# Move over, Seinfeld - Laura Bush is here! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 1, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-seinfeld-laura-bush-is-here/301955 "2005-05-01T16:03:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-seinfeld-laura-bush-is-here/301955/1 "2005-05-01T16:03:34Z")
Just caught part of her speech at a function, in whcih she took the piss out of hubby "I know how to pronounce “nuclear”). “Normally, George is tucked up in bed by now, 9 o’clock, and as for me, I’m watching _Desperate Housewives_. In fact, I am a desperate housewife…” Classic stuff! Great sense of comic timing. And, either that relationship’s coming apart, or they’re secure enough to take the rise out of each other. What a PR coup! Laura, you’re my new hero. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-seinfeld-laura-bush-is-here/301955/2 "2005-05-01T16:08:14Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > Just caught part of her speech at a function, in whcih she took the piss out of hubby "I know how to pronounce “nuclear”). I liked that bit. 😃 It’s ironic that she ‘spent 12 hours a day in the library’, and still met Duhbya anyway. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-seinfeld-laura-bush-is-here/301955/3 "2005-05-01T16:10:01Z")
Mmm, yougot me thinking. Wonder how he pronounced ‘library’. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-seinfeld-laura-bush-is-here/301955/4 "2005-05-01T16:12:46Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > Mmm, yougot me thinking. Wonder how he pronounced ‘library’. ‘Liberry’? ‘Lah-bry’? ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-seinfeld-laura-bush-is-here/301955/5 "2005-05-01T16:22:11Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > Just caught part of her speech at a function, in whcih she took the piss out of hubby "I know how to pronounce “nuclear”). > > “Normally, George is tucked up in bed by now, 9 o’clock, and as for me, I’m watching _Desperate Housewives_. In fact, I am a desperate housewife…” > > Classic stuff! Great sense of comic timing. And, either that relationship’s coming apart, or they’re secure enough to take the rise out of each other. > > What a PR coup! Laura, you’re my new hero. Shouldn’t her speechwriter be your new hero? ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-seinfeld-laura-bush-is-here/301955/6 "2005-05-01T16:24:51Z")
> [@Wile E](#): > > Shouldn’t her speechwriter be your new hero? If it wasn’t her, then I’d assume there’d be a bunch of them to thank. Any names? ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-seinfeld-laura-bush-is-here/301955/7 "2005-05-01T16:27:53Z")
When asked by her future mother-in-law, the hyper-competitive Barbara Bush, what sports she ‘did,’ Laura Bush answered: _“I read, and I smoke.”_ ---
**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:** [May 1, 2005, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-seinfeld-laura-bush-is-here/301955/8 "2005-05-01T16:28:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Mmm, you got me thinking. Wonder how he pronounced ‘library’. “The 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:** [May 1, 2005, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-seinfeld-laura-bush-is-here/301955/9 "2005-05-01T17:01:14Z")
She got some real zingers in there, too. “When we first bought the ranch, George didn’t know much about ranching. This is not surprising - Andover and Yale don’t have a very strong ranching program.” “When we got to the ranch, George’s first mistake was trying to milk the horse. And what’s worse - it was a male horse.” “On the ranch, George thinks every problem can be solved by cutting something down with a chainsaw. That’s why he gets along so well with Rumsfeld and Cheney.” "The other night, Lynn Cheney, Condi Rice, Karen Hughes and I went to Chippendales. …I wasn’t going to say anything about it, but we were spotted there by Ruth Ginsberg and Sandra Day O’Conner. I won’t tell you what Lynn did while we were there, but her new secret service codeword is ‘Dollar Bill’ ". Funny stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-seinfeld-laura-bush-is-here/301955/10 "2005-05-01T17:06:04Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > “On the ranch, George thinks every problem can be solved by cutting something down with a chainsaw. That’s why he gets along so well with Rumsfeld and Cheney.” _OH!_ Ouch! Nice one, Laura! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-seinfeld-laura-bush-is-here/301955/11 "2005-05-01T17:07:29Z")
