Well, it is Fourth of July week and that means millions of Americans are on vacation, trying to take it easy. But in the White House, things are anything but easy. And that's the subject of this evening's Talking Points memo.
Abortion and the environment are two of the most emotional issues in America today. And those issues have pitted some of liberal elite media squarely against President Bush.
So when a New York Times poll showed that Mr. Bush's popularity had slipped a bit, the liberal papers jumped all over it.
Now this is predictable because the conservative press slaughtered President Clinton --ideology colors story placement, tone of language and point of view.
Because Mr. Bush is pro-life many liberals can't stand him and will not like him no matter what he does.
And the President is for less intrusive government which means he is not pro-active on most environmental issues. This is another buzzsaw with the liberal press.
But most of the American people, in my opinion, are not so ideologically driven. They want common sense, honesty and a good economy.
So far, Mr. Bush has given us honesty. But we don't know much about his common sense because he is tightly controlled and does not directly address the people as much as he should. In the face of press hostility, he has to sell his point-of-view. He has to take his case directly to the folks.
The Bush administration also must get the economy rolling again or it is back to the ranch permanently for George W.
The quickest way to do that would be to cut the capital gains tax. That would stimulate investment in the nation's industry and get us out of the earning's depression we are in.
Of course the Democrats would oppose such a cut but the President could then label the Dems as hurting all Americans economically. This would put the Democrats in a very precarious position and the White House would regain some momentum.
Right now, Mr. Bush is a proverbial sitting duck. The hard left can hammer him in the media and he doesn't have much ammo to counter. If he wants to succeed and be re-elected the President must prove to the American people that he is a clear-thinker and has their interests at heart.
He also must put his opponents on the defensive. If he doesn't do these things ... adios amigo.
And that's the memo ...
Most Ridiculous Item of the Day
Time now for the most ridiculous item of the day. Somebody has been faxing phony statements attributed to comedian George Carlin.
And some of the bogus stuff found its way into print ... which has not made Mr. Carlin very happy.
Asked about it by New York Post reporter Neal Travis, Carlin said he might enjoy being a TV pundit...quote... "I've been on with Bill O'Reilly and I wouldn't mind cleaning his clock again."
What time is it?
Anyway, we enjoyed our sparring with Mr. Carlin. And as to who did the cleaning...we'll run the interview again tomorrow...so you can decide who was ridiculous.--If anybody.
— You can watch Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points weeknights at 8 and 11pm ET. And send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com
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