The Political Chase

Bush on steroids

President Bush will not comment on any investigation of the administration but he’s eager to comment on investigations that are not about the administration. Moreover, he banned any characterization “of his reactions” by administration officials.  But he’s the president, so its fine for him to chime in on the Mitchell Report — an extensive investigation of steroid abuse in professional baseball.

When asked by reporters today what “his reaction was” to the Mitchell Report, the president said, “steroids have sullied the game.”

Not every player in baseball was included in the report, but the president has determined the entire game is now tainted. Given this administration’s record, if the reverse were applied, the president and his compadres would have been frog-marched from the White House a long time ago.

So what gives Bush the right to publicly give his reaction on an investigation when he refuses to expose himself to the same questions and criticism.

Watch it:

Transcript:

JEANNIE OHM (MSNBC): He was asked for the first time what his reaction was to that 400+ page Mitchell Report. And he says he loves baseball. And he was asked specifically though, should the players named in that report be punished. And here was the president’s response.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Like many fans, I’ve been troubled by the, uh, steroid allegations. Uh, I think it’s best that all of us not jump to any conclusions on individual players’ names, but we can jump to this conclusion — that steroids have sullied the game — and players and owners, uh, must take, uh, the, ah, Mitchell Report seriously. I’m confident they will.

JEANNIE OHM (MSNBC): And the president added that he hopes that this report helps put an end to what he called the “steroid era of baseball.”