Bush isn’t on the ‘frontlines’

June 14, 2007

February:

Q: Do you believe it’s a civil war, sir?

THE PRESIDENT: I can only tell you what people on the ground, whose judgment — it’s hard for me, living in this beautiful White House, to give you an assessment, firsthand assessment. I haven’t been there; you have, I haven’t.

Today:

Q: Are there any members of the Bush family or this administration in this war?

SNOW: Yeah, the President. The President is in the war every day.

Q: Come on, that isn’t my question –

SNOW: Well, no, if you ask any president who is a commander in chief –

Q: On the frontlines, wherever…

SNOW: The President.

For the record, I’m not terribly impressed with the question. Whether members of the president’s immediate family are in the Armed Forces right now or not isn’t entirely relevant. I understand the point — maybe if Bush had loved ones in the line of fire, his policy would be less irresponsible — but the question nevertheless strikes me as rather unfair.

Indeed, if Snow had answered this by questioning the fairness of the inquiry, I’d be inclined to cut him some slack. But he didn’t. Instead, he suggested the president is on the “frontlines.”

I suspect there are several thousand troops and their families who might take issue with that characterization.

Of course Bush is on the frontlines of this war…

(if by “frontlines” you mean sending Negroponte, Khalilzad and other Oil-thirsty guys to lean on Al-Maliki to pass an “Oil Law” that turns 63 out of 80 known Iraqi oil fields to FULL foreign control, and by sending fighter jets to cicle over Iraqi Oil Union workers holding demonstrations against the Oil Law…)

… then yeah he’s on the frontlines.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/060907A.shtml

  • Every time I here that which oozes from Tony Snow’s noise maker I feel defiled in some way,as if someone has just smeared shit all over me. (Sorry about the language but in this case I think it’s appropriate.)

  • Bush is on the frontline… of the War On Reason.

    And yeah, that was a BS question. I would ask him “when are you ever going to meet with families of soldiers who aren’t supporters of yours?”

  • If simply worrying about the war counts as being involved in it…

    Maybe that’s their way of increasing troop numbers!

    FWIW, if any members of Bush’s “immediate family” were in Iraq, we’d know about it. The question pertains to his -extended- family. And while it’s not especially pertinent, it would at least be interesting to know.

  • My only question is: Did Bush get the GOOD body armor, or are his Repug buddies making him wear the old stuff?

  • That’s a disconnect these guys are all too familiar with: living a lie through dumbass manipulation of language. It reminds me a friend of mine who insists we’re all serving because we pay taxes. Funny that I’m the vet and he hates the military.

  • It’s not about whether he would be less irresponsible with his own family in the line of fire. It’s relevant because it goes to credibility.

    Try to imagine if the war really were as important to the future of the country as Bush says it is.

    In that case, presumably, members of any president’s family would have volunteered or he would call them out publicly for not serving when the nation is facing such a dire threat.

  • I’m betting that Bush plays dress up with that flight suit he wore at the Mission Accomplished celebration.

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