Media React to Bush "Drunk" Video: "Happy Hour in Washington"?

After it first gained wide attention here at HuffPost yesterday, media commentators started weighing in on the brief video captured (probably via cell phone) at a private fundraiser in which President Bush joked about Wall Street getting "drunk" and making light of the U.S. housing crisis. Dan Froomkin at The Washington Postcalled it Bush's "YouTube Moment," which makes you marvel -- yes, he has had relatively few of them, at least of the "whoops, that was private" variety.

Amazingly, earlier that same day -- last Friday -- at another fundraiser in Tucson, Bush, according to Daniel Scarpinato of the Arizona Daily Star had fretted about this eventuality. "So sensitive were Republicans about information getting out about the goings-on at the Tucson fundraiser . . . even W. himself," he wrote, "made sure to ask the 400 or so people at the event to turn off any recording devices. 'I don't know a lot about technology,' the president said, according to one insider, 'but I do know about YouTube.'"

At least he didn't say "the YouTube" or "the Tubes."

Here is some other commentary:

David Gaffen at the Wall Street Journal's Marketbeat blog, headlines his post "Happy Hour in Washington," and notes: "What we are sure of is this: if Wall Street was drunk, who was the bartender handing out free drinks? Our thoughts at right." That image shows Alan Greenspan and President Bush.

Floyd Norris of theNew York Times targeted the same pair on his blog: "A Federal Reserve chairman once said that the Fed's job was to take away the punch bowl when the party was getting good. Unfortunately, the Greenspan Fed and the Bush administration did all they could to keep the punch bowl full, fighting off efforts to regulate 'fancy financial instruments' or restrain the excessive leverage that will now lead to massive government bailouts to avert a financial disaster."

Julie Mason and Alan Bernstein in the Houston Chronicle, the first newspaper site to run the video after the local ABC affiliate had beat them to it: "The president's blunt remarks were a sharp departure from the more measured tones he uses publicly to discuss the economy and national housing market collapse....The jocular tone Bush used to describe a serious subject also underscores the pitfalls of being candid in an age of tiny camera phones. News reporters were prohibited from the Olson event in River Oaks last Friday."

Stephanie Kirchgaessner in the Financial Times: "Mr. Bush has rarely been caught on video making such frank remarks before a friendly audience about a politically sensitive topic, proving that even the carefully guarded White House is susceptible to being caught off guard in the new era of the endless internet campaign."
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Greg Mitchell's new book is So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits -- and the President -- Failed on Iraq. He is editor of Editor & Publisher.

Comments

[cindyw]

Bush's demeanor and comments about Wall Street made it seem as if he were talking about errant teenagers. Those crazy kids, they went and f*****d up the whole economy!

[FLA1]

All of this catching politicians when they are having private conversations is pretty trashy on both sides. Everyone is capable of saying something that either does not truly express their views or even if it expresses their views, is open to interpretation. I am certain that Pres Bush privately believes he did some things wrong. That does not mean that at the time, he did not believe that they were the right decisions. Unfortunately, in politics and most other professions in which you are the leader, admitting that you're wrong is not an option. He probably made several mistakes as President, but he probably also faced one of the greatest catastrophes to occur during a presidency, since maybe Pearl Harbor. The one thing that does make me uncomfortable, is that this Presidency appears to have expanded the power of the executive branch, and done so successfully.

[Daps]

This is not spying and hardly a private conversation.

[elderly]

"Unfortunately, in politics and most other professions in which you are the leader, admitting that you're wrong is not an option. "

You are so wrong. In 1961 after the Bay of Pigs, JFK admitted that he had made a mistake and accepted full responsibility for it. Further, when the military wanted to send in the marines and bomb Cuba to "rescue" the mission, President Kennedy refused to compound his error. Considering that Cuba had operational tactical nuclear weapons and that the Soviet Union would have been forced to respond, his actions probably are why we are still here today. I cannot even fathom what would have happened if bush had been president at that time.

Further, when RFK ran for president he stated that he and his brother had been wrong about Vietnam and that they were partially responsible for the mess that existed in 1968.

Some politicians do admit mistakes and do learn from them.

[Russycle]

Making a speech in front of 400 people is not a "private conversation", and there's nothing trashy about exposing a hypocrite. Bush has been Wall Street's biggest cheerleader, for him to admit that it's been recklessly irresponsible is legitimate news.

[Cathexis]

I am not at all certain that President Bush believes he has done anything wrong. Ever. The new GOP mantra is "Admit no wrong-doing. If you don't admit to it, it didn't happen and no one can take you to task."

If the matter is not germane to the office, I agree, FLA1. But when it IS germane, I'd say such moments ARE fair game. Bush has been going on and on about his economic approach and showing he is in firm denial about the state of the economy. Then, in a private moment, he admits there is a problem? That, sir, is news. Even if he IS still trying to blame everyone else.

[enoughalready13]

Happy Hour = no

Closing Time = yes

[robotfog]

I would have preferred that bush made that remark in front of a crowd of serious news cameras. Why not just say it out loud?

I have discovered from the video that those little fundraisers are as boring as I previously believed them to be.

I wish politicians were banned from fundraisers anyway. oh, and banned from holding public office.

[4President]

Next! Right?