Bush's Low Profile Questioned as Violence Flares in Iraq

[seemslikeadream]

By Dan Balz and Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, April 10, 2004; Page A01


Explosive violence in Iraq and persistent questions about the administration's handling of terrorist threats before Sept. 11, 2001, have plunged President Bush into one of the most difficult moments of his presidency, as he seeks to maintain public confidence in his leadership while facing what experts say are mostly unattractive options to put U.S. policy on track.



In the face of these challenges, Bush has yielded the stage, remaining largely out of sight at his Texas ranch as others in his administration explain his policies. Bush's silence in the face of mounting U.S. casualties in Iraq and concerns about the administration's timetable for transferring power to the Iraqis has brought criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike.

"If it were I in charge over there, I would have him out early next week to explain this whole thing," said a Republican strategist close to the Bush team who demanded anonymity as a condition of speaking freely about the administration. "He should restate what we're doing over there. He needs to provide a bigger picture to give voters more confidence that we know where we're going."

"It is not helping them for the president to be out of the picture," said Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger, national security adviser in the Clinton administration. "If they think the American people are not troubled with what they see every day, starting with Fallujah, and then dead Marines and then the hostages -- if they think that is not roiling the waters, they're sadly mistaken. . . . We have too much at stake in Iraq to lose the American people."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A355-2004Apr9.html

[slinkerwink]

1. ha---keep questioning why he's on vacation!!

[bagnana]

2. On vacation for 40% of his presidency.

And taking photo opps on his tractor and fishing. Disgusting, yet eerily familiar to September 01. The longer this dufus stays on vacation, in the face of criticism about his absence, the scarier it is for me: why is he staying away? Why doesn't he just come back to D.C.? What is he avoiding? Ugh. It is horrible to believe that your own government is entirely corrupt.

[buycitgo]

7. I saw that elsewhere here today.....is there a link for that?

if that's true, there's an entire AD CAMPAIGN to be built around that stat, combined with his inexplicable inaction following the fateful august 6 PDB

how can he withstand the contumely?

[salin]

12. from a Washingtron Post story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62524-2004Apr8.html

...snip

Bush spent the morning watching national security adviser Condoleezza Rice's televised testimony to the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, then toured his ranch with Wayne LaPierre Jr., chief executive of the National Rifle Association, and other leaders of hunting groups and gave an interview to Ladies' Home Journal. On Sunday, he is to appear in public at nearby Fort Hood, the home base for seven soldiers recently killed in Baghdad.

Democrats criticized Bush for taking the Easter-week vacation while U.S. forces are struggling to put down an uprising in Iraq. Campaigning in Milwaukee, Sen. John F. Kerry, the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, said: "I notice President Bush is taking some days off down at Crawford, Texas, and I'm told that when he takes days off, you know, he totally relaxes: He doesn't watch television, he doesn't read the newspapers, he doesn't make long-term plans, doesn't worry about the economy. I thought about that for a moment. I said, sounds to me like it's just like life in Washington, doesn't it?"

White House communications director Dan Bartlett retorted that Bush is "not skiing" in Texas, as Kerry did on a recent vacation in Idaho. He said Bush remains in contact with his military advisers and is spending Easter weekend with his family. "Most Americans will understand that," Bartlett said.

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.

...more

[Jade Fox]

32. He's "not skiing" like Kerry????

Someone needs to point out to this jerk that Kerry is not (yet) the
freaking President! What the hell kind of answer is that?

God, these people are obnoxious!

[louis-t]

45. and it's pretty hard to snow ski in Tejas

in April. Moron.

[Jack from Charlotte]

38. Regarding the number of vacation days I wish we could also get....

the number of days the AWOL/moron has spent doing fund raising. I'll bet the 2 figures combined would easily put him over 50% since he was appointed.

[Citizen Daryl]

42. And Condy has the gall to ask ...

...how they could have stopped the 9/11 attacks after being in office for just a little less than a year.

(typo edit)

[newyorican]

3. The ass-wipe is in an undisclosed location...

playing Nintendo.

[diamond14]

4. war pResident? what the country really wants is PEACE and quiet..

