Couric to Blair: 'Do You Regret Your Unwavering Support of this President and this War?'

Photo of Brent Baker.

CBS News and Katie Couric put repenting before the looking to the future and solutions as producers chose this question, from Couric to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, to tease at the top of Thursday's CBS Evening News: “Do you regret what many perceive as your unwavering support of this President and this war?" In the subsequent interview, Couric, who the night before called Iraq a “nightmare,” pressed Blair about himself and President George W. Bush “acknowledging failures.” Referring to their joint press conference, Couric queried: "The President seemed determined as ever to stay on track. Do you think he, or for that matter you, are capable of acknowledging failures in this policy and changing gears when and if necessary?" Couric's follow-up displayed her frustration with Bush: "But he's been very insistent for months now that the U.S. policy is correct and while he's accepted there may have to be a slight change, he's really dug his heels in."

In contrast, on ABC's World News, George Stephanopoulos avoided such psychological speculation and calls for regret as he stuck to questioning Blair about the Iraq Study Group's recommendations. For instance, Stephanopoulos wondered: “Senator McCain said today that this report is 'a recipe for defeat' because it doesn't include massive increases in troops in Baghdad to secure Baghdad. Do you agree?” (NBC did not get a sit-down with Blair.)

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Couric teased:

“I'll have a rare one-on-one interview with America's number one ally.”

Couric to Blair in interview: "Do you regret what many perceive as your unwavering support of this President and this war?"

Couric's session with Blair, as edited for airing on the December 7 CBS Evening News:

Katie Couric: “The man who has stood by the President, Prime Minister Tony Blair, spoke with me this afternoon about his unwavering support for a war that's been increasingly criticized.”

Couric to Blair: “Mr. Prime Minister, do you agree with the Baker commission that the current approach in Iraq is not working and the situation is grave and deteriorating?”

Tony Blair: “Well, it's certainly very tough, absolutely. And there's no doubt about it at all. We're facing a very, very difficult situation, very challenging situation, but as they say, it's a situation that we cannot afford not to win.”

Couric: “Do you support the 79 recommendations?”

Blair: “I basically think the report gives us the right foundation to move forward.”

Couric: “The President seemed determined as ever to stay on track. Do you think he, or for that matter you, are capable of acknowledging failures in this policy and changing gears when and if necessary?”

Blair: “Yeah, I mean we've got to evolve strategy because the situation's changed, so if you don't change when the situation changes, then you're not doing the right thing.”

Couric: “But he's been very insistent for months now that the U.S. policy is correct and while he's accepted there may have to be a slight change, he's really dug his heels in.”

Blair: “Well, he talked today about a new way forward, and I think the critical distinction is this: His concern, and in a sense my concern as well, is that people use the challenge that we face to drive us from the central mission itself, and that would be very dangerous because it is important that we make sure that we help Iraq to become the democracy its people want to see.”

Couric: “You've supported the United States engaging with Iran and Syria. Does the President seem receptive because he didn't earlier today?”

Blair: “Well, it depends what you mean by 'engage with.'"

Couric: “Part of a regional conference, an Iraq support group recommended in the report.”

Blair: “I think that provided Iran and Syria come in order to help I think people would want them as part of this group. Yes, of course they would. What is important that they come to the table helping Iraq, supporting its government, not undermining it.”

Couric: “Your steadfast support, Mr. Prime Minister, of President Bush has cost you at home. In a recent poll, only 27 percent said they were satisfied with your job performance. Do you regret what many perceive as your unwavering support of this President and this war?”

Blair: “No. Look, sometimes in politics what happens is there are issues that come up that you consider so big and so important that you've got to do what you think is the right thing, and, you know, people can disagree, and they can make you unpopular, but you've got to do it if you think it's right. And even if it is difficult-”

Couric: “Even if the majority of people disagree with you?”

Blair: “You sometimes, I'm afraid, have got to govern by what you believe rather than by picking up the opinion poll. Now they may end up rejecting you as a result of it. Well, that's -- that's their prerogative to do it, but it's your duty to do what you think is right, and that's what I've tried to do. And I think that we should be proud of what we stand for in the world.”

—Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center


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Katie, Have You Seen Your Ratings?

Couric: "Even if the majority of people disagree with you?" 

If this is a criteria to stop what you are doing then Katie should stop broadcasting the news.  According to her ratings, the majority of people disagree with her.  If she believes her own tripe then she should quit.

When a liberal speaks, the truth is busy elsewhere.

EVERYONE in parliment thoug

EVERYONE in parliment thought Winston Churchill was AN IDIOT before WWII...

He doesn't look so stupid now, does he?

So you're in fine LEADERSHIP company Mr. Prime Minister. And Ms. Couric doesn't sound so proud...sounds like...a LAP POODLE! Yes, a DNC lap poodle...yipping away in a very irritating sort of manner...

