# Pitting Bush for stuff that doesn't seem to rate its own thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 8, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131 "2004-07-08T16:11:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/21 "2004-07-08T23:17:23Z")
> [@AmericanMaid](#): > > The phrase in our National Anthem is “Let freedom ring.” Yet our idiot in chief thinks it’s: > [http://www.anoasis.co.uk/content/2004/06/29/Politics/let\_freedom\_reign.html](http://www.anoasis.co.uk/content/2004/06/29/Politics/let_freedom_reign.html) **AmericanMaid** , not only were you wrong on the two counts pointed out by **Scarlett67** , you also apparently didn’t read your own link. President Nelson Mandela used the same exact phrase in his Inaugural Address. Is he an idiot too? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![RTA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RTA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTA)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/22 "2004-07-08T23:23:17Z")
OK so he has this habit nowadays which is quite unpresidential, and I know it’s probably nothing in the grand scheme of things, but it bugs me every goddam time I see him do it, and there’s no question in my mind that it’s a metaphor for something larger. Here it is: when he’s at the podium speaking, he tends to slouch over it; his entire frame cocked to one side, and with one elbow on the podium. Like he was leaning on a bar. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2004, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/23 "2004-07-08T23:35:41Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > **Revtim** , it looks like you’re being “anti-Baptist” or something. 😉 Can’t believe you’d oppose somebody because of their religion, even if it’s stuffing thier head full of ridiculous ideas that they might turn into public policy. I think of it more as being “anti-backwards-ignorant-fuckist”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/24 "2004-07-08T23:47:26Z")
This was pointed out in another thread, and I haven’t been able to get over it. So, since this is a catch-all pitting, I’ll toss it in. His face is too small for his head. There. I said it. I never really noticed it before, but now it’s all I see. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/25 "2004-07-08T23:59:26Z")
> [@](#): > > The White House’s ire with Irish reporter Carole Coleman has already been mentioned here, but not the fact that the Bushies went whining to the Irish Embassy about how cruelly the reporter treated him This blows my mind. The questions he was to answer were SUBMITTED IN ADVANCE. As requested by the President, as apparently is their quiet SOP. And yet Bush: 1. pretended to be flustered by the questions 2. apparently was then sincerely flustered when the reporter was irritated that, having submitted her questions in advance, he was still avoiding answering them directly, as she had come to expect from politicians in her country, where they are actually expected to answer real questions, not dodge them ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/26 "2004-07-09T00:11:57Z")
**RTA** , I’ve noticed that, too. As well as his manner, lately since his justifications for invading Iraq have started crumbling one by one. Haven’t you noticed a sort of desperation in his manner, like he’s trying to convince or scold a child? He gets a very lecturing, almost angry tone in his voice, but his eyebrows raise and his forehead wrinkles like he’s still trying to convince you, and then he finishes with a smirk like he’s just said something smart. But he hasn’t. It’s his tell. Whenever he’s bluffing, bullshitting us, reciting the party spin that he knows is a bunch of crap, he gets that manner. And he’s had it more and more lately. It’s a look of desparation, as if he’s frustrated that you aren’t just buying his line unquestioningly, but he doesn’t have any additional convicing arguments to back it up. Just sound bites. The last time I saw it on TV was a couple days ago. He was asked what he thought the differences were between Edwards and Cheney, and his response was, “Dick Cheney can be president.” Yea, well the last Republican president thought that _Dan Quayle_ could be president, so that’s not saying much, George. And I’d really love to watch that Coleman interview, but can’t find it. I’ve read the transcript, but can’t get the video to play. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/27 "2004-07-09T01:53:55Z")
> [@bughunter](#): > > Whenever he’s bluffing, bullshitting us, reciting the party spin that he knows is a bunch of crap, he gets that manner. And he’s had it more and more lately. It’s a look of desparation, as if he’s frustrated that you aren’t just buying his line unquestioningly, but he doesn’t have any additional convicing arguments to back it up. Just sound bites. Exactly. Such as when he was questioned about the 9/11 commissions findings re: al Quada and Iraq. Paraphrasing from memory: “I said there was a connection between al Quada and Iraq because there was a connection between al Quada and Iraq!” Or when he was being questioned about Abu Ghraib, and he said something along the lines of “I authorized them to stay within US law. That oughta satisfy you.” At times he reminds me of the chain smoking novelty manufacturer in the spoof 60 minutes hotseat played by Martin Short, who looks incredulously into the camera, sweating like a pig, asking “Is it me? It’s him, right?” But mostly he strikes me like a petulant toddler. