THE PLANK SEPTEMBER 15, 2009
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The former president on Biden:
The president didn’t think much of Joe Biden either. “Dana, did you tell them my line?” the president once asked with a smile on his face.
“No, Mr. President,” Dana replied hesitantly. “I didn’t.”
He paused for a minute. I could see him thinking maybe he shouldn’t say it, but he couldn’t resist. “If bullshit was currency,” he said straight-faced, “Joe Biden would be a billionaire.” Everyone in the room burst out laughing.
The former president on Hillary Clinton:
He always believed Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic nominee. “Wait till her fat keister is sitting at this desk,” he once said (except he didn’t say “keister”).
The former president on Sarah Palin:
It was clear, though, that the president, ever the skilled politician, had concerns about the choice of Palin, which he called “interesting.” That was the equivalent of calling a fireworks display “satisfactory.”
“I’m trying to remember if I’ve met her before. I’m sure I must have.” His eyes twinkled, then he asked, “What is she, the governor of Guam?”
Everyone in the room seemed to look at him in horror, their mouths agape. When Ed told him that conservatives were greeting the choice enthusiastically, he replied, “Look, I’m a team player, I’m on board.” He thought about it for a minute. “She’s interesting,” he said again. “You know, just wait a few days until the bloom is off the rose.” Then he made a very smart assessment.
“This woman is being put into a position she is not even remotely prepared for,” he said. “She hasn’t spent one day on the national level. Neither has her family. Let’s wait and see how she looks five days out.”
This is all taken from a GQ piece by Matt Latimer, a former Bush speechwriter. The article is here.
6 comments
Goddamn but Bush is so much more likable when he's not actively fucking up the country.
- ratnerstar
September 15, 2009 at 12:51pm
I got no problem with one, number three is dead on, but number two was classless. It would have been fine if he said about Obama sitting his fat ass there, since Obama doesn't have a fat ass, it would have just been idiomatic. ratty, I am undecided about Bush the person, sometimes I think if he were born to a normal family and was a shoe store manager he might have been a decent guy or he might have been just a jock smart ass a-hole. Jock smart ass a-holes can be funny, but they are still a-holes.
- blackton
September 15, 2009 at 1:03pm
Everyone knows Biden is a worthless blowhard. And it doesn't take a political genius to make that assessment about Palin. As for the Hillary comment - I can't say I'm surprised he would say such a thing. W is an entitled, obnoxious stuffed suit whose ambition so far outweighed his talent that it's a national disgrace that such a pathetic know-nothing buffoon spent 8 years in the White House.
- csmiller
September 15, 2009 at 1:20pm
bush: "If bullshit was currency,” he said straight-faced, “Joe Biden would be a billionaire.” Everyone in the room burst out laughing. george: He thought this up while he and Cheney scoured the White House looking for those weapons of mass destructive. What a card. The next Joseph Wurzelbacher as Michelle Cottle might suggest. Unfortunately, for the millions of folks the war killed, maimed or turned into despairing refugees....the millions whose lives he utterly devastated or destroyed...the laughter was a bit more muted. Bush: 'Wait until Hillary Clinton's fat ass is sitting at this desk." george: To show his respect for her though, he said nothing about her pant suits or her lucrative ties to the Big Buckmeisters on Wall Street. Bush: “I’m trying to remember if I’ve met Sarah Palin before. I’m sure I must have.” His eyes twinkled, then he asked, “What is she, the governor of Guam?” george: Please. If she had been, Guam would have become the 51st state. She'd, uh, owe him for that. A tour of the Lincoln bedroom, perhaps? Chaperoned by Condi, of course. gw
- iambiguous
September 15, 2009 at 1:45pm
Back in the 1990s -- June of '92, if I recall -- I saw George W. Bush eat at the Rangers ballpark in Arlington before a Twins game. It was the buffet area for folks in the private suites, and they let media in to eat before the game. I was struck by two things: 1. The guy was actually pretty magnetic, in the way that some folks just kind of dominate a room with their presence; and 2. He had possibly the worst table manners of any non-mentally-disabled adult I've ever seen. An absolute hog; we're talking literally leaning down to his plate to shovel random crap horizontally into his mouth while he talked. Anyway, I forget who said it back in 2000 (Ivins?), but it perfectly sums up the man's character on a personal level to note that the self-described turning point in George W. Bush's life was one day when he was 40, he looked in the mirror, realized that he was an asshole and a drunk, and he decided to stop drinking.
- rhubarbs
September 15, 2009 at 2:48pm
Blackton said: "ratty, I am undecided about Bush the person, sometimes I think if he were born to a normal family and was a shoe store manager he might have been a decent guy or he might have been just a jock smart ass a-hole. Jock smart ass a-holes can be funny, but they are still a-holes." Did you just call George Walker Bush "Al Bundy"? As for W's comments about Palin, specifically "This woman is being put into a position she is not even remotely prepared for", he was obviously speaking from personal experience.
- tnmats
September 15, 2009 at 2:54pm