Here comes Bush.
 

President Bush is coming to see me on Tuesday.
Anything I should tell him?
Film at eleven. :biggrin:

yeah - ask him how the hell he got a 5 minute standing ovation in arizona before he even opened his mouth. it was pretty ridiculous.
and ask him when he is going to ditch rumsfeld and bring someone in who realizes that the military needs more people, not just more toys.
and ask him why i keep getting pictures of him and his wife in my mailbox.

Sorry for the delay, life intruded. :)
Anyway, Boeing announced today that Bush would be touring our plant on Tuesday. They haven't spelled it all out yet, but he'll see people working, some people will meet him, then some kind of shindig/rally because each employee will get 3 tickets to whatever it turns out to be. We can bring in 2 family/friends. One guy told me he'll give his 3 tickets to the Quakers that protest the war in Kennet Square every week.
Most important to me, we can't drive in the plant on Monday or Tuesday. Find a place outside then enter through airport style security, just to get to work. They'll pay for this. :mad:

I think I'd call in sick that day and sell the 3 tickets on eBay. :vomitblu:

Ask him what the plan is for Iraq and Afghanistan and ask him what the exit strategy is! Neither Bush nor Kerry have really touched on this point and neither of them really seem to have any idea with what they plan on doing over there. Bush just wants to pre-emptively strike all nations in that region that raise an eyebrow at him and Kerry...I'm still not sure what he wants.

One can only imagine the security detail necessary for Bush....at this time, and this wide open and with as many people that there are at the plant.

I'm a Bush supporter but short of an invite to the White House, I'd pass on seeing him speak....er-, trying to speak.

I do think it would be cool to see him. I would have to chuckle when he fucked up his pronunciation of nukular, though. It wouldn't be long before the ss would be taking me away.

And I would inisist on passing some object over his head to verify that he has no puppet strings. That wouldn't go over too well either.

The whole idea of having him come to your workplace has made me think. What would I ask him or tell him? I dont know.

I would probably just tell him that I'll be voting for him and that many of the people that I know will be also. That I appreciate him making the tough decisions over the past 3 years and that whether he wins or loses I'll always think of him as the President that I most identify with.

If I had the time and opportuntiy, I'd like to say hello to Laura too.

and.......

If I could, I'd get 3 autographs. One each for the Slangs serving active duty today. I know they'd treasure them.

Heh... my 8yo told me about a month ago that she "hates George W. Bush." I asked her why.... it turns out she STILL hasn't forgiven him for coming to the YMCA in Ardmore to give a talk earlier in the year. All the traffic etc. made her school bus run an hour late coming home that day! :cool:

Good point. She can't vote yet though.

Whup, scratch that, she cant vote Rep right now. :)

Well I'm not a fan of Bush, but I splained to her that no other president would have had less security and caused less traffic.

True, but another President might have different swing states. :biggrin:

That was nicely even-handed of you.

Even-handedness is part of good parenting, when they're old enough to vote you want them to have the tools. I just tell my girls that all politicians are evil liars, fair and balanced, that's me.

That's pretty much what I tell them! ;) Besides, I think people should dislike politicians for non-frivolous reasons.

Todays announcement; OK, Bush is campaigning, but everyone else must adhere to Boeing policy that prohibits even wearing a political button, on site. Hmmmm.
Bush goes inside to look at the new paint, shiny floors and a shitload of flags they hung up while EVERYONE else sits out in the sun. Uh- huh.

The logistics of this event, astound me. One of the engineering buildings was recently painted and has a colorful mural across the top. Two helicopters will sit in front of that building, a low stage and podium in front of them. Facing the stage is multi level platforms with huge spotlights(3 pm?) and cameras with what appears to be huge audio/video control boards, all from PDA, Charleston, SC..

