Ernesto Portillo Jr.
BUSH: "Tribal sovereignty means that, it's sovereign....
Thu Aug 12, 2004 15:02
64.140.158.77

"Tribal sovereignty means that, it's sovereign. You're a, you've been given sovereignty, and you're viewed as a sovereign entity. And, therefore, the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities," Bush said.
http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/metro/33917.php

Ernesto Portillo Jr.: Media should know when to sit



President Bush on one day and Sen. John F. Kerry on another. Last week the president and his challenger spoke at the "Unity: Journalists of Color" conference in Washington, D.C.

The gathering attracted nearly 8,000 people, most of them reporters, editors and photographers from newspapers and the electronic media throughout the country.

This was the third confab of its kind organized by the nation's four major ethnic journalists' organizations - black, Latino, Asian and American Indian.

Most people at the conference were thrilled to have Bush and Kerry on the agenda.

But the supposedly objective audience clearly favored Kerry.

When Kerry marched to the podium in the cavernous convention hall, more than half of the crowd rose in applause.

I thought I was at a Democratic Party rally. Or maybe it was a Kerry fund-raiser and Bruce Springsteen had walked onto the stage.

Certainly I wasn't sitting among journalists, who are supposed to keep their politics in check.

It would have been fine had the group politely applauded. The crowd's overly enthusiastic response just feeds our critics, who accuse us of being liberal and biased against conservatives.

To be fair, not everyone in attendance was a working journalist, editor or news photographer. But most of them were - and it was disconcerting to hear their repeated applause for Kerry.

I'm not a Bush fan, but I was uncomfortable knowing that when the president appeared the next day, he would be speaking to a crowd that had revealed its friendliness to Kerry.

Some in the audience rose to their feet as Bush approached the podium and there was a smattering of applause.

His biggest applause came when he promoted his faith-based initiative, which lets religious organizations use public money for nonsecular social services.

But it was not a Kerry-like reception.

One heckler, who called the president a liar, was removed. It was unknown if he was a journalist or a protester who managed to get inside.

Faced with the challenge, Bush should have come with his best pitch.

He didn't. He stumbled through his prepared text and fell flat in answering questions.

When Mark Trahant, an editorial-page editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, asked Bush what he thought tribal sovereignty means in the 21st century, the president simply embarrassed himself.

"Tribal sovereignty means that, it's sovereign. You're a, you've been given sovereignty, and you're viewed as a sovereign entity. And, therefore, the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities," Bush said.

Many in the audience gasped and snickered.

Truth be told, I had to suppress a laugh.

I couldn't help it. Here is our president, incapable of answering an important question.

At least I was sitting while chuckling.

● Ernesto Portillo Jr.'s column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Reach him at 573-4242 or by e-mail at eportillo@azstarnet.com . He appears on "Arizona Illustrated," on KUAT-TV Channel 6 ,at 6:30 p.m. and midnight Fridays.

=======================

Will you vote for Bush? • bush.peel.com
Cast your vote now and see election results today.

Will Bush get re-elected? • http://www.softvote.com/
Up to the minute bush/kerry poll charts, blogs, Free software

--------------------------

The Election 2004 will be about
three things ... Iraq, Iraq & Iraq

Click on their picture for more info
http://www.apfn.org/APFN/ELECTION_2004.HTM

THE OCCUPATION CANDIDATES
http://www.apfn.net/messageboard/01-26-04/discussion.cgi.23.html

Millionaires Continue to Dominate Presidential Race
http://www.apfn.net/messageboard/01-11-04/discussion.cgi.20.html

The Original 13th Article of Amendment
Original 13th Amendment would have outlawed
Bar membership (atty's) and other Titles of
Nobility. May have actually been ratified.
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/13th.htm

The Crimes at Abu Ghraib Are Not the Worst
http://www.lewrockwell.com/higgs/higgs25.html

THE MANIPULATOR
by JANE MAYER
Ahmad Chalabi pushed a tainted case for war. Can he survive the occupation?
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?040607fa_fact1_a

IRAQGATE
"Spider's Web": United States Illegally Armed Saddam Hussein.
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/iraqgate.htm

A Country At War With Itself — Carol Adler, Thu Aug 12 19:02