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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Sunday, May 07, 2006

This is Bush

(AFP)President George W. Bush, battling a slump in his poll ratings, expressed frustration that bad news from Iraq is drowning out what he called good news on the US economy.

In an interview with the financial news network CNBC, Bush said he had "been spending a lot of time on the economy" in his public pronouncements, to little avail.

"The problem is that we're in war, and sometimes it's hard for people to get a positive message about the economy when they're troubled by scenes of violence on the TV screens," the president said.

OR

BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush told a German newspaper his best moment in more than five years in office was catching a big perch in his own lake.

"You know, I've experienced many great moments and it's hard to name the best," Bush told weekly Bild am Sonntag when asked about his high point since becoming president in January 2001.

"I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a 7.5 pound (3.402 kilos) perch in my lake," he told the newspaper in an interview published on Sunday.

posted by mikevotes at 7:56 AM

5 Comments:

  • I watch much more news than the average American, and I see few "scenes of violence" compared to what I watched as a child and young teen during the Vietnam War-- what I see instead are puffs of smoke, people crying, but few bodies and none of them American.

    Re the economy, I hear pundits and reporters continually citing how well the economy is doing, except recently when they're also showing interviews of Americans at the gasoline pumps. Yet even then, there are at least an equal amount of reports stating that considered historically, these prices aren't so bad.

    So what is Bush complaining about?

    By Blogger Motherlode, at 11:30 AM  

  • They dont show scenes of violence, thats a laugh. They show polls, and car chases, and stories about missing white women. If the media actually did show the violence this war would have been over already.

    By Blogger Yukkione, at 12:47 PM  

  • Motherlode,

    You're right about the effects of war not being shown. And, that does have an impact on general sentiment. Part of the reason is the nature of the violence in Iraq. Alot of it is patrols that are attacked and there are so many patrols, and very few reporters take the available option of going on them, that just statistically the odds of having a camera present is pretty small.

    Also, on the major offensives, like Fallujah, Ramadi, Tal Afar, reporters are generally not carried to the fighting by the military. And, it's too dangerous for western reporters to work outside the military and roam the countryside the way they did in Vietnam.

    And, as to your second point, the economy is very strong in the macro numbers, but the evidence I've seen is that no real benefit is trickling down to the poor and middle classes. Inflation is relatively tame thus far, but even so, prices have gone up 3% a year in the Bush presidency, and yet wages are largely not keeping pace.

    And, LOC, I agree. I find the self censorship of the news amazing. They will not show gruesome images from the war, but wounds and scenes of torture are OK if they're on 24 or some other drama which couches them in a moreal play.

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 1:38 PM  

  • For the first time, I agree with Bush, I feel that catching a seven and a half pound perch in his lake was the best thing about his five years in office, too.

    By Blogger Lew Scannon, at 3:08 PM  

  • You're on fire today, Lew. That's two big laughs you've gotten out of me.

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 4:44 PM  

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