A DAY IN THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT BUSH (PHOTOS): 4.21.04

yahoo.com, whitehouse.gov ^ | April 21, 2004 | GretchenM

[GretchenM]

The war on terror, the Middle East, teachers, and prevention of breast cancer occupied the President's public remarks today.

The President spoke to the 2004 Newspaper Association of America annual convention in Washington; he "acknowledged difficulties in trying to head off another Sept. 11-type attack on the United States because America is a 'hard country to defend' and U.S. intelligence is never perfect," and said "a nuclear-armed Iran would pose an intolerable threat to peace and stability in the Middle East and a mortal danger to the state of Israel." He "rejected international condemnation of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and said world leaders owed him a 'thank you' for his plans for the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Bush said the Palestinian leadership has 'failed the people, year after year after year' by not preventing terrorism against the Jewish state." (Yahoo quotes)

The First Couple celebrated the 15th anniversary of the Komen National Race for the Cure, a five-kilometer run that raises funds for breast cancer awareness, and participated in the 2004 national and state Teacher of the Year award ceremony in the Rose Garden, where Laura told secrets on her husband from his student days.

Enjoy the Dose @ Sanity Island.

[GretchenM]

QUOTE OF THE DAY by Laura Bush: One day, my mother-in-law, Barbara Bush, received a call from the school principal, who said that George was in his office. She was shocked. George was a perfect student who was well-behaved and earned straight A's. She hurried to Sam Houston Elementary determined to give the principal a piece of her mind. But Barbara had to bite her tongue when the principal reported that George had disrupted his music class. In true Elvis fashion, he'd taken a piece of charcoal and drawn sideburns and then tried to perform for the other children.

By George Bush: I want to congratulate the teachers who are here from around the country. It is a -- it is a great experience for Laura and me to greet you in the Oval Office. I guess the word I would describe the teachers who came through is they're joyous people. There's such a joy that radiates on your face and in your character. And on behalf of our nation, I want to thank you for what you do. You make a great contribution.

First: Teacher of the Year Kathy Mellor; Second: Nancy Brinkler, The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation founder

[GretchenM]

Dose going up.

Pls wait to post photos till the All Clear.

[LADY J]

Thanks for the Dose, Gretchen!

[GretchenM]

For everyone who's ever wondered if these two can take a bad picture, here is the answer. It's hilariously bad photographic timing!

"President George W. Bush waves while National Teacher of the Year Kathy Mellor (L), from the Davisville Middle School in North Kingstown, R.I., is kissed by first lady Laura Bush, at the 2004 National and State Teachers of the Year awards ceremony in the Rose Garden"

[GretchenM]

Addressing the annual Associated Press meeting

[mystery-ak]

hello....thanks or the dose tonight.

[GretchenM]

At the Breast Cancer Prevention event

[GretchenM]

At the 2004 Newspaper Association of America annual convention

toasts with Tom Curley, left, president and CEO of the Associated Press

At right is William Dean Singleton of the Denver Post, an AP board member, front row, and Peter Bhatia of the Oregonian, president of ASNE, back row.

[Miss Marple]

Thanks, Gretchen! I saw a bit of the President's tie with the press group. I hope C-SPAN has the whole thing later. He did great!!

[GretchenM]

Teacher of the Year photos

[JulieRNR21]

I enjoyed this little poem & thought other Bush supporters might like it too:

Commission Impossible

    The "impartial" commission betrayed
    Public trust and became a charade:
    Unfair and uncouth,
    They have trampled the truth,
    Blaming Bush for the mess Clinton made.
    — F.R. Duplantier

       ---John McCaslin, Inside the Beltway
          April 20, 2004

[GretchenM]

Laura Bush relating the Elvis story

Kathy Mellor, center, a teacher at Davisville Middle School in North Kingstown, R.I., delivers her remarks after being awarded the 2004 Teacher of the Year award

[GretchenM]

That's all for now.

[GretchenM]

How was the press audience? Were they a tough group to address?

[maica]

I love the quotes you chose! Elvis, indeed!

I heard his address to the newspapermen on CSPAN radio, so did not see any faces, but did hear loud laughter when he thanked "the Politburo" during his opening remarks! I hope CSPAN will replay it tonight. Their website does not have this evening's schedule up yet.

[Iowa Granny]

Great Pics! Thanx

[altura]

ha, ha, ha, ha (sounds of glee at being in top 'something'

Thanks, Gretchen the New.

I have not been able to garner the masculine attention on FR as you seem to have, however unwelcome it might have been.

[Jemian]

I love that trophy. I would be so proud to receive that award from the hand of the Bushes.