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/28 "2004-07-09T02:13:41Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > The text you quoted was a perfect example of the liberal bias in the media. The article was written with such a slant as to make people think the folks in question were arrested for wearing the t-shirt. One has to dig down through the crap to find the real truth: > > **"On Sunday, Charleston Police Sgt. R.E. Parsons said Nicole and Jeff Rank were in a no-trespassing area and refused to leave."** > > One also has to be intelligent enough to do so. One has to be intelligent enough to keep reading after you find the little bit of info that you think, for just a second, backs up your argument. As **Zakalwe** has already pointed out, there were lots and lots of people in this ‘no-trespassing’ area. Skipping past the bullshit of being somehow able to ‘trespass’ at a public speech by a public official (if a public official is giving a speech, is it somehow open to some but not all of the public? Fuck-all if there isn’t an obvious answer for that), how can one possibly distinguish the trespassers from the non-trespassers? You read down, and it seems there were these tickets: > [@](#): > > Those who attended Bush’s speech were required to have tickets that were distributed by various employers in the area and by the office of Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. > > Those who applied for tickets were required to supply their names, addresses, birth dates, birthplaces and Social Security numbers. > > A two-page document given to ticket holders said they were prohibited from bringing certain items to the event, including: weapons, video-recording equipment, food, beverages, umbrellas, signs and banners. T-shirts, political buttons and lapel pins were not on the list of prohibited items. Nobody ever says that the Ranks didn’t have tickets, and the context suggests they must’ve: how could they have gained admittance to the restricted area without the tickets? (And if it wasn’t a restricted area, what use would tickets have been in controlling the crowd?) At any rate, the officials haven’t indicated the manner of their trespass, and they haven’t claimed that the Ranks had engaged in any sort of disorderly conduct or other rules violation, just that they were trespassing. But how they were identified as trespassers is completely unclear. Other than their T-shirts, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/29 "2004-07-09T02:55:57Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Skipping past the bullshit of being somehow able to ‘trespass’ at a public speech by a public official (if a public official is giving a speech, is it somehow open to some but not all of the public? Fuck-all if there isn’t an obvious answer for that), how can one possibly distinguish the trespassers from the non-trespassers? I don’t know about this. I mean, at functions open to the public, there can still be restricted areas, right? Sectioned off with that stupid yellow tape? And if the President is giving a speech, there are always gonna be \*several \* areas that the general public is not gonna have access to that day. Some for management reasons, some for security reasons, some for safety reasons. All I’m saying is that the story _may_ not be telling the whole story. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/30 "2004-07-09T10:14:25Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > I don’t know about this. I mean, at functions open to the public, there can still be restricted areas, right? Sectioned off with that stupid yellow tape? > > And if the President is giving a speech, there are always gonna be \*several \* areas that the general public is not gonna have access to that day. Some for management reasons, some for security reasons, some for safety reasons. Well, yeah. And if a member of the general public tried to go in one of those, they’d be arrested for trespassing. But the thing is, there have been three or four stories about this incident now. And in none of them have the cops simply said, “these guys tried to get into the secure area, so we arrested them.” Anyhow, found [another AP story](http://www.news8austin.com/content/headlines/?ArID=111986&SecID=2): > [@](#): > > CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A couple from Texas was taken out of a speech given by President Bush in West Virginia Sunday. > > Police placed Nicole and Jeffery Rank of Corpus Christi in restraints after they entered the event with a ticket and then removed their clothes to reveal anti-Bush T-shirts, according to the acting director of the Capitol police in Charleston. > > He said the two were asked to go out to the designated protest area, but refused. > > \ > > As police rushed her out, Nicole Rank shouted that they were told they couldn’t be there because they were wearing anti-Bush shirts. > > Police say the two were issued citations for trespassing and released. So: they had tickets; the problem, according to the Charleston police spokesman, seems to have been entirely with their T-shirts. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/31 "2004-07-09T13:48:57Z")
If you guys remember correctly, Bush and his freedom-loving fucking cronies have now set up “protest zones” wherein your free speech is actually free. If these two were wearing their T-shirts out of that area, they were trespassing. What a joke. I weep for our lost liberties. Sam ---
