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

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

[CyberAnt]

Part of the problem is that there are toooooo many judges who agree with the ACLU instead of with the law. That's another reason why the dems are so eager to keep Bush's judicial appointees from being confirmed.

[ohioWfan]

Hey, Nancy........how are you doing these days?

Are you going to make it until January?? (Can't seem to make the days go faster.......)

[ohioWfan]

Thanks for the Dose Truthy! And thanks for subbing for me Friday.

btw, in those doll pictures.....does the one on the right remind anyone of Bozo??

[CyberAnt]

Did you see Geraldine Ferraro on Hannity .. they were talking about the American public's 67% approval of war - that it was the right thing to do.

She said .. "well .. that poll was taken right after Saddam was captured" and then I changed the channel.

However .. I seem to remember the approval for the war has always been over 60%. True ..??

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Yes, It's better thanks!

Not so much pain now, as soreness and stiffness.

God, girl, you had me laughing so hard the other night when you were making those truffles..what a blast!

I want some for Christmas!

No Dose tonight, huh? Hmmmmm

If I were W I would get Laura sapphire earrings to match her eyes..

What the heck do you get the Prez??

The Dudes' got it all!

Ms.B

[TruthNtegrity]

Thanks, Dr.Deb. Here you go!

Remarks by the President in Visit with Angel Tree Children

Shiloh Baptist Church

Alexandria, Virginia

3:20 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Reverend Lee. Thank you so much for having us here. Lee, thank you very much. Merry Christmas to everybody.

We are so honored to be here to celebrate the Angel Tree Christmas. This is a program in which people who love you a lot want you to have a merry Christmas. And I want to thank Chuck Colson and Mark Earley of the Prison Fellowship program, which has been hosting and organizing the Angel Tree program since 1982. Six million boys and girls have received their gift on Christmas. And I want to thank you very much for doing that. (Applause.)

Our attitude is, I know the Reverend here at Shiloh shares this attitude, that we change America one heart and one soul at a time; that everybody matters, everybody counts; that every child has got a hopeful and bright future; and each of us has a responsibility of loving that child with all our heart and all our soul. And it's important that all of us during this time of -- joyous time, this holiday, recognize that probably the greatest gift you can possibly give is to love a neighbor just like you'd like to be loved yourself.

And that's what we're doing today. We're honoring that call to love and the call to service. And so Laura and I are thrilled that you're here. We look forward to joining the good Reverend here as we pass out some of the gifts to the boys and girls.

REVEREND EARL: Absolutely. And thank you for the gifts that you provided.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. We're honored to be here. (Applause.)

We want to wish you a merry Christmas. And we've got some gifts to give out, don't we, Laura?

MRS. BUSH: Yes, we have a lot of gifts to give out.

THE PRESIDENT: Where do we want to start? Right over here? Okay, good.

END 3:23 P.M. EST

President's Remarks

Remarks by the President at the Menorah Lighting Ceremony

Bookseller's Area the White House

4:32 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all; welcome. Hanukkah celebrates a great miracle and a great victory: the triumph of faith over tyranny.

More than 2,000 years ago, the land of ancient Israel had been conquered, and the practice of Judaism was outlawed. Yet a patriot, named Judah Maccabee, and his followers courageously captured Jerusalem. As the Maccabees prepared to rededicate the holy temple, they found enough oil last for only one day. But the oil lasted for eight days, a miracle that we remember by lighting the menorah.

The Jewish tradition calls on us to honor every commandment with works of beauty. This beautiful menorah, more than two centuries old, is from the Spertus Museum in Chicago, and Laura and I are honored to have it here at the White House.

I want to thank Kol Sasson from the great University of Maryland for joining us today, and thank you for lending your beautiful voice for this occasion.

Tonight, as we prepare to light the candles, we hope and pray that all who live under tyranny will see their day of freedom, and that the light of faith will always shine through the darkness. We also pray for the brave men and women of our armed forces, many of whom are spending the holiday season far from home and their loved ones. We are grateful for their service to America, we're grateful for the support and sacrifice of their families.

And now, Jacob Murphy and Sidney Hallem will help us light the candles. Their fathers are serving in our United States Armed Forces with distinction and with honor.

(The menorah is lighted.)

* * * * *

Q Mr. President, do you have any words for Americans who are worried about traveling this holiday season?

THE PRESIDENT: My words are these: our government is doing everything we can to protect our country. We've got a lot of really decent hardworking Americans who will be working over the holiday season to do everything we can to protect Americans from harm. And I want to thank them for their efforts, thank them for their hard work. American citizens need to go about their lives, but as they do so, they need to know that governments at all levels are working as hard as we possibly can to protect the American citizens.

Thank you, all.

END 4:40 P.M. EST

[TruthNtegrity]

I thought I saw Bozo, but mostly on the right, I was checking out the Reagan doll. My two favorite Presidents - Dubya on the left, and Reagon on the right, in that doll picture.

Somehow the clown that was x42 just never seems to come into focus for me. He represents 8 years I'm trying to forget.

[TruthNtegrity]

It sounds like you're doing GREAT! I'm so happy to read your report.

Keep going - and you'll be off of those crutches and dancing a jig in nothing flat.

That PT is hard stuff but so worth it.

God bless,

Truthy

[TruthNtegrity]

Are you guys piggy or what?

Do I get overtime for posting more pictures?

I was just about to say "G'night" and go to bed to catch up on missed sleep from the weekend.

