so is the Wash.Post saying Bush was drunk at his press conference?

A Punchy President Meets the Press

By Dana Milbank
Wednesday, March 22, 2006; A02

President Bush had a senior moment midway through his news conference yesterday. Referring to an earlier question from the Los Angeles Times' Jim Gerstenzang, who has covered much of Bush's presidency, Bush looked at the veteran correspondent -- and forgot his name.

"Back, to, uh, this man's question right here," he said, and then he looked down at his seating chart for a refresher before adding: "This man being Jim."

"Sorry, Jim," the president said after everybody had a chuckle at his expense. "I got a lot on my mind these days."

That he does. Bush's presidency is in trouble, his approval ratings are in the 30s, Iraq is approaching civil war, and congressional Republicans are in open rebellion. But Bush has maintained his equanimity. He may be a lame duck, but he seems to be enjoying his swim.

He identified Terry Hunt, the Associated Press's veteran White House correspondent, as the generic "AP Person." He accused New York Times correspondent Elisabeth Bumiller of sleeping through his speech Monday in Cleveland. After USA Today's David Jackson interrupted a Bush non-answer, the president queried: "Now, what is your follow-up yell?"

And he made a show of reading from his stage directions. Rambling his way through a question about interest rates, Bush paused to confess, "I'm kind of stalling for time here." Checking his seating chart before calling on a questioner, he confided, "They've told me what to say." After announcing that "there's going to be a P-5," the president translated his own jargon: "That's diplomatic sloganeering."

Whether it's the strain of the office, the weight of international crises, or simply his old Delta Kappa Epsilon roots showing, Bush has been President Punchy of late. In Cleveland on Monday, he said there were 16 U.N. Security Council resolutions about Iraq, then called on an unsuspecting Dick Keil, a Bloomberg News reporter. "I think 16 -- is that right, Stretch, 16?" Bush inquired, using the nickname he assigned Keil. "I like to, like, reverse roles sometimes," the president explained.

When an audience member prefaced a question by saying, "I'm 100 percent behind your fight against terrorism," Bush interrupted: "Why don't you just leave it at that." And he was suspicious of a man who introduced himself as Jose Feliciano, by chance the name of the blind singer and guitarist.

"No," the president challenged.

"Yes," the other Feliciano maintained.

"It's like the time I called a guy and said, 'Hey, this is George Bush calling.' He said, 'Come on, quit kidding me, man.' " For yesterday's session, called with 90 minutes' notice, Bush had a surprise: He ended his long boycott of questions from Helen Thomas, the venerable UPI correspondent-turned-anti-Bush columnist for Hearst Newspapers. He began by invoking her performance at a Gridiron Club dinner in which she played Hillary Clinton singing about her presidential ambitions.

"Helen, after that brilliant performance at the Gridiron, I am --"

"You're going to be sorry," Thomas warned.

"Well, then, let me take it back."

It was too late. Thomas hectored him with a question about how "every reason given" for the Iraq war was wrong, then repeatedly interrupted his answers to argue.

"I kind of semi-regretted it," Bush said after the ordeal-by-Helen. He reaffirmed that her musical performance was "just brilliant," then offered that Reuters correspondent Steve Holland's performance in the same show "was a little weak."

Bush's jests apparently did nothing to reduce the antagonism in the questions, but the president did succeed at entertaining his tormentors, and himself.

NBC's Kelly O'Donnell weighed in with a question about whether it's time to make some changes on his staff, which appears "tired and even tone-deaf." This prompted the networks to go to cutaway shots of Bush aides Dan Bartlett, Karl Rove, Scott McClellan and Steve Hadley, squeezed into small chairs along one wall, looking miserable. "Wait a minute," Bush interrupted cheerfully, "is this a personal attack launching over here?"

Asked about his lost "political capital" by Gerstenzang, Bush replied that he had just listed a series of accomplishments, offering, "I'd be glad to repeat them if you like." Bumiller waved her hand to indicate such a recitation would be unnecessary. "Please," Bush responded, "no hand gestures."

Bush took his revenge moments later, when, explaining his immigration policy, he asserted that "Elisabeth was half asleep" for his speech on Monday. When she protested, he insisted: "Well, the person next to you was. They were dozing off. I could see them watching their watches, kind of wondering how long he's going to blow on for. 'Let's get him out of here so we can go get lunch' is what they were thinking."

Perhaps. Or perhaps Bush was projecting. Seconds later, when he had finished his answer to the question, he added: "Listen, thank you for your time. I've got lunch with the president of Liberia right now." It was not yet 11 a.m.

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