You're spot on, TruthMonger.

You're spot on, TruthMonger.  Too bad Churchill isn't around to be interviewed by Sweet Katie.  He'd make her look like a fool and she'd never even realize it.

As for Churchill's case, you picked an outstanding example.  He was virtually  alone voice in Parliament against the rise of the Nazis in Germany, and his critics tried to paint him as everything from unduly alarmist, to ideologically irrelevent in a modern world  --- a crockpot whose political career was dead-ended.  But when it became apparent that France was going to fall, and Britain turned desperately to real leaders to replace the pacifists they had elected, Sir Winston was just that kind of leader.  A remarkable man of 19th Century values, successfully leading his nation throught the 20th Century's most devasting war.  He was both the leader and the embodiment of Britain's spirit to resist and will to win.

"Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and her Commonwealth last a thousand years, men will still say, This was there finest hour." -- Prime Minister Churchill, 1940.

There are so many parallels t

There are so many parallels to Churchill and his memoir The Gathering Storm with what has been happening since the Gulf War it's astonishing. It shows how history truly repeats itself.  Tragically, if the appeasers get their way, it will prove that we learn nothing from history.

On history and human nature

History repeats itself not because we fail to learn from it but because we are hopelessly human.  In this case as in many others the truly arrogant (the Left) believes history does not apply here, as surely as Hitler did not believe the lessons learned by Napoleon about invading Russia from the West applied to him. 

"Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy."  -Sir Winston Churchill, British statesman (1874-1965)

Regret

I wonder if Blair could have said, "Do you regret leaving the Today show for the deep abyss of last place?"

Katie

I tried to moderate this as funny, then realized it was insightful too, so I had to comment. LOL funny.

  Ignorance is bliss. It's easier to repeat a mindless slogan than to do some actual research.

I think Tony Blair should've

I think Tony Blair should've asked Katie "Do you think that CBS regrets hiring you and paying you all that money for the worst ratings of all the evening news programs?" "Do you think hiring you is a nightmare?" "Do you think CBS will acknowledge their failures when hiring you?"

She has got to be the worst  anchor I've ever seen. She should stick to celebrity stories cause she sure as hell out of her league when trying to conduct interviews regarding real news. Send her back with Matt!

Excellent Questons of Ms. Couric

No wonder so few people watch the evening news anymore and so few watch her drivel. 

And I think that we should be

And I think that we should be proud of what we stand for in the world.”

Tony Blair said it all right there with his last sentence to rabid little leftist twit...something she and the rest of her leftist brethren would never understand.....PRIDE!

I despise her. She is the perfect little example of the enemy within...and the majority of people I know, cannot stand her...evidently the majority of other leftists aren't turning to her network, LMAO!

"Once the coffers of the federal government are opened to the public, there will be no shutting them again." - Grover Cleveland

Blair

One thing that Tony Blair has, that I really wish President Bush had, is the ability to speak to the issues in language that liberals understand.  Conservatives understand George Bush just fine but he's just not articulate enough to allow liberals to understand him. 

Tony Blair didn't give Katie the answers she was looking for but he seldom has to thing long before giving a great answer to a difficult question.  You can be sure the MSM won't replay his comments too much.

CBS News

 [ just a thought]

GE should begin cutting its loses and revamp CBS News by firing the suits who are currently running it. Decisions coming out of the front office are based purely on biased emotion rather than good business sense.

Their Rather and Couric decisions have been debacles. Since CBS News has never been first in the ratings, I can't understand why GE has shown no interest in such a move.

My guess is that, because it has the word NEWS in it, GE thinks it has a free-speech issue. Quite frankly, that is BS. In the mean-time, they are using CBS News as a loss leader. (that's merchandising speak for: we ain't makin' any money off'n this dog)

P.S.  Couric wasn't interviewing Blair, she was surreptitiously interviewing Bush.

It looks like Katie is repe

It looks like Katie is repeating her school teacher look from last week when interviewing Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, without the glasses and sitting on a chair, not a table. This must be her serious journalist look.

So, the real question is whether CBS and MSM stays the course?

So, the real question is whether CBS and MSM stays the course?

Talk about denial.  And disconnect.

Um...

Let me see if I get this right.  This woman, Couric, gets umpteen millions and more in advertising and promotion, even dragging out that old dog Cronkite, and then not only falls to the bottom of the barrel but also breaks the staves.  And then proving that she cannot rise above the coffee klatch level of kitchen table discourse she prattles on about Bush and Blair being idiots in their office rather than addressing the issue of leadership by polls in a meaningful and historic context.

And the band marches on.

