Comments on: Bush’s War on the Underbrush

By: Gary Farber

Gary Farber — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 19:55:09 +0000

I thought Lisa Rein's piece was rather peculiar, myself. Here's why. (I like to think I was also slightly amusing, but doubtless the emphasis should be on "slight," or perhaps "not at all.")

By: paul

paul — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 14:04:08 +0000

But if he gets another "Bin Lasen determined to strike in US" briefing, will he read it this time ? Or cut brush...

By: Dodd

Dodd — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 17:31:19 +0000

60 million of your countrymen disagreed. Get over it.

By: Anderson

Anderson — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 17:05:14 +0000

An admirably bipartisan consensus about Bush's brush-clearing.

It's just that some of us are thinking that should be his day job.

By: yetanotherjohn

yetanotherjohn — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 17:03:41 +0000

If I had to deal with the press, I suspect some time with a chainsaw would be theraputic. As far as trying to "out Reagan Reagan", I don't hear of W making a big PR event out of this (contrast Kerry and his sports). The analogy to golf is a good one. The fact that after several hours Bush has accomplished something that needed doing compared to gold strikes me as a more fortunate hobby. Not that there is anything wrong with golf, but getting a two-fer (relaxation and needed work done) seems like a good thing to me.

By: DC Loser

DC Loser — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 16:20:37 +0000

I do my best thinking about all kinds of things when I mow the lawn. It's very relaxing and it's about the only time I have to myself at home.

By: M. Murcek

M. Murcek — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 15:43:18 +0000

I for one am glad that in 2001, President Bush returned relaxed and refreshed from doing what he likes to do at Crawford to face the monumental task that America got dealt on 9/11.

People who think it's fake (to go to Crawford and do what ranchers have to do) should ask themselves if they can honestly say they've been authentic and sincere 100% of the time. Hint: Anyone who answers "yes" is lying...

By: djneylon

djneylon — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 14:21:15 +0000

I have often found cooking meals to be relaxing. A few years back another man and I were talking after church one Sunday about how we both found cooking relaxing. A woman standing nearby thought we were goofy. When we asked her what she did that was relaxing, her reply was mowing the lawn. Doing work you don't have to do can be a wonderful restorative.

By: joated

joated — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 02:27:59 +0000

I like to mow the lawn (2+ acres with a gas powered push mower). It's physical, sort of mindless (lets me think about all kinds of things) and provides a sense of accomplishment when I can look over the grass and see something has been done--now. Between cuttings, it's cutting firewood. Felling trees, splitting and stacking. Same thing. Third task is to use the brush-hog to clear trails in the old pasture. I think the people most disturbed by the President's activity are those who think you must play golf, or jog or it's not exercise. Those who don't appreciate physical labor at all. It can be far, far more than just "work."

By: Dodd

Dodd — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 00:54:12 +0000

"He shouldn't have time to be clearing brush," said Kay Lucas, a grandmother and antiwar activist who drives 25 miles a day to care for the Crawford Peace House, a gathering spot for Cindy Sheehan and her protest against the war. Lucas clearly has too much time on her own hands. if only she was doing something as productive as clearing brush.

By: Anderson

Anderson — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 23:22:39 +0000

What JKB said. Gladstone used to split logs, IIRC.

I enjoy mowing the yard for the same reason. Lawsuits seem to linger forever, but when you mow the yard, the grass was TALL and now it is SHORT. For a while.

By: anjin-san

anjin-san — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 23:04:51 +0000

Guess its how he pretends he is some sort of kindred spirit of President Reagan's...

By: Don Surber

Don Surber — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 22:29:56 +0000

I dunno. He seems kinda fake -- trying to outdo Reagan. Laura called him a windshield cowboy. He should do his own thing and leave the brush alone

By: JKB

JKB — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 21:42:49 +0000

I suppose everyone would be happier if President Bush played golf. It appears the problem is that he is doing work normally done by those in less exalted positions. Is a President who does manual labor less appealing than one who chases a ball across a well manicured field?

It is clear that those who complain are unfamiliar with the burdens of leadership. The President is faced daily with a multitude of problems that he can only influence usually over a long period of time Many unsolvable. He is making decisions today whose ultimate outcome will not be known during his Presidency. This is the burden of leadership. Making decisions on the distant future wears at you. To recharge, the President engages in a task that simple but requires focus (unfocused use of a chainsaw can lead to loss of limbs), is achievable and provides immediate results. The focus on a simplified task allows the President to recharge his mental faculties to better address the problems of leadership, which return from his subconscious once the task is done. Note he doesn't get to forget the problems only distract himself, plus it is the time in the subconscious where many problems are solved.

By: Just Me

Just Me — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 20:00:55 +0000

While my idea of relaxation is more along the lines of a hot bath and a good book, I can understand work as relaxation. My dad loved to mow the lawn, and almost every day after he got home from work he would head out and mow a portion of large lawn-he always used a push mower, although now most people with a yard the size of ours would purchase a riding mower. It was his way to decompress after a day at work.