By AMY HARDER
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In his final White House press conference, President Bush joked with reporters, commended President-elect Barack Obama and gave explicit -- and notably rare -- acknowledgments of mistakes he made in office.
Putting a "Mission Accomplished" banner on an aircraft carrier for his May 2003 speech declaring victory in Iraq "was a mistake," the president said. He also conceded that his botched attempt at Social Security reform "was a mistake."
But Bush refused to say the same of other controversies, such as the 2004 Abu Ghraib prison scandal and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. These were "significant disappointments," he conceded, but "I don't know if you want to call those mistakes or not."
The press conference was marked by a diverse mixture of humor, grave warnings for the incoming administration and nostalgia, with the outgoing president reflecting back upon everything from Iraq to Hurricane Katrina to his feelings upon taking office back in 2001. He joked with nearly every reporter who asked him a question, dubbing this press conference "the ultimate exit interview."
When asked what would be the most urgent threat facing Obama, Bush said, without hesitation: "Attack on our homeland." After pausing for a couple moments, he continued: "I wish I could report that that's not the case, but there's still an enemy out there that wants to inflict harm onto Americans." Bush also expressed his fears about nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran.
Bush praised Obama, calling the president-elect a "very smart and engaging person" and "a better speechmaker than me." When asked about the historic nature of Obama's election, Bush said that it "speaks volumes about how far this country has gone in terms of racial relations."
Bush tackled several questions about the harsh criticism his administration has faced over the past eight years. He downplayed the "loud voices" (i.e., his most fervent critics), saying that they "didn't affect my policy," and he even compared the criticism of him to that leveled against Abraham Lincoln: "A lot of the discourse about the 16th president [was] just like it has been of the 43rd president," Bush said.
TARP Talk
One of the first questions asked, not surprisingly, concerned the second $350 billion of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Bush said that, if Obama says he needs it, he will seek it from Congress in the final eight days of his presidency, but that he doesn't "plan on making the request unless he specifically asks me to make it."
When asked what Obama should do with the money, the outgoing president wouldn't comment. Much in the same way Obama has been fielding questions regarding the Mideast conflict, Bush reiterated that "there ought to be one person in the klieg lights at a time. I've had my time in the klieg light." Perhaps foreshadowing future commentary, however, Bush added that "I'm confident you'll catch me opining on occasion."
So, what are Bush's plans post-presidency? Not too much relaxation, Bush emphasized, describing himself as a Type-A personality. When asked about when he plans to start working again, Bush quickly responded: the "next day." "I just can't envision myself in a big straw hat with wine, sitting on some beach," he quipped. "Particularly since I quit drinking."
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Responded on January 14, 2009 11:29 AM
James Raider
Obama can be given a pass for not wishing to look backward.
The rest of the country, however, should look back.
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http://pacificgatepost.blogspot.com/2009/01/is-obama-right-to-ignore-bush.html
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Too many pieces of the system need fixing to let things slide.
Responded on January 12, 2009 2:40 PM
Patrick Cardiff
This farewell to the press gave us a perfect portrait of a man who was never prepared to take on the responsibilities of POTUS, yet incomprehensibly did so, for two LONG terms. When he acted, he was generally wrong; he stuck to his beliefs despite overwhelming advice to the contrary; he defended himself to the US and to the world with lies he eventually believed himself. What does the "speed of government response" during Katrina have to do with plucking 30,000 people from roofs with helicopters? What does landing Air Force One in New Orleans have to do with the LIVES LOST and people still suffering without a home because our government did not and does not care about poor people. The disconnect between what the White House did, and how the press corps (supposedly representative of the American public's concerns) disseminated facts, and finally how the President sees the events in hindsight are difficult to understand, even disturbing. We are left wondering whether everything that came out of Washington was spun out of control. O...
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This farewell to the press gave us a perfect portrait of a man who was never prepared to take on the responsibilities of POTUS, yet incomprehensibly did so, for two LONG terms.
When he acted, he was generally wrong; he stuck to his beliefs despite overwhelming advice to the contrary; he defended himself to the US and to the world with lies he eventually believed himself.
What does the "speed of government response" during Katrina have to do with plucking 30,000 people from roofs with helicopters? What does landing Air Force One in New Orleans have to do with the LIVES LOST and people still suffering without a home because our government did not and does not care about poor people. The disconnect between what the White House did, and how the press corps (supposedly representative of the American public's concerns) disseminated facts, and finally how the President sees the events in hindsight are difficult to understand, even disturbing. We are left wondering whether everything that came out of Washington was spun out of control.
One thing I will not miss is our leaders trying to keep us in our place with this culture of fear. Bush may have used the word "terrorist" more than any PERSON, let alone President, in the modern age. But the sense of relative size is lacking. 9/11 was terrible and I think of the souls lost for no cause because murder is wrong. The event fell disproportionately on us - in NY and DC - what percent of the US population did it directly affect? There are people who will to attack the US? SO WHAT! We have enemies! Attend a UN session once! It's a real lesson to find most of the world is not fond of the US, and very much less fond than it used to be.
Does anyone think that our government can stop terrorists from doing their dirty deeds on our soil? Sure we interdict, investigate, prosecute, but to what extent can we really prevent, honestly? I would rather be realistic about threats than be lulled into a false sense that the US government can prevent ANYTHING from happening. A visit to the Department of Homeland Security does not inspire confidence, by the way. Or is it that we as citizens should be constantly vigilant, to the point of losing sleep? One cannot design an effective policy agenda around fear.
Everything in this press conference today was personal, psychological, bordering on paranoid. He evoked instances of the Third Estate as enemy for a number of occasions. He seemed to justify the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghrieb from the press lashing his Administration took for its unpreparedness to deal with 9/11. Throughout he responded, in defence, acting the unpresidential politician he has been for eight solid years of tarnished American reputation. He came off as a mistaken man, still too stubborn to listen to reason, still too dangerous to ignore.
This bizarro-world of Mr. Bush has people beginning to invest right now, in the drop middle of the worst recession we have ever had. I, for one, am going to take a wait-and-see approach. He makes the provision of billions and billions of dollars for the second part of the bailout contingent on President Obama asking for it. He wants him to debase himself. That's just weird.
We complete the winter of self-centeredness, hopefully. If history is in any way beneficial to the 43rd president, it will be in his efforts to have so polarized this country and paved the way to a new reform of mind, a revolutionary democracy. Everything Obama does has to be a repudiation of conservative money politics. START THINKING OF OTHER PEOPLE, in other words, and we might get somewhere.
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