The sound system has 28 KF750F, and 8 SB1000E speakers by EAW, with an amp for each. I asked the tech how many watts? “A lot.” Wonder if they’ll play the soundtrack from Top Gun?
Power is from an Aggreko, shipping container sized generator and everything is fed to a New England Satellite Systems truck with a 2.4 meter reflector. Verizon had an army of techs running wires inside the building today.
There’s a row of standard Porta-pottys, two 8’x8’x8’ fancy Porta-pottys, and a bunch of drink vending trailers. Also it looks like they have a VIP food tent.
Everything had to be in place today so the Secret Service could come in tonight, with the dogs, to check everything out.

Boeing big shots are flying in from all over the world and the county politicians are scrambling for tickets.Keep in mind this is for a less than 2 hour visit.

Now we've all got a ticket!

Yeah but it won't do you any good, because the address is wrong. :haha:

The morning after
 

After the dogs discovered two guys had firecrackers in their toolboxes, the plant was declared safe.
5000 employees @ 3 tickets each plus a bunch of local, politically connected people, should be between 15k and 16k. Boeing says around 7800 but the guards tell me closer to 6000, showed up.
Among the conspicuously absent was Boeing's CEO.
Well, at least Bush hires the handicapped. All the young fellows with him wear hearing aids. :lol:

I was wondering something, when bush spoke in Topeka... they made people who were showing up sign 'loyalty' oaths (or something to that effect) to promise not to cause trouble during the 'festivities' I was wondering if you had to or anything like it? (the people I mention are more in the die-hard repub camp.. and were a bit taken aback by this)

Cowhead, any employee doing anything "political" (at a campaign speech????) could be fired, per Boeing policy. I could be fired for wearing a campaign button on Monday, although they would probably just tell me to get rid of it or go home. Everyone else was screened pretty closely but I don't know if they had to sign anything. I felt it was best for me just to avoid the situation. ;) I haven't made up my mind yet, and probably won't until the election, but I dislike being forced into anything and this was definately a love him or leave rally.

Well Brucie, the big man is coming to my neck of the woods, so it's my turn to whine about what a pain it's going to be to get home from work today. :D http://www.kcrg.com/article.aspx?art...391&cat_id=123 I was surprised that the road going around the park wasn't already closed this morning when i went by at 6:30. Needless to say I'll be taking the LONG way home tonight, like 20 miles out of my way to totally bypass this area of town.

thanks Bruce... I was just curious about the whole thing..

Bushy won't come with in a stones throw of here.. well okay he went to Topeka.. but that's not saying much ( I live 20 some miles from there and I wouldn't go there unless you paid me.. ). although I was suprised (pleasantly) that Edwards came back here after the Kerry/Edwards train blew past us in the night, although of course I had to work the next day so I missed out on all the hoopla, but one thing about that, there was little police/Secret Service presence there, mayhap no one in my little town wants to ice the guy.. and I really ought to go off on limbaughs little remarks, although it doesn't seem really worth it.

and as a side note if Kerry had stopped here in Lawrence he would have been the first contender since Johnson to stop here in our little 'liberal' oasis here..

Here's the map that determines where he goes. You can see why Pennsylvania is stop number one and Iowa is stop number two, any why our friends in Colorado will be visited, and why Kansas is not stop number anything.

It turns out WI is stop #2. Still.

nice, thanks.

Slang, dont take this as in any way an insult or challenge but just a matter of curiosity on my part. You recognise Bush's difficulty in ...well....speaking yet you are a Bush supporter. I dont suggest that you aught to dislike someone because they are inarticulate, but do you not consider inarticulacy to be a bad thing in your President? I can understand not holding it against him personally, but would you not prefer a President who was ...well....more intelligent and articulate? Does Bush seem to you an acceptable example of the Creme de la creme of your countrymen?

we're not likely to see slang around these parts for awhile. something about concentrating on his studies or some such shit.

as far as myself though, i don't think bush is the best the nation has to offer. i think he is, however, the best being offered up this november.

as far as his butchery of the english language? well, while embarrassing it isn't that big of a deal. 65-70 years ago we would have not even known about it. i don't believe being an eloquent speaker is a must in a president. there are many great speakers who shouldn't go anywhere near the oval office.

