Richard Boucher, Dumber than Dirt, Smarter than Washington Press Corps

This excerpt from August 28th's Department of State Press Briefing shows Richard Boucher's backtracking and wishy-washy flippant treatment of the World Conference Against Racism. Read the full transcript.
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QUESTION: If the language is not resolved, could that threaten -- I realize you're going to say this is a hypothetical question -- but is the level of US participation --
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MR. BOUCHER: Is the level or nature of our participation, if any, under discussion?
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QUESTION: Yes.
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MR. BOUCHER: I don't think I've said that.
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QUESTION: Right. No, you haven't.
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MR. BOUCHER: I have not said that about this conference. I would look at this as a more normal preparation for a UN conference where we are getting together work on the language, we are getting together work on the delegation, we are pinning things down as we approach the time of the conference itself. We are looking forward to our attendance. We are looking forward to resolving these issues in a satisfactory manner, and we have every expectation that we can work them out and that we can be there and that we will be there at a high level.
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QUESTION: Does this, in some sense, represent a sort of change of heart after all the bad publicity you've gotten from the racism conference?
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MR. BOUCHER: No, we've been working this one in this manner for months now.
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QUESTION: So how did it come about that there was widespread speculation that you might even go as far as not attending this session?
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MR. BOUCHER: You're asking me why do people write things in newspapers? As long as I have been in this job, I don't know.
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(Laughter.)
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QUESTION: Because the totality of these things that are under discussion -- no? Let me put it this way. Did you --
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MR. BOUCHER: We've been working on this and we've been working on being represented at this conference at a high level, including the Cabinet level, for weeks and months now.
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QUESTION: Okay. Did you ever consider attending at a lower level, or even not participating in this session?
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MR. BOUCHER: Not that I've heard of.
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QUESTION: One of your press officers was actually quoted on the record as saying the level is under consideration.
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MR. BOUCHER: I think probably quoted as saying that there are still preparatory meetings and we will decide on our participation later. That's the way it always is until we decide.
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