I heard a marching band go by the house the other day.  It played for a while and then the drums marked cadence.  Then it played for a while and the drums marked cadence.  Then it played for a while out of sound range.  I was at first irritated to be disturbed, then fascinated by the doppler effect and then happy when it left.

Maybe I'll be happy when America finally wakes up to the WTC bombing as to what it meant.  But I'm afraid I won't be happy because I think it will mean another 2-5-10- ?? thousands dead in one of our fine cities.

Oh well.  If I dye my hair white can I get a TV anchor show?

ACA

...

Acaiguana says:  "Ya can't win if ya don't play."

Click here for KD's presenta

Click here for KD's presentation of her nether region.

Rochester, Minnesota: A Fem_Leftist City!

For all her education and her

For all her education and her enlightenment, she still dosent recognize leadership when it is right in front of her.

Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!

Couric: "Do you regret what

Couric: "Do you regret what many perceive as your unwavering support of this President and this war?"

Blair (aloud): "No."
Blair (thinking): Good Lord, they spent how many millions on this bimbo?

tellie tubb'en

anyone watching this woman should be aware that there is a disclaimer at the begining of her show, this is a comedy, to think that she know's what's going on past the "dress me" room,she is an embrassment to woman are intelligent,who don't require somebody to write it down for them!!!

Couric

Jeane Kirkpatrick just passed away. She and Couric ( or Hillary )---make your own list of contrasts.

NEVER,NEVER trust a liberal

I am getting very close to d

I am getting very close to deciding that most of the MSM is knowingly supporting the enemy in this fledgling war on Islamic Fascism.  The ceaseless bashing of Mr. Bush, our soldiers, or anyone else who has elected to resist the advance of the Islamic horde has reached beyond the point of lunacy. This, coupled with the constant, and in my judgment criminal release of classified information by the NYT and others, as well as what the Associated Press has apparently been up to, has led me to the conclusion that the MSM, along with many on the left, are almost in total support of our enemies.

For her part, Katie may be forgiven to a certain extent, as she appears to be just following the herd as in my judgment she possesses all the intellectual depth of a Tupperware lid, but many others in the MSM have to know what they are doing is damaging not just our President, but our country as well.

It has been said the MSM and the left’s hatred of all things Bush has blinded them to the consequences of their actions. This may be true to a certain extent, but I believe there is something afoot here that runs far, far deeper than mere hatred of the President.

As for Mr. Blair, he will be exiting the scene very soon.  It is going to be interesting to see which way the British people go on choosing his successor.  I would hope there are enough Brits who actually get it, but I must admit I have my doubts.

Remember, the British voted Mr. Churchill out and replaced him with Mr. Atlee before the war was actually over.

dave r msm

dave r   msm:

In years past, the MSM served a very important function in America. They exposed wrong-doing at all levels, in government and business. They covered war and "reported", not "analyzed" what they saw. They were the likes of Ernie Pyle and even Andy Rooney (Stars and Stripes), before he went criminally insane on "60 forgettable minutes". Today. they seem to perceive their role as "creating" the news or analyzing everything. Isn't there anyone left, for heaven's sake, that knows how to "report"? The MSM thirsts for GW Bush's failure. They do not care what it means to America. Even deeper, though, (as I read in a very insightful blog by another NBer), is a self-loathing and self-hatred because of things of the past. Yes, America has done some very bad things in the past. The "Trail of Tears", slavery, and on and on. The MSM guilt trip is so overpowering to them that they are subconsciously attempting to destroy this country. I am one of those who believes that very bad things are coming for America. I believe that the MSM has convinced the world that all of America thinks as they do. This is a very bad thing to present to evildoers, such as Iran, Syria and a host of others who want what we have.

What do we do about it??? I await any and all answers. I am sad to say that my solutions may include violence, so I will keep them to myself.

My father is 79 years old, a

My father is 79 years old, a former Marine who served aboard a carrier in the Korean War and is well into the latter stages of Alzheimer’s.  He always taught me that the United States was the greatest country in the world, and I have always believed that. I still do. But in the sixty years since WW II, something has gone seriously wrong in this country. I am not sure exactly what we have lost over the last six decades, but we had better find it, and fast.

I know this has been said of many past elections, but I truly believe that historians many years down the road will point back to the election coming up in ’08 as the pivotal event in the history of this country. I believe its outcome will decide the fate of the United States, and I don’t mean fifty or a hundred years down the road, but over the next decade, if even that. Events in this world seem to be coming to a head, and that right quickly.

Remember, the Soviet Union, after decades of increasing internal rot, fell nearly overnight. Many say that cannot possibly happen here. I disagree. I believe a similar rot is infesting this country as well, and has been for some time. For one example, I recently discovered that James Baker’s law firm had been doing work for the Saudi government. I then found out further that they were defending the Saudi’s in lawsuits by the families of the victims of 9/11. James Baker’s presence in the Iraq Surrender Group is a joke. That is worse than Jamie Gorelick being on the 9/11 Commission. How much more rotten can things get than that?

