Thread: Bush Vacations Are a Political Risk

Bush Vacations Are a Political Risk
Susan Estrich
Saturday, Aug. 6, 2005
On the day the president left on the longest vacation in modern presidential history (making 20 percent of his presidency that he has spent on vacation), Americans were warned to exercise increased caution on any vacations we take.

The State Department issued an updated worldwide caution on terrorism, warning Americans about the threat we face of extremist violence when traveling abroad.
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http://www.newsmax.com/archives/article ... 0931.shtml

"Ongoing events in Iraq have resulted in demonstrations and associated violence in several countries; such events are likely to continue for the foreseeable future," the statement said. "U.S. citizens are strongly encouraged to maintain a high level of vigilance, be aware of local events and take the appropriate steps to bolster their personal security."
The statement said that "current information" indicates that Al Qaeda and affiliated terrorist groups are planning attacks against U.S. interests in "multiple regions, including Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East." The targets could include residential areas, hotels and restaurants, as well as schools, clubs, business offices and public areas, the caution said. It also warned that "demonstrations and rioting" can occur with little or no notice.

What this tells you is that, because of Iraq, the world is a more dangerous place for Americans, you must always be vigilant and you will never be safe. Travel at your own risk. You can decide that you will not give in to fear, but that is different from deciding that there is nothing to fear. There is.

On that same day, 14 Marines were killed in Iraq traveling in their not-so-armored amphibious vehicle, which was designed to carry up to 25 Marines from land to sea to shore – but is not quite as heavily armored as the Army's Bradley transports.

The Marines were on patrol when they were killed by a roadside bomb, bringing to 20 the losses for a single Ohio reserve unit this week. The community that had lost four Marines earlier this week is a working class suburb of Cleveland.

Also in Ohio this week, an antiwar Iraq veteran, the first to run for Congress, narrowly missed upsetting the favored Republican in a special congressional election to replace Rob Portman, named U.S. trade representative.

It's supposed to be slow in August, slow enough for the president to break Ronald Reagan's recreation record, with three and a half years still to go in his second term. But Ronald Reagan was a peacetime president. The walls were coming down, not going up. We were winning the Cold War, not losing the peace.

The Democrats always make fun of this president for taking long vacations. The first summer, it didn't matter. Then people started saying, maybe if he hadn't been away so much before Sept. 11, he would have paid attention to those August memos – not fair.

Still, the vacations have continued, and as the wages of peace continue to grow, measured in corners cut and lives lost, seeing the president fly off in Air Force One to play cowboy is a political risk on a day when a group of real Marines on patrol gets killed because the amphibious assault vehicle wasn't up to dealing with the "technology" of a roadside bomb planted by one group of insurgents or another near the Syrian border.

The president's defenders say he goes to Texas to reconnect with the people and escape the insular atmosphere of Washington. He is likely to find far less interest in the details of Novak-Miller-Rove among real people than among Washingtonians, which will surely come as a relief. Unless a crime was committed, I think most people smell Washington gamesmanship.

Good news. No one died in that Toronto plane crash, which is a great relief. Bad news, of course, is the terror we feel about terrorism, along with this business about kids keeping on dying in these not-so-armored vehicles.

Today's story points out without comment that Bradley fighting vehicles used by the Army have more armor. That's what I read in the wire services reports, and I think: Why is that there? Is that supposed to tell me that these kids didn't have to die if they'd had better equipment?

You can't help but compare them with the lucky passengers who get off the plane so quickly. Conservative or liberal, we all sit next to each other on those planes, which makes us all pretty demanding when it comes to air safety.

On the other hand, the passengers in that amphibious vehicle were a bunch of working-class kids, not rich and powerful conservatives and liberals demanding the safest equipment on the face of the globe, but kids trying to do right by this country and being placed in the most dangerous situations in the world. And to add the worst insult, not being given adequate protection so they can survive the attacks that are certain to come their way.

