Nobody threw shoes (or rice either) at his farewell press conference this morning, but George W. Bush was blowing kisses at the assembled reporters and even his critics.
“They are not angry, they are not hostile people,” he said. “I view those who get angry and yell and say bad things and all that kind of stuff as just a few people in the country.”
The Decider is easing out the door by deciding not to ask for the second $350 billion of the bailout bill unless Obama asks him to do so: "I don't intend to make the request unless he specifically asks me to make it."
Meanwhile, the new President's transition team is reassuring Congress that they won't shovel the money out without transparency or accountability as Henry Paulson's people have.
Bush's appearance behind the podium today was a final reminder of the difference between a president posing as an affable guy and one who knows who he is and is listening carefully to substantive questions and thinking as he answers them.
The White House press corps will have to get back on its toes and into its running shoes next week to start reporting some actual news from the briefing room.
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"I don't intend to make the request unless he specifically asks me to make it."
Quoth President Anti-Proactive, the one who got us into this trouble. GWB's remark is obviously self-serving and disingenuous to the core, and this will be his final legacy, not the spin document his office released last week.
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