Odd silence at Fort Benning — during and after Bush’s speech

There has definitely been a sea-change, since the Dems won back the majority n Congress.

It is as if a dam has broken.......

The Carpetbagger Report » Blog Archive » Odd silence at Fort Benning — during and after Bush’s speech:

I admit at the outset that I did not hear the president’s remarks at Fort Benning, Georgia, yesterday. Bush was reportedly looking for a “friendly audience and a patriotic backdrop” to help sell his “new” escalation policy, and the president who can hardly resist using troops as props probably thought this trip to a military base would be similar to others.

Except it wasn’t.

The New York Times said Bush “received a restrained response from soldiers who clapped politely but showed little of the wild enthusiasm that they ordinarily shower on the commander in chief.”

The Washington Post noted that Bush received minimal applause, which was “hardly the boisterous, rock-star reception Bush typically gets at military bases. During his lunchtime speech, the soldiers were attentive but quiet.

The LA Times said the president “received a less enthusiastic reception.”

The far-right Washington Times said the troops’ response to the president was “tepid.”

But it’s sometimes difficult to gauge an audience’s reaction solely from applause. It’s far better, in this case, to talk to the troops themselves, and get their perspectives on the war, escalation, and the president. And the plane-full of reporters who were on hand for the Ft. Benning event would have done just that — if only the Bush gang had let them.