I really wasn’t going to mention the president’s bicycle accident. Everybody can and does fall. This is hardly newsworthy.
But my inclination to ignore Bush’s accident was overridden by the White House’s apparent dishonesty about the incident.
As Eugene Oregon (who, like me, enjoys a good tip from Todd) noted this morning, White House spokesperson Trent Duffy had an explanation for Bush’s fall in Crawford over the weekend.
“It’s been raining a lot and the topsoil is loose,” the spokesman said. “You know this president. He likes to go all out. Suffice it to say he wasn’t whistling show tunes.”
Sounds reasonable, right? Sure, until you realize it hasn’t rained in Crawford for weeks.
It’s like the White House lies reflexively, regardless of circumstance. It’s kind of sad, really.
And, as Poppy noted, it offers a helpful contrast between the candidates.
When Kerry fell of his bicycle earlier this month, Kerry campaign adviser Michael Meehan said, “He’s fine. They took the bike into the bike shop, and he went home.”
No excuses. No lies. He fell, we’re fixing it, not a big deal.
I realize this isn’t a major story; it’s not like fighting a war under false pretenses or something, but it does appear to be a pattern — never admit a mistake and always place blame elsewhere.