"The president is running as the war president, and I would assume that that resonates well and that they have tested those messages," said Democratic pollster Peter Hart. "But in the end, what the country really wants is a lot of peace and quiet. We're as far away from peace and quiet as possible."


quite a turn from just a few months ago...IMO, bush* is on his way back to Crawford forever...Americans are waking up to the fact that bush* and all his minions are completely incompetent, in way over their heads, and have NO IDEA what they are doing, or what they should be doing, and have NO PLAN....yet they all want us to re-select bush* because of his 'leadership' skills as a war pResident....

[PsN2Wind]

5. When the going gets tough

Bush goes on vacation!!

[The Backlash Cometh]

6. Yeah, tell us again why we're over there in Iraq.

We keep forgetting because the story keeps changing.

[buycitgo]

11. take this easy test

[goclark]

44. I love it! n/t

[scarface2004]

8. bush is a

total asshole...which is much worse than a major league asshole!!

[bleedingheart]

10. hey I think you are wrong....

by definition...assholes have a purpose...they are useful....

Bush is not...

:evilgrin:

I would say he is a total TURD.

[Robbien]

9. Bush is on the farm and Cheney is in China

Who is in charge in Washington? Or maybe there is another one of the PDB's out there saying Washington is going to get hit over the holidays so everyone skedaddled.

[amandabeech]

22. In Washington, there's Condi and Rummy and Paul and

Scooter. So long as Dick calls in, I don't see any problem. They seem to be the ones in charge anyway. Maybe they'll even let Colin do something.

[revcarol]

13. "maintain public confidence in his leadership"

BWAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAA, TOO FUNNY. NEVER had any confidence in his leadership to maintain.

[buycitgo]

14. they ran out of polish for their pride and joy.....their ready now

[jimshoes]

28. I had to save that pic, that is great!

I might even make a button out of it if you don't mind.

[DrBB]

15. It's deliberate, and very good news

The Nincompoop being on vacation and not interrupting his plans because of a little trouble in Iraq is part of the strategy of avoiding the Carter mistake (staying in Oval Office because of hostage crisis). It means they think he is still so respected on the question of Natl. Security and Leadership that he can just float above the fray and stay out of the picture.

Instead, it's making him look out of touch and out of the loop and not in charge.

It shows that Rove is grossly misunderestimating how deep the trouble is that they are in. I say, let him keep giving nature walks on his "beloved ranch." Maybe he can read a book about a billy goat to some school kids, too, while Baghdad burns.

[janx]

16. Why, here he is! Look at what he was doing yesterday,

one of the bloodiest days in the modern history of Iraq, during a week in which over 40 U.S. troops perished and all hell was breaking loose all over Iraq...



President Bush leads a tour of Prairie Chapel Ranch in Crawford, Texas with wildlife conversation leaders and sportsmen leaders, Thursday, April 8, 2004. Pictured with the President from left, are Jeffrey Crane, Director of Policy and Programs, Congressional Sportsmen Foundation, Bud Pidgeon, President, U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, and Michael Rogers, Safari Club International Senior writer. (AP Photo/White House, Eric Draper, HO)

[markses]

30. LOL: "wildlife CONVERSATION leaders..."

Is that serious? The funny thing about it: I don't think they even meant conservation. I think they really did mean conversation. Unless the Safari Club International is a conservation group? ROTFLMAO.

[Corgigal]

31. Seems he sure does

take his annual Easter Hunt seriously. Of course he could be a "nice' guy and be around for the Easter Egg Roll at the White House but I doubt he likes his own kids, forget those "stranger" childrens.

[colorado_ufo]

41. He will be remembered - I promise you -

as the Modern Day Nero.

I just read another story about a mother asking "Why my son?" as she left the funeral home to bury her 20 year old. * goes on fishing photo-ops and has spent over 50% of his presidency vacationing or fund-raising, meanwhile sending our troops into useless battles, robbing the national coffers, gifting his corporate buddies, sending the world into chaos, and lying, lying, lying and making others lie for him.

I know that all this has not gone beneath God's notice, even though it seems to be beneath the notice of much of the press corps and a huge portion of the Repugs!

