Got these from a site I heard about on RUSH LIMBAUGH, of all places (don't gag; for three hours every day he's on the only radio station which broadcasts fire updates on the Florence Fire out here)

He mentioned this "the truth about George" url just now, and I found the site to have a lot of interesting information.

It also has a light side, e.g:

Bushisms

We take George Bush's disdain for women's and civil rights seriously, but that doesn't mean he never makes us smile, smile and laugh, laugh and cry, and sometimes even feel a little surge of pride that our president, the most powerful man in the most powerful nation in the world, talks so darn good. Here are some shining examples of the funny and scary world of Dubya.

* "You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test." Feb. 21, 2001, reported by ABCnews.com

* "Do you have blacks, too?" Speaking to Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Reported April 28, 2002 by columnist Fernando Pedreira of the Estado Sao Paulo (and friend of the Brazilian president) in an article titled "An Overwhelming Ignorance." Also cited by the Washington Post.

* "I couldn't imagine somebody like Osama bin Laden understanding the joy of Hanukkah." Speaking at a White House Menorah lighting ceremony on Dec. 10, 2001, reported by USAtoday.com

* "We need common-sense judges who understand that our rights were derived from God. Those are the kind of judges I intend to put on the bench." June 27, 2002, reported by CBS News

* "We hold dear what our Declaration of Independence says, that all have got uninalienable rights, endowed by a Creator." May 24, 2002, speaking to community and religious leaders in Moscow. White House news release.

* "We've got pockets of persistent poverty in our society, which I refuse to declare defeat — I mean, I refuse to allow them to continue on. And so one of the things that we're trying to do is to encourage a faith-based initiative to spread its wings all across America, to be able to capture this great compassionate spirit." March 18, 2002, speaking in O'Fallon, Mo. White House news release.

* "A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it." July 27, 2001, reported by BusinessWeek Online

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2002

Answers

Don't you wish your were under the microscope?

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2002

Bushisms:

"You're all going to hell." --joking about what he would say to Israeli Jews upon arriving in the middle east 1993, reported in Austin-American Statesman

"I appreciate diplomatic talk, but I'm more interested in action and results."-----Oct 11, 2001 PBS

"If you are one of those people that are always trying to figure out which way the wind is blowing, decision-making can be difficult. But I find that----I know who I am. I know what I believe in, and I know where I want to lead the country. And most of the decisions come pretty easily for me, to be frank with you." Aug 27, 2001 PBS

"Sitting down and reading a 500 page book on public policy or philosophy or something." Talk magazine, sept 1999, when asked to name something he isn't good at.

And, for levity:

"It is clear our nation is reliant upon big foreign oil. More and more of our imports come from overseas."....Beaverton, OR sept 2000

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2002

I feel a LITTLE sorry for our leaders (just a little).

Most of them are educated in business or law, and are suddenly thrust into an arena where EVERYBODY and their grandmother expect them to have knowledge about - care about their concerns - positions AND know how to fix the problems. They are expected to be experts in all areas of our policies, both foreign and domestic. How many of us have heard of business leaders lauded for having a real knowledge of pollution AND how to fix/clean the environment? Not many, I imagine. How many environmentalists would you trust to run a big business and make a profit?. Same answer as the first question, I think. Both have issues and interests that run against one another.

Big business - environmentalist, liberal - conservative, urban - rural, the list of views on American culture goes on and on. And everybody wants the president to do something to fix the 'problem' NOW. When that doesn't happen, one side nails them for being 'uncaring - incompetent' - in bed with the pick an issue.

Most presidents walk into office looking fairly young - they come out looking like 20 years have gone by when they leave office four or eight years later. I'm serious, gray hair, furrowed eyebrows, facial tiks, they age horrendously when in office. Must be all that responsibility. OR maybe politician's years are like dog years?

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2002

I bet Dan Quayle is happy to have some company in the goofy remark department. :)

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2002

(Prepare for rant!) I hope I dont sound like I'm pickin on anybody here, cuz y'll are my friends, but I must speak. To those who attempt to defend George Bush Jr, I appreciate your kindness in trying to empathize with the problems associated with running this country. However, these are deadly serious issues all, and the fact that we seemingly have a mentally challenged man running the most influential nation on the planet is a very big deal to me. I have a book called The Bush Dyslexicon, and have hundreds of quotes from George Jr which clearly display his lack of knowledge on major issues about which a president of this country does not have the leisure to be ignorant. I could post scads more; I only put up a few short ones. And I'm not talking about his 'gaffes' because of his supposed 'dylexia', I'm talking about understanding concepts, knowledge of foreign affairs, a seeming pride in his ignorance. It's appalling.