Call me a skeptic, but I think it all qualifies under the heading of everyone laughs at the boss’ wife’s jokes whether they’re funny or not, especially if they’re at the boss’ expense. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-seinfeld-laura-bush-is-here/301955/12 "2005-05-01T17:33:52Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > Call me a skeptic, but I think it all qualifies under the heading of everyone laughs at the boss’ wife’s jokes whether they’re funny or not, especially if they’re at the boss’ expense. Yes, but the jokes are rather funny, aren’t they? ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-seinfeld-laura-bush-is-here/301955/13 "2005-05-01T18:02:28Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > Yes, but the jokes are rather funny, aren’t they? Sure, they’re funny. They were funnier the first thousand times Letterman, Leno, et al. told the similar jokes too. Bob Dole on “The Daily Show” was much funnier. Laura Bush, reading scripted material was ok funny, but not enough to make such a fuss over. ---
**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:** [May 1, 2005, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-seinfeld-laura-bush-is-here/301955/14 "2005-05-01T18:45:25Z")
It’s not just the joke, it’s how it is delivered. Laura showed a very good sense of comic timing. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-seinfeld-laura-bush-is-here/301955/15 "2005-05-01T18:46:41Z")
In any case it was a nice little set-up, in which the Prez starts making his remarks, and halfway through his telling some joke she stands up, grabs the mic, says, “oh, no, you’re not gonna be telling that old one again…” and then takes over from him. They play the script quite well. OTOH, Cedric the Entertainer was kinda so-so in the same event. Overcaution, likely. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-seinfeld-laura-bush-is-here/301955/16 "2005-05-01T21:14:16Z")
I caught that on Sky News in Australia last night. It showed they both have a sense of humour. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-seinfeld-laura-bush-is-here/301955/17 "2005-05-02T02:09:47Z")
She’s got a way to go before she does anything that tops Nancy Reagen singing “Second Hand Rose” after the flap when she redcorated the White House. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-seinfeld-laura-bush-is-here/301955/18 "2005-05-02T03:04:03Z")
I tuned in without knowing it was the real Mrs. Bush. Until the camera took in the President, I thought it was a really good comedienne impersonating Mrs. Bush. Excellent delivery. ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-seinfeld-laura-bush-is-here/301955/19 "2005-05-02T03:08:28Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > If it wasn’t her, then I’d assume there’d be a bunch of them to thank. Any names? > [@kunilou](#): > > She’s got a way to go before she does anything that tops Nancy Reagen singing “Second Hand Rose” after the flap when she redcorated the White House. From the New York Times, 5/1/05: The first lady’s lines were written by Landon Parvin, a longtime Washington speechwriter who does jokes for Mr. Bush and who wrote both comedy and serious speeches for Ronald Reagan. More to the point, Mr. Parvin wrote the lyrics to “Secondhand Clothes,” the song-and-dance routine that Nancy Reagan performed to the tune of “Secondhand Rose” at the 1982 Gridiron dinner in Washington. That performance, which lampooned the first lady’s taste in designers, was a hit after a string of public relations disasters, from Mrs. Reagan’s supervision of the purchase of a $200,000 set of White House china to the trunkloads of dresses she took for a week of partying at the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana. Press coverage of Mrs. Reagan was subsequently more positive, and “Secondhand Clothes” is still cited as a reason… Ms. Whitson said Mr. Parvin sat down with the first lady some weeks ago to work out ideas. He then wrote a script and helped Mrs. Bush with her timing and delivery over several days of rehearsals, including one run-through shortly before the dinner. The first lady went on right after dessert, as Mr. Bush was at the lectern launching into the traditional presidential stand-up routine, in this case rehashing some of his worst jokes from the 2004 campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-seinfeld-laura-bush-is-here/301955/20 "2005-05-02T03:31:31Z")
I just saw a clip of this, the laughter sounded like a laugh track. Also, I find it hard to believe that such a good Christian woman would watch an immoral show like _Desperate Housewives._ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-seinfeld-laura-bush-is-here/301955.md?page=2)