As a rule, Laura Bush’s policy opinions aren’t particularly relevant. That’s not intended to be an insult, it’s just that she’s not an elected official, she has no obvious power to speak of, and her comments are rarely of any consequence.
But that apparently doesn’t stop her from trying to mix it up quite a bit.
First Lady Laura Bush said Sunday that she is much more involved in policy than many people think and then went to bat for her husband on children’s health care and foreign policy.
Calling the state children’s health insurance program (SCHIP) “a perfect issue” for Democrats to demagogue on, Bush waded into largely uncharted public territory for her by taking exception to the party that opposes the president. […]
“It’s really easy to blame people for so-called voting against children,” Bush said in an interview on Fox News Sunday. The first lady went on to say that the bill would cover children who are not poor and added that the program is often used to cover adults.
And this is exactly why the First Lady should avoid the policy debate — she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Her S-CHIP talking points have already been debunked, but that didn’t stop her from repeating the bogus claims anyway. For that matter, any talk from this White House about anyone using demagoguery is absurd.
Laura Bush added, “The fact is I’ve been involved for a long time in policy, and I think I just didn’t get a lot of coverage on it.”
It’s not at all clear the extent to which she been “involved” in policy, but her willingness to talk about issues has indeed been going on for a long time. She’s right that it doesn’t get a lot of coverage, but in Laura Bush’s case, that’s probably a good thing.
For example, a few months ago, on World Refugee Day, the First Lady claimed that “many” Iraqi refugees have been welcomed into the United States, a claim that is demonstrably false. A few months before that, on the war in Iraq, Laura Bush said, “[B]elieve me, no one sufferers more than their president and I do when we watch this.”
She’s been particularly aggressive in playing the role of media critic. In February, Bush told Larry King, “[M]any parts of Iraq are stable now. But, of course, what we see on television is the one bombing a day that discourages everybody.”
Indeed, as far as she’s concerned, it’s nearly always the media’s fault. In December, the First Lady told MSNBC’s Norah O’Donnell, “I do know that there are a lot of good things that are happening that aren’t covered. And I think that the drum beat in the country from the media, from the only way people know what is happening…is discouraging.” Mrs. Bush added that she hopes there is “more balanced coverage by the media” in the future.
Indeed, our resident White House media critic complained to Bill O’Reilly in 2004 that the “there’s a big move away from actual reporting” and there’s too much “opinion” in the media. (Yes, she apparently missed the irony.)
Of course, it’s not just media analysis; Bush has inserted herself in all kinds of political debates, and in every instance, she’s been wrong.
Shortly before the November elections, the First Lady was asked about the Michael J. Fox campaign ads on stem-cell research. Bush sided with critics of the actor, telling a C-SPAN audience, “It’s always easy to manipulate people’s feelings, especially when you are talking about diseases that are so difficult.”
Last summer, she dismissed public opinion and said, “As I travel around the United States…A lot of people come up to me and say, ‘Stay the course‘.” Around the same time, Laura Bush jumped into the immigration debate, saying that the National Anthem “should be sung in English, of course.”
A few months before that, during a visit to Liberia, the First Lady said that she does not believe Republicans are mired in a “culture of corruption,” and added that she would be “glad to campaign for Republicans who ask me to campaign for them or do fundraisers for them.”
Laura Bush has also weighed in on the anti-gay constitutional amendment, Donald Rumsfeld’s tenure as Defense Secretary, and gun control policy.
I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with the First Lady sharing her opinions on matters of politics and public policy, but a) I think it’s a little odd that the right used to complain bitterly when Hillary Clinton did the same thing; b) if Laura Bush wants to remain above the fray, she probably shouldn’t make a bunch of controversial political statements; and c) given her track record, it’s a little silly for her to throw around charges of “demagoguery.”