I think Slang's "on vacation" from the Cellar, but I'd LOVE to answer this one:NO!!!

Lookout, I can see how mere inarticulacy could be forgivable. What would concern me more is his seeming slowness of thought. When questions from the press core veer from the agreed lines he is unable to think on his feet. On one occassion he was asked by surprise "have you made any mistakes in Iraq? Could you have done anything differently?"

His response was to grin and look perplexed and then say "I keep waiting for something to pop into my head but.....no...nothing yet" or words to that effect. that's not inarticulacy that's slowness of thinking. Does that not worry you a little?

That's called using humor to defer your need to answer a question. I suspect he's not as stupid as people assume he is.

That is not a bad position to be in.

If you heard the speech last night, he engaged in a bit of self-deprecating humor regarding his ability to misspeak.

that question was a landmine. any pol worth his salt should know that it is a trap, pure and simple, especially in an election year. i would say that is an example of one of his moments of quick thinking.

Actually, I think that's quite a nice way of putting it. I wouldn't go so far as to say our Commander inChief is flat out stupid, but maybe just a little.....slow.

I really don't think he's mentally slow, I think he just isn't fast with coming up with slick political answers. He stutters because he can't say the actual thing he's thinking, and he's working on a diplomatic way to put it.

*nods* Thats a possibility

It's an act! I don't like Bush one little bit but I think that is just a "gee, shucks" act. It's more like he's too evil to be that stupid, ya know?

DanaC--could we borrow Tony Blair?

It is his strongest style feature, a common touch which Kerry distinctly lacks, and which may be the determing difference in the election.

The people don't want to be led by someone too unlike themselves. It is an understandable bias. Therefore, I agree Bri, I think it is an act, to some level. I think he said "NUKE-u-lar" one day and his handlers looked at it and said, NO, DO NOT CORRECT IT.

In a campaign, you sweat details like this.

Bush was raised in one of the oldest of old money northeastern families. They portray him as a Texan, and I suppose he is, but here is a guy with the highest of high-class family and education, all in the Northeast: Phillips (MA), Yale BA (CT), Harvard MBA (MA). If he didn't come out of that all high-falutin', I for one would recognize that as a personality strength.

You've got to be kidding.

I think he said "NUKE-u-lar" one day and his handlers looked at it and said, NO, DO NOT CORRECT IT.

I was reading an article on politician "handlers," back at the beginning of his first campaign, that claimed he actually used to say the word correctly when he was governor of Texas, and that they must have outright TOLD him to say it incorrectly because it would make him more approachable. But of course I couldn't begin to remember a source for that...

"DanaC--could we borrow Tony Blair?"

Oh Good Lord yes! Yes! No, no, no trouble, dont mind a bit, just say the word we'll shove him on a plane....send him back in a couple of years....or not....in fact just keep him, there yes, he's yours.

"The people don't want to be led by someone too unlike themselves"

I personally want to be led by someone a lot less flawed and a lot more capable than me.

unfortunately that is not possible we are all flawed equally but in different areas.

I also want someone whose biggest quality isnt his dad

I agree. With the US being the most powerful nation in the world I just think we should all expect a little more out of our leader than to be (or act like) the average bumbling everyday citizen.

and people condemn kerry for coming off as elitist. the perfect president only exists in our dreams because one person cannot be all things to all people.

Some would say that is at the height of liberalism: that government is better than "us" and that it requires the very best and brightest, a group of people better and smarter than us, to determine what should best be done to find a bright future.

As for me, I don't know.

Liberal? Not sure. Was the essence of the illuminati though. Also was in Deux Ex now I think of it - the idea that the smartest and the most ruthless will always rule. They had the right idea. Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar, no mean feat.
The thing is, bush is just a plain faced halfwit that makes a nice face for people like Cherny, Wolfowitz and Perle who really pull the strings and decide what happens, like cockroaches they all hate the spotlight so bush makes a nice operating cover.