One set of parents described making plans to attend the funerals of the other reservists when officials notified them that their son had also died. The mother had not even let him play with toy guns when he was growing up. Everyone can survive a plane crash on the ground – not a collision with a roadside bomb. Word is getting out. There's a movement to be led. Watch out.

If the president really does put his ear to the ground, he may hear more than he wants.


COPYRIGHT 2005 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.

If he spent some time helping the Texas Minuteman Project...he could turn all of this into a business trip.

It's for damn sure that he's not going to "reconnect" with the people in Texas on his vacation. He will be surrounded by his cronies if and when he ever even leaves the ranch. He WILL NEVER reconnect with the American people because he REFUSES TO HEAR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. He lives in an insulated environment where NOBODY who disagrees with him is allowed to enter. And, remember--the man ADMITS he doesn't watch TV or read the paper. Now, tell me--what kind of President would so isolate himself from the public MUCH LESS ADMIT IT????

And, what I am REALLY ticked about on that IED explosion incident is that I have heard Rumsfeld and Dick Myers say, BEFORE CONGRESS, that all of the vehicles have now been uparmored to withstand these blasts. They said that ANY vehicle that was not in a safe zone was uparmored. These poor kids were in an amphibious vehicle that was made to FLOAT in the water out of aluminum. It is a lightweight vehicle used by the Navy and Marines to go ashore. It was NOT designed to be used as a TANK. Those kids were just sitting targets. The youngest of the group that was killed was ONLY NINETEEN YEARS OLD. That is a CHILD in my opinion.

Every time I think of Rumsfeld's comment to those troops in Iraq when asked about the lack of proper equipment and he told them that "you go to war with the military you have--not the one you want", I get violently ILL. He might have been right if this had been an attack on our on country and we HAD to defend ourselves against foreign invasion. It is NOT TRUE when it was a war that was unwarranted, under-planned for, falsely presented to the Congress and the American people. We were doomed for failure before we ever dropped the first bomb. As bad as Saddam was, his people would rather have him than us. It's as simple as that.

This administration was in such a hurry to "strike while the iron was hot" that they were grossly unprepared. There were and are way too few troops, way too little proper equipment and the poorest planning imaginable. And I keep remembering the administration, including Rumsfeld, stating that we HAD to go then to avoid the heat of the summer! Now, we've been there for THREE summers and we are in worse shape than we were the day we went in.

One thing you can say about this administration--they are not ALL stupid. They KNEW that, if they delayed this war, it would give both the Congress and the American people to really look at the pitiful evidence presented and raise questions. This is something that they were NOT willing to do because they KNEW it would backfire. The sad thing is that it is backfiring and there isn't a damn thing we can do but "stay the course". I think, if I hear that expression ONE MORE TIME, I will throw up.

"Connect with real people" in Crawford, Texas at the ranch?

Give me a break. No one in Crawford is going to tell this ManiaX surrounded by Secret Service they think he's a Traitor and ought to be Jailed for Treason.

Have you seen how small Crawford is?

He's not going on vacation to connect with "real people". He's sneaking off to finalize his plans for the UN Millennium Summit next month and the FTAA.

He'll be spending time with people alright, but it won't be "real people".

It'll be his Hideous Gang of Sicko-Wacko-Evil-Parasites-From-Hell Globbies and Crones!!

They'll be dropping in for BBQ and UPDATES ON HIS PROGRESS!!

And, don't forget. They will be trying to come up with YET ANOTHER justification for Iraq. They will be trying to think of something to get Karl Rove off the hook. They will be working on that amnesty plan. He will probably be trying to connect with those people SOUTH OF THE BORDER if he tries to connect with ANYONE other than his sycophants. He is a CHICKEN. He's not going to connect with the REAL AMERICANS because he's afraid of what he will hear.

You know--I was thinking about his response time when 9/11 was reported to him and it points out just exactly why he can't have a REAL press conference or a REAL town hall type meeting. The man cannot THINK. He CANNOT CONNECT. He is, without a doubt, the most CLUELESS man I've ever seen.

CLUELESS AND CRUELEST.

AMEN!