I can’t get it to load, but surely he wouldn’t be picked?
If I were the attorney (either side) I would NOT want him–not because of the lack of brains or ability (although these are formidable),but because of the 3 ring circus of publicity that would surround him…
I smell a PR spot to lift approval ratings. Has there ever been another sitting President picked for duty?
This is so bogus. Who in their right mind would choose him as a forman of a jury.
The Waco (I’ve always believed it should be pronounced Wacko) *Tribune-Herald *doesn’t feel “president” (as in President of the United States) should be capitalized. I knew Bush’s numbers were dropping but to not even rate a capital letter in his home state…
Personally, I’d excuse him from jury duty. His administration doesn’t seem to be “into” the whole trial-by-jury idea.
I think that according to AP style, the word is capitalized when you’re using the title in reference to a specific person, but not otherwise.
At least, the court would need to be reassured that he understood that he should not cherry-pick the evidence to support his predetermined conclusion.
Maybe he won’t show, will be arrested for failing to show, and everybody can link to his mugshot!
My dad, who owns his own business, just sends in a business card and brochure for his business whenever he gets called. This always gets him excused.
I wonder if Bush can just send Condaleeza or something? 
From what I read on CNN Bush has informed the judge that he won’t be available to go for jury duty at the time requested of him. The judge has said he doesn’t have a problem with this and Bush’s press secretary has said the President plans to arrange a later date at which he can serve his jury duty.
Bush has actually been called up for jury duty before (what are the odds, I’ve never been called), when he was Governor of Texas, but he got completely excused from it saying it would interfere with executive duties. I find it strange he’s not just doing that now, but rather saying he wants to arrange a later date to participate. Maybe it’s because he was lightly chided for skipping out on jury duty in Texas, or maybe because Kerry was recently in the news for serving on a jury.
It is his home state after all. They do still like him there, right?
Well, at least there’d be real grounds to impeach him. One guy lies about a blowjob, another blows off jury duty. Heh, good thing we’re keeping a close eye on what these presidents are doing.
Can’t Bush just serve in the National Guard instead of going to jury duty?
Who’d want him on the jury panel? His presence would be too disruptive, not only from a security perspective, but his fellow jurors might find it too difficult to concentrate on the trial. “Hey, I’ve got the President of the United States sitting six feet away from me. I’ll never get another chance. I’m going to finally tell him what I think of the Iraq situation.”
He won 61.1% of the popular vote in the 2004 elections (cite), which was less than 8 other states. With his drop in ratings, I would imagine he’s nowhere near that popular any longer.
Didn’t Kerry just get called and serve as foreman on a trial in his home state?
Yup! At least Kerry was man enough to do his time, militarily and civilly.
I absolutely detest Bush, but I don’t think he should serve while he’s in office. While I’m sure the government can get by a day or two without him, should we really be without our leader* if he ends up on a trial that lasts days or weeks? It’s not like he can just stop what he’s doing and take a phone call or a meeting, or if he did, he would be disrupting the entire proceedings. His presence wouldn’t be fair to the defendant (assuming a criminal trial).
(Plus, all the prosecution would have to do is claim the defendant is an enemy combatant, and Bush would want to whisk him away to a secret location for “questioning.” ;))
*Regardless of who you (generic, not Madd Maxx in particular) thinks is really running the country, he’s still seen as the leader.
IIRC, Bush’s explanation was that he might be asked to pardon the very person he had voted to convict. That conflict would not arise now (the President cannot pardon people for state crimes, only federal ones).
The flip side to that is that there will be those jurors who wouldn’t dare contradict the prez, and just vote whichever way he voted.
For these reasons and others stated above, I also think it would be a bad idea for this or any other sitting president to serve on a jury.
Hmmm…so if jury deliberations are private, does that means Bush can’t have the secret service in with him? I assume they would be at the door to the place (wel, as well as all over everywhere else,) but would they violate jury privacy in some way to keep him safe?
What if another jury member, picked by the legal process, is considered “undesirable” by the Secret Service? If I were defendant in the trial I would ask my attorney about the possibility of jury tampering by the SS.