At first I thought it was a joke. We have in the White House a “healthier, happier and sharper chief executive,” read a line quoted in the Washington Post, because “once a day, he puts his desire for a workout ahead of the nation…. In pursuit of a workout, the president is willing to risk the disapproval of some who might question his priorities. But in a largely sedentary nation, the president stands apart for appreciating the value of a workout.”
The passage was reminiscent of those 1950s Boy Scout magazine pieces in which virtuous personal habits were lauded by such virtuous persons as J. Edgar Hoover. Thinking it was clever parody to be savored in full, I clicked on the story link. But there it was in all its legitimacy: a perfectly serious piece by one Kevin Helliker, a Wall Street Journal senior writer, praising the president for putting “his desire for a workout ahead of the nation.”
The cliché is “stark contrast.” I try to avoid clichés, but occasionally one is so overpoweringly apt its useful precision is irresistible. And “stark contrast” is precisely what describes Bush’s persona versus that of other war presidents.
The grueling workloads maintained, for instance, by Wilson and Roosevelt during the world wars either killed them in office or soon thereafter, and Lincoln before them didn’t need an assassin’s bullet to take his life; he was doing that himself. These great men did not enjoy destroying themselves with oppressive work and worry. Rather, they suffered these burdens as an inseparable part of their sworn duty and high office, especially since so many others were being asked to risk just as much. And if nothing else, merely as caring human beings -- as presidents who truly gave a damn about so much carnage taking place at their command -- they had no choice.
Bush, however, is unburdened by such prosaic emotions. He can just go for a bike ride or jump on a treadmill and forget the whole scene.
But this isn’t Bush’s only secret to lessening the load. He has another. It’s an elegantly simple management technique: lying. It’s been amazing, I’m sure George has found, the things a fellow can get away with and the burdens he can unload -- like justifying a blatantly illegal and idiotically counterproductive war -- if he just lies his publicly venerated butt off.
Most recent case in point: The WP piece mentioned above also quoted the president’s last radio address, a weekly ritual of propagandistic frivolity long deserving of extinction: “We went to war because we were attacked,” said Mr. Bush, “and we are at war today because there are still people out there who want to harm our country and hurt our citizens. Some may disagree with my decision to remove Saddam Hussein from power, but all of us can agree that the world’s terrorists have now made Iraq a central front in the war on terror.... Our troops are fighting these terrorists in Iraq so you will not have to face them here at home.”
The transparent lies in that hogwash are so widely known that few even bother refuting them anymore. I know I won’t. That’s how obvious, how almost laughable the official lies have become. Listening to Bush expound on our winning and righteous effort in Iraq is like ringing up Baghdad Bob for some historical analysis of Iraqi defenses.
The WP piece (by Dan Froomkin) from which I have shamelessly robbed so many great quotes actually had a different purpose than just providing me with material; it thematically centered on the press’ “consensus view” that “Bush is losing his touch.” I disagree -- rather, I agree that Bush is now losing, but he’s not “losing his touch.” He’s doing what he’s always done and is doing it every bit as well. He’s tethering lies to “disassemblings” and covering both with hefty layers of banny-rooster patriotism. The only difference is, the public -- and one must add, perhaps even the press -- is beginning to take notice.
It is indeed a pity that the president’s carefree style should cause thousands to suffer death, permanent disability or the loss of a loved one. But there’s one inestimable consolation. At least George W. Bush is finding the time to be a “healthier, happier” chief executive.
An excellent analysis. This puts another conservative lie in perspective, that Clinton was the selfish Baby Boomer president while Bush isn't. When the chips are down Bush will do anything to save his sorry ass and to hell with everyone else.
Posted by: cmo | June 22, 2005 at 10:11 AM
After Laura Bush's speech at the Correspondents dinner I was not so offended at the masturbating-a-bull joke as I was at the fact that she said the president is in bed every night at 9.
Posted by: Kristijo | June 22, 2005 at 10:25 AM
"all of us can agree that the world’s terrorists have now made Iraq a central front in the war on terror...."
And why is that, Mr. President? Yes, I question your priorities. I question your morality and your very humanity. Your happiness and healthiness stand in stark contrast to the thousands of dead and grievously wounded young Americans and their families who have paid such a dreadful price for your immoral and unnecessary war. You are an obscenity.
Posted by: Victoria | June 22, 2005 at 10:41 AM
While physical exercise is unquestionably a healthy activity for everyone, where Mr. Bush is flaccid and weak is in the brain.
