# Bill Frist: a triumph of good breeding. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 14, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-frist-a-triumph-of-good-breeding/229234 "2004-02-14T19:38:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-frist-a-triumph-of-good-breeding/229234/1 "2004-02-14T19:38:30Z")
[http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0742533360/qid=1076729870/sr=1-1/ref=sr\_1\_1/103-9479460-3869436?v=glance&s=books](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0742533360/qid=1076729870/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-9479460-3869436?v=glance&s=books) Need I say more? The fact that this is meant for the family makes it worse, not better. How self-congratulatory can you get? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-frist-a-triumph-of-good-breeding/229234/2 "2004-02-14T19:44:55Z")
Hmmm. Are William H. Frist and Bill Frist the same person? Father and son? And, most importantly, **50 dollars!**. Hell, **Scylla’s** family history is probably at least as interesting, and I can read his ongong autobiography for free! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-frist-a-triumph-of-good-breeding/229234/3 "2004-02-14T19:59:45Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] Hmmm. Are William H. Frist and Bill Frist the same person? /QUOTE] Yes, they are. And $50 isn’t really unreasonable for a book like that. My father is in a family geneological society that published my family’s geneology. The original book is $60, and the supplement (published 12 years later, updating it) is $25. Geneological research is time consuming and expensive, and is usually only of interest to a small amount of people, so books like that are expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-frist-a-triumph-of-good-breeding/229234/4 "2004-02-14T20:49:05Z")
I’ll wait for the miniseries. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-frist-a-triumph-of-good-breeding/229234/5 "2004-02-14T21:02:17Z")
The reviews are a laff riot. Anyone who tries to seriously review the book gets destroyed, and the people who pan it get the props. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-frist-a-triumph-of-good-breeding/229234/6 "2004-02-14T21:21:26Z")
It looks like it’s just a family genealogy book that was put on [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) for some reason. If that’s the case, I have no interest in it and can’t imagine why anyone (who wasn’t part of the Frist family) would have any interest in it. However, wasn’t there a way to distribute the book to the massive amount of people that are part of the family without having to put it on Amazon? ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-frist-a-triumph-of-good-breeding/229234/7 "2004-02-14T21:22:24Z")
Have you met many surgeons? 🙂 They’ve got a bit of a reputation for being arrogant folks. I believe Frist is an Ivy League-educated heart surgeon, no less. If we want to get into hoity toity, arrogant political families, I’ll just remind the liberals that people who live in glass KENNEDY COMPOUNDS shouldn’t throw stones. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-frist-a-triumph-of-good-breeding/229234/8 "2004-02-14T23:13:21Z")
At least the Kennedys are bright enough to get other people to do the research for them… Gosh, I remember when I used to like Bill Frist. I remember when he first took over his current Senate position and there was this uptick of hope that someone trained in science would actually be able to counter some of the bizarreness that came out of the Republican leadership. Damn. ---
**Author:** ![county](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@county](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/county)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-frist-a-triumph-of-good-breeding/229234/9 "2004-02-15T03:20:02Z")
That damn Frist is a triumph of money and ignorant voters taking a Senate seat away from the Dem who was about to be the chair of the Senate. I still can’t believe that Tennessee voters would screw the state of Tennessee that way but it happened. Frist is a freaking dilatantte (sp?) of the first order who bought himself a Senate seat with his own money and had nothing but a goal of protecting the American medical establishment with his political career. While I’m at it, can you believe the state of Tennessee also elected that moron actor Fred Thompson to the U.S. Senate. Unbelieveable, then he thinks he’s got the “plum” going after the Dems campaign contributions, only it turned out the reforms would hurt the pubbies too so he got shove to the back burner and quit to go back to acting. Jesus Christ, I think I’ll move somewhere they elect somebody with good sense to political office, maybe California. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-frist-a-triumph-of-good-breeding/229234/10 "2004-02-15T07:05:00Z")
No no, people. The TITLE. The TITLE. ---
**Author:** ![county](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@county](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/county)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-frist-a-triumph-of-good-breeding/229234/11 "2004-02-15T11:58:39Z")
Well, it’s true for horses and dogs, usually. Of course they are bred for physical traits. I doubt I’ll read it. ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-frist-a-triumph-of-good-breeding/229234/12 "2004-02-15T12:11:45Z")
