Bush's 'Firsthand' Experience With War

James Gerstenzang writes in the Los Angeles Times: "The president visited the military center between parties for the Texas GOP and for Sen. John Cornyn's reelection campaign that were expected to raise $1.3 million.

"When the president splits his travel time between official events -- in this case, the tour of the rehabilitation center -- and political events, the government picks up a share of the costs that would otherwise be charged to the beneficiaries of the fundraising."

Julie Mason writes in the Houston Chronicle about the first fundraiser, a brunch: "The president spent over an hour with a few hundred guests at the River Oaks home of energy executive Richard Kinder, the former president of Enron Corp., and his wife, Nancy Kinder. . . .

"About 100 people waited in line for a photo with the president, which cost between $10,000 and $14,600. Other guests mingled on the Kinders' perfectly manicured lawn.

"Although the event was closed to the press, those who went in described Bush as talkative and sentimental, before an adoring crowd of supporters.

"He gave a familiar speech about the Oval Office, and how he asked first lady Laura Bush to pick out a rug for him that conveys optimism. The custom-made rug is in shades of cream and yellow, and looks like rays of the sun.

"The president also talked about how he is not a navel-gazer, and doesn't spend time soul-searching and asking why. He is the decider, he told the group, and his job as president is to be an optimistic decider.

"Bush reportedly dismissed the polls that show him with historically low public approval ratings, saying history will be the better judge of his presidency. He reminded the audience that Lincoln was unpopular, too."

Guillermo X. Garcia and Laura E. Jesse write for the San Antonio Express about the second fundraiser: "After praising the world-class care that maimed and disfigured veterans are getting at the Center for the Intrepid at Fort Sam Houston, President Bush defended the war in Iraq at a gathering of Republican supporters and predicted Thursday that history will bear him out.

"'Some day people are going to look back at this time and day and say, "Thank God there was a generation that did not lose faith . . . because the Middle East is a place free of suiciders,"' Bush said. . . .

"Bush, whose comments were heard through an attendee's cell phone, spoke of the gravity of his decision to go to war and the principles that guide him at a time when his popularity has taken a beating.

"'You can't make profound decisions for America unless you are certain in your soul,' said Bush, who made his fourth trip to San Antonio since 2001. 'The decisions I have made will make it easier for your grandchildren to live in peace.'"