President Bush gives up golf for the troops

Over the past eight years President Bush has been second guessed and chastised for his decision-making with more regularity than PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem was over the Tour's new cut policy this season.

Bush's latest gaffe involves the game of golf. It's not exactly a Bushism but maybe it deserves to have its own category of stupidity.

During a recent interview with political newspaper Politico and Yahoo, Mr. Bush said: "I didn't want some mum whose son may have recently died to see the commander-in-chief playing golf. I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal."

I have a feeling this comment may send a few misguided signals.

You've gotta love President Bush though. I mean without him we wouldn't have some of the greatest quotes in American, ah hell, World History. Ok here are a few of my favorites.

During Pope Benedict's recent visit to the United States he spoke in Washington, D.C. on April 15, 2008. Following his little chat Bush remarked, "Thank you, your Holiness; Awesome speech."

Or always a favorite, "My job is a decision-making job, and as a result, I make a lot of decisions." This one went down as "The Decider."

This latest jab wasn't Bush's first golf-related funny. You'll all remember the video of Bush talking about tracking down the terrorists and then urging the assembled media to "now watch this drive."

The President said he gave up the sport in 2003 out of respect for US soldiers killed in the war, which has now lasted more than five years. Bush said he decided to stop playing golf on Aug. 19, 2003, when a truck bomb in Baghdad killed U.N. special representative Sergio Vieira de Mello and more than a dozen others. Apparently Condoleeza Rice informed Bush of the incident when he was out on the course and he called it quits. Now I think that is a great gesture, but really quitting all together? It sounds like "W" will be quite rusty when he eventually gets back to it and stops showing his solidarity. Does supporting the troops really matter as much as keeping a respectable handicap?

Actually this isn't the first time golf and wars have been bandied about in the same breath. In his book titled, "Bullets, Bombs & Birdies: Golf in a time of war," former PGA Tour player Dale Concannon talked about how one of the first written mentions of golf concerned war. He told the Washington Post, "In the mid-1400s, golf was banned in Scotland because it was interfering with compulsory archery practice, which the Scots needed to fight against the English," Concannon said. "The punishment was a week's wages." Come to think of it, our country wouldn't be lagging behind Asia in pursuits like Guitar Hero if we instituted a similar ban.

In 1940 there was a Time Magazine story that read, "At a suburban London club, golfers paused to watch a dogfight between a British Spitfire and a German Messerschmitt. After the "Jitterschmitt" pilot had crashed to the fairway just a mashie shot from the 13^th green, play was resumed. "I was two down when we broke off our game," chirped R.A. White, club pro. "But I was so exhilarated by the success of the Spitfire that I then shot four birdies in a row and won my match."

I hope the folks at Bethpage Black are paying attention. Battles raging in the sky would make the course even more difficult when it hosts the U.S. Open next year.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was the man that most tied golf to conflict during his military days in the White House got the legendary Bobby Jones involved. Jones went to Eisenhower and asked how he could get involved. Eisenhower arranged for Jones to be with the troops on D-Day and beyond. Jones was apparently used to "gently interrogate posh German officers."

And did the President even think about Charity Golf Tournaments. Operation Homefront, which works with corporations to better serve our troops, the families they leave behind and wounded warriors when they return home. They recently raised $109,000 in support of military families and injured soldiers at their inaugural golf tournament in Washington, DC. They should invite ‘W' next year.

So what does this all mean, well I guess it can be said that golf and war go together like a driver and a bulky, fuzzy-animal face clubhead cover. If we all laid down our arms, how would the troops watch the Masters on closed circuit television?

There is actually a golf course in Baghdad's green zone so by not playing, Bush isn't showing solidarity with his troops who take time to fine tune their games. As long as we're fighting, I'll be golfing. I would like to thank all of the brave men and women in our Armed Forces who make it possible for me to poorly play the game.

Editors' Note: A Bushism is any of a number of peculiar words, phrases, pronunciations, malapropism, semantic or linguistic errors, and gaffes that have occurred in the public speaking of United States President George W. Bush and, before that, of his father George H.W. Bush.

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