# Laura Bush Opens Up About Why Crash Wasn't Really Her Fault **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 28, 2010, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617 "2010-04-28T13:09:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617/21 "2010-04-28T22:30:19Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Remorse? Perhaps. > > Sense of responsibilty? “God didn’t give me a tap-back on the results of my stupidity like I asked” argues against that, if anything. There is no way on earth that you’re dumb enough to actually beleive Laura Bush was shifting responsibility to God. No way. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617/22 "2010-04-28T22:40:09Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I’d want to see what she wrote in a larger excerpt before concluding what her intent was. The other quotes in that article indicate that she has felt enormous guilt over what happened, which suggests an acceptance of responsibility. > > From the quote, she may simply be explaining why she thinks the crash proved deadly to the other driver and not to her, not shirking responsibility for the crash. Similarly, as to the article’s unexcerpted description of what she says about the road conditions, she may simply be explaining what caused her to be inattentive to the stop sign, without suggesting that it lessens her guilt in the matter. This is a good point. The New York Times reviewed the book today and used a this quote: > [@](#): > > “I can never absolve myself of the guilt,” she writes. “And the guilt isn’t simply from Mike dying. The guilt is from all the implications, from the way those few seconds spun out and enfolded so many other lives. The reverberations seem to go on forever, like the ripples from an unsinkable stone.” > [@Duke](#): > > I don’t want to blame her if she didn’t speak up. It’s her call. But it would have been helpful if she had. I agree. It sucks that this is how things go in politics. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617/23 "2010-04-28T22:51:12Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > “soulless pinhead still trying to excuse vehicular manslaughter.” > > -Joe Ted is dead, dude. Let it go. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617/24 "2010-04-28T23:41:33Z")
Zed’s dead. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617/25 "2010-04-29T00:02:54Z")
Well, I’m not here to dump on Mrs Bush–I feel she has enough to put up with being married to W and having the kids she has–but I don’t see a future in writing for her. Cite? This snippet: > [@](#): > > "the reverberations seem to go on forever, like the ripples from an unsinkable stone.” I find I have to admire it for its ambition alone. Quite the simile. 😃 I’m sure she does feel bad about the accident. I’m also sure that Ted Kennedy felt bad about his. I also wish that she had perhaps used her position as FL to do something about distracted driving. Her comment re the size of the stop sign is ridiculous. Her remarks on the type of car the victim was driving are specious as well. Her speculation that there might have been poison involved at the G8 is also a bit odd. But I don’t care enough about her or her life to actually read her book. I wish her no ill; just obscurity. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617/26 "2010-04-29T00:09:53Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Well, I’m not here to dump on Mrs Bush–I feel she has enough to put up with being married to W and having the kids she has–but I don’t see a future in writing for her. Cite? This snippet: > > I find I have to admire it for its ambition alone. Quite the simile. 😃 > I’m sure she does feel bad about the accident. I’m also sure that Ted Kennedy felt bad about his. I also wish that she had perhaps used her position as FL to do something about distracted driving. Her comment re the size of the stop sign is ridiculous. Her remarks on the type of car the victim was driving are specious as well. Her speculation that there might have been poison involved at the G8 is also a bit odd. > > But I don’t care enough about her or her life to actually read her book. I wish her no ill; just obscurity. I suppose the difference is that Laura was a 17 year old, and not very politically connected at the time, and Ted was older, and utilised his connections to avoid prosecution for what amounts to close to the same thing. I don’t even really care all that much, no RO here, but…I suppose if people here want to paint someone with a brush its fair to paint another with the same… ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617/27 "2010-04-29T00:16:28Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I suppose the difference is that Laura was a 17 year old, and not very politically connected at the time, and Ted was older, and utilised his connections to avoid prosecution for what amounts to close to the same thing. > > I don’t even really care all that much, no RO here, but…I suppose if people here want to paint someone with a brush its fair to paint another with the same… I really don’t see their ages/positions as particularly relevant. Both of them were left with the guilt of knowing that they directly caused someone else’s death. I am confident that if both could go back and relive those last minutes, they would do things very differently indeed. IOW, they both felt remorse. I’m not interested in a tit for tat. Beating either of them up solves nothing and proves nothing. I have not (and do not) accuse either of them of murder or of being heinously evil people. I find her reasoning a bit odd, but I also found Kennedy’s actions odd as well. Meh. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617/28 "2010-04-29T01:29:29Z")