Ok, I'm off to check Yahoo now.

(Some people are never satisfied. You'd think they had a whip in their hands or something. Grumble, grumble. Yawn!)

[homemom]

Glad you enjoyed the truffle making!

Want me to post the recipe? They're really easy, and good for you too (NOT!)

He mentioned in that interview last week that he'd gotten her something, and it was expensive. He seemed serious about it, and she seemed surprised. It was cute. Jewelrey is ALWAYS appropriate! But just HOW does he go shopping? Take the Secret Service? Close the store? Internet?

Yes, that dude has it all! I bet she gets creative, with poetry, or something he mentioned he'd enjoy and forgot he even mentioned it, but she'll get it for him. Something for fishing, maybe?

I got my husb. Magic Sea Monkeys this year. A kid's fun thing, but I think he'll get a kick out of it. The kids are fascinated with what they will be like.

[ohioWfan]

Nicely said, Truth.

Perhaps its best to keep x42 out of focus. It may be the only way to keep perspective on the aberration that he was in the history of this great country.

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Thanks Truthy!

I'm workin' hard on ditching those crutches!

Thanks for the PING to the thread about Laura, it was awesome!

Ms.B

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Sure, post that recipe! (hic)

I got Mr.B a snazzy navy blazer for when he returns to the Legislature in Jan.

Also got him his favorite scotch.

Gotta hurry up and post his in case he walks through the door!

Ms.B

[DrDeb]

MORE GREAT POLLING NEWS:

WASHINGTON POST/ABC NEWS:

12/21/03 59% approve 38% disapprove (+21)
12/14/03 57% approve 39% disapprove (+18)
12/07/03 53% approve 40% disapprove (+13)

Interesting crosstab stats:

PARTY
Republicans: 90% approve
Independents: 60% approve
Democrats: 32% approve

REGION
Midwest: 60% approve
South: 62% approve
West: 64% approve
East: 49% approve

ELECTION
Bush: 55%
Dean: 37%

EXCERPT:

Bush Gets Year-End Boost in Approval
Poll Shows Dean Surging Among Democratic Rivals

By Dan Balz and Richard Morin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, December 23, 2003; Page A01


Growing optimism about the economy and a spike in support for going to war in Iraq have given President Bush a sharp year-end boost in his approval ratings, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, suggesting that the president is in a strong position politically as he looks toward his reelection campaign next year.

The boost for Bush comes after the capture of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and a succession of brighter economic indicators that helped to reverse a decline in his ratings that began in the early fall. His overall approval rating stands at 59 percent in the poll, the highest since August, when increased U.S. casualties and terrorist attacks in Iraq led the public to question his policies.

The poll also shows former Vermont governor Howard Dean surging ahead of his rivals in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, cementing his status as the party's front-runner a month before the first major contests, in Iowa and New Hampshire. But when matched against the president, Dean fares badly, both in a hypothetical trial heat and on who is trusted to handle both national security and domestic issues. Even many Democrats said they still know little about Dean or his views.

The poll findings show why many Democrats are nervous about Dean as a potential candidate against Bush. They also underscore the concern within the party that, because of the heavily front-loaded primary and caucus calendar, a Democratic nominee may effectively be picked before party activists outside a few early states have had a chance to evaluate the candidates and participate in the decision.

The poll also shows greater confidence in Bush's handling of both Iraq and the economy. On Iraq, three in five (60 percent) said they approve of how he is dealing with events there, compared with 48 percent in mid-November, and 59 percent said the war was worth fighting, up six points in a week.

Americans were evenly divided over whether Bush has a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq (48 percent to 47 percent), but that marks an improvement for Bush after four months of net negative assessments on that question. Nearly seven in 10 want the president to give the United Nations and other countries a larger role in the reconstruction effort in Iraq.

On the economy, a bare majority (51 percent) approve of Bush's performance, the first time he has been above 50 percent since late April. The new poll found that 42 percent of Americans rate the economy as "good" or "excellent," up from 33 percent in late October. The percentage who rate the economy as "not so good" or "poor" (57 percent) is the lowest since just before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22493-2003Dec22.html


OK -- REALLY, I'm off to wrap presents!

[TruthNtegrity]

It sounds as though you might have taken a couple extra pain pills after your PT today - did you miss the pictures at the beginning of this thread? They are there!

And more coming. I like to put them in a file and then copy them here.

Coming right up..................

[DrDeb]

I'm sooooooooooooo glad your mom is going to be with you over Christmas!!!! I'll be thinking about you and Mike -- May God bless you both!

[BTW: Did Mike ever get his second package?]

[DrDeb]

. . . you are TOOOOOOOOOOOOOO funny and I am soooooooooooooo demanding! [Like I tell my hubby, someday you will be sainted!]

[TruthNtegrity]

President George W. Bush watches as U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Neil Murphy holds up his son Jacob, 6, to light candles on the Menorah during a ceremony marking the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah at the White House December 22, 2003. Also watching at right are Sidney Hallem, 6, and his father, Marine Corps Lt. Colonel Wayne Hallem, far right.

The President, Laura's Mother and Laura head for Marine One for the trip to Camp David.

Marine One flies over the National Christmas tree and looks like it is heading straight for the Washington Monument but the pilot made a steep bank shortly after this picture was shot. Trust me!

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Well!

No pain pills today at all!

I'll check out the photos..

Ms.B

[rintense]

Prayers for you and your mom, Mo1!!!