Interesting Moments In A Presidency
Dean
President Bush fairly often gets caught in little moments on camera that seem to say a lot about him. A moment I remember well was an incident where the President walked onto the Marine 1 helicopter and completely ignored the guard at the bottom of the stairs, then suddenly turned and walked back down the stairs just to return the startled young man's salute.
It's things like this, or the trip to Baghdad for Thanksgiving last year, or the time he stopped to spontaneously hug that girl whose mom was killed in the World Trade Center, that really stick with those of us who actually like this President.
There was another such moment yesterday. It's not as dramatic as some people make out. President Bush noticed a scuffle his Secret Service agents were involved in, and pushed his way into a crowd to pull one of his guys out. Then he calmly straightened his suit and made no more of the incident.
Daily Recycler has the video. Powerline says, "Secret Service agents aren't supposed to say what they think about the men they guard, but, hey--we can guess."
Yeah.
Acckk! Sorry, just channeling my inner moonbat. Time for my meds, I guess.
Anyhow, I can't shake the impression that W. is a very Tom Clancy type of President.
Clinton drove them crazy with a lack of respect and cooperation.
I've worked alongside the Secret Service before. The guys I met were at the same time 100% professional and dedicated men (and one woman), and oddly similar to your typical enlisted soldier, griping nonspecifically about their job.
They also have the world's coolest ID cards.
Oh, and kudos to Bush!
1) GWB isn't afraid to "get his hands dirty," and do what needs to be done to correct a situation;
2) he cares about those who work for him, and makes sure they have the tools they need to do their jobs (including the resource of proximity, in the case of his lead USSS agent);
3) there was an element of physical risk, in that (had the Chilean security people not recognized whose arm that was reaching in there) Bush certainly could have suffered a black eye or a bloody nose;
4) part of Bush's motivation was surely that he was being conscientious about his own safety, given how important it is to this country that he stay safe, and have his security detail at his side. Being careful about his own safety was a way of respecting his own office and this country--at least, the way I read it.