I sometimes wonder how closely President Bush monitors what’s going on in the world. Does he really live in a bubble? Or is that a superficial myth spun by his critics.
I got another little insight yesterday watching CNN. Congressman Duncan Hunter was being interviewed and shared a recent exchange with the President:
HUNTER: Well, he [Bush] is — he has not built the fence. I wrote that bill in October. It was passed by the Senate by a vote of 80-19. It was passed by the House overwhelmingly. That extends a double border fence 854 miles — mandates its extension across Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
I checked the other day and the administration has only built 13 miles of the 854 miles.
. . .
MALVEAUX: Have you talked to the president about this?
HUNTER: Yes, I have. I informed him the other day that it was only 13 miles. He expressed surprise at that.
. . .
MALVEAUX: Did he know there was only 13 miles?
Did he know?
HUNTER: It’s only 13 miles. No, he thought it was more than that.
And who knows?
I’m sure that the Department of Homeland Security has been telling him that things are great in terms of construction of that fence.
But the fact —
MALVEAUX: But what did the what did the president think it was?
What did the president think the mileage was?
HUNTER: Well, he didn’t have a — he didn’t have a number. He just expressed surprise that it — that that little, only 13 miles, had been accomplished at that point.
In short, Mr. Bush didn’t have any idea what the status was of that crown jewel of right-wing immigration policy: the border fence.
Now I don’t expect a president to be on top of every project the federal government is doing. There are too many things to follow. But the discussion here involved an important dimension of what was allegedly Bush’s top legislative priority at the time. Moreover, he had been touring the country (including the border) giving speeches highlighting border security.
Is it too much to expect that a president has a working knowledge of the background facts regarding a hot political issue? In this case, apparently, the answer is yes.