Can you imagine that former occupant at a Breast Cancer Awareness Conference? The mind boggles. Overload!

[cubreporter]

Cute photo of some darned cute people. :)

[DrDeb]

AWESOME photos of our HIGH ENERGY first couple -- at last count, the President has already given speeches at THREE major events today!

Since I'm working late again tonight, I thought I'd post some articles for you now:


ARTICLE ONE
BAGHDAD, IRAQ — Cars spin down the street at night, tricked out with blue neon lights and sporting CDs dangled from their rearview mirrors. Thriving shops blare 50 Cent's In Da Club, while the young techie at one of the numerous local Internet cafés prefers to blast Nirvana. Cell phones with personalized ring tones and text messaging are literally everywhere. And teenage gamers while away their afternoons playing Vice City and Tom Clancy's Medal of Honor. Anytown, USA? No: Welcome to the new face of Baghdad, where, to quote Army Sgt. First Class Woods, the kids "want to be like Mike, not like Mahtma."

Everywhere you look in Baghdad, there are signs of capitalism. The streets are festooned with signs for Samsung and Iraqna, the major local cell-phone provider for the city. Satellite dishes — the possession of which was punishable by the state under Saddam — now hang from houses throughout the city. It is difficult to walk down Rashid Street because of all the large hand carts overloaded with televisions, computers, air conditioners, and microwaves.

The locals are snatching up not only Western goods, but Western culture. As you might expect, this is particularly true among the youth. In addition to listening to Western music, increasingly available thanks to the Armed Forces radio station, they also follow the lives of music celebrities in Arabic magazines, which chronicle events like Britney's Vegas wedding. With the proliferation of televisions and satellites, Arabic music videos — strikingly similar to Western videos — have become popular. And once rock and roll is introduced, sex and drugs must follow — well, maybe not, but the taboo against alcohol is loosening, as many of the local men sneak around in the evening to taste the forbidden elixir away from the condemning eyes of wives and clerics.

But perhaps the biggest influx of Western culture is in the area of fashion. Young women are increasingly abandoning traditional Iraqi garb in favor of more form-fitting clothes. And while the middle-aged woman across from the palace in Adhamiya may scream "Whores!" as the girls pass by in their more revealing Western garb, she does so only as a break from indulging in her own Western pursuit: hocking Pepsi on the street corner. Men are also quickly snatching up clothes emblazoned with English words, only to ask passing Americans to tell them what their clothes say. (Imagine their chagrin when they learn that their shirts' logo is not really English, but rather a Greek word for victory.)

There is also a particular fascination not only with things American, but with Americans themselves. If you tell someone from Baghdad that you are from America, you are likely to be met with excitement and the common exclamation: "I love America." They will want to know where you are from in America, and what you think of Iraq. Without prompting, they will tell you what their lives were like under Saddam, and how they have changed. And their children are likely to be drawn to the American soldiers — waving, smiling, and running to meet them. For those whose impression of Iraqi sentiment has been shaped by the nightly news, the Iraqi response to Americans may be the biggest surprise to come from a trip to Baghdad.
— Robert Alt is a fellow in legal and international studies at the John M. Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs at Ashland University. He is beginning his second of four months in Iraq.
http://nationalreview.com/comment/alt200404210832.asp


ARTICLE TWO
In the words of 1st Lt. Edward M. Solis, a platoon commander with 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, "If the enemy only knew our will, they would've given up by now."
http://nationalreview.com/comment/smith200404210857.asp


ARTICLE THREE
People leaving Kleinhans after Bush departed said they felt energized and stirred.

"It was awesome," said Amherst Police Chief John J. Moslow, who sat near Bush onstage and spoke for a few minutes during the event. Afterward, Moslow said, he and the president got a chance to chat about golf and running.

Listeners said they particularly liked that Bush seemed like a regular guy - joking, laughing, and sounding fierce when he talked tough about terrorism.

"I thought it was great," said Wayne Pohle, a Buffalo Fire Department lieutenant. "I thought he was really down to earth. He sounded just like a real people's person."

Some elected officials in the audience said the president seemed to pull off the event with ease. "He sounded like a normal person, like one of us," said Erie County Sheriff Patrick M. Gallivan. "That's something people like in a leader."
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20040421/1001526.asp


ARTICLE FOUR
. . . And given that "Plan of Attack" generally makes Bush sound pretty good, Woodward had to do something. He just couldn't bear being outsold by Richard Clarke. So what if he distorted the contents of his own book? He knows perfectly well that nobody actually reads him.
http://nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/19172.htm