Letter: Couric’s interview with Bush a joke

Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2006 | 7:23 a.m.

I watched the interview(?) that Katie Couric had with President Bush and have been able to withhold my comments until now.

I'm sure CBS wanted to hurry and get Ms. Couric into the spotlight of being the new "CBS Evening News" anchor as soon as possible and they certainly did.

Hiring her to evening anchor is one thing. Thinking that she should start off her career as a "hard-hitting journalist" by interviewing the president was a complete error in judgment on their part. This wasn't so much an interview as it was a "coffee table discussion" and a promotional stunt.

I'm quite sure President Bush's handlers were licking their chops when they heard it would be Katie Couric who would be doing the interview. Ms. Couric was fed to the wolves and it showed. There were no incisive follow-up questions to serious topics. I've never seen George Bush more comfortable in an interview, something he usually isn't when he's questioned by real journalists. I swear I thought her head was going to start bobbing in response to some of his answers.

Face it, CBS was had. They could have sent a real journalist to interview the president but they chose to send Katie Couric, and doesn't the entire country just love "Katie"? Was Mike Wallace unavailable? Ed Bradley on vacation? Bob Schieffer would have done a much better job, too. Starting Ms. Couric at the top was a bad decision if CBS is interested in serious interviews.

Michael Donelson, Las Vegas