No one will ever ever ever convince me that Bush's famous line at Ground Zero wasn't totally scripted by Karl Rove and prompted by a shill (perhaps Rove himself) yelling out: "We can't hear you!"

The Bush presidency consists largely if not entirely of sound bites and photo ops and is as phony as it can be.

So, I'm adding my "So what?" to the chorus.

!STOP IT ALREADY!

The Planting is not a big deal. What matters is that Clinton NEEDS energy questions to be softball questions.

Wait. Maybe the deal is that she had to patronize a college student by making her ask a mush question.

Now Hold on! Maybe it's simply disrectful to all the Iowans in the room who maybe thought that they had a chance of getting their questions answered. Like all the suckers who collected McDonalds Monopoly properties. When the game turned out rigged.

Listen everyone, it's no big deal. Can we all please give Slick Hillary a break?

Oh for Cryin Ice!

This tatic is as old as dirt. Every politician carries around with them people who
work the crowds. Either they ask or they get someone to ask the questions that will best get their message out. What is to be gained by anyone acting like this is not simply how the job gets done?

Tell me you have not seen some politician in front of a small group, with everyone herded up close together to make it look like a big crowd?

How much worse is this than Bush's people excluding any and everyone that was not already a supporter and expecting the press to show nightly coverage of his exclusive little club meetings? Sure kept the wrong people from asking the wrong questions, didn't it?

Didn't hear the press or Huffington Post or anyone else make a big deal about his bad habits there, nor did they stop showing up for the opportunity even when they KNEW they were being used to avoid tuff questions.

The only reason George Bush is president is because the press failed to inform.

Can we spend just a few moments on Pat Robertsons endorsement of everything the religious right has professed not to support?

Can you discuss those radios that would have saved firemen's lives in New York?

Have you seen the first story on Fred Thompson's Non Hodgekins Lymphoma? Nothing I read says there's a cure...it goes into remission and does not stay there. He is a sick man who cannot perform the 18 hour days the presidency requires, may not finish a term, and no one in the press has the nerve to even discuss it.

Stop it! Who cares?

Why isn't Bush's failure to appear at Arlington the front page story? What about the continuing nightmare of the non-treatment, lack of support of our vets and troops? What about the devalued dollar?

There are a hundred more important stories than this kind of trivia, and I'm not talking about the writer's strike (why is that or the stage hand strike in NYC any more important than regular working class strikes? Why the blow by blow essays? ). Stop promoting useless trivia and talk about the important stuff.

Please.

Okay, Huff, at least today's Clinton bashing holds some sort of merit. That flag tipping over crap was beneath Drudge.

Again, I'm an Edwards type, but who says this girl isn't making up this story? The above poster who asks CNN to come up with a few more details makes an excellent point.

I am sick of the new media.

Let me declare up front ~ I am a 70 year old Maine lady who views herself as an American, thinking Democrat and Obama supporter. As such, I have been asking myself "which candidate will honor the concept of "we the people" and bring integrity to the oval office on behalf of the American people he/she was elected to serve?"

In that context I am disgusted with the Clinton campaign's duplicity....Planting questions is just more of the same old school, text book thinking at work....it gives us a clear view of the integrity we can expect from her if she is elected.

As John Edwards said yesterday, "Is answering honest, difficult questions so hard?" The answer of course is "no". But some are willing to pay that price to get elected! Nothing new there. Just time to stop it !

I hope the American People are wise enough to vote for someone who just might bring real leadership to the problems we face. Who is willing to say what needs to be said and not just what we want to hear. ....Harry Truman comes to this ancient mind. Courage was required then as it is now.

Truman wasn't perfect but he sure as heck believed in his responsibility to the American People and to the office he held. His actions painted a clear picture of the real person inside that finely tailored suit.

So to the Clintons I say "stop it" ....stop acting like the american people are stupid....stop saying one thing and doing another.

So, this student was going to ask Sen. Clinton how her energy policy differed from the energy policies of the other candidates? What kind of answer could Sen. Clinton possibly have given to such a broad survey kind of query? Does the student expect that the senator would be so familiar with the energy policies of each candidate that she could list each candidate and spdifically itemize how her policies differed from theirs? So, no, it wouldn't have been an interesting question for anybody and Clinton's aides were smart to suggest something else.

But the real story here is how CNN is concentrating on the political tactics of Sen. Clinton's team instead of the content of her policies.

And, if Obama and Edwards are now saying that their aides don't attempt to 'direct' and screen audience members, then they are probably not being entirely truthful.

"Muriel Gallo-Chasanoff, a 19-year-old sophomore at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, said that giving anyone specific questions to ask is "dishonest," and the whole incident has given her a negative outlook on politics."

I don't think it's right either, but *I* wouldn't have asked the planted question. My outlook on politics is even more negative now that I know what kind of 19 year olds our country is turning out. You know, you either ask the question and shut up or you don't ask the question and complain about it. You don't get to ask the question AND then whine about it afterwards because you feel guilty that you got caught along with the Clinton campaign.

Where are the headlines when bush and his staff plant questions all the time like this at rallies and speeches? When does the press ever call out bush on this?????

Finally CNN is catching up to the phoney Clinton campaign we have been calling for the last six or seven months while it, and other MSM were busy proclaiming how she is running a text book campaign--gaffe-free. This is just the tip of it. If anyone cared to look into the donations from hapless Chinese immigrants blageoned by Hsu to send HRC dollars, you would see the stink and why the Clintons are bad news for America.

Still want Clintons back in the White House?

CNN appears incapable of asking a follow-up question.

Student: "On the way over there in the car, thry asked me if I would like to ask the Senator a question."

Who are "they"?

Student: "They brought mw to one of the senior staffers."

Who is the "senior staffer"? What is is title and role? In what way is he "senior"?

CNN and the other blowhard media assholes are making big hay out of this.

Yet, Bush has for seven years has had ONLY staged meetings, speeches, vetted questions for "audience" members, who are also vetted.
Only 100% Republican sheep are allowed into the "public town hall meetings."
Pure Propoganda. For Seven Years.

And now The Big HC is the devil ?
Give me a break!

Ron Paul all the way--but seriously people--I am thinking this little headline grabber was a plant herself--she's been on all the major networks--especially the darling of Faux noise. Nothing like her 15 minutes of fame--nothing a repuke won't do! Of course it's perfectly ok with the media if Bush hand picks his audience--and throws people out if they have the wrong t- shirt on--or the wrong bumper sticker on their car--hypocrite republican party in all their glory RON PAUL--our only hope to get our once great country back.