In this article Jonathan Chait of the LA Times criticizes President Bush for exercising too much for a man with his power. What the hell? I can’t say I agree with many of the President’s policies, but this is one thing the man does right. How can you criticize him for doing something positive that we should all strive to do? I don’t understand this.
He’s accusing Bush of not taking his job seriously enough because he spends so much time keeping in shape. This guy is an idiot if I understand him correctly.
Unfuckingbelievable. Rather than select an item from a whole list of tyrannies, the dumbass elects to criticize his exercising. I’m begining to believe that Rove is not a genius; it’s just that his enemies are idiots.
Gee. I am pretty critical of the Bush administration with regard to many policies, but the head of State exercising daily? Can’t get worked up about that. I think it’s a good example to set. And I think that crack about many of us having more demanding jobs is just silly. If exercise is a leisure time priority, then yeah, quite a few of us can swing an hour or so a day for it. Having a more demanding job has nothing to do with it. Granted someone pulling a 60 hour a week work week might have an issue, but considering the vast swathes of leisure time lots of us spend watching tv, surfing the web, and just generally slothing, well… hard to get too riled up about someone using some time every day to work out.
Dunno about working out giving you the capacity for more intelligent thought, but it certainly is associated with better mental health.
You get the feeling the major exercise this columnist gets is walking to the kitchen cupboard for more doughnuts.
See, if the guy had any actual examples of where Bush’s devotion to exercise clearly caused him to postpone or neglect urgent matters, then I’d say that he might have a point. But just grousing that he spends too much time exercising is ridiculous.
Chait asks, “Does the leader of the free world need to attain that level of physical achievement?”
Well, he doesn’t necessarily need to be in such good physical shape, but I’m glad that he is. A physically fit person is better able to handle stress and discomfort. And as we saw on Sept. 11, sometimes whether you live or die depends on how fast you can run. We are now living in a world where the thought of a direct attack on the White House is plausible. So if the president is strong enough to pull himself out of the rubble or run like hell, so much the better.
Chait also says, “The notion of a connection between physical and mental potency is, of course, silly.”
But the notion of a connection between physical and mental well-being is anything but silly. Chait’s disparaging attitude towards physical activity make me think he is either a 98 pound weakling or a flabby oaf and is trying to justify his own sedentary lifestyle by taking potshots at the obviously hale and hearty Mr. Bush.
Besides, the presidency is a long haul. 4 or 8 years? Yikes. I’m all for the president trying to achieve some balance in his life.
I hate Bush as much as the next bleeding-heart New York liberal Jew, but his exercise habits? Good for him.
So it could be argued that some vital duties were neglected due to Bush’s exercise regime. However, I consider it mere coincidence that it happened while Bush was out biking. After all, if he didn’t use his free time exercising, he’d use it on something else, ehich may pull him equally out of the loop.
I’ll criticize Bush for taking too many vacations and not interrupting his vacation for the tsunami, but making sure he flew back for the Terri Schiavo fiasco. But spending time exercising? I’d rather Mr. Bush exercise than spending his time doing cocaine or getting drunk.
As previously noted by Green Bean, Chait apparently thinks that there is no connection between exercise and “mental potency”. I certainly find such a connection. After running a few miles, I feel much more alert, energized and able to focus. I can only assume from this that Chait does no aerobic exercise at all. Most people I talk to about this say that they experience an increase in energy and productivity after exercise. Daily exercise is creepy?
And blathering about subjects about which one knows nothing doesn’t seem like a very demanding job to me.
