Via Baldilocks, a Tale of Two Presidents: Weekend Priorities. It was the best of times:
FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) ― Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, visited wounded soldiers and their families near the site of the worst mass shooting on an Army post in the United States.
The Bushes made their private visit to Fort Hood’s Darnall Army Medical Center on Friday night. Bush spokesman David Sherzer said in an e-mail that the couple thanked Fort Hood’s military leaders and hospital staff for the “amazing care they are providing.”
And it was the worst of times:
11:25AM [Saturday] THE PRESIDENT addresses the House Democratic Caucus – Cannon House Office Building
2:30PM THE PRESIDENT makes a statement to the press on Health Care – Rose Garden
2:45PM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY depart The White House en route Camp David – South Lawn
You know, it occurs to me that POTUS has a pretty comfy airplane at his disposal. Rather than retreating to Camp David for the weekend, maybe the Commander in Chief could have gone to Fort Hood to visit the wounded? Baldilocks is a little more impassioned about it:
Even if one were inclined to give President Obama the benefit of the doubt and assume that he had asked Former President Bush and Mrs. Bush to visit the wounded soldiers because the Bushes live in Texas, why would he ask this of his predecessor and not get on Air Force One overnight to get down there himself?
Why would he not go to be with those whom he is charged to send into battle and who were so horrifyingly betrayed by one of their own?
Because he doesn’t give a rat’s backside, that’s why not.
Well, he did think it more important to give that shout-out to Dr. Joe Medicine Crow …
Update: Some days, the AP tries a little too hard to suck up:
Presidents get elected to run the nation. Some days that means knowing how to heal it.
For the first time since winning the White House, President Barack Obama faces such a moment Tuesday at Fort Hood. After a shooting that left 13 people dead and 29 wounded on the bustling Texas Army post, it is Obama’s job to offer some comfort, if not answers.
Obama will do so privately with the families of those killed, and then publicly at a memorial service sure to be watched by American troops around the world.
Perhaps he could have started on Saturday, rather than today, by skipping his Camp David retreat. (via Geoff A)
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