You don't believe this article, Jag? It claims that Bush is really making the decisions, but of course it's based on what "they" present him as options. ;)

I read somewhere he doesnt like to read his briefings, he has them read to him. I also read he doesnt like to start work until 10 am, but in all fairness I cannot verify the articles credentials

i heard he had his 2nd state of the union address written by a 3 headed alien from zandar.

No, the alien was from MARS, not Zandar, silly. I heard it on Fox news.

The aliens who run the US government are Kang and Kodos. And you people think you're informed! Sheesh!

:alien: :weird:

It won't make a difference in two weeks, anyway....the Vogons are coming.

Arg! with their ship hanging in th the air in precisely the way a brick doesnt!

Forget what I said in the other thread about your command of the English language. :lol:

I just found this.

Thanks for trying to be delicate here but it's ok, I understand that people feel much differently than I do on this issue. I can only dry fire a pistol at the computer screen, so you're safe. This is the internet....no danger.

The man can't speak. There's no arguing that point. Is he intelligent? I would guess that the majority of people here would say no. I would also guess that the majority of those people didnt graduate from Yale. Yes, I know, Dick Cheney bought Bush's way through.....whup, no, his daddy. It's hard to unwravel all the different variations.

Yes, to the masses that think he's a dumbass, in some ways I can see your point. I don't think that he's stupid but you'll never agree. So where does that leave us.....no win, all around.

There are some of us that believe that the polished bullshit that many of the popular politicians display is nice to look at but only flash and style without substance. Kerry would be a good example of that. He contradicted himself in the debates several times, and even studdered but the news doesnt re-re-re-re-run those sound bits like they would if it was Bush. They don't like him, everyone know this and they tilt the news, select the more unflattering photos, and play less than perfect soundbites endlessly of Bush getting tongue tied.

If you were to listen consistently to WABC radio, you would hear Kerry sounding just as fucking stupid *sometimes* as Bush is made out to sound, all the time. It just depends on what the audience wants.

You are making the assumption that I want an elitist. I don't. I want someone in office that reflects my values and beliefs. Bush is relatable to a large number of common folk. Yes, he is rich but doesnt have that same fakeness that many of the pols have today. I don't want someone so obviously fake looking as a pres. I don't screw with my hair and have all the right Clintonesque hand gestures, the lip biting, the contorting of the simplest words into something different that the obvious, all that show biz shit. We see all that as phony and dont care for it in the leader.


Some poeple arent into all the flash and want substance. Many feel that Bush does just fine in this respect. I am one of them. One of millions.

How many millions? We will know that in a few days. :blush:

Bush was a bit of a wild thing in his college and post-college days. I have heard a lot of biased and less-biased accounts that agree that he was not a great scholar. He certainly couldn't get into law school. Here is a very biased and less biased account of his education.

The Bush campaigns account of his education, like his service in Project PULL gloss over what appears to be a lack of focus for GWB. The impression he later gave of himself was someone who was self-destructive until he found God and met his wife.

Here is what appears to be a largely largely unbiased assessment of GWB's intelligence and character. It supports your view that Bush that he is smarter than he looks.

You seem to have missed a point. If Bush is really smarter than he appears, and if his country bumpkinism is an act, then it is also flash and style. You are turned off by Kerry's intellectual attitude and like Bush's folksy style. You appear to assume the one you dislike is false and the one that you like is genuine, but don't seem to realize that both are to some degree fake. Bush is a Yale graduate with an estimated 129 IQ who cannot pronounce nuclear in any way acceptable to anyone in the world except people who belong to a small but significant voting bloc. Coincidence?

Bush is not stupid, he is deliberately ignorant. He has the raw intelligence to handle the information he is given, but it is possible the same ideological stringency which saved his life also prevents him from accepting other points of view. Kerry appears to take the time to consider many points of view, and even adjust his path accordingly. Taken too far, this would result in indecision. Bush's problem, taken to far, would result in an inability to avoid danger, a mental lemming.

