From WNYKRs in New York, this is NPR's on the media.

I'm Bob Garfield.

And I'm Brooke Gladstone. Up until Thursday, the most embarrassing scene to be aired this month on cable TV featured sitcom actor Ricky Jervais rambling on to a non-plussed priest.

That makes me sick as well, people are saying, priest p-de-files and killy fiddlers.

It's probably, I mean, there probably are.

I mean, you probably know some, but let's not exaggerate the issue, is what I'm saying.

I've never been touched by a priest, been touched by God, not in that way.

That was Jervais in his HBO series extras about an inept bit player who keeps getting caught in lies as he feebly attempts to be taken seriously.

It's the latest example of cringe TV in which the comedy is almost too painful to watch. It was the latest anyway until Thursday and a televised chat between President Bush and soldiers into Crete,

who were trying to maintain security in advance of this weekend's referendum on an Iraqi constitution.

Yeah, there's nothing quite like a bull session, just a little informal jaw-boning, spontaneous and relaxed.

And so like how's, I mean, so the votes in less than 48 hours,

or about 48 hours, I guess.

And so how do you, how would, how would, are you confident?

I mean, how do you feel like the operations are going?

Sir, our Iraqi partners have been conducting battalion and brigade-sized operations since April.

They have been planning and coordinating with other Iraqi security forces, such as the Iraqi police and local government agencies, preparing for this referendum.

Later, the president addressed Captain David Williams about the morale of the Iraqi

population in its struggle against insurgency. Can you give us a sense for the reception of the

people there into crit toward coalition forces as well as the Iraqi units that they encounter?

Gee, Mr. President, good question.

Hadn't really thought about it until now, but just off the top of my head.

...