Bush's Bubble Apparently Keeps Him Young

No man ever took his job as president more seriously than Franklin Roosevelt and the weight of all his responsibilities probably killed him in the end. But Roosevelt's efforts left us the strongest country in the world, with a magnificient economy, an enormous middle class, new prosperity for millions of Americans and years of relative peace compared to the previous hundred years. A third world war never came.

At the other end, we have Bush. President Bush's perpetual what-me-worry attitude keeps him young in the face of his many blunders. Here's a story from Ann McFeatters of the Scripps Howard papers:

This year's agenda is almost too grim to contemplate. Energy bills are crushing. (Congress remains divided on what to do if anything.) The horrifying carnage in Lebanon continues. (Bush refuses to endorse an immediate ceasefire because Israel is opposed.) The national debt is staggering. (Bush and Congress want more tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.) Global warming is becoming serious. (Congress and Bush are not ready to do anything.) The working poor are working harder for less money. (Republicans will back a small increase in the minimum wage if Democrats swallow their antipathy to lowering taxes on inherited wealth.)

(snip)

...Fresh from his annual physical, Bush is one of the healthiest, fittest presidents we've ever had. Sure, his hair is grayer. But he has aged far less than most of his predecessors.

And he remains absolutely convinced he is "the decider" making the right faith-based decisions - staying in Iraq, supporting Israel even as the world interprets his words and actions as anti-Arab, increasing the budget deficit, keeping Donald Rumsfeld on as defense chief, working to transform the world by spreading democracy or rather his version of it through military force. To Bush, being president means never having to say he's sorry. To tell him he might be wrong or bring him bad news or cause dissonance in his serene world is to antagonize him and be thought disloyal.

It's now well acknowledged that Bush is happy in his bubble of self-imposed isolation. He meets with foreigners but without true give-and-take even in crisis conversations. Foreigners visit the White House as they used to go on bended knee to ancient Rome. Bush travels but sees few real people. All is scripted. He talks with advisers but rarely interacts with members of Congress, even senior Republicans....

There's no question anymore that Bush will go down as the worst president in American history. But the real tragedy is the damage he is doing to our nation, our people and our democracy.