A day in the life of President Bush (photos): 04.08.05

QUOTE OF THE DAY: TO THE PRESS POOL ON AIRFORCE ONE ......"I think a walk in faith constantly confronts doubt, as faith becomes more mature. And you constantly confront, you know, questions. My faith is strong. The Bible talks about, you've got to constantly stay in touch with the Word of God in order to help you on the walk. But the Lord works in mysterious ways, and during all our life's journeys we're enabled to see the Lord at work if our eyes are open and our hearts are open. And today -- you can analyze and you can look at the coffin being held, with the sun shining on it, anyway you want. I happen to feel it was a special moment that was part of a special ceremony for a special person. And it helped strengthen my faith. And you can have your faith strengthened on -- you can have your faith strengthened when you stand up at a faith-based initiative and see someone standing up and testify to what their love has done to help a child, or how a child's life has been helped"

ENJOY YOUR VISIT TO SANITY ISLAND!

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Dose Ping

I love that man!

Thanks

What a nice surprise. Thanks for posting this thread.

From W's conversation with the press aboard AF1 today.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1380016/posts

He breakfasted with Tony Blair Friday.

THE PRESIDENT: ... What I say publicly, I say privately. ...

THE PRESIDENT: I think Pope John Paul II will have a clear legacy of peace, compassion, and a strong legacy of setting a clear moral tone. ... A clear and excellent legacy.

Q ... you talked about a lot about what struck you from this ceremony. [How] were [you] struck by the wake ... the other night. How do the two ceremonies -- you know, different kinds of emotions in the two?

THE PRESIDENT: I felt -- I mean, obviously, we were surrounded by a crowd at the wake, but I felt -- when I was kneeling there, I felt -- I'm trying to think of the right word

-- "alone" isn't the right word, because I was aware of people, but felt much more in touch with a spirit. I really did. I was very much -- felt at peace there, and was prayerful. And at the other ceremony, it was probably just because of all the sights and sounds and majesty and colors that, you know, I felt more like a spectator than a participant, but more of a spectator.

THE PRESIDENT: ... [The Pope] had a sparkle, he really wanted to show us this beautiful setting [the Castel Gandolfo]. I would define Pope John Paul II as a clear thinker who was like a rock. And tides of moral relativism kind of washed around him, but he stood strong as a rock. And that's why millions -- one of the reasons why millions came to admire and love him.

... it is as clear example of Christ's influence in a person's life that he maintained such a kind of hopeful, optimistic, clear point of view amidst struggles -- in his case, physical struggles. And that's -- a lot of Christians gain great strength and confidence from seeing His Holiness in the last stages of life.

... But there's a reason why the largest crowd ever to come and pay homage to a human happened, and it's because of the man's character, his views, his positions, his leadership capacity, his ability to relate to all people; his deep compassion, his love of peace.

... The Bible talks about, you've got to constantly stay in touch with the Word of God in order to help you on the walk.

On energy: Eventually what we're going to have to do is change our habits. Change the types of automobiles we drive. I believe we will have a zero-emission coal-fired electricity plant. I saw the -- when we went to Cleveland -- or Columbus, we saw the technology involved with that. But Congress needs to get me an energy bill. And it seems like to me with the price of gasoline where it is, that ought to be enough this time to cause people to get moving on the bill. But I'll continue to push it.

Tax relief: And then, eventually, we're going to have this tax relief commission come forward.

Social Security: You covered my campaigns -- every speech, I talked about Social Security. And I started talking about Social Security in the year 2000. ... You might remember the ads that they ran against me when I was running for office, that said, if George W. gets elected you're not going to get your check. I'm sure you guys analyzed those and realized that upon election, people got their checks -- which might say something about those who ran the ads, right?

... the grandchildren are going to pay an enormous price. You heard those experts sit up there and say that if nothing happens it is likely younger workers are going to have to pay an 18 percent payroll tax. ... But if I were my daughter hearing somebody predict that at some point in time she's paying an 18 percent payroll tax, I'd be suggesting to the old man -- me -- that I get something done. And that's what we're doing. We're working hard to get it done.

