Allow me to preempt your "source"...
Bush Aces Physical, Begins a Month at Ranch
By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 3, 2003; Page A05
CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 2 -- President Bush landed at his ranch this afternoon for a month of fun and fundraising after undergoing a three-hour physical that found him in top shape.
In what has become an annual tradition, Bush stopped at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda for the exams on his way to a month-long stay at his 1,600-acre Prairie Chapel Ranch, which he will use as a base for traveling to political and official events.
A report signed by his doctors declared Bush, 57, to be in "superior" fitness for a man his age, and with no evidence of coronary artery disease. "The president remains in excellent health and fit for duty," the report said. "All data suggest that he will remain so for the duration of his presidency."
Bush had a prostate exam and had several broken blood vessels around his nose burned off. He had four small lesions -- potentially cancerous and caused by sun exposure -- removed from his cheeks and left arm with liquid nitrogen, along with a benign skin tag.
Bush is 6 feet tall and weighs 194 pounds, up 5 pounds from a year ago. The medical report said the gain "most likely represents muscle mass consistent with strength training." Bush has 14.5 percent body fat, the same as last year, and his resting heart rate is 45 beats per minute, that of a top athlete.
The report said Bush runs three miles three times a week, jogs in water once weekly, and uses an elliptical trainer for 25 minutes three times weekly. He lifts weights twice weekly and stretches five times a week, the report said. It also said he smokes an occasional cigar and drinks diet sodas and coffee. A calf strain or tear that kept Bush from running for part of this spring has healed, the doctors concluded.
An aide said Bush plans to run frequently during the 28 days he is scheduled to be out of Washington. The schedule released by the White House lists no public appearances by Bush for 18 of those days.
Vice President Cheney, who is spending the month at his home in Jackson Hole, Wyo., is following Bush's lead and giving up fishing time to raise money for their reelection campaign. Between them, Bush and Cheney plan to travel to 13 of their own fundraisers during August, and each plans to make a fundraising stop for another Republican candidate.
Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) complained about the vacation Friday. "In this moment of great potential peril, the president is preparing to retire for a month to his ranch in Texas," Byrd said on the Senate floor. "The question needs to be asked: Who's minding the White House?"
Bush used his radio address to take credit for signs of a strengthening economic recovery. "We are starting to see some results from our actions," he said. Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner, in the Democratic response, attacked Bush's "massive tax cuts," and said, "Right now, this nation is on track for the worst job creation record since the Great Depression."
A CBS News tally shows this is Bush's 26th presidential trip to Crawford. He has spent all or part of 166 days at the ranch or en route -- the equivalent of 51/2 months. When Bush's trips to Camp David and Kennebunkport, Maine, are added, according to the CBS figures, Bush has spent 250 full or partial days at his getaway spots -- 27 percent of his presidency so far.
Bush receives daily intelligence briefings at the ranch and can meet with Cheney and the rest of his war cabinet by secure videoconference. White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Friday that he does not think the president of the United States "ever gets a break," and said Bush continues to focus on work while in Texas.
Presidential politics is following Bush to Texas. The campaign of former Vermont governor Howard Dean announced today that he will spend $100,000 to air a commercial beginning Monday in Austin that invites Texans to join his campaign. "Has anybody really stood up against George Bush and his policies?" he asks. Bush's aides said the ranch gets stations from Waco, not Austin
washingtonpost.com
This article claims 27%, although I still question how this gets calculated. That bit of detail is omitted. Alas, 27% is a far cry from 42%.
Diz- |
