# Patriotism that's a little scary, and a lot kitschy **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 14, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriotism-thats-a-little-scary-and-a-lot-kitschy/368602 "2006-08-14T00:11:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriotism-thats-a-little-scary-and-a-lot-kitschy/368602/1 "2006-08-14T00:11:59Z")
[http://www.presidentspark.org/general\_info.html](http://www.presidentspark.org/general_info.html) I love my country, but having giant busts of the presidents looming over me would creep me out. Look how huge they are! Any Doper ever visited this place? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriotism-thats-a-little-scary-and-a-lot-kitschy/368602/2 "2006-08-14T00:28:35Z")
Whoa, man, the google ads are for mushroom-growing. Freaky. [This](http://www.presidentspark.org/1989_present.html) (scroll down) doesn’t seem like the best likeness of Clinton I’ve ever seen. And doesn’t the bio seem a bit … sketchy? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriotism-thats-a-little-scary-and-a-lot-kitschy/368602/3 "2006-08-14T00:32:11Z")
Okay, it’s not that Clinton’s is short – it’s that BushI’s is long. weird. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriotism-thats-a-little-scary-and-a-lot-kitschy/368602/4 "2006-08-14T00:40:38Z")
That’s weird. I read the OP, and thought “Doesn’t that somehow, sorta describe Mt. Rushmore?” and then I clicked on the link. Mt. Rushmore is much bigger, but much farther away, and I think it’s kind of cool for its own sake. Not that I’d encourage more mountain carving, but it’s neat anyway. That is not the scale at which these busts are carved. I can’t say that I’d care to walk through THAT park. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriotism-thats-a-little-scary-and-a-lot-kitschy/368602/5 "2006-08-14T00:52:12Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] [This](http://www.presidentspark.org/1989_present.html) (scroll down) doesn’t seem like the best likeness of Clinton I’ve ever seen. And doesn’t the bio seem a bit … sketchy? [/QUOTE] If you showed me that bust without showing me the website, I’d have said that was a young Boris Yeltsin. Tripler That park sorta freaks me out too. ---
**Author:** ![Greywolf73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@Greywolf73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greywolf73)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriotism-thats-a-little-scary-and-a-lot-kitschy/368602/6 "2006-08-14T04:42:05Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] [This](http://www.presidentspark.org/1989_present.html) (scroll down) doesn’t seem like the best likeness of Clinton I’ve ever seen. [/QUOTE] Huh. Well, I guess we will know what [Bobby Hill](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Hill_(King_of_the_Hill)) will look like in 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriotism-thats-a-little-scary-and-a-lot-kitschy/368602/7 "2006-08-14T04:53:49Z")
[QUOTE=Greywolf73] Huh. Well, I guess we will know what [Bobby Hill](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Hill_(King_of_the_Hill)) will look like in 30 years. [/QUOTE] Now that you mention it, it looks an awful lot like Hank (or Bobby in 30 years). ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriotism-thats-a-little-scary-and-a-lot-kitschy/368602/8 "2006-08-14T04:56:28Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] [This](http://www.presidentspark.org/1989_present.html) (scroll down) doesn’t seem like the best likeness of Clinton I’ve ever seen. And doesn’t the bio seem a bit … sketchy? [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=twickster] Okay, it’s not that Clinton’s is short – it’s that BushI’s is long. weird. [/QUOTE] Yeah, almost 150 words for Bush the Elder, a mere 31 for Clinton. That and a terrible likeness. It looks more like my 8th grade algebra teacher. Maybe I’m just tired (alright, I am just tired) but for some reason, the first thing that came to mind was stealing the giant busts and leaving them scattered among the heads on Easter Island. I need some sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriotism-thats-a-little-scary-and-a-lot-kitschy/368602/9 "2006-08-14T06:51:38Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] [http://www.presidentspark.org/general\_info.html](http://www.presidentspark.org/general_info.html) I love my country, but having giant busts of the presidents looming over me would creep me out. Look how huge they are! Any Doper ever visited this place? [/QUOTE] Oo-er! That’s…odd. Very odd. I think it demonstrates one of the main differences between the States and the UK. This side of the pond we may be as patriotic but we don’t fly flags (as much) and we have a lot less respect for out politicians and leaders. A park like that in Britain full of giant prime ministers would be vandalised _very_ quickly (Margaret Thatcher would most likely be the first to go!). Kings and queens _might_ be treated with more respect - but I doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriotism-thats-a-little-scary-and-a-lot-kitschy/368602/10 "2006-08-14T09:25:24Z")
Reminded me of the Beatles’ _Yellow Submarine_, for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriotism-thats-a-little-scary-and-a-lot-kitschy/368602/11 "2006-08-14T09:51:02Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Reminded me of the Beatles’ _Yellow Submarine_, for some reason. [/QUOTE] Just imagine strolling through that park while tripping… ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriotism-thats-a-little-scary-and-a-lot-kitschy/368602/12 "2006-08-14T10:30:24Z")
