Dwight Stephens

In his op-ed column today, 3/18/07, on the eve of the fourth anniversary of President Bush’s prime time address declaring the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Frank Rich assembles an illuminating array of contemporaneous 2003 viewpoints with, in  his words, “where they are now,” updates.  Two of the most interesting ones involve comments from Barbara Bush and son George.
“March 18, 2003

Barbara Bush tells Diane Sawyer on ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ that she will not watch televised coverage of the war: ‘Why shoud we hear about body bags and deaths and how many, what day it’s going to happen, and how many this or what do you suppose? Or, I mean, it’s, not relevant.  So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?’

“[Visiting the homeless victims of another cataclysm, Hurricane Katrina, at the Houston Astrodome in 2005, Mrs. Bush said, ‘And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were under privileged anyway, so this–this is working very well for them.’

“March 19, 2003

*  *  *

‘When the president talks about sacrifice, I think the American people clearly understand what the president is talking about.’

-Ari Fleischer

“[Asked in January 2007 how Americans have sacrificed, President Bush answered: ‘I think a lot of people are in this fight.  I mean, they sacrifice peace of mind when they see the terrible images of violence on TV every night.’”

President Bush never seemed like his father’s son.  It appears that he isn’t.  He’s his mother’s son.  They are living in a separate reality–an alternative, insular universe, totally untouched by the world as it is.