At a speech in Bridgeport, Conn., President Bush declared that he wanted each American to volunteer for “4,000 years,” a variation of his usual call for “4,000 hours” that produced guffaws in the audience. Later, at a fundraiser, Bush bestowed a new name on Connecticut’s lieutenant governor, Jodi Rell. “I appreciate Lieutenant Governor Judi Kell for being here,” he said. “Great to see you again, Judi.”
Whatever, says Cathleen Hinsch, a spokeswoman for Rell. “You don’t correct the president.”
But the White House does. Both goofs, and accompanying laughter, were stricken from the record — deus ex machina — in the official White House transcripts.
Rewriting History
It would appear that our underachieving president’s record is getting the benefit of a little after-the-fact copyediting.