Friday, April 09, 2004
Bush Thoughts...
Dana Milbank and Robin Wright write in The Washington Post:0 comments
This is Bush's 33rd visit to his ranch since becoming president. He has spent all or part of 233 days on his Texas ranch since taking office, according to a tally by CBS News. Adding his 78 visits to Camp David and his five visits to Kennebunkport, Maine, Bush has spent all or part of 500 days in office at one of his three retreats, or more than 40 percent of his presidency.
Now, you'll notice that's the same timeframe (238 days) that National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice claimed yesterday was too short a time to devise a defense against 9/11.
Also, it seems too short a timeframe for George W. Bush to clear all that frickin' brush off his Universal back-lot ranch.
Just what CAN this man do in eight months?
Then there's this:
The president and his White House aides have not changed their public claims that the uprising in Iraq is the work of a relatively small number of extremists who will inevitably be crushed. But, in private, Bush is apparently expressing a more grim view. According to the Kremlin, he placed a 20-minute call to Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday, and "serious distress was expressed" about the "escalation of violence." Bush aides refused to discuss the details of the conversation.
While the White House has been sanguine about the turmoil in Iraq, some of its allies are calling for a more frank acknowledgment of trouble. Kenneth L. Adelman, a Reagan administration official who is close to several Bush officials, said he is surprised that "it's a lot tougher slogging than I expected" in Iraq. He said Bush should make new overtures both to Democrats and to traditional allies urging them to condemn the violence. He should tell them that "now is not the time to say I told you so, and urge the allies to become more heavily involved," he said.
No, now is the time for Bush to get his best charming goofy grin on his face and say to Democrats and to the world community: "I'm sorry. I was wrong. We made a mess. Would you help me, please?"
He might just find the answer would be, "Yes."
posted by Gotham 1:46 PM
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