So much for that "not allowed to applaud" bullshit.

It's just way too easy to make the boys over at PowerWank look like imbeciles. From their report on Commander CrotchBulge's content-free meanderings last night, we have:

The only thing I thought was odd was the unnatural quiet in the hall. It was like the audience at a Presidential debate, which has been cautioned not to express approval or disapproval. Only at the end, apparently, were the soldiers permitted to applaud.

Oh, yeah, if I were in charge of crowd control, the first thing I'd insist on is that the audience not show any signs of approval or enthusiasm. Sure, that's how I like my public gatherings -- lifeless and unexciting. What a terrific strategy that is.

How stupid do you have to be to think that Bush's handlers actually enforced a code of silence on the assembled multitudes? But wait, it gets better (just like you knew it would).

As John reports,

ABC's Terry Moran just reported that the only time Bush got applause was in the middle of his speech when a White House advance team member started clapping all on their own in order to cajole the soldiers into clapping, which they dutifully did.

In other words, the numbskulls at PowerWank were full of shit again. Colour me shocked. Time's "Blog of the Year," indeed.

AFTERSNARK: And the Toronto Star weighs in on the embarrassing lack of enthusiasm for George W. Chimpster:

Bush used the uniformed personnel at Fort Bragg as the type of backdrop most favoured by this White House, counting on pictures of brave soldiers to appeal to the patriotic strain of most Americans. But they sat largely in sombre silence, interrupting his 30-minute speech with polite applause only once.

Perhaps they're slowly becoming part of the "reality-based" community. One can only hope.

THIS JUST GETS BETTER AND BETTER: And now for a completely different excuse, we have AP writer Nedra Pickler here, who explains the thundering silence from the military personnel in attendance thusly:

"The war reached our shores on September the 11th, 2001," Bush told a national television audience and 750 soldiers and airmen in dress uniform who mostly listened quietly as they had been asked to do.

Apparently, this is the talking point for the lack of obvious enthusiasm for Bush's worn-out drivel -- those attendees were told not to applaud. But if that's the case, why (as you can read above) were they explicitly encouraged to start clapping at one point by an administration representative?

It's really sad when you can't even come up with a believable lie.

MEDIA MATTERS JUMPS IN: Here.