A reader agrees: “Derb—I’m with you all the way regarding your last
Corner posting. As I watched the press conference, I was thinking that the
President reminded me of a graduate student at his oral prelims who wasn’t
really ready, but thought the committee would just let him skate through. To
wit–Reporter: ‘Mr. President, during the 2000 campaign you stated
that the biggest mistake in your life was trading Sammy Sosa. What has been
your biggest mistake post 9/11?’ Bush: ‘Um. . . Gee whiz, Fred, I wish you
would’ve submitted that question in writing beforehand so that I could
prepare for it.’ Well Jesus, Mary, and Martha, how could he (and his group)
not anticipate that kind of question? Even a trite reply of ‘never
apologize, never explain’ would be better that the answer he gave.”
This is right. It sometimes seems that GWB is determined to play to the
negative stereotype of him, viz. that he is lazy, sloppy, and ill-prepared.
First-hand accounts of the administration, like David Frum’s book,
don’t leave that impression at all — but only us inside-baseball types read
those accounts. To the great majority of voters, Bush is what he appears to
be at events like last night’s: sincere, human and patriotic, but at the
same time lazy, sloppy, and ill-prepared.