Veteran Reporter Helen Thomas Unnerves Bush’s Stepford Gal Perino

[EV_Ares]

Something about the way Helen Thomas asked Bush flack Dana Perino about civilian war deaths seemed to rattled Perino’s usual robotic calm: “Helen, I find it really unfortunate that you use your front row position, bestowed upon you by your colleagues, to make such statements… suggest that we, at the United States, are killing innocent people is just absurd and very offensive.”

In reality, over 600,000 Iraqi babies, children and adults have been killed unnecessarily by U.S. bombs in pursuit of Bush’s misguided invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Transcript from Dana Perino’s press briefing on Fiday, Nov. 30, 2007, follows:


Does the President want no troops out from Iraq on his watch? I’m talking about all the troops.

MS. PERINO: Well, 5,700 troops will be home by the end of the year, so that is some troops coming home. The President said that troop levels are going to be made by commanders on the ground, and that we’re going to have to talk about –

Why should it be? Why can’t the American people have a say?

MS. PERINO: — return on success. The American people have had a say. They elected a President who is their Commander-in-Chief and is making decisions based on what his commanders on the ground are telling him.

And you think that was the vote of the American people?

MS. PERINO: They elected a Commander-in-Chief, and the President is bringing home 5,700 troops, based on the recommendations of his commanders on the ground and based on return on success. Hopefully in the future we can bring home more, but it’s going to depend on what General Petraeus reports and remember he will come back in March.

Why should we depend on him?

MS. PERINO: Because he is the commander on the ground, Helen. He’s the one who is making sure that the situation is moving –

You mean how many more people we kill?

MS. PERINO: Helen, I find it really unfortunate that you use your front row position, bestowed upon you by your colleagues, to make such statements. This is a — it is an honor and a privilege to be in the briefing room, and to suggest that we, at the United States, are killing innocent people is just absurd and very offensive.

Do you know how many we have since the start of this war?

MS. PERINO: How many — we are going after the enemy, Helen. To the extent that any innocent Iraqis have been killed, we have expressed regret for it.

Oh, regret. It doesn’t bring back a life.

MS. PERINO: Helen, we are in a war zone, and our military works extremely hard to make sure that everyone has the opportunity for liberty and freedom and democracy, and that is exactly what they are doing.

I’m going to move on.

http://www.pensitoreview.com/2007/12/05/go-helen-thomas-unnerves-bushs-stepford-gal-perino/

[zabet]

1. Perino is not

worthy of even being
in the same room as
Helen Thomas. She is
as bad as chimpy with
her arrogance.

[Rageneau]

9. Republicans are giving blonde bimbos a bad name.

[rhett o rick]

14. How can you say that. Republicans are giving them jobs e.g. Eliz Hasselbeck. nm

[rhett o rick]

21. But she meets the repuke qualifications, cute but stupid. nm

[EFerrari]

2. It must be terrible to wake up in the morning and realize you're

Dana Perino.

[BeHereNow]

3. I can't wait for Helen to ask that plastic bitch Perino about the 180, 000 private mercs...

I'd pay to see that.
I wonder how much of our tax dollars go to the private mercs
and contractors instead of our soldiers?
BHN

[DCKit]

10. At $225,000/year each (paid to Blackwater), $40.5 Billion a year.

Chump change.

[derby378]

4. I have never in my life cast a vote for Commander-in-Chief

We are citizens, not soldiers. We vote for a President. And unfortunately, our votes have been discounted since 2000.

Perino is so full of shit that I'm surprised her eyes aren't deep brown.

[madokie]

15. or maybe a spoiled green

[Union Thug]

5. "..liberty and freedom and democracy.." Oh that would be hilarious

if it weren't so pathological. This war is about one thing: securing interests of the energy barons. Thousands of mostly working class Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi men, women and children have died to protect the investments of the wealthy few.

[Catch22Dem]

6. Seriously, does she have a fucking string implanted in her back?

She doesn't answer questions, she just repeats lines from a script. Pull the string, shit out the words "freedom / commanders on the ground / the american people / this president" Pull string & repeat.

[KatyaR]

24. And doesn't "commander on the ground"

refer to a leader who's actually in combat? Or am I mistaken about that?

God, she is so awful--I can't understand how they would think she would be even CLOSE to being a good public representative.