Now I listened to eight years of non-stop ragging on Clinton, one back-stabbing non-issue after another, none of which had a hoot to do with how the country was actually being run. I am no lover of Bill Clinton, who consistently showed himself to be too cowardly to stand up to right wing agendas, but at least he had a brain in his head. At least he ATTEMPTED to not let Congress/Corporate America DESTROY every single environmental protection advance we had gained. AT least he knew where other countries were located, something about their history and leaders, and how they fit in and affected the world. At least he had a thirst for knowledge, whereas George by his own admission, reads almost nothing!

".....they are expected to be experts in all areas of our policies, both foreign and domestic." Well, duh! Is that too much to expect of someone who is leading the world?? This is not a job for even the AVERAGE Joe, this the number one political job in the world! It's complex! It's difficult! It's stressful!

" How many of us have heard of business leaders lauded for having a real knowledge of pollution AND how to fix/clean the environment? Not many, I imagine. How many environmentalists would you trust to run a big business and make a profit?. Same answer as the first question, I think. Both have issues and interests that run against one another."

The fact that business leaders DO NOT have a real knowledge of pollution and how to fix it seems to me to be an abomination !! They are the very ones who should be experts, the ones who cause the problem, who conduct business with their only consideration, their god the bottom line, with no care for the future, not even their own childrens'.

How many enviromentalists would I TRUST to run big businesses? Well hells bells, environmentalists wouldnt be likely to run ANY big businesses, cuz we don't for the most part believe in the whole concept of big business! Big business has no redeeming qualities!

I'll take a breath now......that felt good........:)

Peace,

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2002

Go, Earthmama! I agree with most all your observations, except that there are a few businesses that need to be big. Amtrak comes to mind.

But this is only a technicality, and does not negate my appreciation for your comments.

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2002

I vote for total anarchy. Then everyone can be unhappy :>) Politics is soooooooooooo amusing.

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2002

Jay, what? I thought everyone already WAS unhappy? ;-)

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2002

True. But it is amusing. GWB choked on a pretzel, Clinton "choked" something :>) and Al Gore choked during the election :>) One of these days, I'm going to go in to vote and just "mark my territory" to mark my ballot :>)

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2002

Well, I'm sure some of you are wondering why the Wildman hasn't been on here defending the Bushman. I'm also sure that Joy was hoping that I wouldn't be and would let this thread die a natural death.

First, let me address those who think that we wasted a lot of time and money trying to get Clinton out of office. Here is my take on it. While the sex scandal was the one item that got the most news coverage, there were other things that did directly affect the country. Things such as selling our missile guidance software or computer parts, with that information, to a foreign country. Receiving campaign contributions from a foreign company. Renting out bedrooms in the White House. Lying to a congressional investigating committee and to the courts and the American people. To paraphrase an old song, "and the list goes on". Now, to those that think that the sex scandal had nothing to do with running the country, you may be right. Directly, the only thing it had to do with running the country was to take up a lot of his time that could have been spent running the country. And the time of the Congress, the courts and a lot of the taxpayers money. To his credit, he did blow up a notorious, threatening, aspirin factory. Wonder how much it cost us to get out of that? Indirectly, he taught our kids (notice, "the kids"?) that it's all right to lie, cheat on your spouse and that oral sex isn't sex. We now have 13, 14, 15 year old girls giving their dates oral sex at the end of the evening instead of good night kisses. And, they say, it's Okay because it's not "sex".

Now, the only thing I'll say about Bush is that I cannot remember any president who has stepped into such a world of sh## as he did. Things that he had no hand in and no control over. Abortion, environment, big business, etc., are issues that are going to piss off half the people, regardless of who the President is or what decision they make.

George reminds me of Randy Travis when he first started singing. I don't know how many of you remember his first year or so but he stood on stage like a wooden indian. Didn't move. He finally gained confidence and became animated and turned out to be a pretty good performer. Bush has grown since he took office and seems to speak HIS mind and not just parrot the rhetoric that his handlers hand him. Most people in his position don't speak in public unless they have been coached to the ninth degree and that is to keep them from publicly making the faux pas that he makes.

A few years ago, reporters were interviewing students at a university. They were asking them what they thought about John, John Kennedy, or Billy Bob Kennedy, or one of the Kennedy's and one of the girls said that she sure hoped that he'd run for President because he was such a hunk. Now, you've just got to think that if that's the criteria that the upcoming generation is going to use for picking our leaders, we're in a heap of trouble.

