In response to my post on Obama’s aloofness, a lot of email like this:
Surely you recall the media making hay of Bush reading a
book to some group of small children on Sept. 11, chastising
him for “going on reading while the US was being attacked”
among other things. Wanna bet the same spin is put on
Obama’s meeting with AmerIndians during an attack on US
soldiers?
Yeah, me either.
And:
How about when Bush was informed of the WTC strikes on 9/11, and he finished reading to the children? I believe the left and the media were pretty hard on him for this.
I think this is an absolutely fair point about the shabby double standards of the press and left. But I always thought Bush’s response was fine. It was also very different than Obama’s, at least as I understand it. Obama was briefed on the shooting before he went out. He opted to do the schmoozy stuff. Bush was presented with staggering news and kept his cool. Not that these readers disagree, but this example works in Bush’s favor and against Obama. And it makes a lot of Bush’s critics look even worse for politicizing that moment on 9/11.
Update: From a reader:
I’ve never understood the ’scandal’ of George W. Bush’s “My Pet Goat” moment.
He was in a room full of small children. What was he supposed to do? Break down sobbing and scream ‘we’re all going to die’?
He spared the kids unnecessary trauma, and the couple minutes spent finishing the story didn’t really count for anything in the long run. In short, he acted like an ADULT.
Obama’s response was bizarre. He was speaking to a group of adults, many of whom probably already knew about the shooting. He seems to have no idea what constitutes a ‘big’ event or a ‘presidential’ response. It’s like we have a 14 year old running the country, and while Joe Biden is OLD, he’s not mature enough to reign Obama in…..
It’s going to be a loooooooong couple of years, IMO……