Washington – News conferences have never been President Bush’s favorite venue, probably the main reason he has held fewer than any other modern president. But any discomfort he felt Monday was for the most part well concealed.
In the face of repeated skeptical questions on the Iraq war and whether he acted within the law in ordering a domestic spying program, Bush apparently decided a passionate offense was his best defense.
In a morning event in the White House East Room, he answered questions for 56 minutes, sometimes conveying humor, sometimes impatience, but never anything less than full confidence in his own answers.
For most of the time, Bush’s mood was casual and crisp. He admonished reporters to refrain from long questions and – amid concern that he is overreaching on his own powers – joked that he had signed an executive order to ban such questions.
On the issue of domestic surveillance in fighting terrorism, Bush acknowledged civil-liberties concerns and said he would ask the same questions if he were sitting in the reporters’ seats.
On one occasion, however, his exasperation was obvious when a reporter suggested Bush was arguing for the “unchecked power of the executive.”
The morning’s dominant impression was of a president who feels so strongly about his presidential prerogatives that he was ready to take on all comers who might disagree.
He said that as commander in chief he has responsibility for defending the nation against an extraordinary threat and that he needs extraordinary tools to do so.
Members of Congress from both parties have criticized the spying program, which involves the National Security Agency’s eavesdropping, without court approval, on the international phone calls and e-mails of U.S. citizens suspected of having terrorist ties.
But Bush was undeterred, vowing to maintain the surveillance as long “as the nation faces the continuing threat of an enemy that wants to kill American citizens.”
He said whoever leaked the secret program to the press has compromised his administration’s efforts to avert another terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
“My personal opinion is it was a shameful act for someone to disclose this very important program in a time of war,” Bush said. “The fact that we’re discussing this program is helping the enemy.”
To a Washington Post reporter who asked about “unchecked” power, Bush retorted, “To say ‘unchecked power’ basically is ascribing some kind of dictatorial position to the president, which I strongly reject.”
