But Bush Said He Sleeps Better Than Most Would Think
President Bush the day after his wife claimed no-one suffered more than he over the tragedy of Iraq War.
You might think that the mothers, fathers, children, wives and husbands of the more than 50,000 Americans killed and wounded, so far, in the Iraq War might be suffering more than anyone else from tragedy of the American occupation of Iraq. You'd be wrong.
Or perhaps you think that children in Iraq who've seen most of their families wiped out by American airstrikes and terrorist car bombings might be suffering even more than American military families.
Again, you'd be wrong. At least according to the First Lady, Laura Bush.
You see, nobody suffers more from the ongoing horror and tragedy of the Iraq War than George W. Bush and Laura Bush.
This is an absolutely stupifying claim to make. Nothing could show just how far removed from reality those who dwell in the White House really are than such idiocy.
Laura Bush's words might have even retained a modicum of respectful compassion had not her and her husband be then seen, less than 24 hours after the interview went to air, clowning it up on a stage during a malaria awareness function - see the above photo.
No doubt the president is suffering, and no doubt he also needs to grasp whatever moments of light-heartendess his job offers, but to claim that "nobody suffers more" from the futile waste of American lives of the Iraq War than the president is almost beyond belief.
The Iraq War was neither an emergency response a gathering threat, nor a necessity. It was a war of choice. A choice that the president made, against the wishes of most Americans, and virtually the entire world. Even his own father was against his decision to go to War On Iraq.
Be a fucking man about your mistakes, for God's sake.
And don't send your wife on TV to try and ratchet up some sympathy. You will get none, from the world, from most of America's military families and from the vast majority of the world's people.
From RawStory :
According to the first lady, when it comes to Iraq, "No one suffers more than their president and I do."The Oprah-effect on full display : "You think you're suffering, hey, I'm really suffering, far more than you."During an interview on NBC's Today show Wednesday concerning Malaria Awareness Day, Laura Bush talked to Ann Curry about "other challenges her husband is facing."
"You know the American people are suffering watching --," Curry said to the first lady.
"Oh, I know that very much," Laura Bush responded. "And believe me, no one suffers more than their president and I do when we watch this, and certainly the commander in chief, who has asked our military to go into harm's way."
Curry then asked, "What do you think the American public need to know about your husband?"
"Well, I hope they do know the burden, the worry that's on his shoulders every single day for our troops," Bush said. "And I think they do. I mean, I think if they don't, they're not seeing what the real responsibilities of our president are."
The first lady admitted that "it's absolutely hard" to watch her husband "in this."
A video clip from Laura Bush's NBC interview can be viewed at Americablog.
As far as President Bush suffering more than anyone else over Iraq, he sure seems to be sleeping okay, and is remarkably upbeat. Dan Froomkin supplies the reality check, in Bush's own words :
"The nation might despair, but not Mr. Bush; his presidential armor seemed firmly intact."And, she noted: "On weeknights, the Bushes watch football or baseball on television, 'to try not to worry a little bit,' Mrs. Bush told CBS."
And at other times, Bush has made it clear that he is not overly troubled.
People magazine asked Bush in December if he had trouble sleeping. As Karen Travers blogged for ABC News, his response was: "I must tell you, I'm sleeping a lot better than people would assume."
That echoed statements Bush made in June 2005 to board members of the Radio-Television News Directors Association. "I'd say I'd spend most of my time worrying about right now people losing their life in Iraq. Both Americans and Iraqis," he said. But then he added: "You know, I don't worry all that much, other than what I just described to you. I attribute that to . . . I've got peace of mind. A lot of it has to do with my particular faith, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that a lot of people pray for me and Laura . . . I'm sleeping pretty good. Seriously. I get asked that. There's times when I hadn't been. I've got peace of mind."
Fred Barnes wrote in the Weekly Standard in March: "Bush's relentlessly upbeat demeanor, which he flaunts at press conferences and other public events, infuriates his political opponents and much of the mainstream media. They want him to act like the broken man they think he should be. Sorry, but he's a healthy man, mentally and physically. He's bolstered by his religious faith, his sense of mission, his scorn for elite opinion, and what an aide calls 'his really good physical shape.' Exercise and sleep help to 'keep his spirits high,' the aide says."
This would also not be the first time that the issue of whether Bush understands the sacrifices involved in the war has come up. For instance, in a January interview with PBS's Jim Lehrer, Bush was asked about shared sacrifice and responded: "Well, you know, I think a lot of people are in this fight. I mean, they sacrifice peace of mind when they see the terrible images of violence on TV every night. I mean, we've got a fantastic economy here in the United States, but yet, when you think about the psychology of the country, it is somewhat down because of this war."