**Author:** ![Psycho\_Pirate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Psycho\_Pirate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Psycho_Pirate)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/32 "2004-07-09T14:58:13Z")
Oh please. If they were so proud about boldly protesting Bush, why did they hide that fact from the authorities and keep their idiotic anti-Bush t-shirts away from view? Because they are cowardly morons, and would rather “make a big splash” than protest legally? Those in the crowd came to see and hear the President…not some moronic protesters who are just there to raise a stink. Your freedom of speech isn’t being taken away. You have the right to say whatever you want (except “Fire” in a crowded theater), but you do not have the right to a captive audience. This is the same stupidity used by people who get angry at Wal-Mart for refusing to sell explicit CDs. These musicians have the right to be heard. But Wal-Mart has the right to sell (or not sell) whatever products they want. Protest zones are commonly used because there are some protesters who don’t even make an attempt at being non-violent or assembling peacefully. Many of these “activists” have no life and no job except to stir up trouble. They are just bored anarchists who show up to protest, not with signs and bullhorns, but with masks to protect them from tear gas when their protests inevitably get out of control and turn into a riot when they start destroying property, blocking traffic, etc. Even the DNC, that bastion of progressive thinking who would never even THINK of trampling on protesters’ precious rights, use [protest zones](http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0220-02.htm). If you want to blame the practice of “protest zones” being started, start with the Reno “Justice” Department and Democrat Congress, who were behind the ridiculously stupid “Access to Clinics” act criminalizing peaceful anti-abortion protests, laying the groundwork for arresting anyone in the vicinity of left-wing demonstrations with the same physical violence that characterized arrest of peaceful pro-life demonstrators. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/33 "2004-07-09T15:56:53Z")
99% of Farenheit 911 was odiferous, bullshit spackled hogwash but when G.W. sat for 7 or 9 minutes or however long it was in the elementary classroom after being told the nation was under attack and didn’t issue an order, didn’t do anything other than sit there and fume… well, that more than anything else he’s done pisses me off to no end. If find it indefensable and, given the opportunity, I’d really like to be able to question him on it. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/34 "2004-07-09T16:11:30Z")
Homer: “NU-cu-lar. It’s pronounced NU-cu-lar.” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/35 "2004-07-09T16:46:19Z")
> [@Psycho Pirate](#): > > Oh please. If they were so proud about boldly protesting Bush, why did they hide that fact from the authorities and keep their idiotic anti-Bush t-shirts away from view? Because they are cowardly morons, and would rather “make a big splash” than protest legally? Those in the crowd came to see and hear the President…not some moronic protesters who are just there to raise a stink. They weren’t “Protest[ing] legally”?? Explain. They had their tickets, and they were following the stated rules. In what manner was their presence or their actions illegal? > [@](#): > > Your freedom of speech isn’t being taken away. You have the right to say whatever you want (except “Fire” in a crowded theater), but you do not have the right to a captive audience. Exactly how were these folks demanding a ‘captive audience’? If I wear a Hawaiian shirt in the subway, did I just make the other subway riders the ‘captive audience’ of my Hawaiian shirt? This isn’t an argument, it’s a load of fetid, steaming crap. > [@](#): > > This is the same stupidity used by people who get angry at Wal-Mart for refusing to sell explicit CDs. Wrong. Actually, the likeness is between Wal-Mart (exercising their right to sell what they want to sell) and the ‘protesters’ (who were just exercising their right to wear what they wanted to wear, subject of course to the decency laws). And the likeness is between the people who get angry at Wal-Mart (who want WallyWorld to sell what they want it to sell) and the President (who wants the public at his public speeches as President to appear to consist only of his supporters). > [@](#): > > Protest zones are commonly used because there are some protesters who don’t even make an attempt at being non-violent or assembling peacefully. Sounds like we should put Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz, et al. in one; they don’t even make an attempt at being nonviolent, either. Snarkiness aside, that’s not how America works. You can’t just go excluding people from attending public events because they _might_ do something objectionable, based on nothing more than public officials’ dislike of their politics. What it’s called when you can do that is a “police state”. > [@](#): > > Many of these “activists” have no life and no job except to stir up trouble. They are just bored anarchists who show up to protest, not with signs and bullhorns, but with masks to protect them from tear gas when their protests inevitably get out of control and turn into a riot when they start destroying property, blocking traffic, etc. Blah blah blah blah blah. > [@](#): > > Even the DNC, that bastion of progressive thinking who would never even THINK of trampling on protesters’ precious rights, use [protest zones](http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0220-02.htm). Hey, they shouldn’t be doing it either. Do two wrongs make a right? Sounds like it makes two wrongs. From your link: > [@](#): > > …a similar dispute at the 2000 Democratic convention in Los Angeles. Relegated to a parking lot blocks from the convention arena, protesters sued, and less than a month before that convention began, a federal judge ruled that the designated area was unconstitutional. Organizers were forced to move the area to a parking lot directly across the street from an arena entrance, in keeping with earlier federal court rulings that any legal demonstration be allowed within “sight and sound” of its intended audience. I agree wholeheartedly with that judge. > [@](#): > > If you want