Well, DUH, wouldn't we better off with someone who went into the whitehouse knowing what the #^%# he was doing, rather than "giving a chance" to this short attention span sonofabush

Yes, We'll Survive

One of Bush's sassiest Texas critics gives two cheers for her old nemesis

By MOLLY IVINS

December 17, 2000

My fellow Democrats: Do not flee to Canada yet! George W. Bush is not stupid, and he is not mean.

O.K., he's not the brightest porch light on the block. Get over it. I frankly don't expect much from him; neither do you; and that's the best thing he has going for him. If he so much as clears a matchbox, we'll all fall back in wonder. Think how pleasantly surprised we're going to be when we discover George W. is, as he has been all his life, sort of adequate. Not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door, but he'll do. Do?? When we had someone who knew the job already we are asked to accept he'll do?

It is polite, not to mention patriotic, to fall in line behind a new President and kind of give him a send-off cheer.like the repugs did for Clinton? Despite the awkward circumstances, I'm for giving W. the old hip-hip. Besides, as Tolstoy once titled a short story, God Sees the Truth, But Waits. We can only hope

It is true that Bush has difficulty expressing himself in the English language. On the other hand, you can usually tell what he meant to say.I can read minds, but I can't read blanks

His daddy was often perfectly impenetrable, and we survived. W. is highly unlikely ever to throw up on the Prime Minister of Japan, have an affair with an intern or declare war on Grenada. NO, just pick his nose and make others throw up

Bush is a little vague on a lot of things. Yes, we are looking at a steep learning curve. The worst moment of the 36-day Long Count was probably when Bush, attempting to "look presidential," held a mock Cabinet meeting, in the course of which he observed in an appallingly chipper manner, "There are issues in Israel right now that I'm looking forward to hearing about." My fear is not eased over possible wars because of him

Sorry to remind you of that, as it may prompt you once more to consider decamping to what W. called "our most important neighbor to the north."

What I want to argue seriously here is that we have evidence that W. Bush learns, he learns fast, and then he is Not Bad. He has a consistent pattern of searching out father figures as mentors in each field he's tried, and he's always selected good ones. In Texas he chose (or was chosen by; let's keep that open) lieutenant governor Bob Bullock, one of the shrewdest s.o.b.s who ever walked. Let's just say that if Bush had studied politics under Lyndon Johnson or Machiavelli, he couldn't have done better. Dick Cheney is apparently the new mentor, and I'm favorably impressed, certainly by Cheney's demeanor; one worries because his voting record is so nutsoid. insane?? power hungry?? blind?? He was smart enough to go looking for Bush's VP and CHOSE himself, gee, thats unbiased

Here is the great unanswerable question: Exactly how ideologically right wing is George W. Bush? You can find evidence suggesting he is and suggesting he isn't. You can find a lot of evidence that he talks out of both sides of his mouth. When Bush started out as Governor of Texas, many of his appointments were enough to make your hair hurt, especially on the environment, and he tried to sell some policy ideas that were flatly ridiculous — privatizing welfare, privatizing pollution control.privatizing welfare???? A new form of slavery~~Oh GOD help us!!

As soon as he realized they weren't going to fly, he dropped them. He became markedly more pragmatic, and in what I consider the single finest stand he ever took, in 1997 he fought like a Trojan for what was actually a Democratic plan to make taxes fairer, specifically in an effort to pay for public schools. He lost. Bush couldn't deliver his own party on that one.

But anyone who wants to write him off as a disengaged part-timer should know he was so fully involved in that fight, how long has he been govna of Texas and he was involved in one fight? he could have been a floor manager the way he was twisting arms, calling in favors, busting balls, the entire panoply of power plays. he doesn't know how to get anything without force?? He and Bullock were a helluva team. It's just real hard to beat the lobby in Texas.

Because W. Bush is not terribly interested in public policy, what we've often seen in Texas is staff-driven policy. And I am not that impressed with the staff. To my certain knowledge, one politically costly and inhumane veto was prompted by a staff member so ignorant of the actual conditions the guy should have been summarily fired. (This happened to be on providing legal counsel for poor folks accused of crimes: our state has a system so miserable we actually execute innocent people.)

The staff member was such a fool that his entire argument depended upon reactions from Houston judges, who get their campaign contributions from the current system. You can't count on Bush to see through a thing like that. But he can learn, and if there's anything that will rivet your attention, it's the challenges of the presidency. I think that when W. Bush is there, he's paying attention, he's heard the arguments (short form please, attention span not that long), and he is Not Bad. he sure the hell ain't good

I could be wrong, of course, and if Bush's first nomination to the Supreme Court is Edith Jones (who recently held that if your lawyer sleeps through your trial, at least you had one, so what the hell difference does it make?), run for the border; Canada is our most important neighbor to the north. (we have more than one?)

.

I think I'm going to be sick.........

-- Anonymous, December 19, 2000

Answers

Got the article here http://www.time.com/time/poy2000/mag/ivins.html

-- Anonymous, December 19, 2000

The man graduated from Yale. And you, Cherri?

