks with, Bush guarantees himself a fawning audience. This is as good as it gets for the President in the bubble:

Opinion varied as to whether (Bush)'s doing a super-duper-great job or merely a super-great job, but one thing's for sure: he is easily able to convey his awareness that a war is going on!...Thanking a bunch of sycophants for helping him spread a propaganda message? Mission accomplished indeed!

Sigh....Still, it's a first. Bloggers in the White House. I mean, it's not like they let just anyone in there:

If you have something to say, and create the environment, you can open a pub like Castle Argghhh! where others chime in, you can learn something, and even though you're #1 in Google for "I bayoneted myself today" and you have an Outhouse Naming Contest, in America, you can still get invited to the White House to talk to the President.

And that's just cool.

And Barney is one *fine* looking Scotty.

A true meeting of the minds.