to blame the practice of “protest zones” being started, start with the Reno “Justice” Department and Democrat Congress, who were behind the ridiculously stupid “Access to Clinics” act criminalizing peaceful anti-abortion protests, laying the groundwork for arresting anyone in the vicinity of left-wing demonstrations with the same physical violence that characterized arrest of peaceful pro-life demonstrators. Yeah, and that law gave the private citizens trying toaccess a legal business a right to, what - fifteen feet of clearance between them and the protesters? That law asked for just enough room to take the physical-intimidation factor out of the picture. As for those ‘peaceful’ pro-life demonstrators, they quite often didn’t act all that peaceful - yelling in private citizens’ faces at point-blank range, waving signs at them as if trying to hit them with their signs, and so forth. And the difference between a private person, one who has not sought out the public spotlight, trying to access an abortion clinic, and the President of the United States, who is the highest public official in the land, should be obvious even to a person of your intellect, or lack thereof. So you should expect that different standards of protester access might apply to one and the other - with greater access of protesters to the public official than the private citizen. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/36 "2004-07-09T22:56:15Z")
> [@Psycho Pirate](#): > > If they were so proud about boldly protesting Bush, why did they hide that fact from the authorities and keep their idiotic anti-Bush t-shirts away from view? Because they are cowardly morons, and would rather “make a big splash” than protest legally? Those in the crowd came to see and hear the President…not some moronic protesters who are just there to raise a stink. “Freedom of speech” doesn’t come with a clause that reads “…unless your speech will offend others who may hear it.” The only thing the coule did wrong was that they didn’t subscribe to the Bush-lovin’ masturbatory groupthink around them – an act that, last I checked, was not a crime of any sort, despite how much Bush wishes it was. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/37 "2004-07-10T00:36:29Z")
> [@RTA](#): > > OK so he has this habit nowadays which is quite unpresidential, and I know it’s probably nothing in the grand scheme of things, but it bugs me every goddam time I see him do it, and there’s no question in my mind that it’s a metaphor for something larger. > > Here it is: when he’s at the podium speaking, he tends to slouch over it; his entire frame cocked to one side, and with one elbow on the podium. Like he was leaning on a bar. Oh man, this is so true. I think if he would stand up straighter, it would at least make him _look_ honest and straightforward. As it is, his posture is so crooked. It’s almost as if his body is trying to tell us something! I wonder what that could be. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/38 "2004-07-10T00:59:54Z")
Alright, I have one. That god damn commercial! The one about Kerry being “pessimistic.” Please, by all means, badger the hell out of me if I am being ignorant but what in the world is that commercial even about? Bush puts a slant on some things so they make him look good, he then quotes Kerry as saying “That was the great depression”, and then says “We do not need pessimism for presidency” or whatever. That makes about as much sense as a lark in Goodwill! What in the world?! Please explain this to me. I really want to believe that it was something that I clearly did not understand rather than me thinking it was Bush being Bush. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/39 "2004-07-10T13:04:37Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > 99% of Farenheit 911 was odiferous, bullshit spackled hogwash 😕 You thought the sights and sounds of September 11 were stinky hogwash? You thought the pictures of the wounded, dying and dead American soldiers and Iraqi citizens was stinky hogwash? You thought the scene of a father carrying his injured (or dead) son with wet pants was stinky hogwash? You thought the scene of a child having his scalp sewn back on was stinky hogwash? You thought the hospital interviews with the maimed soldiers, some missing limbs, were stinky hogwash? You thought the scenes of a mother talking about her dead son were stinky hogwash? You thought the scene of that same mother breaking down in front of the White House was stinky hogwash? > [@lieu](#): > > but when G.W. sat for 7 or 9 minutes or however long it was in the elementary classroom after being told the nation was under attack and didn’t issue an order, didn’t do anything other than sit there and fume… well, that more than anything else he’s done pisses me off to no end. If find it indefensable and, given the opportunity, I’d really like to be able to question him on it. At least your priorities are straight. That was _much_ more important than the injured, dying and dead people. ---
**Author:** ![YWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/6f9a4e/32.png) [@YWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YWalker)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/40 "2004-07-10T14:15:39Z")
Although this pales in importance to what he has done with our country, I still think that one incident speaks very clearly as to what type of man he is. When his 19 year old daughter had to have emergency surgery to remove her appendix shortly before Mr. Bush took office, instead of staying in Texas with her, he chose to go [ON VACATION](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2000/12/26/politics0926EST0472.DTL) in Florida. Yep, that’s Mr. Family Values for you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131.md?page=3)