Bush Believes Americans Need More Exercise

In Exclusive CBS News Interview, President Tells Hannah Storm It's A Priority For Him

(CBS)  With nearly two-thirds of adult Americans categorized as being overweight or obese, and childhood obesity threatening the health of one-third of the nation's young people, fitness is a concern to President Bush: The theme of the 2007 White House Easter Egg Roll, for example, was health and fitness, encouraging children to get out and exercise every day.

"I believe strongly in exercise," Mr. Bush told CBS News Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm in an exclusive interview. "I exercise a lot because it's good for my mind and good for my soul. But I hope I set a good example to others that exercise is good for you.

"I also think that since we spend a lot of money on food in the education system, then we should insist upon better food," the president said. "A lot of the dietary problems are just obviously what people eat. And so it's not just a lack of exercise, or obesity problem, it's not just a lack of exercise, but a bad diet."

The makers of snack foods marketed to children recently agreed to change the way they manufacture and sell their products, using healthier fats and reducing sugar, and packaging snacks in smaller portions.

Mr. Bush himself goes on ambitious bicycle rides for exercise.

"For an old guy, I guess they're 'monstrous.' But I have wisely convinced a bunch of youngsters in the White House and around Washington to ride with me. I've always found that if you play up that you get better," he told Storm in the interview that aired Thursday. "But I do love exercise."

Many adults complain they're too busy to exercise.

"I don't buy that. I don't buy it. I think that you set priorities in life. And if exercise is one of your priorities, you'll figure out time to do it," Mr. Bush said. "You know, sitting down at a big lunch may be someone's priority, but it's not all that hard to shift that priority to exercising at lunch."

The president turns 61 on July 6.

"I'm amazed at how young I feel," he said. "When I look back, I think, 'Wow, 60 is old!' I remember thinking, 'Golly, if I ever get to be 60, I'm ancient.' And I feel great, and I think most 60-year-olds feel really good, particularly those who have taken care of their body and are careful about what they put in their body."

Mr. Bush, a former co-owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team, hosted a tee-ball softball game for girls Wednesday on the White House South Lawn, for which Storm provided the play-by-play.

"I'm a big backer of women's athletics," the president said in the interview.

Last Saturday was the 35th anniversary of Title IX, which requires gender equality in athletics and other educational programs.

"I've been a big backer of Title IX. I would defend it as something that has worked well," Mr. Bush said.

There's more work to be done for women's athletics, he said.

"I think the progress, though, has been startling from the days when there were hardly any women's teams. And I think the more we can expand Title IX and really include more people in athletics, male and female, the better off the country is," the president said.

[antoniof123]

This clown needs more mental exercise oh wait you have to have a brain for that sorry my bad.

[grumpas]

Maybe he should start by making certain the poorest American's have a job to actually put that food he talks about on the table??????

[skyk-2009]

Maybe we could give him a copy of the Constitution to lift, he sure as H-E-L-L can't read it!!

[rushlimpdrug]

"In Exclusive CBS News Interview, President Tells Hannah Storm . . . "
- Thanks Hannah and CBS for this wonderful report.
Hannah gets the really great exclusive interviews with wonderful insight.
Hopefully she can get an exclusive with the First Lady on what she does on bad hair days.
I can hardly wait!

[mbcsmith]

John Edwards idea of a workout is having his wife do it for him.

[brianbwb-2009]

Seems as if his plan to reduce obesity is to steal $35 billion per month from the treasury, gut all social services, and have the poorest starve to death, then what used to be the middle class can eat the flesh of the dead to survive.

[oeangus]

Got to admit he looks good for 61. And he'll look even better as the ex-President :)

[drummer94]

Watched the video this a.m. and Hannah was absolutely giddy over this. And who gives a dam what George thinks about exercise? We care about his failed exercise in Iraq.

[luvny-2009]

His head looks 71 not 61, man had he aged LOL

[ubrew12]

Bush: "I think that you set priorities in life. And if exercise is one of your priorities, you'll figure out time to do it."

Another priority... vacations. Too bad thinking isn't a priority, or reading.

[bareemperor]

The draft will promote exercise for young American high school graduates, won't it, Dubya?

Maybe it's time to 'exercise' our right to impeach a president and administration who does not listen to the voters, who promotes killing over diplomacy, who favors the defense contractors over his own country's needs...

[neoconrcrazy]

Bush: our war-time president?

Can't say any of our other war-time presidents had the time to give advice about physical fitness.

[texas468]

Heck, I've LOST weight.....in my POCKETBOOK!!! Just tax me again and keep raising gas prices, please......


:O)

[grazinggoat]

I would not mind an unfit president, provided he's mentally fit. Walking-Liar heard the voice of God before going into Iraq and into Afghanistan. This re-born is mentally unfit and needs to be kicked out. Impeached.

