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"I'm the kind of person who likes to be outdoors; it keeps my mind and my spirits up and it keeps me a balanced
person,"
-G.W.Bush
"It's important for people to get outside and to work. I'm making a lot of improvements on the ranch, and I find that to be a good part of keeping me a balanced
person,"
-G.W.Bush
Is it me, or does this sound like someone a little overly concerned with their mental health? I mean, lots of folks are worried about the whole stupidity thing, what with the British and Russian press running an article today estimating W’s IQ at 91, the lowest of any President ever and only 21 points away from retardation (which legally speaking makes
no difference in Texas anyway), but did I miss something? Did the New York times go with a banner headline "PRESIDENT DANGEROUSLY UNBALANCED! NEEDS TO GET OUTSIDE!"
Everyone needs a little R&R now and then. I’m taking a vacation myself. Gonna jam the family and all our traveling gear into our second-hand car and head on down to the Jersey Shore where my Mom has rented a house for a week. Of course, the Commander in Chief’s vaca will be a little different. He’s going to Waco. He’s got a house there. He’s the nation’s first Branch Dividian President. And you thought Lieberman was busting the glass ceiling. He’s also taking a month.
A month, okay? And he deserves it.
Never mind that more than half the country thinks that’s shameful. Never mind that most of us are lucky if we get a week of paid vacation. Never mind that if you add all the days he’s spent at Rancho Del Privaligio he’d been there a month already since taking office, so by the end of this month he’ll have been ‘vacationing’ a little more than a quarter of his Presidency. It’s not as if Dick Chenney is on vacation with him. He can’t afford to vacation. All the money in the Chenny family vacation fund is going toward utility bills this year. Oh, wait, the Navy’s paying for that. I guess he doesn’t go on vacation on account of that whole country he needs to look after. You think getting a cat sitter is hard? Never mind that the only pictures the press have to run of W this month are of him playing golf.
George
Dubya: A Master in the art of "Golfery"
You wouldn’t want to have the Leader of the World’s Last Remaining Super Power get unbalanced, would you? The constitution doesn’t say anything about how much paid time off the Big Guy gets, he could take 365 days a year and there’d be nothing you could do about it, but he doesn’t! If your boss said you never had to come in, I bet you’d take more than a month off! Jesus, it’s not like the poor bastard is blackmailing us! It’s not as if he’s saying "I’m the Commander in Chief! I have the Nuclear Launch Codes with me at all
times! You wouldn’t like me when I’m unbalanced, now for God sake, LET ME GO PLAY OUTSIDE!!" You know what I think your problem is? You just have no appreciation of how stuffy the Oval Office can get in summer.
And this is a working vacation, damnit! You think I’m taking a satchel full of papers down the shore this week? I certainly am not. I read in the paper W. got himself a national security briefing in the car on the way to the Golf Course this morning. And he’s reading that big heavy book on John Adams! What are you bringing for a beach read? Jackie Collins?
Besides, Old W. has got the image problem licked. Know what he and Laura are doing today in the 100 plus Texas heat? They’re going to help build a house for a poor single mom and her two kids. That’s right. POTUS is gonna go slam a few nails ala Jimmy "I’m the only living ex-president with a shred of decency" Carter. It’s a nice gesture. Almost makes up for all the lumber and hardware three hundred bucks would have bought if she hadn’t been too poor to get a tax refund.
I hope someone’s making sure W gets enough fluids. He’s been bragging regularly to the press about how a Texan like him can take the heat. He might keep hammering even after the press have their pictures. Wouldn’t want him making up his mind about stem cells or some such on an addled brain. Of course if his IQ really is just 91, it’s not like anyone will notice if he gets a little Waco Baked.
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