Jules Witcover, veteran political journalist and author of the new book Party of the People: A History of the Democrats, takes a look in his regular column at Bush's visit to Britain last week. He's not unique in seeing it as less than completely successful. But he brings his own considerable insight into Presidential politics to bear in describing his own view.
A jolly bad show for Bush in London Baltimore Sun 11/24/03
<< Instead of cheering crowds lining the streets for Mr. Bush, few Britons got a glimpse of him. What tens of thousands of souls did turn out for was a chanting, placard-pumping march through the heart of London protesting his untimely visit and, in their view, his unwarranted and unwanted war.
<< Coming around the 40th anniversary of the death of President John F. Kennedy, what a contrast it was with Mr. Kennedy's rousing, triumphant, public entry into Berlin in June 1963. Had Mr. Bush had an opportunity, in the fashion of Mr. Kennedy's famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, to proclaim, "I am a Londoner," you can only imagine the ensuing public uproar.
<< Protesters, by the nature of their job description, are given to excess. Still, the erection of a gold-covered papier-maché effigy of Mr. Bush branding a missile in Trafalgar Square, and its toppling to mirror the way the Saddam Hussein statue in Baghdad was brought crashing down, was a graphic commentary on how U.S.-British relations -- in the streets, at least -- have fallen. ...
<< The spectacle of the American president in tails wining and dining at Buckingham Palace, when he apparently has little time to attend the funerals of American servicemen killed in the war he started, only compounded the folly of his London rescue operation for Mr. Blair.
<< Even as Mr. Bush was undertaking it virtually undercover, the American dead being brought home in caskets also were being kept largely out of public view, lest the cost of his war policy in terms of the human loss be overly emphasized. Abroad and at home, stealth seems to be the standard operating procedure of this war administration. >>
3 comments:
One of the best articles on his roadtrip I've read, Bruce!! Excellent work!! :)
That Happy Chicca,
Marcia Ellen
Witcover is one of the best political reporters and commentators in the business. It's a shame he doesn't get more exposure nationally, although his new book is getting good reviews. He doesn't get carried away with fads. But he's also not bogged down in the conventional wisdom that most political reporters get stuck in. - Bruce
This to you is embarrassing but blow jobs in the white house are probably just fine with you right?
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