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PEN USA’s First Amendment Action Committee is disappointed in the Bush administration’s tactics to overshadow press corps reports with false and staged interviews from Bush supporters.

Instead of taking questions from reporters, President Bush has increasingly begun to take questions and interviews only from citizen-supporters, who often were made to sign a political loyalty oath to be allowed into the events.

These events, called “Ask Bush,” of which there were four last week, the President gave a long speech and then staged interviews with prepared guests. Afterward, supporters asked him such questions as, “Mr. President, you were a fighter pilot, and you were with the 147th Fighter Wing? …And flew a very dangerous aircraft, the Delta F102?...I want to thank you for serving our country.” (transcript here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/08/20040813-7.html).

White House press corps veteran and columnist Helen Thomas recently was quoted as saying, “The President of the United States should be able to answer any question, or at least dance around one. At some time—early and often—he should submit to questioning and be held accountable, because if you don’t have that then you only have one side of the story. The Presidential news conference is the only forum in our society, the only institution, where a President can be questioned. If a leader is not questioned, he can rule by edict or executive order. He can be a king or a dictator. Who’s to challenge him? We’re there to pull his chain and to ask the questions that should be asked every day, for every move.”

While supporters are definitely welcome and expected at events where the President speaks, those citizens who may not agree with his policies, or have pressing questions should be allowed as well. However, the audience in these “Ask Bush” events is carefully screened to keep out anyone who might ask a difficult or negative question, dealing maybe with the September 11th attacks, or the war in Iraq. Before attending events like these, citizens must prove they are supporters of Bush, and are often asked to sign waivers such as the one used in New Mexico for a rally with Vice President Dick Cheney. The form read as such: “I, (full name)… do herby endorse George W. Bush for reelection as President of the United States…” and states “in signing the above endorsement you are consenting to use and release your name by Bush-Cheney as an endorser of President Bush.” In Traverse City, Mich., a 55-year-old social studies teacher who wore a small Kerry sticker on her blouse had her ticket torn up at the door. “How can anyone in the United States deny someone entry?” she asked. “Isn’t this a democracy?”

So, Bush usually ends up talking to conservative, highly-religious crowds whose question/statements sometimes do not even require answers. Often they simply thank Bush for bringing “God back into the White House” or for being such a strong leader. The questions are never about important issues, and are pre-screened.

PEN USA is concerned at this trend, where screened question and answer sessions with pledged supporters overshadow actual interviews by members of the press. Many reporters and journalists are like Helen Thomas, and believe this is an affront to their responsibility to report on the President’s actual standing on issues. Many journalists feel brushed aside because President Bush is shunning tough questions and real interviews for these “Ask Bush” events. PEN USA’s First Amendment Action Committee feels this sort of selective screening process has no place in the world of journalism.

“As a journalist,” says David L. Ulin, co-chair of PEN USA’s Domestic Freedom to Write Committee, and a writer and teacher of writing at the university and graduate level, “I am extremely disheartened by the unwillingness of the President to face the kind of rigorous questioning his position requires. This is yet another example of his administration’s lack of understanding of fundamental American values like honestly, transparency, and dialogue. It violates the very spirit of Democracy.”

More information on “Ask Bush” events can be found here: http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/081804L.shtml