A Day in the Life of President Bush (photos) 12.22.03

Yahoo,Whitehouse.gov,Reuters,AssociatedPress | 12/22/03 | TruthNtegrity

[TruthNtegrity]

The President had a busy weekend. He called the President of China to thank him for his recent comments on Taiwan and they discussed by phone how to restart North Korea nuclear talks. During the conversation Saturday night, the two leaders made a favorable appraisal of Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to the United States this month. Hu told Pres. Bush he hoped the goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula can be realized through a way acceptable to all parties concerned.

Sunday, after attending St. John's across the street from the White House, the President met with his Security Council and Sec. of Homeland Security, Sec. Ridge. As a result of these meetings, based on the increase of chatter, the threat level has been raised to "High".

Monday, the President met with his Homeland Security Council meeting, including officials from the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), after the domestic security threat level was raised Sunday from yellow, denoting an "elevated" risk of attack, to orange or "high" risk. The President also met with Iraq Administrator, Paul Bremer, for an update, the week following the capture of Saddam Hussein. The President was also scheduled to meet with Sec. Defense Rumsfeld.

President Bush scheduled several events Monday to send Hanukkah greetings to Jews celebrating the eight-day Festival of Lights this holiday season. The President was to meet in the Roosevelt Room of the White House with rabbis and Jewish community leaders in Washington. Before leaving for Camp David, Pres. Bush was scheduled to host an annual Hanukkah reception at the White House and speak at a ceremony to light a menorah, or candelabra.

Then he left for Camp David where he will spend Christmas, leaving the day after for the Crawford Ranch where the First Family will celebrate the New Year's celebration together.

The President's diplomatic day continued from Camp David. President George W. Bush swapped views with China's President Hu Jintao on ending the North Korea nuclear crisis, in a telephone call (1:45 PM Monday) which also touched on mainland tensions over Taiwan. Pres. Bush also eased the path for his Iraq debt envoy James Baker who arrives in Beijing on December 30, after visits to South Korea and Japan.

[TruthNtegrity]

Quote of the day: From the President's radio address on Saturday: "Some of the men and women I have met are members of the armed forces, who volunteer time in their communities on top of their service to the nation. And next week, I look forward to helping a generous group from Virginia distribute Angel Tree gifts to children whose parents are in prison. [snip]

This holiday season, I ask every American to look for a challenge in your own community, and step forward to lend a hand. You can learn about thousands of service opportunities by visiting the USA Freedom Corps website, usafreedomcorps.gov. Many Americans volunteer with their families, allowing them to spend time together while improving the lives of others. And if you find a need that no one else is meeting, you might want to start a group of your own."

Welcome to the Dose and Sanity Island!

[TruthNtegrity]

Forgot to post the picture of the President meeting with reporters at the White House this Morning.

Best Picture of the President of the Day

[ZOTnot]

Top ten?

[TruthNtegrity]

To streamline the work of this thread, please wait to post any pictures you find until today's author indicates he/she is finished with the initial photo posting work. Thank you.

[Mudboy Slim]

Good afternoon...MUD

[2Jedismom]

Woohooo!

[Soaring Feather]

Here I am.

[Soaring Feather]

Hi,

Good to see you!

[RobFromGa]

Merry Christmas, President Bush.

[MamaB]

Hi, How are you? I have another headache from being in stores with lots of perfume smells. Very allergic to it.
Thanks for doing this. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I was in a store and it had a small stuffed animal which said a kid's prayer. Another lady was standing there, so I told both Jan and the lady that the store should not let that be in there that it might offend someone! Both agreed with me! Isn't that a shame?

[MamaB]

Merry Christmas!

[TruthNtegrity]

The President had a busy weekend. He called the President of China to thank him for his recent comments on Taiwan and they discussed by phone how to restart North Korea nuclear talks. They are shown in this file photo from June 2003:

U.S. President George W. Bush waves to the press before entering St. John's Church in Washington, December 21, 2003. Pres. Bush will spend Christmas with his family at Camp David in Maryland but met with security advisors on Sunday. Sec. Ridge of Homeland Security raised the Terrorist threat alert to "High" based on "chatter".

Secretary of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge, speaks with the media outside the Oval office at the White House, Monday, Dec. 22, 2003, in Washington. Ridge briefed President Bush after attending a security council meeting.

This is part of the speech Sec. Ridge made outside the Oval Office.

"The strategic indicators, including al-Qaida's continued desire to carry out attacks against our homeland, are perhaps greater now than at any point since September 11, 2001. The information we have indicates that extremists abroad are anticipating near-term attacks that they believe will either rival or exceed the attacks that occurred in New York, in the Pentagon, in the fields of Pennsylvania nearly two years ago.

Recent reporting reiterates - and this is a constant stream of reporting - that al-Qaida continues to consider using aircraft as a weapon. And they are constantly evaluating procedures, both in the United States and elsewhere, to find gaps in our security posture that could be exploited.