Give the job of Making America Healthy and fit to the Surgeon General!

[pepperp1]

LOL, Shrub how about you exercising those damaged gray cells for a change.

[aaabee-2009]

Hannah standing This Close to such power and leadership. Of course she was giddy.

"I think that you set priorities in life."
President Bush

Exercise and War...two very excellent priorities.

Just think, in a few more months we will not have to see him or suffer his lofty pontifications any more. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh........

[infidel_us]

"Bush Believes Americans Need More Exercise"

And Bush doesn't even want to know what Americans think he ought to do!

[barbaraf4]

Today, Bush has to change the subject to something bright and reasonably popular among the upper crust. (Mitsy, dear, how about a game of tennis - wonderful for your tan.) He has to do this to draw attention away from the subpoenas Cheney and "The White House" are receiving.

Once again, our Idiot in Chief, who has never had an original thought, and who fancies himself an authority on everything, defines today's subject (as opposed to yesterday's subject or the day's before) as Americans need more exercise.

How many calories does he burn sitting on a barstool, lifting a glass?

[cbs_oliver]

Hannah Storm is trying to make a monster look human.

I suppose it can be done.

After all, evil cannot be perfected.

But why would you want to try?

If gas prices go any higher we will all be getting the excercise we need

[clestes-2009]

This is funny! Bush has finally found something that most Americans can agree with him on.

He had to go waaaaaay outside politics to find it, but he did.

[rharrin1]

"I exercise a lot because it's good for my mind and good for my soul. But I hope I set a good example to others that exercise is good for you.

bush needs to do a he77 of a lot more because his mind is lagging way behind.

[rushlimpdrug]

This is just too funny.
Hanna quick you get the scoop on the President's concern with the youth of America!

[nolalou]

I have a good exercise we can do, Bush can bend over and we can repeatly kick is A-ss! (but remember to change legs with each kick, so you don't develop a-ss kicking muscles on only one side! :)

[lochlan-2009]

I would love to get more exercise. Of course, your administration has screwed the middle and lower classes so much that we have to spend the majority of our life working to pay for even the most basic of expenses and bills. Cost of living has sky rocketed and you need a house (endless maintenance), cars (again), insurance, phone, the internet (essential for work nowadays). Every corporation (who can screw Joe Blow without much threat of discipline from government) from the phone company to your bank is *** you out of 50% of every dollar you make so that after taxes, and then taxes, fees, fines and penalties, you can pay for your 150% increase in fuel AND 300% increase in insurance AND food AND education AND... All this while on the same income that has depreciated on the global market by almost 50% (that's if your company hasn't outsourced your job). The housing market is crashing, locking you into your location. The media is trying to raise your kids into purchase frenzy *** toys. All while working 110 hrs./week/household, giving you 2-3 hrs./day to see your kids and even less with your spouse. This guy is completly out of touch with the American citizen.

[bogusbones]

We should have exercised our right to vote better - voting him out of office. The man continues to show his absolute idiocy. As if one cannot see through this sham.

[michellem99-2009]

Extercise Mr. Bush. Yer fat. Don't tell us we need to exterisce. I don't want pity. But I try to walk and it is harder as I am legally blind,with c/p etc. Oh I forgot yer fully sighted and can walk with no problem. But yer teacher couldn't teach ya english. So when yer git on TV,gosh I can't understand a word yer said. And yep,I do talk like that. So I holler shut up at the TV. Yep. I am hard hearing,Yep I am 52. I AM A MAINAH BY BIRTH. I didn't vote for Bush. Yes I can write proper english but I am a hillbilly . I would love it if Bush is impeached and his sidekick. Anyway Bush is not a Taxan. He was born in CT. I don't like Bush. Mum was raised differently than me. I told her *I will have my say yer didn't want me when I was young so therefore others did yer job.*

[bogusbones]

I have re-read this story and I am amazed at this man's perspective. George - not everyone in America wins the sperm lottery and is born into a very rich family. I would love to see you start at the bottom of the pile and work yourself up. Without your family, you are nothing and have absolutely no grasp on the realities that 95% of Americans have to deal with. Why don't you bike around D.C. and see the way the rest of the world lives? I can't wait until January 20, 2009 when you finally fly off into the sunset.

[djberson]

"Bush Believes Americans Need More Exercise"...

Americans believe presidents need more brains.

