Not sure I understand either. If "we know Bush is a jerk" - as you say - doesn't that put you in danger of descending to the same level you say the writer has descended to? Or is it something else about the writer (other than him telling bush that he was doing a bad job) that you didn't like? Maybe knowing it is O.K., but saying it isn't? Or is it the saying of it right to his face that is wrong?
I have to agree with Bush that nobody does care what this person thinks. That's just a fact that all of us non-famous and non-rich people live with. It's true: nobody cares. But since Bush volunteered to be considered for a job where he should (at least theoretically) care what the people he is representing think - that's his job afterall - isn't this sort of an inappropriate comment? Yes, nobody cares; but a "representative of the people" should at least pretend to care a little about what the people he is representing think. If not, who is he representing? (Yes, I know the an$wer.)
Of course, this could easily be a B.S. story, so who knows... And in any case, I'm not surprised. It won't make any difference in the big picture (or even in the little picture.) Still I think it's a good story. And I'm not immediately convinced the writer is a jerk.
Bill Clinton would have said "I'm sorry you're disappointed, what can we do?" It wouldn't necessarily be sincere, just a smarter way to deflect the question politically. You could always say Bush was "having a bad day," but his kneejerk response to the question seems very much in character. Whatever the writer's motivations, if his essay convinces anyone to doubt the Smirker-in-Chief (who didn't already), it's a worthwhile exercise. This is war, after all.
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I have to agree with Bush that nobody does care what this person thinks. That's just a fact that all of us non-famous and non-rich people live with. It's true: nobody cares. But since Bush volunteered to be considered for a job where he should (at least theoretically) care what the people he is representing think - that's his job afterall - isn't this sort of an inappropriate comment? Yes, nobody cares; but a "representative of the people" should at least pretend to care a little about what the people he is representing think. If not, who is he representing? (Yes, I know the an$wer.)
Of course, this could easily be a B.S. story, so who knows... And in any case, I'm not surprised. It won't make any difference in the big picture (or even in the little picture.) Still I think it's a good story. And I'm not immediately convinced the writer is a jerk.
- jim 7-19-2001 9:58 pm
Bill Clinton would have said "I'm sorry you're disappointed, what can we do?" It wouldn't necessarily be sincere, just a smarter way to deflect the question politically. You could always say Bush was "having a bad day," but his kneejerk response to the question seems very much in character. Whatever the writer's motivations, if his essay convinces anyone to doubt the Smirker-in-Chief (who didn't already), it's a worthwhile exercise. This is war, after all.
- tom moody 7-19-2001 10:17 pm [8 comments]