May 22, 2007
Bush Dons Hat, Loses Belt Behind The Wheel
President Bush is famous for going casual -- very casual -- when he's back home on his Crawford, Texas, ranch. But there's one garment he should probably always wear, at least when that rascally press corps is around.
A seat belt.
White House reporters are simply agog that The Decider would drive about his ranch willy-nilly with nothing holding him back from the windshield -- and with a dignitary in the driver's seat, no less. YouTube has an ABC News clip of Bush waving to reporters from his truck as NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer sat in white-knuckled terror beside him.
OK, we made that last part up.
Reporters went at press secretary Tony Snow over the matter today, and in such an aggressive manner as to elicit an "Oh my goodness!” from the former FOX News host, according to the Austin American-Statesman. But why shouldn't they? After all, it's national Click It Or Ticket Week -- a federal campaign to get self-styled Evil Knievels like the president to buckle up.
And while Bush doesn't want to listen to Democrats on the Iraq war, he might want to take some advice from New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, who has months of rehab ahead of him after he was caught, sans belt, in a very serious crash last month.
Lest a certain House lawmaker get too excited, it's perfectly legal for Bush to drive without a seat belt on his own property. But it's probably safe to say that the White House will try to ensure in the future that Bush is never caught on camera un-buckled-up ever again.
"Well, it's always important to wear seatbelts, especially when driving slowly on the ranch," Snow told reporters today. "But I think it's, in point of fact, something that -- we encourage everybody to wear their seat belts."
Posted at 6:14 PM
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Bush Administration, Jon Corzine, President Bush
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