Bush Is Doing Fine

President Bush had, in my mind at least, a very strong appearance on Tim Russert's Meet The Press this morning.

Key Quotes:

Russert: But around the world, in Europe, favorable ratings  unfavorable ratings, 70 in Germany, 67 in France.

President Bush: But you know, Tim, that

Russert: Why do people hold you with such contempt 

President Bush: Heck, I don't know, Ronald Reagan was unpopular in Europe when he was President, according to Jose Maria Aznar.  And I said, ‘You know something? ‘

He said to me, he said, ‘You're nearly as unpopular as Ronald Reagan was.’  I said, ‘so, first of all, I'm keeping pretty good company.’ . . .

This is great and sums up all we really need to know about Bush. Ronald Reagan was (and is) hated by the looney left far more than any other modern figure. The source of their anger (especially amongst the hollywood crowd) arose after he discovered the overwhelming presence of communists throughout the film industry and as head of the Screen Actors Guild worked to root out the Reds. Likewise, Bush is truly hated amongst the left by his continued desire to see forces of evil (forces that many on the left and in the democratic party really support) removed as an influence or threat on the United States.

He went on with Russert to state:

I think that people  when you do hard things, when you ask hard things of people, it can create tensions.  And I  heck, I don't know why people do it.  I'll tell you, though, I'm not going to change, see?  I'm not trying to accommodate  I won't change my philosophy or my point of view.  I believe I owe it to the American people to say what I'm going to do and do it, and to speak as clearly as I can, try to articulate as best I can why I make decisions I make, but I'm not going to change because of polls.  That's just not my nature.

He also touched upon some of the striking similarities between himself and Kerry:

Russert: You were both in Skull and Bones, the secret society.

President Bush: It's so secret we can't talk about it.

Russert: What does that mean for America?  The conspiracy theorists are going to go wild.

I know some people who were in Skull and Bones at Yale, one of them was a Bush classmate. They've never told me they were in it, but an internet search disclosed their names on a Skull and Bones conspiracy roll. Never asked them about it, but have always wanted to.

Well, I think Bush did a fine job. Defended his actions in Iraq very well, was willing to take heat were appropriate, and defended the integrity of the national guard ... something the Ds are going to get in trouble for attacking.

Later today, more on why he will beat Kerry