George in Charge
Before Golf, Bush Decries Latest Deaths In Mideast
By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 5, 2002; Page A02
KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine, Aug. 4 -- It's a ritual when President Bush golfs: As he gets ready to tee off, reporters toss out a few questions about the news of the day from their perches on a nearby sand trap. This morning, Bush wasn't waiting. He sprang from his golf cart at 6:15 a.m. and said he was "distressed to hear about the latest suicide bombers in Israel."
Just over four hours before, as Bush slept at his parents' seaside retreat, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew up a bus in Israel, killing nine passengers.
Bush, wearing khakis and a knit shirt, was holding a driver in his gloved left hand. The rest of his foursome, including his father, former president George H.W. Bush, was waiting. However incongruous the setting, the president plunged ahead. "There are a few killers who want to stop the peace process that we have started, and we must not let them," he said. "I call upon all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killers."
His business out of the way, Bush barely paused for breath before saying, "Thank you. Now watch this drive."
The abrupt segue illustrates the dilemma Bush will face over the next month as he relaxes and works at his ranch in Crawford, Tex., at a time of global political volatility. On Tuesday, Bush will leave Washington behind until Labor Day. That is likely to mean a return to the golf-cart diplomacy of last summer, when Bush talked Middle East peace between playing holes, at one point dripping sweat as he said Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat "can do a lot more to be convincing the people on the street to stop these acts of terrorism."
During his comments this morning, Bush said, "For those who yearn for peace in the Middle East, for those in the Arab lands, for those in Europe, for those all around the world who yearn for peace, we must do everything we possibly can to stop the terror."
After Bush had teed off (hooking at first, but getting a solid shot the second time), a reporter turned to the safest topic for engaging the president, asking whether he had seen his beloved Texas Rangers play the Boston Red Sox the night before.
"Went to bed at 2-2," he said. Bush waited politely while another member of his foursome teed off, then his curiosity got the better of him. "Who won the Rangers game last night?" he asked. A television producer who is a well-known Red Sox fan confessed that the Rangers had won, 8-6. "Sorry to bring it up," Bush said mischievously.
Bush slouched in the golf cart and played the hot dog, steering and punching the accelerator from the passenger seat. "Aerobic golf" is a tradition for the Bush clan; his father's record on the course they played today is 1 hour, 24 minutes. This morning, they took 2 hours, 14 minutes -- possible only because three or four of the players putted at once.
Because of the Bushes' speediness and the Secret Service's choreography, father and son dashed into the clubhouse, changed, boarded a Suburban in a 15-vehicle motorcade and arrived at First Congregational Church of Kennebunkport 21 minutes after stepping off the green. The president even paused along the way to sign a few golf visors thrust at him by well-wishers at the clubhouse steps, and he beckoned a hesitant youngster over for a photo.
Bush and his father, joined in the front pew by former first lady Barbara Bush, took communion after hearing a prayer for "our troubled world." Gospel singer Michael W. Smith, who golfed with the Bushes twice this weekend, played piano and guitar. The president gave him a hearty, "Amen!" |
