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 ...
It is so excellent. And while the story is maddening and saddening, yet it is still superior to playing with others who can, all facts to the wayside, see only doom and gloom and negativity. Good decision of yours, OhioWFan to prefer to see a film about people who never gave up.
The root of it, IMO, is that we are in a self-absorbed, self-centered culture, and these folks are the products/victims of it. It's all about ME, and if I'm not happy then I turn tail and run.
President Bush hasn't done everything these folks want him to do, so they no longer support him. (That is, assuming that any of them ever did in the first place).
the sky is only falling over you.
He's the same courageous, visionary leader he was when accepted the responsibility of war, for example, or when he hammered the UN with foolproof logic about its spinelessness on its Iraqi resolutions.
It's just that courage and vision can confound anyone, especially when tempted to confuse politics with leadership; even (and especially) conservatives, when it challenges our most cherished habits.
The world is still not flat.
The Democrats plan is "We're not Republicans!" The fact that Harry Reid himself personifies doom-and-gloom actually has to go out there and say "failure with this", "wrong on that", etc., means he and the Democrats are still playing by the same tired worn-out decades-old playbook.
Some guys can't stand a real man. Even those who post on conservative forums......
This country needs a real man in the Oval Office, especially at this time in history, who will be bold toward the enemy, and not have a penchant to crawl into bed with tinhorn dictators and thrust his cranium into a pile of sand should the next OBL videotape come about.
OBL and the terrorists were emboldened during Clinton's reign of errors, because they knew Clinton and his cronies would "cut and run" the moment a bomb vest went off in some third world rat hole.
The last thing this country and the free world needs is some gutless worm hiding under the Oval Office desk.
Rush usually calls callers who mention that they're life-long Republicans, "seminar callers".
LOL!
The reverse is true also.
It cracks me up when you quote or refer to what Rush says.
TOO FUNNY.
LOL! Alot of people I've talked to "on the street" say the same thing. My views have pretty much stayed the same my whole life. One good thing about FR for me is that it's helped me be more open and honest about my political views with friends and family outside of FR.
Now I know who's making all that racket down there.
It's past your bedtime....tomorrow's a school day!
I can't speak for onyx, but I'm skipping school! :)
Your days are numbered, buddy boy!
BSF is a juvenile deliqunet.
"The West Wing" = porn for moonbats
See!
You didn't stay up and study, now you think "delinqunet" is a word!
;OD
Good (rest of the) night!
Hey! Shhh! Keep it on the down low! :)
I am making more typos of late than nopardons.
I am switching to "short nails."
See #199 and shut up.
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