Glad you're OK, now shut the hell up
Yesterday, Bush held a quick news conference and gave a tepid acceptance of the Walter Reed Commission report...
Read about it here:
...anyway, ABC's Bob Woodruff was in the press gallery .. and Bush's prepared speech recognized Woodruff’s personal journey back from near-fatal injuries he'd suffered in Iraq:
"I also want to recognize Bob Woodruff here. He is a — he himself was wounded, severely wounded, and went through the system, to a certain extent. And we welcome you back, and we’re glad you’re with us. And we would hope that any wounded soldier, any person in uniform would receive the kind of care and the ability to return to work, just like you have done. And so we’re glad you’re with us, Bob. Congratulations on the will to recover…"
Nice little nod to Bob, huh? Compassionate, huh? But wait a minute .. there’s more to the story I heard on NPR radio.
Everything would have been fine, had Woodruff not had the temerity to actually ask a question .. about whether the government was moving fast enough to help families.
The preznit declined to answer .. and not just the smile-and-nod-and-not-answer routine. He gave that snarky little laugh and said, “Just because I recognized you, Bob, doesn’t mean I’m going to answer your questions here.”
In other words -- “Thanks for letting me use you as a prop, Bob, now shut the hell up.”
How do you like that? Upstaging a guy who had half his head blown off.
And I'd bet my life on one thing -- that the 'system' civilian Bob Woodruff went through once he was back stateside isn't the same one that our similarly wounded vets are put through.
If only Bob would do a special segment on how he was USED as a prop at Bush's event .. on how Bush snubbed him.
If only we lived in a democratic society and were free to ask our president questions .. or not have him run like a thief in the night when we ask a tough question.
Oh to have a president who can think on his feet and speak spontaneously and coherently without a written speech.
