Here's proof...
By Brad Friedman on 4/12/2004, 3:27pm PT  

This photograph, taken and released by the Whitehouse on Easter, shows how much Bush cares about those injured and killed in our "War on Terror". It ran dutifully on Drudge all day yesterday.

Non-Whitehouse photographers were not present.

Bush has yet to attend a funeral or memorial service of any of the 677 servicemen killed in Iraq.

The Whitehouse policy banning media or grieving families from greeting the remains of their loved ones at Dover Air Force base is still in effect.

Last week, 67 American Servicemen were killed in Iraq. Bush spent the week on his ranch in Crawford, TX.

The NY Times reported on Bush's first public appearance since last Tuesday.

The White House communications director, Dan Bartlett, insisted last week that "most Americans will understand" that the president wanted to spend the Easter holiday with his family.

Also on Thursday, American forces in Iraq pushed south to retake control of several Shiite towns held by insurgents, and three Japanese civilians taken as hostages appeared in a video broadcast blindfolded, while their captors threatened them with guns, knives and swords.

Mr. Bush spent that afternoon leading representatives of 22 hunting, fishing and wildlife organizations on a tour of his 1,600-acre ranch. Among his guests were leaders of the National Rifle Association, the Ruffed Grouse Society, Ducks Unlimited and the National Wild Turkey Federation. He also gave an interview to Ladies' Home Journal.

On Friday, as Americans worked to put a cease-fire in place in Iraq, Mr. Bush fished in the bass pond on his ranch with Roland Martin, host of the Outdoor Life Network cable show "Fishing with Roland Martin."

Mr. Bush "took the biggest one of the day" — a four-pound bass, Mr. Martin told The Associated Press.

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