# Barbara Bush sees the bright side **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 6, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-bush-sees-the-bright-side/320266 "2005-09-06T00:09:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-bush-sees-the-bright-side/320266/1 "2005-09-06T00:09:24Z")
Barbara Bush accompanied her husband on a tour of hurricane relief centers in Houston today and was moved to point out the glad news that losing everything you own and being evacuated to another state where you exist on handouts [does have a bright side](http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001054719): > [@](#): > > In a segment at the top of [National Public Radio’s “Marketplace” program] on the surge of evacuees to the Texas city, Barbara Bush said: “Almost everyone I’ve talked to says we’re going to move to Houston.” > > Then she added: "What I’m hearing is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. > > And to think she had the nerve to call Hillary Clinton a bitch. > > “And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this (she chuckles slightly)–this is working very well for them.” What a fucking clueless bitch. I hope it’s just cluelessness, anyway, and not deliberate heartless contempt for the poor. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-bush-sees-the-bright-side/320266/2 "2005-09-06T00:13:30Z")
Now we know where Dubya gets the foot permanently planted in his mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-bush-sees-the-bright-side/320266/3 "2005-09-06T00:16:22Z")
I looooooooooooooved the fact that the E&P reporter added the parenthetical (“she chuckles slightly”). Shit, maybe Bill Maher is right, and we got our press corps back. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-bush-sees-the-bright-side/320266/4 "2005-09-06T00:35:58Z")
I thought it was Geraldine Ferraro she called a bitch. Well, what she _really_ said was, “I can’t say it, but it rhymes with ‘witch’.” Tee-hee! ---
**Author:** ![Exploding\_Kitchen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Exploding\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exploding_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-bush-sees-the-bright-side/320266/5 "2005-09-06T00:40:51Z")
What else do you expect from her? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-bush-sees-the-bright-side/320266/6 "2005-09-06T00:48:34Z")
The apple does not fall far from the tree. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-bush-sees-the-bright-side/320266/7 "2005-09-06T00:55:13Z")
> [@](#): > > And to think she had the nerve to call Hillary Clinton a bitch. This line wasn’t in the original story – it’s a screwup on my part whle composing the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-bush-sees-the-bright-side/320266/8 "2005-09-06T02:01:40Z")
I wonder if any of the refugees will end up in the hotel room she and GHWB called “home” for many years to dodge paying state income taxes? ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-bush-sees-the-bright-side/320266/9 "2005-09-06T02:04:33Z")
I would SOOOOOOO love to see that smug heartless harridan trapped in Superdome conditions for a week, with no one and nothing to insulate her from the reality. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-bush-sees-the-bright-side/320266/10 "2005-09-06T02:05:25Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > This line wasn’t in the original story – it’s a screwup on my part whle composing the OP. Screwup? It just shows you have a [beautiful mind](http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/barbara.asp) too. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-bush-sees-the-bright-side/320266/11 "2005-09-06T02:07:44Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > I wonder if any of the refugees will end up in the hotel room she and GHWB called “home” for many years to dodge paying state income taxes? Does Texas _have_ State Income Taxes? Anyway, I’ve always felt that Mrs Bush needs more time than the average to process information----she always seems to be a few beats behind the rest of the band. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-bush-sees-the-bright-side/320266/12 "2005-09-06T02:08:46Z")
An audio clip of the comment can be found at Atrios [here.](http://atrios.blogspot.com/2005_09_04_atrios_archive.html#112597122217543452) He also points out that her original quote was also a little bit worse. The more complete quote is: > [@](#): > > What I’m hearing _which is sort of scary_ is that they all want to stay in Texas. Everybody is so overhwlemed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway so this (chuckle)–this is working very well for them. Now, one can be generous and assume that it would be scary because the large numbers of people becoming Houstonites all at the same time would put a strain on the city. However, given the rest of her comments, one might also interpret this additional clause as “there goes the neighborhood.” ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-bush-sees-the-bright-side/320266/13 "2005-09-06T02:12:39Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > Screwup? It just shows you have a [beautiful mind](http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/barbara.asp) too. 😉 You really know how to hurt a Doper, doncha? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-bush-sees-the-bright-side/320266/14 "2005-09-06T02:19:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Does Texas have State Income Taxes? No, that was the point. George (senior) and Barbara Bush had been living in Washingtton, DC for years. But they claimed they were not liable for District of Columbia taxes because they were actually Texas residents who were only temporarily residing in Washington. Their Texas residence was a rented hotel room where they spent three nights. ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-bush-sees-the-bright-side/320266/15 "2005-09-06T02:20:16Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > I wonder if any of the refugees will end up in the hotel room she and GHWB called “home” for many years to dodge paying state income taxes? > Does Texas have State Income Taxes? > > > [@LouisB](#): > > > > Does Texas _have_ State Income Taxes? … IIRC, the elder Bushes claimed a hotel suite in Houston as their primary residence to avoid paying state income taxes in Kennebunkport, Maine where their primary residence ACTUALLY was. I may be mistaken in the particulars so anyone is free to correct me. Although I am QUITE certain that Texas does not have a state income tax. ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-bush-sees-the-bright-side/320266/16 "2005-09-06T02:22:53Z")
Dang! Not only was I mistaken, I screwed up the quote tags and got beaten to it by **Little Nemo**. [sub]sigh[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-bush-sees-the-bright-side/320266/17 "2005-09-06T02:33:33Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > No, that was the point. George (senior) and Barbara Bush had been living in Washingtton, DC for years. But they claimed they were not liable for District of Columbia taxes because they were actually Texas residents who were only temporarily residing in Washington. Their Texas residence was a rented hotel room where they spent three nights. I had forgotten that episode; thanks for the reminder. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-bush-sees-the-bright-side/320266/18 "2005-09-06T02:46:35Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > Their Texas residence was a rented hotel room where they spent three nights. And the texas Democratic Party used to rent out the same suite for functions on a semi-regular basis. ---
**Author:** ![sj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@sj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sj2)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-bush-sees-the-bright-side/320266/19 "2005-09-06T03:00:48Z")
To clarify, she said: “What I’m hearing, **which is sort of scary,** is they all want to stay in Texas.” ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-bush-sees-the-bright-side/320266/20 "2005-09-06T03:03:55Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > I thought it was Geraldine Ferraro she called a bitch. Well, what she _really_ said was, “I can’t say it, but it rhymes with ‘witch’.” Tee-hee! I thought it was Connie Chung. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-bush-sees-the-bright-side/320266.md?page=2)