Honestly, I am beginning to foresee a time when, if this country is going to survive in any meaningful way, the results at the ballot box may have to be, shall we say, adjusted.

God, I hope I’m wrong.

Dave R....Our enemies have ta

Dave R....

Our enemies have taken the 45 communist goals for the takeover of America to heart. If you read them, you will understand.

Communist Goals (1963)
Congressional Record--Appendix, pp. A34-A35
January 10, 1963

Current Communist Goals
EXTENSION OF REMARKS OF HON. A. S. HERLONG, JR. OF FLORIDA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, January 10, 1963

Mr. HERLONG. Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Patricia Nordman of De Land, Fla., is an ardent and articulate opponent of communism, and until recently published the De Land Courier, which she dedicated to the purpose of alerting the public to the dangers of communism in America.
At Mrs. Nordman's request, I include in the RECORD, under unanimous consent, the following "Current Communist Goals," which she identifies as an excerpt from "The Naked Communist," by Cleon Skousen: [From "The Naked Communist," by Cleon Skousen]

 
CURRENT COMMUNIST GOALS:
A         M         E         R         I         C         A
 

 
1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.

2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.

3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.

5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.

6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.

7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.

8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.

9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.

10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.

11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)

12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.

13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.

14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.

15. Capture one, or both, of the political parties in the United States.

16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.

17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

18. Gain control of all student newspapers.

19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.

20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.

21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.

22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."

23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."

24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."

27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."

28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.

30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."

31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.

32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture -- education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etcetera.

33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.

34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

35. Discredit, and eventually dismantle, the FBI.

36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.

37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.

38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].

39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.

40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.

41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.

42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use ["]united force["] to solve economic, political or social problems.

43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.

44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.

45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction [over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction] over nations and individuals alike. 
  

It appears they haven't much

It appears they haven't much left to accomplish.

dave r - CT

Dave, I had typed a fairly lengthy resonse to your last post. Somehow, the site blew it away when I tried to post.. On return, I saw and read CTs list of communist items. My dear sweet Jesus, we are so close to them I could cry.

I will condense my attempt to just a few lines.

I believe you are totally correct. Something bad is going to happen to America and soon. When it does, I will take every effort to protect my family. We will not have the time to separate out those who led us to the situation. Is it possible that the communist party has planned this for decades and has infiltrated our lives with moles who now or soon will hold public office?? At any rate having read CTs post, I feel that most of the objectives have been met. At the risk of sounding seditious, we need to unseat the Supreme Court and repopulate it with patriots. I want people upholding our laws not re-cretaing them.We need to stop illegal immigration. We need to fight wars to win.

God bless and help America.

BT,Actually, I read it before

mb,

Actually, I read part of it before the implosion occurred, but when I refreshed it disapeared.

 Yeah, there are still some obvious performance issues since they started with the adds and all.  I still have to have two sessions of NB open at the same time, one in FF and one in IE in order to copy and paste.  Some of that may be on my end, as our IT guy has been screwing around with some security settings here in the orifice.  My home pooter is still down, as I am in the process of having a new one built.  As I run Autocad Land Development 2007, including the 3D version and Autocad Civil 3D, sometimes several sessions of each at the same time, I basically need 2gig of RAM and enough hard drive space to store the history of the world 12 times over.

They will get it worked out.

Thanks for the information

Good information.  Checkout the link below and see once Trotsky and Lennin were in charge they were killing many people, and that the American Relief Agency had to come feed Russians.  That's right Trotsky and Lennin who we are constantly told by the left are the 2 greatest leaders of all time, had to rely on the American Relief Agency to come feed Russians once they came into power.

Also checkout this quote from the below link.  Trotsky and Lennin were forcing people into labor concentration camps.

"One would expect that the mere suggestion of compulsory labor, let alone its actual imposition, would have branded Lenin and Trotsky as demonic traitors to anyone who purported to care about the plight of workers. Ominously, it did not; Party intellectuals proclaimed the wonders of the new system. "Compulsory labour under capitalism, wrote Bukharin, was quite the reverse of compulsory labour under the dictatorship of the proletariat: the first was 'the enslavement of the working class,' the second the 'self- organization of the working class'." (Paul Johnson, Modern Times)"

http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan/museum/his1g.htm

Thanks, Carl.

Thanks, Carl.

I love that every American jo

I love that every American journalist prefers Tony Blair over their own President. 

Really, why are they in this country.

Anyway Katie, most American prefer NBC or ABC at night, do you regret leaving the Today Show?