President Bush began the new year on Sunday at the bedsides of wounded servicemen and women, and awarded nine Purple Hearts to U.S. troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. ...Boy, I bet that joke had all the soldiers clapping. Except for the ones who lost their hands and arms, of course.
"This hospital is full of healers and compassionate people that care deeply about our men and women in uniform," the president said after his visit with the wounded troops. "It's also full of courageous young soldiers and marines, airmen. I'm just overwhelmed by the great strength of character of not only those who have been wounded but of their loved ones as well. "
Bush spent the past week relaxing at his ranch where he rode his bike, cleared brush and prepared for his sixth year in office. He and his wife, Laura, and her mother, Jenna Welch, stayed at the ranch on New Year's Eve and had a steak dinner.
The president had a two-inch scratch across the left side of his brow.
"As you can probably see I was injured myself, not here at the hospital but in combat with a cedar," Bush quipped. "I eventually won."
True, it probably would've been funnier if they'd had the president walk in with one of those Purple Heart Band-Aids they used to mock John Kerry during the election. That would've been awesome. "Hey, troops, remember how we mocked past winners of this medal? Well, that could be you too, someday! So thanks for your sacrifice. We'll be shitting all over it as soon as it becomes politically expedient." Maybe the wounded troops would've prefered Bush's side-splitting skit about searching for WMDs around the Oval Office. I mean, we all found that joke hi-larious, and we're not even the ones who risked our lives and lost friends searching for the actual WMDs that were supposed to be out there. I mean, I bet they could appreciate that joke even more!
(Salute to Catch.com for catch.comming the AP story.)
Update: Dependable Renegade has photos of the event. Not surprisingly, there's not a single person other than Bush smiling in them.
5 comments:
Nicely done, OM. I had to move quickly to spare the items on my desk from the acid dripping from my screen...
Yeah, sorry about that. Bush's little hey-we're-just-alike! routine always rubs me raw, but this put me over the top.
That was a top-notch post! Possible caption for the photo: "Whoa, Nelly!"
That makes me so mad I could just choke on a pretzel!
Bush's comments were actually worse. According to Maureen Dowd, right after saying "I eventually won" he said:
"The cedar gave me a little scratch. As a matter of fact, the colonel asked me if I needed first aid when she saw me. I was able to avoid any major surgical operations here, but thanks for your compassion, colonel."
Yeah, that's exactly what I'd say to a roomful of soldiers who'd just been through major surgical operations and, in all likelihood, had several more ahead of them. Well played.
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