Drumbeat of bad news trails Bush

[maddezmom]

MERIDA, Mexico (Reuters) - A tour of Latin America has provided President George W. Bush little respite from a drumbeat of bad news back in Washington, which experts say adds up to the second-term blues.

Allegations of shoddy health care for wounded Iraq war veterans, the conviction of a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, and an uproar over the firing of U.S. prosecutors have all combined to add pressure to a White House already preoccupied with the Iraq war.

"These perpetual bee stings, to go along with the huge problem of Iraq, don't make it any easier," said Bruce Buchanan, a political expert at the University of Texas.

~snip~



Just before Bush embarked on his weeklong trip, former Cheney aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby was found guilty of lying and obstructing a probe related to the administration's handling of the Iraq war.

Disclosures that wounded soldiers from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts were given substandard care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center forced out three senior officials and prompted Bush to form a blue-ribbon panel to investigate possible problems at all U.S. military and veterans hospitals.

Added to the mix was a report the FBI illegally or improperly obtained private records on individuals during terrorism and espionage investigations.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070314/pl_nm/bush_dc

[maddezmom]

1. Bush Can't Hide From Mounting Woes

Bush Can't Hide From Mounting Woes

Wednesday March 14, 2007 6:46 AM


AP Photo MEXM208

By TOM RAUM

Associated Press Writer

MERIDA, Mexico (AP) - President Bush's trip to sunny Latin America was no day at the beach. He was buffeted by complaints about immigration laws, ethanol tariffs, the Iraq war and accusations that the United States was ignoring its southern neighbors.

And back home, the problems continued to pile up.

The revelation of close White House involvement in the firing of eight federal prosecutors sent White House aides into full damage control mode on Tuesday - from afar.

Instead of following their scripted plan of celebrating a shoring up of diplomatic ties with Mexico, White House aides found themselves backing and filling on why the prosecutors were axed.

This came on top of revelations of shoddy outpatient care at Walter Reed Medical Center, an affair that has resulted in top-level Army resignations; the conviction on perjury and obstruction charges of Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis ``Scooter'' Libby, and the FBI's acknowledgment that it broke the law to ferret out personal information about Americans.

more:http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6479168,00.html