CNN covering up Honore Coming Unhinged?

He speaks on an imaginary walkie-talkie. You've noticed it; don't pretend you haven't. He ends every statement with "Over," like some tinfoil-hat-wearing post-traumatic stress disorder sufferer.

The media has, for some unknown reason, chosen to ignore this.

And if that was the entirety of it, maybe they should. Because then it could be written off as a strange personality quirk, at least one of which we all have, like washing our hands too much or not walking under ladders.

But yesterday, he came totally unhinged on a reporter for asking a question. I watched it live on the Situation Room.

This'll be good material to blog about tomorrow, I thought. All I'll have to do is search through the show's transcripts using the "Find" function, looking for "Over."

To my dismay, this morning I find that there are no "overs" to end a statement. So I do a manual search of the transcript, and find the transcriber has taken out all but one of the "Overs" he uses to end a statement.

So I have to do some digging, and when I find the relevant text, I find that the transcriber has chosen to use periods instead of exclamation points and bolded text, making Honore seem far more rational than the raving lunatic that came across on the news conference. Here is the text of the relevant passage from the transcript, with my emphasis in bold.

HONORE: We're not going to go by order the mayor or the governor and open
the convention center for people to come in. There are buses there. Is that
clear to you?Buses parked. There are 4,000 troops there. People come; they get on a bus; they get on a truck; they move on. Is that clear? Is that clear to the public?

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

HONORE: That's not your business.

QUESTION: General...

HONORE: Wait a minute. It didn't work the first time. This ain't the first
time. OK? If we don't control Rita -- understand -- so there will be a lot of
pieces of it that's going to be worked out. You got good public servants working
through it. Let's get a little trust here because you're starting to act like
this is your problem. You're carrying the message. OK? What we're going to do is have the buses staged. The initial place is the convention center. We're not
going to announce other places at this time until we get a plan set and we'll
let people know where those locations are through the government and through a
public announcement. Right now, to handle the number of people that want to
leave, we've got the capacity. You will come to the convention center -- there
are soldiers there from the 82nd Airborne and from the Louisiana National Guard.
People will be told to get on the bus and we will take care of them. And where
they go will be dependent on the capacity in the state. We have our
communications up and we will tell them where to go. And when they get there,
they'll be given the opportunity to get registered and so they can let their
families knows where they are. But don't start panic here. OK? We've got a
location. It is in the front of the convention center and that's where will use
to migrate people from.

QUESTION: General Honore, we were told that Vernon Stadium (inaudible) will
be another staging area. Are you using that area yet or not?

HONORE: Not to my knowledge. Again, the current place -- we just told you
one time is the convention center. Once we complete the plan with the mayor, and it's approved by the governor, then we'll start that in the next 12 to 24 hours. And understand that there's a problem in getting communications out. That's
where we need your help. But let's not confuse the questions with the answers. Buses at the convention center will move our citizens, for whom we have sworn that we will support and defend. And we'll move them on.Let's not get stuck on the last storm. You're asking last storm questions for people who are concerned about the future storm. Don't get stuck on stupid, reporters. We're moving forward. And don't confuse the people, please. You're a part of the public message. So help us get the message straight. And if you don't understand it, maybe it's confusing to the people. That's why we like the follow-up questions.But right now it's the convention center and move on.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) just understand a little bit more about why that's
happening this time, though, and did not happen last time.

HONORE: You are stuck on stupid. I'm not going to answer that question. We are going to deal with Rita. This is public information that people are depending on the government to put out. This is the way we got to do it.So, please, I apologize to you, but let's talk about the future. Rita has happened. Right now we need to get good, clean information out to the people that they can use. And we can have a conversation on the side about the past a few months from now. OK?

The transcript doesn't do it justice. I'm HOPING someone in the blogosphere has video of the incident.

He seems to think the media is supposed to follow his orders, like his unit is. He seems to think he gets to dictate what questions they ask. It's none of their business? You mean these aren't the droids they're looking for? What an arrogant bastard. It literally IS their business. If you don't want to answer their questions, then issue a statement and don't open it up for a question and answer session! Stuck on stupid? Where does this guy get off?

The movie Apocalypse Now is about a military officer who has gone off the deep end. He's let the power of never having anyone question his orders or his actions go to his head. In the opening scene of the movie, the song The End by The Doors plays. I think inside Honore's head the beginning notes of that song are on an infinite playback loop. He's got his own private Apocalypse Nawlins going on. Watch for surfers on Lake Ponchartrain.

If Corporal Klinger had constantly talked on an invisible walkie-talkie, he might have GOTTEN that Section 8 he wanted so badly. And he'd have deserved it.

If President Bush had the media savvy of President Clinton, he'd have hired a press spokesman for Honore at the first sign of the imaginary walkie-talkie. And kept him far, far away from the normals.

The reporters in your opinion be stuck on stupid, General. But you're stuck on wackadoo, over.

[10:42 AM Update: Radioblogger has an MP3 of the exchange. The Political Teen has video.]