-- Anonymous, December 22, 2000

Funny, I thought he, um, "graduated" (snicker) from Harvard. (Would you like to discuss how he got in there in the first place?)

Let's see ..... Cherri actually SERVED in the military. And Junior did ..... what?

Please don't "compare" Junior to (of all people!) Cherri. She blows him off the map. Come back and talk to us when Junior's actually done a day's work. (snicker)

-- Anonymous, December 23, 2000

Patricia, I’ll give you the benefit of doubt and consider this to be your weak attempt at some Saturday morning satire.

-- Anonymous, December 23, 2000

David:

The man graduated from Yale. And you, Cherri?

What is your point? I was accepted in grad school at Harvard, Yale and MIT. There were better schools in the west in my field, so I went west. The west is also a much better place to live. Me thinks that you aren't all that familiar with academic institutions. 8<)))

Best Wishes,,,,

Z

-- Anonymous, December 23, 2000

Z, I think you may be missing David’s ‘point’ here, by a country mile in fact. He is not holding Yale up for discussions of academic standing…… but simply retorting to Cherri as a result of her relentless ‘slamming’ of president-elect Bush. I’m sure she is a good person but her life achievements are not to be compared to those of GWB. Yes, he was born into a privileged life but he has given himself over to serving the public for many years now and there are few that have made that level of commitment. Walk the walk!!

-- Anonymous, December 23, 2000

Barry:

Nice to hear from you. You may be missing the point. Coming from one of the founding families of Harvard [this was a long time ago, but we have our family room on campus]; there is Harvard and there is Harvard. Some great faculty and great students; then there is what is called the gentlemans C class. If you don't know what that means, I am not going to explain it; the Harvard grads in the family would kill me.

Best Wishes,,,,

Z

-- Anonymous, December 23, 2000

Oh, go ahead. I doubt if the Harvard grads in your family could even find you:>)

-- Anonymous, December 23, 2000

Barry:

Sure they can; with the market where it is, they try to borrow money all of the time. *<)))

Best Wishes,,,,

Z

-- Anonymous, December 23, 2000

By-the-by Barry:

I just went through the records. Every male in the family graduated from Harvard; from the beginning of the university to the present. Most of my generation moved west. Now put your families record on the page. If you have been with this group, you know the family name.

Best Wishes,,,

Z

-- Anonymous, December 23, 2000

One last thing Barry:

We have family exhibits in three museums at Harvard. Just a few years ago my wife and I had to fly to Boston to deliver a new donation. The damn thing was solid gold and set off security in every airport. The price we pay.

Best Wishes,,,,

Z

-- Anonymous, December 23, 2000

Barry, as much as I appreciate your sentiments, please don't patronize me.

"Yes, he was born into a privileged life but he has given himself over to serving the public for many years now and there are few that have made that level of commitment. Walk the walk!!"

Let's see now; Junior's been Guv'ner of Texas for how long -- a few years? And they meet, what, 150 days out of every two years? (And that IS the extent of his, um, "public service".)

How selfless can one get.

Again, get back to me when little Shrub's actually done a day's work.

Happy Holidays.

-- Anonymous, December 23, 2000

Yeah Barry:

We have piles of these letters that we have to go through. Original stuff from Madison and Jefferson, dealing with the development of Federalism. Will retire in a decade and will deal with them at that time. Until then they are family business and not available to the public.

Best Wishes,,,,

Z

-- Anonymous, December 23, 2000

Holy Moly!! It would appear that I've found a liberal ‘hot button’ to push at will. Well, arguing about politics and such beats the hell out of last December’s agenda, don’t you agree?

Oh, and you might be interested in a couple of New Years ‘predictions:

(1). In his first 100 days, GWB will demonstrate his phenomenal leadership skills and weather a few storms, on many fronts, both domestic and foreign. He will win over many of his current detractors and be on his way to a high percentage approval rating over the next four years. His professional managerial style will bore us all to death and we will have to look elsewhere for our ‘entertainment’ fix, such as…………………………

(2). In his first 100 days, Ex-president William Jefferson Clinton will demonstrate his phenomenal ability to generate income, and earn more dineros than Tiger Woods. You will see him ‘all over’, in every conceivable media format…TV, radio, print, Internet, and possibly major film productions. HE will provide the entertainment and his popularity will soar to news heights.

Have a ‘Special’ Holiday Season!!

-- Anonymous, December 23, 2000

Here is my own prediction for Y2K+1: the GW Bush administration will be the most pro-business administration since Calvin Coolidge.

However, when the interests of small businesses (fewer than 100 employees) conflict with the interests of the Fortune 500, the GW Bush administration will, with much public apology, side right down the line with the Fortune 500 and f*ck the small business owner 100%.

-- Anonymous, December 23, 2000

Barry:

Holy Moly!! It would appear that I've found a liberal ‘hot button’ to push at will.

Not here. Solid Republican family [notice my use of traditional Christmas colors]. Left the fold when the party was taken over by social conservatives. I don't want to be a Southern Baptist by law.

Now have a good Holiday.

Best Wishes,,,

Z

-- Anonymous, December 24, 2000