February 28, 2006

Remember The Bush Media Blitz?

Well, with the Olympics over, Pres. Bush is picking up his media tour where it left off. Some highlights from his interview with ABC News' Elizabeth Vargas that's airing tonight and tomorrow on ABC.

Bush on ports doing something he rarely does, that is talk about himself in the 3rd person: "If I pick up my newspaper and see, you know, 'Bush turning over ports to terrorist nations,' I would be concerned, and I must confess, that was kind of the first blush. ... And, and so two lessons from this. One is, obviously, Congress should have had a better heads up, and secondly, that the explanation to the American people must be done in a way that, you know, lays out the facts and doesn't frighten people.

Vargas kept pressing Bush on whether the deal could be scuttled. Vargas: "I guess I just want to know if you're open to the possibility of this deal not happening, if that is an option here."

Bush: "You know, it -- and the only way it won't happen is if there is a true security threat to the United States of America."

More after the jump. (including an extensive Cheney update)

Here's an interesting legacy question.

Vargas: "If when you leave the Oval Office, the White House, Osama bin Laden is still at large, will you consider that a failure?"

Bush: "... Of course, we'd like to bring him to justice, and we'll stay up -- you know, the only thing I can tell the American people, so long as I'm the President, we'll stay on the hunt and we'll use resources and power and influence to convince others to join us on the hunt as well. And, you know, I'm an optimistic person. I believe we will bring him to justice."

The interview closed with a question about the potential new South Dakota anti-abortion law.

Vargas: "Just a few days ago, the legislature in South Dakota passed the most restrictive abortion law in this country with the intention, they say, of getting that all the way to the Supreme Court. They would like the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. Will your administration file a friend of the court brief on that?"

Bush: "I haven't paid attention to that, to this particular issue you're talking about. I can tell you I will put people on the Court without a litmus test. In other words, I haven't said to these judges, you know, 'Give me your opinion on this case if it would be coming your way.' And, you know, their job is to strictly interpret the Constitution. So I am not going to prejudge how the Supreme Court is going to judge a particular issue.

Vargas: "This law would outlaw abortion except when a mother's life was at stake. The life was at stake, not health. Would you support that kind of law being the law of the land?"

Bush: "Well, that, of course, is a state law, but my position has always been three exceptions: rape, incest, and the life of the mother."

Vargas: "Rape and incest you would include?"

Bush: "Yeah."

Vargas: "What about health?"

Bush: "Well, health is, you know, the life of the mother is how I view health."

Vargas: "So you would lump that together. It doesn't have to be she's going to die if she doesn't get this abortion."

Bush: "No. I said life of the mother, and health is a very vague term, but my position has been clear on that ever since I started running for office."

Here's the most detail Bush has gotten into re: Cheney's shooting.

Bush: "He's a strong fellow. He's a steady person, but no question that he was affected by it. He came in the Oval here, just he and I, and I said 'Dick, this got you didn't it?' And he said, 'It sure did.' I said, 'Well, if you feel like it, you oughtta share it with the American people.' And he did, he did a good job of talking about the, the pain he felt. And he was greatly relieved when he talked to Harry [Whittington], and found out Harry was going to be alright. You know, because first it looked like he was going to be alright, then he had the medical setback, and of course that, got Dick's attention in a big way. ... You know, all of us have got to learn to adjust, and, you know, particularly in this line of work, everything you do is public, everybody knows about it, and, uh, he's a thoughtful sensitive guy. And I, I know that people may not think that about Dick Cheney, but he is a very decent thoughtful person, and uh, he's from the West, kinda the old school you know, where you don't wear your emotions on your sleeve, but in this instance he did. And a lot of people saw it. And I thought, it was really good of him to get up and explain to people what he felt like ... so ..."

Vargas: "And just because we are on the topic of the Vice President ..."

Bush: "OK."

Vargas: "Are you committed to keeping him as your vice president?"

Bush: "Absolutely."

Vargas:"Until the end of your term?"

Bush: "Sure. He's a friend. He's got good opinions and good advice. Sometimes I accept his advice, sometimes I don't. But when I make up my mind, he's a strong supporter. And, that's what's important about having an administration of people of character and people who are willing to come in here and say, "From my experience," or people say, "My point of view is this." And I need to have different voices and different opinions and different emotions as I sort through some complex problems and make decisions. What I expect is people to give me honest advice, fair appraisal and then when I make up my mind it's yes sir Mr. President. And that's how our administration works. And Dick Cheney's a valuable part of that administration."

Posted at 06:31 PM

Comments

you forgot to mention that he said we will stay in Iraq until it is stable again, civil war or no.

toko_loko | 02.28.06 07:05 PM

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