As for coverage, I watched all four debates from end to end. Did you? On style Bush tanked the first debate. An example of how he really is smart is that he did at that one point learn from his mistakes and did better the second and third time, without, of course, admitting that he made any mistakes. The President's mistakes are scrutinzed more closely because he is the President. This is the downside of being number one. The upside is, if he ever has anything substantive to say, personally or through his press secretary, he has a ready audience. The fact that this adminstration has the lowest number of press conferences of any recent president , especially one involved in as many crises as this one, is his fault. Don't blame the press for trying to find nuances when he does speak to fill in the vaccum.

More importantly, once the candidates stopped reciting their talking points, which they both did, you could see clear differences in them. Kerry sees many points and sometimes dodges. Bush goes straight ahead, no matter what he sees. Who would be the better leader or react better in a crisis. We know Kerry fought in Vietnam, and killed people. He did not appear to hesistate. When he came back he listened to other points of view and joined the anti-war movement. This is not waffling or flip-flopping. This is thinking and making decisions. Bush was never tested in combat, but I wouldn't want to be in his platoon. Imagine an officer who skims or ignores briefings which do not match his preconceptions. George Custer comes to mind.

If I was to listen consistently to WABC radio, I would drop a few IQ points and start to grow hair in new and unusual places. If you don't want to listen to the liberals on NPR, at least consider MSNBC.


I think I already addressed the concept that they are both phony. I would be happy to pick a plain speaking populist if it were Teddy Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, or even Huey Long. These were plain speaking, smart, comptetent men. One or two of them were scrupulously honest and all of them seemed to work for their constituents.


The only substance I have been able to glean from Bush are tax cuts and the Gay marriage amendment. The first reflects a buy now-pay later philosophy which also seems to drive Bush's economic policy. The second is a blatant attempt to suck up to a core constituency that thankfully will never get passed.

One idea that I have heard that I would dearly not want to believe is that there are a significant minority of people who believe that the end is coming and the good will be saved, so it is ok to use up everything. I heard that it was this group that formed an alliance with anti-environmental business interests and that that is how this new fundamentalism has been funded (no pun intended). It just seems to me that Bush's policies are so short term and unsustainable that I have to wonder if he hasn't bought into this.

I have never believed that Bush's faith has been faked any more than I believe that Kerry's anti-war stance was for political gain. I just have to wonder which articles of faith Bush adheres to.

Millions will decide, and the Republican party will have to examine itself.

These are my opinions, and you are obviously welcome to your own. No hard feelings. :rant:

George Jr did not read the 6 Aug Presidential Daily Briefing. He believes, instead, in being briefed in person. He says he needs to see the 'body language". The DCI (Director of Central Intelligence) would spend (waste) about 3 hours every day driving over to the White House to personally brief the President. That leaves George Tenent with only 5 productive hours every day. Since George Tenent only added another person in the game of Telephone (first person whispers in the 2nd ear, who in turn whispers the message to a third, etc until the fourth perons has little idea what the message really is), then how does George Jr get a valid briefing? Does it matter? George Jr often does not remember details even in verbal briefings.

In one debate, George Jr said something about the FBI Director is in his office every day for a briefing. Again, when does George Jr instead read facts as written right from the knowledgable source - in the memo? Instead he has the FBI Director wasting time verbally briefing him?

No, George Jr does not read his own memos. And Sec of Treasury Paul O'Neil says even his meeting are pre-arraigned scripts - where everyone is told a day in advance when he will speak, what he will say, and how long he has to speak. Why?

11 Sept made it obvious that George Jr does not make the decisions. Have been asking this question for some time now. Who makes the decisions? At one point, I suspected it was a combination of Rice, Rove, Rumsfeld, and Cheney. However the latest press leaks about how this administration intentionally tried to violate international law (Laws don't apply to US) makes it obvious that list is even shorter.