Our actions, our considerable actions, are directed against their efforts. We have not raised the threat level in this country for six months. But I remind everyone, we have raised it before.

President George W. Bush walks from the Oval Office toward Marine One in Washington. Bush met with his top anti-terror advisors, one day after the US government raised the nationwide security level over concerns of an impending domestic attack.

As a note of interest, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar is shown addressing Spanish troops in Diwaniyah, Iraq, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2003, in this image from video. Aznar paid a surprise four-hour visit to Spanish troops in Iraq on Saturday, having lunch with them in a desert canteen and thanking them for their sacrifice, in a trip reminiscent of U.S. President George W. Bush's Thanksgiving Day visit to American soldiers stationed in Iraq.

Here is what the increased security looks like in Washington, DC.

[TruthNtegrity]

Good to see ya, Mud.

Have any new lyrics for us, like maybe on Homeland Security?

Just wondering - I'll accompany you with my guitar, if you have any!

[2Jedismom]

Good to see you too! Another one of my chickens is laying...just started today. That makes three now! I got three warm eggs before lunch today!

[Mudboy Slim]

It ain't exactly new...but contrary to Lib'ral thought, the Liberation of Iraq is directly related to the War on Terrorism and, therefore, Homeland Security...

"FRee Iraq!!"
(To be sung to Bob Seger's "Like a Rock")

Strength and Boldness...Whuppin' Lib'ral Scum!!
Ignorance is Legion...DemRATS're Sleazy BUMS!!
We fight fer FReedom...Right's never been this strong...FRee Iraq!!

Left's like pre-teens...RATS don't have a CLUE!!
Libs LOATHE our FReedoms...Ignorant Poltroons!!
Folks, Right is Winning...Socialists Dispair!! FReepers ROCK!!

These days're heady...our Fight's 'tween Wrong and Right!!
Our Noble Purpose...the World we shall Enlight!!
Right must hold firmly...'cuz FReedom's Worth the Fight!!
FReedom ROCKS!!

FReepers ROCK!! RightWing's Strong 'cuz we are FRee!!
FReep Iraq!! Liberate the WHOLE MidEast!!
FRee Iraq, Sheeple Blossom When FRee...FRee Iraq!!

God is GOOD, God is Great!! In His Hands we trust our Fate!!
Reject Left's hustlers and RATS' schemes!!
Right stand proud...Right stand tall...Left's about to Fall!!!
MUD still believes in his dreams!!

(TruthNtegrity killin' it on guitar...MUD on pie-anny)

Forty years, Lord...Where'd they go?!
Forty years...I'm gittin' old!!
Still, we're fightin' against...Clinton's SCUM!!

And sometimes late at night...ohhh, when I'm FReepin' by candlelight...
The tunes come to me and All IS Right!!
And I recall...I recall....

FRee Iraq!! FReedom's the World's Fate!!
FReepers ROCK!! Shrink the Fed'ralist State!!
Like Iraq!! The World We'll Liberate...like Iraq!!

FReepers ROCK!!! Treason's why we FReep Slick!!
RATS're "shocked"...Left's arses Right Shall Kick!!
Like Iraq, the Righteous Win AGAIN...Like Iraq!!

Mudboy Slim

[DollyCali]

Thank you TNT... President bush looks very solemn in this sequence..

He carries so much for us all..

[ThePythonicCow]

Y'all be sure and visit the Laura Thread, at Brian Kilmeade: The most attractive First Lady in the history of all first ladies. It's got plenty of Laura pictures, some I've never seen before, some posted by OhioWfan.

[TruthNtegrity]

Did you spot any of the ninjas on the roof of the White House? They're there, trust me. I can see two in the first picture of the White House and 3 in the second.

And that picture of the President walking toward Marine One? No wave up to the private quarters, because the First Lady is at Camp David. And doesn't this picture show "the weight of the world" on him?

Heavy are the shoulders of a President who bears the burdens this President does. But we know that he prays and that God and his lovely Laura and his family sustain him.

I say, lets all double our prayers for the First Couple, their family, members of his Administration, for Congress and SCOTUS and for all of us this holiday season when we are at HIGH threat level.

God bless us all and keep us safe.

[TruthNtegrity]

Thanks for the link. I'll check it out soon.

For now, I need to leave to get to the Post Office before the after-work crush. Wish me luck?

I'll be back and will check for more pictures in about an hour. Until then, continue on!

ZOTnot - I like you SN! Very clever. Wish I'd thought of it, actually.

[TruthNtegrity]

Good post. I wish the First Couple and their family a very happy celebration of the birth of Christ and a wonderful New Year.

Have you heard that our Dubya and Laura are in bed by 9 PM as usual, so no watching the ball drop in Times Square at Midnight or any other kind of revelry.

But they have their own tradition - getting up for a sunrise walk together on the ranch.

I'll be thinking of them as I watch the New Year's festivities on cable, and wishing them the best for their sunrise walk, when I will still be sound asleep!