[pepperp1]

Quack, Quack, Quack, Quack, Quack, Quack, Quack, after his lamo corporate immigration bill is voted off the agenda what else does the Duck Shrub have to talk about, he can not lie us into another war, not even his co conspirator congressional Repugs could help him pull that off. They, he Irrelevant%u2026.the American People will remove every one of these elected officials that worked against our interest in 2008. Their record 48 percent increase in government spending, 40 cents of every discretionary tax payer dollar going to their corporate welfare buddies, 3560 US solider unnecessarily dead, thousand of our soldiers wounded, two trillion dollars spent on a country across the world to steal control of their oil through invasion vs. diplomacy, torture, undermining of science, the corrupting of our Justice Department to fix elections, the erosion of our nations security by unilateral dictates that have under minded our moral and ethical leadership and on and on and on%u2026. Goodbye and Good riddance.

[micma-2009]

America believes that Bush should read more. It would have been very helpful if he had read a little history before he lied us into Iraq.

[j-whitman]

Anything to keep American's eye's off of what he's doing to the country ---- No bid contratcs are up 43% over the prievious year, & no end to Iraq in sight.

[par8hd]

Bush should be worrying about getting our babies out of Iraq!!!!!

[micma-2009]

How did this idiot ever become President of the U.S.?

[randalds]

Hannah Storm is trying to make a monster look human.

I suppose it can be done.

After all, evil cannot be perfected.

But why would you want to try?
Posted by CBS_Oliver at 10:12 AM : Jun 28, 2007

Leni Riefenstahl tried to do the same thing with Hitler in her seminal 1934 film Triumph des Willinas (Triumph of the will). She made him and Nazism seem so good that many Americans such as Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh become huge supporters until even after the start of the war. With the right lighting and dialogue even Darth Vader can be made to look warm and fuzzy and fool enough people (as Rove proved) to get elected.

As for exercise Bush needs to stop exercising one thing, his mouth. I would have said brain, but ya can't exercise what ain't there.

[passerby2]

what a baffoon! he's the proof that elections in this country are fixed. Who could have possibly voted for this guy twice, makes me so mad!

[randalds]

Triumph des Willinas? Scheeeessshhhh....I need more coffee!

Um...actually that's "Trimuph des Willens", not "Willinas". I should have looked it up before trusting my rusting memory. My bad.

(sigh)

[uradufuss]

"I'm amazed at how young I feel" --George Bush--

I'd love to know how young he'd feel today if he had to serve in Vietnam, like so many of the other men who are now 60. Instead, he got the Paris Hilton treatment. Funny how nobody in his Alabama National Guards unit remembers him --but they did "find some dental records," to "prove" he was there.

[j-whitman]

passerby2,,, When you say the elections are fixed, you understand how the Bushies will take that don't you ??

[l8c6]

Working more and more hours just to "put food on their families" How does Bush think americans will find the time for this exercise? He told a woman working two jobs in order to have the essentials what a great american she was for working all her waking hours. When are such people to go for a jog like our hard working president does? It's easy to work till one is 67 or older when one can have huge amounts of time off or be free to choose ones own hours.

[deborahcox05]

Hey Mr. Bush - how about you take a hike!!

[ioweign]

I'm amazed at how young I feel" --George Bush--

I'd love to know how young he'd feel today if he had to serve in Vietnam, like so many of the other men who are now 60. Instead, he got the Paris Hilton treatment. Funny how nobody in his Alabama National Guards unit remembers him --but they did "find some dental records," to "prove" he was there.
Posted by uradufuss at 11:09 AM : Jun 28, 2007

Yes - I have my DD-214, you would think he would hold on to such a valuable document! As for his exercising, I wish he would take a long walk, on a short pier!

[vet_sk]

Of course he feels young. He never has any remorse for anything he has ever done.
The perfect sociopath.

And people are overweight because they don't have time to workout. Most of the people I know work two jobs and still barely keep up.

George has no clue.

[photogeezer]

He should check out how much money his (and the other party) get from the corn syrup, sugar and trash food industries.

He feels young, does he? How about some time on the ground in Irag and a good case of PTSD? Many thousands of young men and women will never feel young again.

[mrhoppy-2009]

Americans believe the three branches of government need to go on trial for treason.

[bareemperor]

Bu$h will grab ANY opportunity to blow smoke in front of the 'War' issue destroying America today...

[erik2590]

I think he should eat about 1 million lbs of NAFTA #$% and feel what we average Americans and feeling with the destruction of our Middle Class. This gentleman does not care about us at all. I voted for him and I have really and unfortunately lost faith in him.

[retiredinmex]

Is anyone as mad as me? What the hell is Bush doing still in office?

At least his troops are getting all the excersize they need in this illegal, immoral unilateral invasion of Iraq!

And our tax dollars are feeding the troops real well through the gauging Hallibuton prices we pay(I know because I served in the Army in Iraq).

Is there a poll of parents of the dead, injured or missing as to their support for this war?

[davelangton]

Americans believe Bush needs more brains

[rushlimpdrug]

Bush to do list:
1. send healthy youth to fight a war.
2. tell the remaining they're fat.
3. if they want a second opinion tell them they are ugly too.