Tony Snow: Bush's Public Concern For Troops Ends Where Damage To White House Begins
February 20, 2007 -- 6:55 PM EST // //
There was an extraordinary moment at Tony Snow's White House press briefing today. Snow was pressed pretty hard by reporters over the Walter Reed army hospital scandal, and at one point, he assured reporters that President Bush cares deeply about the troops in a moment you'll want to watch for its sheer theatrical value:
In that exchange, Snow spoke of Bush's concern for the troops as follows:
I can tell you that the President feels passionately about them, and you should have no doubt about it -- you've been at enough events where when he looks these people in the eye there is a commitment, a strong, profound emotional commitment to the people who serve this country. And it is one where the President is committed to doing right by the men and women who serve. There should be no doubt about that.
But at another point, Snow was asked if the President would ever be saying anything about Walter Reed, and the answer was startling:
QUESTION: The White House doesn't want to be on record with a more emphatic expression of amazement and upset about this?MR. SNOW: No. David asked where the outrage -- of course there's outrage that men and women who have been fighting have not received the outpatient care -- if you read the stories, there are many who are happy with it, some who are unhappy, and it's important that we show our commitment to the people who have served. I don't know what more you want me to do.
[...]
QUESTION: Do you think the President is going to say something about this later?
MR. SNOW: No.
Am I wrong for finding this extraordinary? Bush has a "profound emotional commitment" to the troops. But Snow was unequivocal: The White House has no plans whatsoever to say anything -- ever, not even through a spokesperson, no matter what we learn -- about something which bears directly on their actual mistreatment. If you read through the whole press conference, it's just one long exercise in evasion and the too-clever-by-half sloughing off of responsibility on to someone else -- in this case, the Department of Defense. It seems obvious that the overriding concern in play is that saying anything at all about this risks linking the White House to the Walter Reed scandal.
In other words, Bush's public concern for the troops ends where the mere potential for political damage to the White House begins. Watch how Bush feels about the troops -- not what he says or does. When it comes to things that actually effect the troops, the buck stops anywhere but at the Oval Office -- but while we're on the topic, please give the President credit for having profound feelings about them. In a way, that's the story of this Presidency in a nutshell, isn't it?
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