As usual, The Washington Post's best analysis is by entertainment critic Tom Shales, in the Style Section...
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Prime Time For the President
By Tom Shales
Columnist
The Washington Post
Wednesday, June 29, 2005; Page C01
Although President Bush's speech at Fort Bragg, N.C., was scheduled to last about 30 minutes, CNN anchor Paula Zahn told viewers last night it would "no doubt" run longer because of "interruptions by the supportive crowd" of men and women in uniform.
Well, yes and no. The speech -- a relatively brief status report on the war in Iraq -- may have run a tiny bit longer than was announced, but there was only one interruption from the "supportive crowd." In fact, since the military men and women were technically at attention, noted anchor Brian Williams of NBC News, they didn't even applaud when Bush walked onstage to deliver the address.
The sole supportive interruption followed a sequence in which Bush built to the line, "We will stay in the fight until the fight is won." NBC's Kelly O'Connell, reporting from Fort Bragg, told Williams afterward that the applause appeared to have been "triggered by members of the president's advance team" and that once they began clapping, the soldiers joined in. |
