From Sammy’s Digital Flotsam:
Reporter: I’m asking the question, is responsibility for what was in the President’s own State of the Union ultimately with the President, or with somebody else?
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan: This has been discussed.
Reporter: So you won’t say that the President is responsible for his own State of the Union speech?
Scott McClellan: It’s been addressed.
Reporter: …Isn’t the President responsible for the words that come out of his own mouth?
Scott McClellan: We’ve already acknowledged, Terry, that it should not have been included in there. I think that the American people appreciate that recognition.
[White House press conference, 7/17/03]
Actually, I wasn’t going to comment but I can’t help myself – I really hate the way that press secretaries use the term “the American people” this or that. It’s an obnoxious and not-so-subtle way of making it appear that the reporters are not American people, and that they are not in touch with or representing the interests of the American people.
As an American person and one of Mr. Bush’s employers, let me just say, I want the question answered.