Clearly Powell is often cut out of decision making. Powell obviously is not on the campaign trail. Speculation says Powell is probably only months from resigning for many reasons being leaked from both civilian and military sides. Powell is too centrist to be trusted by the insider extremists who are taking a seige mentality. Powell was also not a founding member of the Project for a New American Century. Powell is not one who makes George Jr decisions. Powell is often in confrontation with both Cheney and Rumsfeld.

The latest documents (see the post entitled "Laws don't apply to US") demonstrate that Rice was extremely furious when she also was cut out of the intentional 'violation of domestic and international laws' decision. That says Rice is not on the inside track.

Rove was in FL being just as indesicive as everyone else when Goerge Jr just sat there for seven minutes waiting to be told what to do. Rove may make political decisions. But Rove alone is not telling George Jr what to decide.

This leaves only one person who really makes the decisions. Acting President Cheney. Powell expresses this in Woodward's book. Everytime a major decision is made, first everyone leaves the room except Cheney. After George Jr has consulted privately with Cheney, only then does George Jr announces his decision. George Jr could not even testify before the 9/11 Commission without Cheney at his side.

The real president, by process of elimination and by who George Jr talks to just before making all decisions (including where to take Air Force One on 11 September) is Cheney. Dick Cheney is, for all practical purposes, the President of the United States with his front man being George Jr.

Michael Jordan is also a genius. His brain makes him a great athlete. But would Michael Jordan make a great leader? No. His genius is in a different part of his brain. He's not dumb. But if he was a leader, then he would be coaching.

Even in George Jr's own autobiography (very selective, disjointed, and self serving - but it demonstrates the point), it is obvious where George Jr's intelligence lies. He would campaign in a town, and leave remembering everyone's name. When it comes to making a good impression, George Jr is a genius. He is the perfect front man for Cheney. But George Jr does not have nor tries to gain the life experience necessary to be a decision maker.

George Jr was an excellent partier. He is the perfect politician who is fun to be with. A genius as a salesman who knows nothing about the product but can still make the sale. He is the perfect promoter - a front man - to represent the many Texas Ranger (baseball) owners. But the man has never run a successful company. But the same man does not know what countries are on Israel's borders? George Jr's entire knowledge of the world is 1.5 year indoctrination by Rice and Wolfovitz. This does not make an intelligent leader.

Karl Rove found a perfect man to handle (ie Robert Redford? in the movie The Politician?). George Jr's genius is in being a front man. His history has long been 'know no facts'. George Jr is a promtion genius He promotes an anti-missile system that does not work. He promotes a tax cut that violated fundamental economic principles. He promotes a war on lie after lie. He even lets bin Laden go free - and most Americans never even noticed.

When it comes to comprehension of facts, George does not have sufficient knowledge to be intelligent. It explains why he must consult privately with Cheney before making every decision.

That last reply was a good one, Rich. You consistently post rational comments with references and I like your style. I've also met you in person and you're a likeable guy with a sense of humor. I read and learn from your posts though we are very different people.

Forgive me for not responding to each of your points. Once a thread turns into a reading and writing project, I lose interest. I post this.....someone else posts that....we go back and forth and each time the comments get more involved with explainations and source info. That's not why I'm here.

I'm here for the humor. So bring it on!

You mean like

Bush, Kerry, and a duck walk into a bar.
Kerry says "You guys order first, I can't decide between a whisky and beer".
Bush says "I'll have a glass of champagne. I don't care if you have it or not, I want champagne".
The bartender turns to the duck and says "Why do you hang out with these guys. One can't make up his mind and the other one keeps asking for something we don't have".
"You're telling me," says the duck, "and the worst part is I get stuck with the bill". :angel:

BTW, I just made this one up. I hope you liked it.

Ba-doom-tshhh. :biggrin:


Oh, you made that one up. Nice.