# Bush, Letterman, CNN, and one bored kid **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 1, 2004, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-letterman-cnn-and-one-bored-kid/237768 "2004-04-01T18:14:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-letterman-cnn-and-one-bored-kid/237768/1 "2004-04-01T18:14:09Z")
> [@](#): > > [Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40808-2004Mar31.html) (also available via [Google](http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&edition=us&q=letterman+%22invigorates+america%27s+youth%22)) > Monday night Letterman debuted a new bit on his show, called “George W. Bush Invigorates America’s Youth.” What followed was a series of very brief clips from a recent speech in Florida in which the president said things like “it will not happen on my watch” and “we stand for the fair treatment of faith-based groups who will receive federal support for their work” to a Norman Rockwellian group of average citizens. Among them was one apple-cheeked boy of about 12 in a red baseball cap, rugby shirt and chino shorts, who is caught on camera yawning uncontrollably, twisting his head from side to side, checking his watch and otherwise looking pretty thoroughly bored, while the other people serving as background ignored him. > > The folks at CNN got a kick out of it and the next morning, during “CNN Live Today,” ran the clip, crediting Letterman. CNN host Daryn Kagan quipped, “What is funnier, the kid or that everybody around him – not a single person even reacts to those high jinks?” > > Then CNN cut to commercial break. Right after the break, Kagan told viewers: “All right – had a good giggle before the break, that video was from David Letterman. We’re being told by the White House that the kid, as funny as he was, was edited into that video, which would explain why the people around him weren’t really reacting. So, that from the White House.” > > That night, Letterman struck back. He showed Kagan telling viewers that the White House said the footage had been doctored. > > “Now that, ladies and gentlemen, as sure as I’m sitting here, is an out-and-out, 100 percent absolute lie. The kid absolutely was there and he absolutely was doing everything we pictured via the videotape.” > > Two comedy bits later, Letterman read one of his trademark cards that he’s always fiddling with, and started to laugh: “God almighty, my life just gets more and more complicated. You know, just a minute ago . . . I was ranting and raving about the White House. According to this, CNN has just phoned and, according to this information, the anchorwoman misspoke, they never got a comment from the White House. It was a CNN mistake.” Video clips from _Late Night with David Letterman_: [http://www.harrisonline.com/audio/amiericasyouth.ram](http://www.harrisonline.com/audio/amiericasyouth.ram) [http://www.harrisonline.com/audio/amiericasyouth2.ram](http://www.harrisonline.com/audio/amiericasyouth2.ram). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-letterman-cnn-and-one-bored-kid/237768/2 "2004-04-01T18:17:08Z")
[Fixed](http://www.harrisonline.com/audio/americasyouth.ram) [links](http://www.harrisonline.com/audio/americasyouth2.ram). ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-letterman-cnn-and-one-bored-kid/237768/3 "2004-04-01T18:56:06Z")
Despite CNN’s claim to have erred in their report, Dave was saying last night that he’d heard new information from an inside source–apparently, the White House _had_ told CNN that the footage was fake, after all. Dave is now expecting that he might mysteriously “disappear” in the next couple of days… ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-letterman-cnn-and-one-bored-kid/237768/4 "2004-04-01T18:57:29Z")
More about last night’s show here: [http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/exclusives/wahoo/](http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/exclusives/wahoo/) ---
**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:** [April 1, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-letterman-cnn-and-one-bored-kid/237768/5 "2004-04-01T20:22:37Z")
The kid did kinda look like “The Man Show Boy”… At least when watching with RealPlayer.