It’s just the first small section. There were a couple letters to the editor as well (the 1st and 3rd) regarding the president’s dismissal of “Mayor for Life” Jerry Abramson. I’m not all that enraged by it so I didn’t put it in the pit, so I’ll try and pose it as a debate. Was My Bush rude? Yeah, Mayor Jerry’s a Dem, but he is the local chief, isn’t it polite to say hi? Or is this more “typical” partisanship from the champeen partisanship player of all time?
I’m leaning more toward the second (with perhaps an I don’t care shrug at #1), cause he did meet with metro council GOP Caucus chairman, Kelly Downard. Since he met a guy who’s a Republican and didn’t meet with a guy who’s higher up on the local political scene and a Democrat, it seems a little, well, politically motivated. Especially since I heard on NPR this morning that Mr Downard is contemplating a move for the Mayor’s office next term.
I was surprised at that as well. I mean, Jerry’s a pretty nice guy no matter what side of the fence you sit on. I thought it was either a snub or thoughtlessness, but when I heard about Bush meeting with Downard I suspected that someone was looking for some cred. I don’t think it was just partisanship. I saw him shining a spotlight on Downard combined with the cowboy attitude of “I’ll do what I want to do, dammit”. Rude: yes. It’s just plain good manners to greet the host. We were one of perhaps four (?) counties in Kentucky that went blue instead of red, and since he likes to preach to the choir, we weren’t included.
I imagine that the councilman from the 25th district is green with envy, though.
Bush did get a mandate, and he’s thanking all of those folks who, uh, “mandated” him.
[C-USA Tournament]
Tough tournamenet game today, huh, astro? I’ll admit to disliking Memphis for years, because of that coach from several years ago whose name escapes me, but, man, I feel for that kid who missed the free throws to lose the game for you guys. I don’t like winning on plays like that, I prefer to sompletely demoralize opponents. But I’ll take the win.
[/C-USA Tournament]
How much effort did Jerry Abramson expend helping Mr. Bush get re-elected?
How much effort did Kelly Downard expend helping Mr. Bush get re-elected?
I’m no expert on the situation, but I’m willing to bet the answer to #2 > the answer to #1.
Now Mr. Bush is in a position to thank Mr. Downard, by giving him some publicity at the expense of his soon-to-be political rival.
And you don’t like that?
Well… too bad. (Or if I may briefly call upon the sentiment I expressed when this Board’s members were screaming and wailing in early November of last year… BWAHAHAHA!)
Oh, the horror! Bush the Meanie helps a GOP would-be candidate’s position to the detriment of a Democrat’s! He’s the President! He should campaign for everyone, equally!
BWAHAHAHAHA!
It should not be difficult to discern from my guffaws that this line of reasoning is absolutely absurd. You don’t like Bush as President; you would have preferred the candidate the other major political party offered. But a majority of your countrymen did not agree - given that choice, they chose Mr. Bush.
Your view was thus made irrelevant for the nexst four years. Now you have nothing to do but whine and moan. And as long as you continue to whine and moan at this ridiculously immature level, I’ll have plenty of entertainmet.
And “BWAHAHAHAHA!” is ridiculously mature? Unless you are twelve, you might want to find a slightly more erudite way of saying “Nyah, Nyah, tough noogies!”
No, no - the BWAHAHAHA is a suitable riposte for the sentiments offered in the OP; those sentiments being immature, the response is perdictably immature as well.
But getting elected shouldn’t be the end all motivation for political leaders. It makes sense to for Bush to meet with local leaders to get their views and such, regardless of thier political affiliation because whether they like it or not, they do have to work togeather. Plus, whether it’s sincere or not, it gives us lowly constituents a warm fuzzy feeling to see our leaders not engaging in petty party politics occasionly.
I have no problem with Bush meeting with Downard, but I doubt it would’ve hurt Downard much if Bush had met with the mayor as well. After all, I’m sure the mayor has enough name recognition in his neck of the woods that he doesn’t need a photo-op with the prez.
Also I know bunkall about Louisville politics, but given that the OP called the mayor “mayor for life” and the article mentions he’s been there since the Regan admin, I get the impression Downard’s chances are pretty dismal anyways, making Bush’s move doubly petty.
If this were during a campaign (even if it wasn’t a campaign-related visit) this would make more sense to me. As it is, it seems odd to me, especially since Bush won’t be looking to be re-elected.
Bricker, correct me if I am wrong but I assumed that when a President does his jaunts, the local leadership (regardless of party) get to play a role in meeting/greeting the dignitary. Party differences are set aside in the interest of honoring the president and letting the town bask in the glory of having the President visit the community.
Of course, my perceptions might be colored by all the hoopla when Clinton finally visited Nebraska (the only state he hadn’t yet visited during his presidency). Gov. Mike Johanns and his LT Governor both greeted him at the airport. Republican party officials also met with him at other stops along the way.
Your raucous laughter, if that’s what that is, suggest this is not the norm?
The article says that the mayor had formerly met Reagan, Bush I and Clinton when they visited, so it would appear that it is the norm in Louisville, anyways.
A president really should be interested in whatever local leaders have to say, regardless of party. So should senators and representatives. After all, if you only surround yourself with people who agree with you, you can begin to think everyone agrees with you.
I understand Bush wanting to make the guy from his party who might run for mayor look good and he should certainly try to find time to meet him and thank him for his efforts during the election, but I do wish that politicians (of both parties) would spend more time in the business of government and less time in the business of power.
It’s kind of funny, actually. George W. Bush has been possibly the most political president in recent history, even in the parts of the job that should really be more about policy and public relations than politics), while his father was possibly the LEAST political president in recent history (being reluctant even to start his re-election campaign because he believed a sitting president shouldn’t BE political, and found the fund-raising and glad-handing distasteful).
A “ridiculously immature” position would be to suggest that the President is the leader only of his own party, and that anyone else just doesnt’ matter. A (more) mature one would be to recognize that the President is President of the United States - all of them - and the leader of the government of *all * of its citizens. It would also follow that a city’s mayor is mayor of everyone in that city, including those who share your own party affiliation. Not everyone on this board recognizes even the theoretical existence of any principle above the Nelson Muntz level, unfortunately, as shown above.
What Bush did is simple, unnecessary, destructive, disuniting rudeness. Some think that’s applauseworthy.
I’m kind of surprised at you Bricker. That’s (IMO) a petty attitude and … well… just plain bad form. Traits I don’t normally associate with your opinions. It wouldn’t cost the President anything substantive to participate in a quick “Howdy Do” make-nice photo op with the local Mayor. The fact that these people are being deliberately snubbed for being in the wrong party is so petty it really colors what I think of Bush. I don’t think either Reagan or Clinton would have stopped to this level of personal smallness and petty revenge in dealing with the local politicans.