... I've heard members say -- I'm not going to tell you who they are, nor what party they're from; I wish you hadn't have brought this up. ... There are a lot of people who would rather not talk about this issue. I understand that. Again, I don't think that's part of my job description: avoid issues because it may be politically difficult. I think my job description is: if you see a problem, talk about it and work with members of both political parties to come up with a solution.

About the Bush-Clinton-Bush relationship:

Q What has it been like spending time with the former Presidents for three days? That's the longest time --

THE PRESIDENT: It's fun. Oh, it's great. You know, we share war stories, you know, a lot of talking, a lot of interesting experiences about different world leaders that we may all have met -- or all three of us met. Just different experiences that, you know, my dad might have had or President Clinton might have had.

There is a lot of interest, obviously, with former Presidents about, you know, policy, so I had them sit in on our policy briefings this morning with Condi and Steve and the CIA fellow traveling with us -- not this morning, yesterday and the day before, on Air Force One. And then yesterday at the embassy I wanted to include them in. And, you know, we had a -- these CIA briefings a lot of time prompt policy discussions, you know, how is this process going, Steve -- and Condi, now that she's here, both of them were able to bring dad and President Clinton up to date on our strategy in dealing with a particular issue. It's interesting to get their points of view about their experiences in particular countries. It was fun. It was really a lot of fun. I was honored they came.

Q Are you worried about them spending so much time together, those two? (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: Well, you heard my Grid Iron speech. (Laughter.)

Clarifying his remarks about doubts and faith: By the way, I think when you discuss religion -- on doubt --there is no doubt in my mind there is a living God. And no doubt in my mind that the Lord, Christ, was sent by the Almighty. No doubt in my mind about that. When I'm talking about doubts, I'm talking about the doubts that an individual struggles with in his or her life. That's important for you to make sure you get that part of the dialogue correct, if you don't mind.

Q What are your plans this weekend?

THE PRESIDENT: Like Stretch, I'm on the injured reserve list from running, so I'll be mountain biking. I think Cat McKinnon is going come up from Austin. Oh, yes. And I'll be fishing. I'll be finishing my book, "Peter the Great," by Robert K. Massey. ...

We'll have briefings, Condi is coming to spend the night, Hadley will be spending a night there. We'll start briefing the Sharon visit Sunday night. And then we'll obviously greet the Prime Minister and then head off to Fort Hood on Tuesday morning, and work on that speech probably Monday evening. Looking forward to getting back down there again. I may do a little cedar work, depends on how sleepy the crew is.

THE PRESIDENT: ... I hope, I haven't heard, but it may be that the wild flowers, are they out yet? They say there is going to be a spectacular blue bonnet season this year, I mean, spectacular.

Thank you, Mike, for another great edition of this thread.

"President spoke to the Press Pool on the way back from Rome.. It is a must read"

Indeed it is. Sincere, genuine, the President spoke from the heart and beautifully expressed, I think, his feelings about Pope John Paul II.

There would be more pics today if they didn't include Der Schlickmeister in them. I simply refuse to post a picture of X42. But below is a link to the Press Pool interviewing President Bush, it is a must read

PRESIDENT BUSH W/ PRESS POOL ON AIRFORCE ONE

Thanks for the pics. Does anyone know who the lady is wearing the hat in front of Laura? The man on her left is probably her husband, but I don't recognize him either.

That's it for pics for now, I'm sure there will be more after AF1 lands in Texas

Queen Sofia of Spain

Wow. This picture speaks volumes.

Great pictures for the Dose, Mike.

Thanks for posting.

What a beautiful funeral Mass; Thanks to our President for paying homage to our Holy Father.

Where's Clinton?

I LOVE president frenchie kissing Condi's hand! I also love seeing President Bush with his little reading glasses.

I also LOVED hearing him take clintbilly to task!