Reuters Uses Lance's Bike Ride With Bush to Push Sheehan

August 20th, 2005 10:56 PM
President Bush and Lance Armstrong participated in the "Tour de Crawford" today as the pair took part in a 17 mile mountain bike ride on Bush's ranch. Reuter's decided to use their report on the ride as an opportunity to promote Cindy Sheehan (h/t Little Green Footballs):
The president was described by his doctors in his annual physical as being in "superior" condition for a man his age.

He takes pride in his six-day-a-week workout regimen and last week he showcased the statistics on his heart rate monitor for a group of reporters who rode with him. The monitor showed he burned 1,493 calories in a two-hour ride, also 17 miles.

Bush says exercise helps sharpen his thinking.

But some of his critics view his exercise obsession as an indulgence that takes time away from other priorities.

Among them is Cindy Sheehan, the Vacaville, California, mother of a soldier killed in Iraq, who until late last week was camped out down the road from Bush's ranch seeking a meeting with him to discuss her opposition to the war.

Sheehan, who left her vigil on Thursday to tend to her sick mother, has said she believes Bush should take fewer bike rides to have more time to focus on the "the nation's work."
All in all the Reuter's report was pretty good...up until the Sheehan references. Sheehan clearly had nothing whatsoever to do with this bike ride, and the fact that she was mentioned indicates that Reuter's is willing to use any pretext available to push the Sheehan story.