[Bozita]

7. Helen is a living American treasure. Perino is a lying neocon spokeswhore.

I'm with Helen.

[Usrename]

8. "WH spokes-hairdo Dana Perrino"

The monicker given her by our own NanceGreggs.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[rhett o rick]

13. Stephanie Miller calls her the lying sack of cute. Personally, I'd take Helen Thomas any day. nm

[provis99]

11. notice Perino's parsing here?:

"You mean how many more people we kill?

MS. PERINO: Helen, I find it really unfortunate that you use your front row position, bestowed upon you by your colleagues, to make such statements. This is a — it is an honor and a privilege to be in the briefing room, and to suggest that we, at the United States, are killing innocent people is just absurd and very offensive."

She said it was absurd and offensive to say we were killing civilians, but she didn't say it wasn't true. Just doing her job of attacking the messenger for stating the truth, I guess.

[beltanefauve]

25. Why can't Helen

simply kiss up and cherish her "access"? :sarcasm:

[TahitiNut]

27. Helen said "people". Perino said "innocent" as though Helen had - and she hadn't.

It's clear projection. The Casa Blanca Nazis know the people being killed are mostly innocent of doing anything except fight an occupation of the home ... and they don't fucking care. :grr:

[annabanana]

12. "an honor and a privilege "

This really really pushes my buttons. It is an honor and a privilege to serve America. This robotic idiot is privileged to answer questions put to her by US (her boss).

Helen is OUR PROXY in that room. Not perino.

[rhett o rick]

16. Does anyone have an email for the "lying sack of cute", Ms. Perino? nm

[truth2power]

17. Damn it all...

Re Perino: The american people elected a president....THEIR commander in chief.

He is not the CIC of the American people. Did any of these people pass American Govt. in high school?

[AdHocSolver]

18. Correction. We did not elect a President. The Supreme Court selected a CEO of US Corp.

Bush/Cheney see themselves as CEO of the US Incorporated.

Forget Poli Sci 101. Think corporate model ala Enron. We (US citizens) are all employees of US Inc. We are merely to do our jobs unquestioningly, while glorifying our executives, who never make mistakes. If you dare question their competency, you could get fired, like Valerie Plame.

Meanwhile, our executives are running the company into the ground by bankrupting it while looting the treasury. The model of Bushco's residency is not Roosevelt, or Eisenhower, or even Nixon. It is Ken Lay of Enron.

Bushco do not concern themselves with details. They see the "big picture" that the underlings cannot comprehend. Therefore, any mistakes are due to the minions not following orders. Subordinates are supposed to carry out orders, never question them, and never criticize an executive. That could get you fired.

Congress is like the board of directors. They get to keep their perks so long as they support the CEO in his endeavors. The media are public relations. They get to keep their jobs so long as they say only nice things about management.

Now that I have presented the correct model to use, you can flesh the rest of it out yourselves.

[Swamp Rat]

20. Remember 12/12/2000!

[truth2power]

23. An extended metaphor that works quite nicely. n/t

[orleans]

19. that bitch is shooting speed n/t

[rhett o rick]

22. Does anyone have Perino's contact email? nm

[TahitiNut]

26. "Helen, we are in a war zone"

Isn't that just a handy dodge? Never mind the fact that WE CREATED THE WAR ZONE by invading! Never mind the fact that we created this abomination based on LIES!

B*tch! :grr:

[L. Coyote]

33. "Helen, we are in a LIE zone" ADD "of our own making" And we cheated to get here!

How preposterous is that. Create a war zone based on lies, then use the war zone excuse to not address the lies.

Is there no limit to hubris?

[L. Coyote]

28. In Denial of the TRUTH? "we, at the United States, are killing innocent people is just absurd"

What's with the "we, at the United States" flub. Like, the rest of the nation isn't the USA?

More seriously, the White House is just plain in total denial if they think they are not killing innocents!!

[Radical Activist]

30. eh

nevermind.

[Kurovski]

29. Iraqis are the enemy/ Iraqis are being brought Democracy.

FU DP.

[FloridaJudy]

31. Am I the only one

Who thinks Ms. Perino sounds like the lamest member of the High School Debate Team? I can just see her practicing this crap in front of a mirror, and trying to make it sound sincere.

[malaise]

32. Either the mirror is well fogged up or she needs way more practice

She is atrocious.