Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me....
By Libby Spencer
The WaPo has the most interesting story today with this profile piece on our beleaguered president. At FDL, Christy Hardin Smith hears Leslie Gore crooning the background music but the singer that popped into my head is Warren Zevon. Nevertheless, Christy is right. Bush is having one long pity party with these little secret meetings. He's not looking for advice; he's looking for validation or maybe he just wants some company. They say it's lonely at the top. I suspect it's even more lonely when you hit rock bottom.
Remembering Cheney's reception at a previous opening day for the Washington Nats, it's not surprising he passed on that honor and the WaPo passes over the growing vocal dissent among the citizenry with little notice. The protesters follow him everywhere, even to the family compound in Kennebunkport, where an organized protest provided a raucous counterpoint to Putin's unprecedented visit to the hallowed ground previously unsullied by politics.
The major media made rather light of the attendance figures, but the local paper put the number at 1,700 protesters. Quite a crowd for the little town. You would have thought the media would have taken some video footage, but there was none to be found.
Meanwhile, James Joyner finds this exchange "both weird and comforting," thinking it illustrates Bush is engaged in reality and clearly cares about others.
Me, I just find it weird. The world is going to hell in a handbasket, largely because of Bush's stubborn refusal to accept responsibility for his "great decisions" and he's spending time calling a politician's wife to assure her that he's doing okay? It imparts a sense of desperately reaching out to anyone who still likes him.
That's right up there with his unexpectedly jumping into the orchestra pit to conduct his own exit music from an event in my book. I don't think he's coming to grips with reality. More like he's trying to rebuild a fantasy world in which he is still popular.
(Cross-posted at The Impolitic.)
The WaPo has the most interesting story today with this profile piece on our beleaguered president. At FDL, Christy Hardin Smith hears Leslie Gore crooning the background music but the singer that popped into my head is Warren Zevon. Nevertheless, Christy is right. Bush is having one long pity party with these little secret meetings. He's not looking for advice; he's looking for validation or maybe he just wants some company. They say it's lonely at the top. I suspect it's even more lonely when you hit rock bottom.
Bush's unpopularity appears to impose limits on where he goes. He turned down an invitation from the Washington Nationals to throw out the first pitch on Opening Day, pleading a busy schedule. The former baseball team owner instead hosted an invitation-only ceremony for a college football team in the East Room, where no one would boo. When commencement season rolled around, he stayed away from major universities, delivering addresses at a community college in Florida and a small religious school in Pennsylvania run by a former aide. And even then he was met by student and faculty protests.
Remembering Cheney's reception at a previous opening day for the Washington Nats, it's not surprising he passed on that honor and the WaPo passes over the growing vocal dissent among the citizenry with little notice. The protesters follow him everywhere, even to the family compound in Kennebunkport, where an organized protest provided a raucous counterpoint to Putin's unprecedented visit to the hallowed ground previously unsullied by politics.
The major media made rather light of the attendance figures, but the local paper put the number at 1,700 protesters. Quite a crowd for the little town. You would have thought the media would have taken some video footage, but there was none to be found.
Meanwhile, James Joyner finds this exchange "both weird and comforting," thinking it illustrates Bush is engaged in reality and clearly cares about others.
"My wife loves you, but she doesn't know how you don't wake up every morning and say, 'I've had it. I'm out of here,' " King told him.
"She thinks that?" Bush replied. "Get her on the phone."
King dialed but got voice mail. Bush left a message: "I'm doing okay. Don't worry about me."
Me, I just find it weird. The world is going to hell in a handbasket, largely because of Bush's stubborn refusal to accept responsibility for his "great decisions" and he's spending time calling a politician's wife to assure her that he's doing okay? It imparts a sense of desperately reaching out to anyone who still likes him.
That's right up there with his unexpectedly jumping into the orchestra pit to conduct his own exit music from an event in my book. I don't think he's coming to grips with reality. More like he's trying to rebuild a fantasy world in which he is still popular.
(Cross-posted at The Impolitic.)
posted by Libby Spencer at
5:41 PM
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