U.S. Safety from Terror 'Up in the Air'
Sun Oct 24,11:04 AM ET
WACO, Texas (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) said in a television interview the United States was safer from terrorism but whether it can ever be fully safe was "up in the air."
Bush also told the Fox News Channel's "Hannity and Colmes" show to be broadcast on Monday night that the U.S. government had no "actionable intelligence" pointing to a pre-election attack in the works as happened in Madrid earlier this year to disrupt the Spanish election.
"We do believe that they have -- because of what happened in Madrid -- that they do think about whether or not they can try to disrupt our elections," Bush said.
He said there was "nothing specific" pointing to a pre-election attack but rather "a kind of general intent."
In the interview, taped on Saturday and released on Sunday, Bush said U.S. security was "much better" since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
"Whether or not we can be ever fully safe is up -- you know, is up in the air. I would hope we could make it a lot more safe by staying on the offensive," he said.
Bush spent the night at his Crawford, Texas, ranch and was headed to Alamogordo, New Mexico, later in the day for a campaign rally. Democrat Al Gore (news - web sites) won New Mexico by 366 votes in 2000 and the Bush campaign hopes to deny the state to Democratic Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites).
In the Fox interview, Bush shrugged off comments last week by Kerry's wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, that Bush's wife, Laura, had never held a "real job." Laura Bush was a public school librarian and raised two daughters, and Heinz Kerry later apologized for her remark.
"It just kind of reflected the difference. Clearly women who work at home, raise their kids and stay at home and work in the house, provide a vital contribution and are whole people and are -- it's an old kind of style mindset," he said.
as hannity watched bush with vapid eyes, his face reddened and he began to sweat. he appeared to be stroking himself behind his desk.
during commercial break after the bush interview. when hannity reappeared, he had changed to a different suit.
