# GWB Frog Abuse **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 23, 2002, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwb-frog-abuse/144601 "2002-12-23T21:28:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwb-frog-abuse/144601/1 "2002-12-23T21:28:23Z")
Found this on The Progressive Magazine’s web site: \<\\> Anyone heard this? Documentation? ---
**Author:** ![Siemsi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b19c9b/32.png) [@Siemsi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siemsi)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwb-frog-abuse/144601/2 "2002-12-23T21:33:19Z")
Gosh I hope that is not true. Disgusting. I know a lot of kids (evil kids) probably have fun doing that. I can’t imagine purposely hurting another living being. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwb-frog-abuse/144601/3 "2002-12-23T21:46:00Z")
Plenty of kids kill and maim small animals while growing up. It’s perfectly normal, though I must admit I don’t recall ever doing it. That said, I would like to see some independant verification of the claim about GWB’s family. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwb-frog-abuse/144601/4 "2002-12-23T21:52:08Z")
[Google search on george bush frogs firecrackers](http://www.google.com/search?q=george+bush+frogs+firecrackers) Tons of hits, I’ll let you be the judge on how accurate they are. Nothing on snopes. ---
**Author:** ![Bongmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Bongmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bongmaster)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwb-frog-abuse/144601/5 "2002-12-24T15:29:51Z")
I killed a frog with a heavy brick by dropping it several times when I was about 6 or 7. There are few things in my life that I regret as much. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwb-frog-abuse/144601/6 "2002-12-24T15:44:18Z")
\>\> I can’t imagine purposely hurting another living being. What a lack of imagination. I feel sorry for you. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwb-frog-abuse/144601/7 "2002-12-24T16:10:04Z")
This is pretty normal behaviour for kids who grow up on farms. It’s kind of hard for a child to sort out that reverence for life thing when you’re used to going out in the evening, picking a chicken out from the coop, and cutting its head off for supper. I never had firecrackers, but we used to catch frogs and then take them to the bridge over the creek by our house, put them on the bridge railing, prod them to make them jump off the railing, then grade them on their ‘dives’ to the water far below. Little boys on a farm. Doesn’t mean anything. ---
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwb-frog-abuse/144601/8 "2002-12-24T17:09:08Z")
Oh yeah, typical farm kid behavior. Just like sticking firecrackers up a cat’s bum and lighting them. Or, remember hanging cats from the clothesline by their tail and pouring gasoline over them before lighting them. Typical farm kid behavior. Not! ---
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwb-frog-abuse/144601/9 "2002-12-24T17:12:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > \*\*This is pretty normal behaviour for kids who grow up on farms. > > Little boys on a farm. Doesn’t mean anything. \*\* Yup. At my gramma’s house (used to be a farm, and surrounded by many farms) we’d toss buckshot out on the concrete slab we used to play basketball on. The frogs would come up and eat it. Then they’d try to hop away … but couldn’t. We did some crazy stuff with fireworks too, but never actually used them on animals. Except for the time we tried to get a skunk out from under the porch. Not that I condone it, just saying it’s not that unusual in rural areas. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwb-frog-abuse/144601/10 "2002-12-24T18:39:48Z")
A lotta really wierd shit goes on in rural areas. I don’t find that story about GWB hard to believe at all. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwb-frog-abuse/144601/11 "2002-12-24T18:44:44Z")
Anyone have a DSM IVb (or whatever it’s up to now) to see whether this qualifies as a recognized mental health problem ? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwb-frog-abuse/144601/12 "2002-12-24T18:52:09Z")
bare Member 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwb-frog-abuse/144601/13 "2002-12-24T21:54:50Z")
Beavis & Butthead have _found their Role Model_! ---
**Author:** ![superfreakicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@superfreakicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superfreakicus)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwb-frog-abuse/144601/14 "2002-12-25T13:57:04Z")
I remember growing up we used to get cats drunk and screw their ass until they walked bowlegged, w/nary a judgemental look to be found. ah, the heady days of youth. ---