[Th1onein]

17. Duh? Hello? This guy is NOT a leader, okay?

A LEADER takes the HIGH road, okay? He doesn't take advantage of situations to make his buddies more money......Got that?

Bush has ALWAYS done this--taken the low road. He did it in Texas, when he was governor, with the chicken people. What makes you think that he is not going to go along the same path of lease resistence, in a higher position?

Come on, people! Let's get rid of this dumbo of a president! let's get rid of this ammoral "leader."

He is NOT a leader. He has his own agenda, and it is not the same agenda that the American people have.

[Trajan]

18. This is front page of the Saturday Washington Post ...

and it is damning ... They are BLASTING Bush for his inattention and indecision ... This vacation might become even MORE infamous than his 2001 vacation ...

Bush IS in deep shit .... They cannot save his arse from his own failure to carefully evaluate the policies his advisors rammed up his ass ... Those policies were lies and falsehoods: and he, rightfully, will suffer the blame ..... finally ....

This story, combined with the Pincus story, is gonna blow Bush right outta the water ....

[cliss]

19. Is he gettin' a little tired?

I recall a fe months ago with the 'Mission Accomplished' fiasco. Recall BeelzeBush said, "we didn't order that banner, it was the ship's crew". Only a mere hours later, we got the hilarious news that yes, indeed, the White House had ordered the banner. So it was an embarrassing moment for the Old Boy. That same day, I saw some photos of him, right before he left town. He looked disgusted, and drunk.

Last summer, when troops were dying and Iraq was in flames, we got the pleasure of watching Bush go golfing in Texas. He looked so relaxed and enjoyed himself so completely, that you could hardly guess there was a war going on.

0n the other hand, it must be tiresome to always have every word you utter be scrutinized, and checked out to see if it reallly is true. The pesky reporters always have a microphone nearby, and those cameras always keep clicking.

You always have to remember what you said last, because it all needs to hang together. It's tough when you tell a lot of lies.

[mountainvue]

20. Same old same old.

Shit hits the fan and everybody but Bush is out there speaking about how much they're doing.

[amandabeech]

21. What I can't figure out is why his handlers

don't at least have him photographed in a video conference center talking with his advisors in Washington while he watches Condi on the tube. It would make him look a little more involved than showing him traipsing around the ranch with some NRA guy.

[Jade Fox]

33. because his handlers are not very smart. There is a reason....

that someone who worked with them nick-named them
"Mayberry Machiavellias".

All they know how to do is lie and attack.

[Robbien]

36. For three years the press has not been critical of Bush&Co

So Bush&Co feel free to do media stunts that pander to their base knowing that the press will not take them to task.

[librechik]

23. resign n/t

[JoFerret]

24. What's with the scratch to the face?

[pfitz59]

34. Victor Ashe.......

had a hissy fit.

[mithnanthy]

37. hahaha...Victor Ashe...

probably used the WHIP on "bunnypanties"

[Barrett808]

25. "How do they frame this issue so that if the question is Iraq, the answer

is Kerry?"

That might not be so hard. The Bush mafia and their neo-con advisors have been wrong about almost everything. When they're not dead wrong, they're lying -- about everything -- demonstrably and brazenly.

A vote for Kerry is a vote to end a track record of total incompetence and mendaciousness. That's a frame that could work.

[jimshoes]

29. Even Kerry must be thinking...

How in God's name am I going to fix this f_cking disaster that * has made.

[The_Casual_Observer]

26. Like his old man

Chimp Sr. driving around the links on his Goddamn golf cart insisting on "Recreating". This isn't helping chimp. It is hard to believe that he has this little regard for the situation. It is a big mistake.

[seemslikeadream]

27. A little work, a little partying

[Tinoire]

35. "Low Profile"? Is that the Newspeak for "AWOL"? n/t

[Cocoa]

39. Bush should be shining

If everything I've heard about his great leadership is true, then this turmoil should be the perfect opportunity to rise to the occasion.

[daleo]

40. He is staying at the ranch and keeping a low profile, while Iraq burns

...hmmm...you think maybe he knows something we don't know.

[Citizen Daryl]

43. Great, He's an AWOL *President* As Well... n/t