Golf update--updated

Anglican reminds us of a previous Bush golf moment:

Additionally, Blue Girl, Red State calls "bullshit" on the whole "gave up golf for the war effort" story:

Actually, it is far more likely that Bush quit playing golf because he was suffering from knee problems throughout the latter half of 2003.Bush, 57, will have an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) test on Thursday, Dec. 18. The body-scanning device enables doctors to see internal organs in 3D. The MRI is being performed on the advice of the President's regular White House physician. Last summer, Bush suffered a minor muscle tear in his right calf and that injury, along with aching knees, forced him to abandon his running routine. The calf strain healed by August when he had his annual physical, but the president said in September that he suspected he had a meniscus tear.

Who knows? I do know that the President certainly didn't give up vacations for the war effort, and he certainly never asked the American people to actually pay for his war.

And Leighton had this great comment about Bush's stronger faith:

"Pretending for a moment that he's sincere (which I don't believe), the language he uses it is consistent with the faith community I left years ago, where the grammar of 'relationship with God' was actually an institutionalization of narcissism--it gave everyone an excuse to relate the suffering of others back to my (my, my, MY, MY) inner life, rather than letting them take center stage.

People past middle school and outside certain Christian groups rarely need to hear this, but when someone is killed in combat, the central point is not his personal remorse. It's not about him."

Well said.

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More on Golf-gate from Froomkin

Not only is it a hollow, trivial sacrifice at best, Bush's story doesn't hold water. While he dates his decision to abjure golf to Aug. 19, 2003 -- the day a truck bomb in Baghdad killed U.N. special representative Sergio Vieira de Mello and more than a dozen others -- the Associated Press reported on Oct. 13, 2003, that he'd spent a "cool, breezy Columbus Day" playing "a round of golf with three long-time buddies.

and

Dan Eggen writes in The Washington Post: "Democrats have criticized Bush for allegedly not requiring Americans to sacrifice enough while waging wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and for urging people to keep shopping as a way to fight terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Bush was also widely criticized in August 2002 when he decried terrorist bombings in Israel while golfing and then told reporters: 'Now watch this drive.'

"Although Bush says he has given up golf, he is a mountain-biking enthusiast who has been photographed taking part in rides. He took up biking after an injury sidelined him from running.

"Presidential historian Robert Dallek. . . said Bush's remarks about Iraq 'speak to his shallowness.' Dallek added: 'That's his idea of sacrifice, to give up golf?'"

This President shallow? Unpossible.