This intellectually lazy doorknob, who brags about never reading a newspaper, is a 98 pound weakling where it really counts. Of course, the WSJ sycophant who wrote the fawning article about Dubya's workout regimen, obviously doesn't value intellectual rigor either. If he did, he might point out that a fundamental understanding of Middle Eastern history, comparative religions and political science might serve a chief executive better than memorized baseball statistics, a bunch of sophomoric nicknames and a snazzy cowboy boot collection.
This president is a cerebral sissy, a mental midget and the worst president in the history of this great nation.
Posted by: Stephen Kriz | June 22, 2005 at 12:39 PM
what's scary is that the Repubs offered up their best and brightest. A Yale pom-pom girl?? I've dated pom-pom girls in the past and they're great fun...but I wouldn't want them in charge of my business.
Posted by: randy h. | June 22, 2005 at 01:24 PM
All America needs to do to see what a shallow, selfish, soulless dick we have in office is watch Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. Moore doesn't have to fabricate anything or write a script at all--his real live video clips of Shrub himself say it all. There's Shrub talking to his "base" of rich bastards. Then we see him mugging for the camera just before he goes on national TV to tell Americans he's sending their kids to their deaths.
Contrast that with my following interesting observation.
Regardless of what you think of Bill Clinton, it's very telling to note Monica Lewinsky's official testimony to authorities about her rendezvous' with Clinton in the Oval Office. On one of her visits she tells authorities that Clinton was visibly distraught. When she asked him what was wrong, he said that he had just gotten word that a Marine had been killed in action. Clinton told Lewinsky he felt personally responsible for this young man's death.
And, gee, who has the better character of the last 2 presidential candidates:
A rich kid who volunteers to go to combat in Vietnam, even though he could use his connections to get out of it;
Or a rich kid who has Daddy pull strings to get him into the Air National Guard ahead of others so he doesn't have to fight?
How on earth anybody can see Shrub for a moral, brave, "christian" leader is the stumper of the century. Welcome to "Bushford"!
Posted by: Michele | June 22, 2005 at 01:35 PM
Great article and comments: you all keep me sane (though just barely)!
Posted by: claire | June 22, 2005 at 10:21 PM
Yes, it is dismaying that Bush is now praised for being such a fuck-off.
Michele mentioned Fahrenheit 9/11:
"Then we see him mugging for the camera just before he goes on national TV to tell Americans he's sending their kids to their deaths."
That was the most shocking scene in the movie, where we see that the goofy faces interspersed throughout actually precede the invasion speech. Moore's strategy of using outtakes to show the side of Bush that network news rigorously excludes was what got, for example, Lisa Myers of NBC so apoplectic.
Posted by: Dumpster | June 22, 2005 at 10:56 PM
What if the Bush clan and their peerage are simply busy tending to the increase of their vast material wealth? These fortunes span decades at least, and in some cases centuries.
If no one exists other than their "base" and families, and the goal of the present generation in power (shrub) is to fulfill his filial duty to add to the family fortune and their twisted power, then he is succeeding admirably.
If nothing else matters, then nothing else need concern him. It would explain why they behave as if they live on some other planet. They must think they have an emergency retreat off-planet. Bizarre disconnect...
Posted by: Marta | June 23, 2005 at 03:25 AM
I think I'll take an hour off work today and go to the gym. I'm sure my boss will agree it will make me happier, sharper, and healthier. Oh yeah, I forgot, who cares if the masses are healthy, sharper(informed), or happy. We wouldn't be sheople then, would we?
Posted by: peggy | June 23, 2005 at 08:15 AM
BushCo, whoever that includes beyond Bush and Friends of Bush, might certainly intend to reduce the world population to a number that could conceivably sustain them and their 144,000 or so. Meld that with Christian millennialism and you've got a solid-gold ticket to Heaven on earth. Condos on the Russian steppes? We can do it! Estates in Asian paradise for white people after the brown ones are exterminated! Go for it! Qv. Dubya's solar home, fully fitted to go off the grid.
BushCo's got the bombs, the guns, the disease germs. Clear out anything you like, anywhere you want. Make Iraq a nuclear wasteland--who wants to live there anyway? Wear a suit, grab the oil, clear out.
S
Posted by: Sonsa LaMew | June 23, 2005 at 09:54 AM
From the I Ching-
"Those who cannot see will certainly be made to feel."
All of us will suffer until all of us awaken.
Keep speaking truth to power.
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse
Posted by: Whitebear | June 23, 2005 at 01:17 PM