And this just in from trhe Moron In Chief:

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

No wonder Bush doesn't connect with the rest of the country

By HELEN THOMAS
HEARST NEWSPAPERS

WASHINGTON -- President Bush recently gave an hour-long exclusive interview to Fox TV anchor Brit Hume, who tossed him a series of softball questions.

Among them, Bush was asked how he gets his news. Answer: He relies on briefings by chief of staff Andrew Card and national security affairs adviser Condoleezza Rice.

He walks into the Oval Office in the morning, Bush said, and asks Card: "What's in the newspapers worth worrying about? I glance at the headlines just to kind of (get) a flavor of what's moving," Bush said. "I rarely read the stories," he said.

Instead, the president continued, he gets "briefed by people who have probably read the news themselves." Rice, on the other hand, is getting the news "directly from the participants on the world stage."

Bush said this had long been his practice.

"I have great respect for the media," he said. "I mean, our society is a good, solid democracy because of a good, solid media. But I also understand that a lot of times there's opinions mixed in with news."

To which Hume told Bush: "I won't disagree with that, sir."

Bush continued: "I appreciate people's opinions, but I'm more interested in news. And the best way to get the news is from objective sources. And the most objective sources I have are people on my staff who tell me what's happening in the world."

What struck me and a lot of other folks about the interview was Bush's revelation that he does not read newspapers.

Anyone who wants to stay in touch with national, international and local events looks forward to reading the newspaper every day. The variety and breadth of newspaper stories make Americans the best-informed people in the world.

If the president doesn't read newspapers but relies only on his aides, then I wonder if they told him about Kimberly Requell Mari Brice, the Landover, Md., 5-year-old first grader who was fatally shot by her 4-year old brother. Her teacher said Kimberly "always gave me the biggest and best hugs." The story was in The Washington Post on Oct. 9.

It was a tragic story that made a compelling case for gun control, something that Bush is totally opposed to.

Busy as he is, Bush would be better acquainted with the daily lives of Americans if he read his daily newspapers.

I don't know of many brave White House staffers willing to risk the president's anger by dishing him the bad news.

Instead, Bush is spoon-fed the 'relevant' news from his staff. Top aides usually know the buttons not to push when it comes to bad news. More often they will tell the president what he wants to hear -- the good news if there is any. Or they may just sugar coat the news that is tougher to swallow.

It's too bad that Bush's reading habits take him out of the information link that connects us and provides the glue that holds our society together.....
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The rest HERE