Thanks, I would rather have a president who instinctively stands up for a friend than one who has to take a poll to decide what he believes. It was very Trumanesque of him to do that.
If Bush and Palmeiro were best buddies, I might understand Bush rushing to his defense despite a growing mountain of evidence. That would be human instinct. That would be the emotion of the moment. However, this is the first time I've ever heard of Bush being friends with Palmeiro. I imagine Bush had literally hundreds (if not thousands) of "friends" connected to Texas Rangers baseball. Is Bush prepared to blindly rush to each one's defense anytime they do something wrong?
As far as Bush's comment being "Trumanesque," Bush would've been wiser to simply say, "Mr. Palmeiro is a friend of mine, so I don't wish to comment on this until I have a chance to talk to my friend and learn more about the details of this developing story."