> [@Jolly\_Roger](#): > > A good point but to me it loses effect with this: > > She feels bad but blames the make of the car? Honestly I don’t a give a shit about Laura Bush but that doesn’t mean that isn’t a shitty thing to say. The Corvair rolled like an unsinkable stone. Then it rippled. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617/29 "2010-04-29T12:10:12Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > The Corvair rolled like an unsinkable stone. Then it rippled. Endlessly. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617/30 "2010-04-29T14:26:01Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I suppose the difference is that Laura was a 17 year old, and not very politically connected at the time, and Ted was older, and utilised his connections to avoid prosecution for what amounts to close to the same thing. Plus Ted had been drinking, and was driving his dead brother’s campaign secretary to a beach to fuck her, while his pregnant wife sat at home. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617/31 "2010-04-29T14:28:18Z")
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The **Shodan** do! ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617/32 "2010-04-29T14:33:45Z")
Ted Kennedy is dead. Chappaquiddick was over 40 years ago. You guys need to find a new _tu quqoue_. That one is starting to petrify. It doesn’t alter the fact that Laura Bush killed a guy by her own negligence and doesn’t give a fuck. Even that’s not important anymore, but it’s an unique distinction that she’s the only First Lady ever known to have taken a human life. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617/33 "2010-04-29T14:37:12Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > I really don’t see their ages/positions as particularly relevant. Both of them were left with the guilt of knowing that they directly caused someone else’s death. I am confident that if both could go back and relive those last minutes, they would do things very differently indeed. IOW, they both felt remorse. I’m not interested in a tit for tat. Beating either of them up solves nothing and proves nothing. I have not (and do not) accuse either of them of murder or of being heinously evil people. I find her reasoning a bit odd, but I also found Kennedy’s actions odd as well. Meh. Teddy had a concussion. His erratic behavior after the accident was caused by his concussion. There is no evidence at all that the crash itself was caused by any negligence on his part, or that he was drunk. There’s no evdience that he was sleeping with (or intended to sleep with) that girl either, but it’s irrelevant if he did. I don’t know why the Teddy Bashers always try to assert that like it’s meaningful. It isn’t. At all. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617/34 "2010-04-29T14:42:09Z")
You got facts, sure, but **Shodan** ’s got telepathy. Give it up. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617/35 "2010-04-29T14:43:05Z")
I was just fucking around. I don’t really care. They both did something stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617/36 "2010-04-29T14:46:15Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Even that’s not important anymore, but it’s an unique distinction that she’s the only First Lady ever known to have taken a human life. _{cough - cough}_ Vince Foster \*{cough - cough} \* ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617/37 "2010-04-29T14:51:38Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Ted Kennedy is dead. Chappaquiddick was over 40 years ago. You guys need to find a new _tu quqoue_. That one is starting to petrify. It doesn’t alter the fact that Laura Bush killed a guy by her own negligence and doesn’t give a fuck. Even that’s not important anymore, but it’s an unique distinction that she’s the only First Lady ever known to have taken a human life. It doesn’t sound to me like she doesn’t give a fuck. She’s just saying that there were reasons for why it happened. She may have been the only First Lady to have done this, but saying she took a human life just makes her seem so cold and calculating when it’s more like she made a mistake that ended up having fatal consequences. I’m sure there are a lot of high school kids who have accidents like this–most don’t end in someone dying, no–but they don’t go on to a career in politics or become First Lady. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617/38 "2010-04-29T14:58:57Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Chappaquiddick was over 40 years ago. It was more recent than Laura Bush’s crash. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617/39 "2010-04-29T15:12:18Z")
I am rippling like a motherfuck!!! ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617/40 "2010-04-29T15:12:51Z")
Yeah, but these particular comments from her are new. I hope I’m not giving the impression that I care. I don’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laura-bush-opens-up-about-why-crash-wasnt-really-her-fault/537617.md?page=3)