[QUOTE=CynicalGabe] Just imagine strolling through that park while tripping… [/QUOTE] No thanks. **shudder** ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriotism-thats-a-little-scary-and-a-lot-kitschy/368602/13 "2006-08-14T11:03:10Z")
Boulter’s Canary writes: \> I think it demonstrates one of the main differences between the States and the \> UK. This side of the pond we may be as patriotic but we don’t fly flags (as much) \> and we have a lot less respect for out politicians and leaders. A park like that in \> Britain full of giant prime ministers would be vandalised very quickly (Margaret \> Thatcher would most likely be the first to go!). Kings and queens might be \> treated with more respect - but I doubt it. You note that this is a private park, not one run by the government. It charges $10.75 per person for admittance. It’s apparently quite new. There probably are some Americans who would get their kicks vandalizing it, but given that it costs to get in and it’s probably guarded at night, that would be hard to do. And no one cares that much anyway. It’s just some obscure park that most Americans haven’t even heard of. The U.S. is full of stupid tourist traps that most Americans, if they ever bothered to give them a second thought, would consider laughable. ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriotism-thats-a-little-scary-and-a-lot-kitschy/368602/14 "2006-08-14T14:48:18Z")
[QUOTE=Wendell Wagner] Boulter’s Canary writes: \> I think it demonstrates one of the main differences between the States and the \> UK. This side of the pond we may be as patriotic but we don’t fly flags (as much) \> and we have a lot less respect for out politicians and leaders. A park like that in \> Britain full of giant prime ministers would be vandalised very quickly (Margaret \> Thatcher would most likely be the first to go!). Kings and queens might be \> treated with more respect - but I doubt it. You note that this is a private park, not one run by the government. It charges $10.75 per person for admittance. It’s apparently quite new. There probably are some Americans who would get their kicks vandalizing it, but given that it costs to get in and it’s probably guarded at night, that would be hard to do. And no one cares that much anyway. It’s just some obscure park that most Americans haven’t even heard of. The U.S. is full of stupid tourist traps that most Americans, if they ever bothered to give them a second thought, would consider laughable. [/QUOTE] Oh, it’s the same over here. There’s going to be one opening near where I live soon - Dickensworld. Presumably we’ll get oversized statues of characters from his books and rides through 19th-century slums. I just don’t think it would occur to anybody in the UK to open a _political_ theme park. I could be wrong, of course - somebody could be planning Thatcherworld right now. ---
**Author:** ![JustAnotherGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58f4c7/32.png) [@JustAnotherGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustAnotherGeek)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriotism-thats-a-little-scary-and-a-lot-kitschy/368602/15 "2006-08-14T14:54:40Z")
Anybody notice that their pages with the presidents in order are screwed up? Check out the 1865-1897 page. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriotism-thats-a-little-scary-and-a-lot-kitschy/368602/16 "2006-08-14T15:04:28Z")
Apart from Bush I vs. Clinton, other presidential biographies are rather uneven. All it says of Taft is about his size and his bathtub – nothing about him being the only President to serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. And all it says about Wilson is that he got a PhD – nothing about World War I or the League of Nations. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriotism-thats-a-little-scary-and-a-lot-kitschy/368602/17 "2006-08-14T15:09:46Z")
[QUOTE=Boulter’s Canary] I just don’t think it would occur to anybody in the UK to open a _political_ theme park. I could be wrong, of course - somebody could be planning Thatcherworld right now. [/QUOTE] Well, there’s this sort of myth that once they’ve entered history presidents are kind of divorced from politics. So this wouldn’t really be looked upon as a park with a political theme. Historical, not political. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriotism-thats-a-little-scary-and-a-lot-kitschy/368602/18 "2006-08-14T15:24:45Z")
Re the text disparity between Bush and Clinton - there are a few presidents who get a really long article (one or two per page) and all the rest get kissed off with a few lines. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it - Washington, Lincoln, and JFK get a few lines, Jackson and FDR get the full treatment. Who knows? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriotism-thats-a-little-scary-and-a-lot-kitschy/368602/19 "2006-08-14T15:39:50Z")
Well, we do have things like the Hall of the Presidents at the Disney parks, which my mom loves and never misses. (I mean, it’s a lot more dignified than the scary bust place, but is it really so different?) A lot of people are very fond of it. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriotism-thats-a-little-scary-and-a-lot-kitschy/368602/20 "2006-08-14T15:51:30Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] Whoa, man, the google ads are for mushroom-growing. Freaky. [This](http://www.presidentspark.org/1989_present.html) (scroll down) doesn’t seem like the best likeness of Clinton I’ve ever seen. And doesn’t the bio seem a bit … sketchy? [/QUOTE] Nixon, Carter and Reagan are more or less unrecognizable as well. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriotism-thats-a-little-scary-and-a-lot-kitschy/368602.md?page=2)