Posted on 04/02/2006 4:52:01 PM PDT by mathprof
George W. Bush is taking time to explain himself, open up to the public in new ways and court the U.S. Congress as he tries to breathe life into a presidency beset by sagging ratings and influence.
With a job-approval rating under 40 percent, Bush, who went to his Crawford ranch for a quiet weekend, has a long way to go. Aides acknowledge it will take a while to rebuild his image, and much will depend on the outcome of the Iraq war.
White House staffers, who have long limited the president's appearances to speeches and photo opportunities with little contact with regular people, are now inclined to let Bush be Bush.
He is talking at length. His March 21 news conference lasted nearly an hour. A Freedom House speech with questions from the audience in Washington on Wednesday went on for an hour and a half.
Bush even took questions from gray-haired retirees at a senior citizens' home recently and they asked some tough ones. More such sessions are planned.
``The president enjoys the open question-and-answer formats,'' White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. ``The more we can put him in settings where people can get a better sense of his thinking and his beliefs, the better.'' SNIP
Democrats are not impressed by the more-open Bush. ``The president can give all the speeches he wants but nothing will change the fact that his Iraq policy is wrong,'' said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
And you see no cognitive dissonance in that? And you still call yourself a conservative?
Recommending breaking the law is NOT conservative. It's not moral. It's not decent. It stinks!
You might want to rethink your apparent view that immigration is no big deal.
Apparently "Brilliant" isn't living up to his name, if he's calling for impeaching Bush (LEFTIST), right out in the open on this CONSERVATIVE forum.
I never said anything even CLOSE to the view that 'immigration is no big deal.'
You can ask anyone on this forum about that. I've made my dissatisfaction about immigration very clear. I'm just not a LEFTIST, calling for impeaching a great President.
So, Reagan gets the benefit of the doubt but Bush doesn't . . . the logic is flawless.
[BTW: President Bush IS trying to learn from Reagan's mistakes: He's trying to correct the problems exacerbated by Reagan's "tepid" amnesty bill, Reagan's "tepid" social security bill (can we talk budget deficits/entitlement programs), Reagan's "tepid" response to the 'borking' of his Supreme Court nominees, Reagan's "tepid" response to Islamic terrorism, and so on. Oops, I forgot, Reagan gets 'do-overs'; Bush just gets bashed!]
Impeach Bush, and you'll get a newer version of Al Gore.
Witness 9-11, again. What'll the new Dem guy say: "Hey! I know you are angry out there. Probably feeling lonely and that's why you acted out of anger. But that's not the way. It's just not cool. I know you didn't mean to murder over 3,000 innocent people, but we'll forgive you this time."
You would encourage Impeaching the President and over one single issue -- illegal immigration? Really?
I'm a conservative and I'm a realist too, who still happens to support the Prez. Especially when he's right. Like on foreign policy. When Bush is wrong, I speak out. Free speech is what political dissent is all about.
When Reagan was in trouble after Iran-Contra he brought in Howard Baker and some other fresh faces. Bush would be wise to follow Reagan's decisions in that regard. New blood, brings new ideas.
Immigration is a big deal but the what was an immigration issue and a border security issue is becoming quite something different and its ugly. I have no clue really why years of progress of marketing our ideas to LAtinos is now being smashed to tiny bits. Before this is over Latinos might vote 92 percent Dem just like blacks do today. All because of this deport them all and make them all felons mentality. A little common sense in this debate would have helped
They don't have any more intellectual honesty than the left........which is why they AGREE with the left so often.
It's called 'creating your own truth.'
Um, Brilliant, YOU are an immigrant!
well, if it isn't the King of Backhanded Compliments.
You are worse than a Bush basher; you're a poser who bashes Bush.
I think a "rational discussion" on this issue could have been had 10 years ago. Instead, our leaders simply opened up the floodgates--no discussion, no opportunity to express disagreement, and now we've got 11 million illegal immigrants which they want to make citizens.
Social security and medicare are already going bankrupt. They want to add 11 million beneficiaries to those programs, with no increase in funding. They are insane, and ultimately, I suspect that they will lead us to civil disorder.
No, actually, I'm not.
C'mon, RMan, let's be a little more honest here, OK?
To me there can be made a compromise on the "citizenship issue". I really suspect that the majority of these folks dont want to be citizens of the USA. THe number that actually want to go through the process I bet is low.
*** ZING *** I wish I'd said that!
I've not used the "I" word and would not. I'm a Texan and the illegal issue is a big deal. A very big deal. It makes some of us a bit crazy. Seeing Bush kissing up to Fox upsets me.
I think you are dreaming. The number will be a whole lot more than 11 million. 11 million is just the number who are here ALREADY. If they make them legal, then you can expect that number to double or triple. They are rewarding them for coming here illegally.
Are they so stupid that they don't realize that we NOTICE these things??
They have joined on the dark side of the circle, and they're not even ashamed of it! Incredible!
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