Maybe the recent diary about Bush's mental state was on my mind, or maybe I'm just used to Bush never seeming to show any genuine emotion (except maybe irritation and anger). But when I saw a headline on CNN that read Emotional Bush visits amputee vets, I clicked on it, because I really wanted to see if our President seeing the results of his policies actually had an effect on him.
Turns out the story is from the AP, and is actually titled "President Visits Wounded Soldiers." It appears that the CNN.com editor wanted to "pump up" the story, emotionally, and took Bush's assertion as fact, instead of statement. The only reference in the article in regards to Bush's emotional state is what he said, in the lede.
President Bush said Friday he was moved by his visit to the bedsides of injured troops, an annual pre-Christmas tradition of comforting soldiers that he began after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Even that appears to be a statement from his spokesperson, Dana Perino, not an actual quote to reporters from the President himself.
What does it say about the quality of this administration that I can have a hard time even believing that Bush is stricken by the sight of Americans maimed as a direct result of his policies? I don't want my gut to always tell me the worst of this man, but he's offered nothing but the worst, again and again for years, and I just can't bring myself to give him even the slightest benefit of the doubt, even if it's a glimmer of basic humanity.
I am tired of feeling like this. But I also know it won't change until the man is gone.