There are several self-publishing concerns that offer distribution through Amazon. This looks to me like a book created through one of those and put up to make it simpler for the family to get it. I can picture my family, which is also scattered around the country, doing the same thing. But the comments are hilarious nevertheless. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-frist-a-triumph-of-good-breeding/229234/13 "2004-02-15T14:32:21Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > I believe Frist is an Ivy League-educated heart surgeon, no less. Yup. Princeton '74. I graduated with him. He was no fun back then, either. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-frist-a-triumph-of-good-breeding/229234/14 "2004-02-15T14:51:24Z")
To his credit, on the other hand, unless I’m mistaken, he was _not_ a member of the **U** ndergraduates for a **S** table **A** merica (nifty acronym, no?), the only truly right-wing organization on campus. It sported something like 6-10 members, out of a student body of about 1000, most of whom would now proudly self-identify as members of the “Just say ‘Yes!’” generation. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-frist-a-triumph-of-good-breeding/229234/15 "2004-02-15T19:38:39Z")
Come on, Doc, you’re a public figure. Did you really think only family members would see the ad? Or would buy the book? Your next campaign is going to be fun. Ditto on the reader comments. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-frist-a-triumph-of-good-breeding/229234/16 "2004-02-15T19:48:15Z")
Actually, I think the reader comments are pretty weak and stupid. Though I couldn’t help but chuckle at the suggested alternate title: 'Good People Sometimes Make Youthful Errors with the Colored Help and Either Arrange for an Abortion, or Ship the Help Off to Another State Where They Beget Half-Good People Who Shall Never Know They Carry Frist Genes, So Help Us God." The “Half-Good” bit is priceless. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-frist-a-triumph-of-good-breeding/229234/17 "2004-02-15T20:39:55Z")
> [@Apos](#): > > Need I say more? Actually, yes. What exactly is your problem with this book? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-frist-a-triumph-of-good-breeding/229234/18 "2004-02-15T21:36:12Z")
> [@county](#): > > That damn Frist is a triumph of money and ignorant voters taking a Senate seat away from the Dem who was about to be the chair of the Senate. I still can’t believe that Tennessee voters would screw the state of Tennessee that way but it happened. That turned out all right in the end, didn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-frist-a-triumph-of-good-breeding/229234/19 "2004-02-15T21:45:33Z")
> [@](#): > > **county** : While I’m at it, can you believe the state of Tennessee also elected that moron actor Fred Thompson to the U.S. Senate. I am a Tennessee liberal Democrat who believes in being fair. There is no need to exaggerate the shortcomings or coverup the successes of the opposition. You forgot to mention that before Sen. Fred Thompson was an actor, he was a well-respected, nationally known attorney who served as counsel during the Watergate hearings. It was he who discovered that there were private Oval Office recordings. He helped to bring down arguably the most corrupt Governor in the history of the state. He was such a hero that his first acting role was to play himself. In the Senate, he was considered Presidential timber when, after the sudden death of his daughter, he decided to leave the political arena. He just didn’t have the heart for it anymore. The Frist family’s contributions are probably more evident in Nashville and include the Frist Museuem and enormous funding for the Nashville Zoo. As a physician in Nashville, Dr. William Frist volunteered twice a year to go to the Middle East to perform surgery on sick children. He continued to do that until national security told him specifically that it had become too dangerous for him to do that any longer. If you’ve ever had a geneological history of your family published, you are probably aware that they contain details that are of interest only to someone within that family. Dr. Frist had the interest and resources to do it and I’m sure that his family appreciates it. Not many others will be expected to. As for the OP, “good breeding” these days has more to do with _how_ you are raised than it does with genetics. At least that is the connotation that it has had during my lifetime in the South. I wouldn’t mind keeping William Frist in the Senate – althought I had rather that he be in the position of _Minority_ Leader. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-frist-a-triumph-of-good-breeding/229234/20 "2004-02-15T21:48:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Actually, yes. What exactly is your problem with this book? I already said, twice: just the title, as a title for a geneology. What’s your problem with reading comprehension? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-frist-a-triumph-of-good-breeding/229234.md?page=2)