The "staged" Bush event that wasn't

The media was in a tizzy over it, but here's the truth:

Thursday's NBC Nightly News led, yes led, with how, as anchor Brian Williams put it, President Bush had that morning conducted “a staged event" via satellite with ten U.S. soldiers and one Iraqi soldier in Iraq. “Today's encounter was billed as spontaneous,” Williams intoned. “Instead, it appeared to follow a script.” Andrea Mitchell warned that “the troops were coached on how to answer the Commander-in-Chief” and, indeed, not until two minutes into her three-minute story -- after showing clips of how a DOD official had told the soldiers the questions Bush would ask -- did Mitchell note how “the White House and at least one of the soldiers says the troops weren't told what to say, just what the President would ask." So, the answers were not staged. The soldiers, naturally nervous about appearing on live TV with the President of the United States, were simply told who should answer which question and to “take a breath” before answering. Scandalous!

Using their own logic, the MSM stages all their press conferences with President Bush. They prepare questions and very likely practice and rewrite them beforehand.

UPDATE: SGT Ron Long, one of the fine soldiers who participated in the event, speaks out: Speaking with President Bush. [Tip o' the hat to Michelle Malkin, who says, "Read it. Send it. Spread the word."]

UPDATE 2: This guy makes a great point.

UPDATE 3: CanadianCynic and other liberals seem to think "orchestration" (i.e. practice to make sure things like passing the microphone so you don't strangle someone don't happen), having "scripted" (i.e. prepared) questions from President Bush and running through who you are and what you are doing in Iraq means "staged." You know, as I said, that would make lots of what the MSM does "staged," too: interviews, reports, etc.

UPDATE 4: BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! CC thinks SGT. Long is a liar and the MSM (esp. NPR with it's short little soundbite with doesn't prove anything) is telling the truth. Yep, the media isn't taking the same things they do everyday, blowing them way out of proportion and context and then serving it all up to the mindless mass of drooling, deranged Bush-haters as "a staged event." Nope. All this is understandable, though. They went through 8 years of watching Clinton stage - well - his entire presidency. It's ingrained in their psyche and is what they expect of presidents now. It's really rather pathetic.