Bush Ain't No Bubble Boy

Commentary from Austinist is in italics. Obviously.

On bubbles and shopping

Brian Williams: Now, how do you wake up on a Monday morning? I brought some visual aids. [Smart move, Bush responds well to visual aids. After nap time he likes to finger paint.] I have Newsweek and Time. Cover of Newsweek, look what they've done to you. "Bush's World: The isolated president, can he change?" And inside Time, it says "Bush's search for his new groove." Time magazine says you're out there talking to people. Newsweek says you're in here not talking to people. So what is truth, Mr. President?

President Bush: Well, I'm talking to you. You're a person. [Ah, excellent observation sir.]

Williams: This says you're in a bubble. You have a very small circle of advisors now. Is that true? Do you feel in a bubble?

Bush: No, I don't feel in a bubble. I mean, you feel in a bubble in the sense that I can't go walking out the front gate and, you know, go shopping, like I'd love to do for my wife. [Like all husbands would be, Bush is greatly disappointed. But we assume Laura is much happier with the earrings the intern from Georgetown picked out for her birthday.]

On decision making

Bush: I remember the day we committed the troops, or I committed the troops, there’s no “we” to it. [Gotta love the democratic process. But when it comes to matters that cannot be easily correlated to a video game…]

Williams: There's one estimate that 6 million Americans may request financial assistance just to stay warm...

Bush: Heat? Yeah, we'll work with Congress on that, there certainly is. [Wait, "there certainly is" what?]

Williams: Can we afford that? Can we afford to help those people?

Bush: Well, we'll have to see what the — yeah, I mean, we're going to have to help them. If they can't afford energy — I mean, to heat their homes, we'll do the best we can to work with Congress to help them. [A well articulated approach to teamwork, to be sure.]

On being informed about current events

Williams: You, yourself, said to a reporter, I think it was Brit Hume, that you'd prefer to get the news orally from your aids?

Bush: Well, that's one way to look at it. I mean, I read the newspaper. I mean, I can tell you what the headlines are. I must confess, if I think the story is, like, not a fair appraisal, I'll move on. But I know what the story's about. [At least some of the stories come with pictures. Like, those are totally unbiased. And way prettier than words.]