The president sat down for a lengthy interview with USA Today’s White House reporter David Jackson, the transcript of which was published today, which covered some pretty familiar ground. It was interesting, however, to see that the president has no expectations about leaving Iraq anytime soom.
Q: Now I’ve often heard you say during the campaign, “The job of the president is to confront problems, not to pass them on to future presidents or future generations.” Is Iraq going to be a problem for the next president?
A: The war on terror will be a problem for the next president…. This will be a long struggle.
Q: Will the U.S. be out of Iraq in January of ’09?
A: That’s a timetable; I just told you we don’t put out timetables.
I mention this because there are occasional reports about the “new” escalation plan producing fairly quick results, with tangible progress coming as soon as six months from now. The president, with minimal subtlety, seems to be saying, “Don’t count on it.”
Going through the transcript, most of Bush’s comments were boilerplate language, but there were a couple of stand-out remarks.
On health care, USA Today noted that several governors are tackling statewide programs to bring coverage to the uninsured, which Bush applauded. Suggesting that this may create a “patchwork system,” Jackson said, “[S]ome people have said maybe we should have a national program to guarantee health care. Bush responded:
“There’s a lot of people in Washington that say the federal government ought to run health care. I’m not one.”
Gotta love the way Bush reflexively ignores any discussion of a national system. The reporter mentions the idea of a national “program to guarantee health care,” but Bush hears “government-run health care.”
On Social Security, Jackson noted that some conservative activists “are worried that you may be reconsidering your pledge against no new taxes,” as part of a Social Security overhaul. Bush said:
“I’ve showed that you can solve Social Security without raising taxes.”
He did? When?
And towards the end, the discussion turned to the last foreign policy debacle.
Q: Have you read about Lyndon Johnson in Vietnam?
A: Yes.
Q: Do you draw any lessons from that?
A: Yes, win.
That’s reassuring, isn’t it? Certainly no concerns here that the president is taking an overly simplified view of the conflict.
If this is a sign of things to come, the State of the Union is poised to be truly entertaining.