Apparently the White House has lodged a complaint with the Irish Embassy in Washington over RTE journalist Carole Coleman's interview with George Bush. The reason - as John Nichols of the Madison Capitol Times put it, "Bush had an unpleasant run-in with a species of creature he had not previously encountered often: a journalist. He did not react well to the experience..."
"Apparently under the mistaken assumption that reporters in the rest of the world are as ill-informed and pliable as the stenographers who "cover" the White House, Bush's aides scheduled a sit-down interview with Carole Coleman, Washington correspondent for RTE, the Irish public television network...Unfortunately, it appears that Coleman failed to receive the memo informing reporters that they are supposed to treat this president with kid gloves. Instead, she confronted him as any serious journalist would a world leader."
In evaluating the complaint, the Irish government must understand that Mr. Bush is not representative of the United States and was NOT elected president, rather installed through the actions of his brother in Florida and his father's appointees on the Supreme Court. Mr. Bush lost the popular vote in 2000 and was behind in the electoral vote when he and his brother's actions allowed him to ignore the wishes of the American people and take the presidency.
Unfortunately, the American press has too often stood by and not questioned his actions and it has taken the foreign press to ask him tough questions. To that end the American people owe a debt of gratitude to Ms. Coleman and possibly an apology for the administration's reaction.
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