**Author:** ![SandWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8491ac/32.png) [@SandWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandWriter)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwb-frog-abuse/144601/15 "2002-12-26T04:08:02Z")
Yeesh! It took awhile, but I finally was able to read the entire article. I had to register with the New York Times, figure out their archive retreival system, and then find the article in the May 21st, 2000 edition. I searched for articles on that day with BUSH in them. The article is entitled “A Philosophy With Roots In Conservative Texas Soil” By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF Here is the section in question, page 3 (and my first attempt at quoting) > [@](#): > > Surviving a Family Loss > > In addition to church groups, various civic organizations were also active, and one of the local rituals for children was the meetings with cookies and milk at the home of a nice old lady who represented the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. > > The cookies were digested more thoroughly than the teachings. > > ‘‘We were terrible to animals,’’ recalled Mr. Throckmorton, laughing. A dip behind the Bush home turned into a small lake after a good rain, and thousands of frogs would come out. > > ‘‘Everybody would get BB guns and shoot them,’’ Mr. Throckmorton said. ‘‘Or we’d put firecrackers in the frogs and throw them and blow them up.’’ > > When he was not blowing up frogs, young George – always restless and something of a natural leader – would lead neighborhood children on daredevil expeditions around town, seeing how close they could come to breaking their necks. George also quickly acquired a colorful vocabulary. > > ‘‘Georgie has grown to be a near-man, talks dirty once in a while and occasionally swears, aged 4 and a half,’’ his father despaired in a letter to a friend in 1951. In another letter four years later, he lamented: ‘‘Georgie aggravates the hell out of me at times.’’ So who knows if he actually did it, or if it’s Mr. Throckmorton saying he did it or what? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwb-frog-abuse/144601/16 "2002-12-26T04:30:11Z")
Really, this is no big deal. Almost EVERY boy that grows up on a farm does this kind of stuff. You guys who grew up in the city just don’t get it, I suppose. On a farm, you grow up thinking of animals as either stock, game, pests, or pets. The whole PETA ‘treat a cockroach right’ attitude is just _alien_. We used to go out with the shotgun and shoot gophers. Cute little guys, but they dig holes that cattles and horses step in and break their legs, and cattle and horses are major investments. Chickens get played with before supper, then Dad comes out and grabs one and cuts its head off. Pigs get hustled around at the point of a pitchfork. Little boys see that, and their play turns to BB gun shooting of frogs, and even tormenting them. They’re _kids._ They sometimes don’t get the nuances of proper treatment of animals. That’s why they need to grow up, and why we don’t sell them guns. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwb-frog-abuse/144601/17 "2002-12-26T04:31:13Z")
Cattles. Ugh. Er, cattle. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwb-frog-abuse/144601/18 "2002-12-26T04:40:41Z")
FWIW, even as I type this, the state of Louisiana has a bounty of $4 a tail on nutria rats, which actually don’t look much like traditional rats at all (they’re as big as beavers) and are even [kind of cute.](http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Farm/7720/nutria.html) My point? Well, as others have said, farms and other rural areas are a whole different world. As much as I dislike GW’s policies and his tendency to inflict his religion on the entire country, I really can’t fault him for this. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwb-frog-abuse/144601/19 "2002-12-27T00:50:21Z")
I thought people in LA _ate_ nutrias! What, no export market? 🙂 **Sam Stone** , I swear I didn’t grow up in the “city”. I grew up in rural California, in and around Bakersfield. Lotsa Oakies and such. We raised chickens and rabbits, grew veggies, and swapped for milk, pork, and beef. I had a pet chicken, a runt, but I killed and cleaned chickens. I know _exactky_ where hamburger come’s from. I ate frog’s legs, fer crissakes. Nobody in my family or circle of friends rouitinely tortured frogs or any other animal. Experiment? Sure, sometimes. The experience was usually “yuk”. And not repeated. So, was GWB a farm boy? Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Shiva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@Shiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shiva)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwb-frog-abuse/144601/20 "2002-12-27T01:00:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SandWriter \* > \*\*The article is entitled “A Philosophy With Roots In Conservative Texas Soil” > By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF \*\* Kristof writes Opinion/Editorial pieces, not news articles. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwb-frog-abuse/144601.md?page=2)