Wildman, (hoping for the best)

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2002

Hey Earthmama:

I think I'm the person you are referring to when you mention that you don't want to pick on friends. But I don't feel you are picking on me when you express your view at all. It's your opinion, and I value that. It takes at LEAST two opposite views on a subject (the more the better) to get a balance.

I didn't post my thread above to piss anybody off; we're all friends, despite some differences in opinions, and I'm not going to hold any grudges from anyone expressing opinions which don't agree with mine (Might cry some though :^)). But please DON'T hold your tongue if you disagree with me - I want to learn new perspectives, and your eloquence is something I enjoy reading.

So peace, definitely.

-- Anonymous, August 05, 2002

Thanks JR; you are a peach!

Wildman, you're a peach too, but your political references are a little fuzzy......hahahaha......ahem......

Perhaps you could be a little more specific, and include documentation for the following:

"....selling our missile guidance software or computer parts, with that information, to a foreign country. "

"Receiving campaign contributions from a foreign company"

"Renting out bedrooms in the White House."

By the way, just what *is* a foreign company nowadays?

"...only thing it had to do with running the country was to take up a lot of his time that could have been spent running the country. And the time of the Congress, the courts and a lot of the taxpayers money."

Precisely the point.

No one had any business in his sex life. Period. And I still maintain that his 'lying' about his sexual escapades was not one whit different than 90% of men in his position would have done. It's between him and his wife, end of story. Has nothing to do with anything.

I do not intend to defend Bill's behaviour, because I truly couldn't care less. Apparently lots of folks (many of whom are politicos), however, have an obsession with the sexual habits of their fellow citizens.

"Indirectly, he taught our kids (notice, "the kids"?) that it's all right to lie, cheat on your spouse and that oral sex isn't sex. We now have 13, 14, 15 year old girls giving their dates oral sex at the end of the evening instead of good night kisses. And, they say, it's Okay because it's not "sex".

I agree wholeheartedly that its a damn shame that our kids were exposed to this whole mess, but to my mind the puritanical finger- wagging vigilantes who made a federal case out of it in the first place are the cause of the problem. So Clinton is a lech.....you think that's unusual with men of power? Get real. It's par for the course. And how dare we judge what the Clinton's marital arrangement might be? Everyone does not live their lives the same way. Doesnt always make them wrong. Mature adults mind their own business and wouldn't have forced a meaningless no-win situation where he had to make a public choice that deeply affected his family, and, as you point out, our young people.

"Now, the only thing I'll say about Bush is that I cannot remember any president who has stepped into such a world of sh## as he did. Things that he had no hand in and no control over. Abortion, environment, big business, etc., are issues that are going to piss off half the people, regardless of who the President is or what decision they make."

Things he has no control over?? What does that mean? He has already set a huge new precedent for damage to the enviroment in his short time in office! Big business? He has handed to big business the world on a platter!

Abortion? What about abortion?

"...finally gained confidence and became animated and turned out to be a pretty good performer. Bush has grown since he took office and seems to speak HIS mind..."

He's already a good performer! And, quite honestly, that fact that he is speaking his *mind* is the scariest part. Cuz there just isn't all that much there. He even *admits* he isnt thoughtful, doesn't like to think too much, do research. .. or READ!!

Sigh.......

By the way, Jay, I'm happy that you're amused. Amused is a good thing to be. But some folks think politics is beneath them, they are above it all, and it has no affect on their lives. I think those people are fools. Politics IS life, and affects every single facet of all of our lives. We can certainly chose to ignore it all, and pretend it doesnt matter one way or the other, that living in a cocoon will keep it all at arms length. After all, that's what most people do, and that is exactly what people like Hitler knew and depended on.

As for me, I choose to adhere to different advice , like "Your silence will not protect you." audre lorde

Blessed be,

-- Anonymous, August 05, 2002

I'll admit that I have a hard time understanding politics. I'm really bad with names, so I can't remember if Senator X who said so and so today is the same guy who voted against Bill Y last week, or if that was someone else. It's hard to see the trends when you can't keep the players straight.

One thing that does concern me right now is the growing insistence that we have to attack Iraq. Our allies are getting louder each day in denouncing this plan, so why do we persist? I read that our strategic oil reserves are being filled to the brim in preparation, but even this supply would last the country only 8 weeks. The ambassador from Jordan said this weekend that we cannot use his country as a staging area, and even Bush's pet yes-man Tony Blair is saying we should back off. It just seems stupid to me to be attacking Iraq now. At least when Daddy B was in office we had the excuse of Iraq invading Kuwait, but what's our excuse now? The "War against Terrorism"? Puuh-leeese, give me a break.

-- Anonymous, August 06, 2002