# Why is George W Bush trying to be my friend? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 29, 2004, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-george-w-bush-trying-to-be-my-friend/282138 "2004-12-29T19:46:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-george-w-bush-trying-to-be-my-friend/282138/1 "2004-12-29T19:46:01Z")
I don’t NEED any more friends. In fact…some of the friends I **do** have I don’t even like! But first he sends me a Christmas card with an (I assume) autopenned signature and it wishes me a happy holidays. OK, that I can write off as a gesture. Yesterday I got a **letter** from him! Also pre-printed and autopen signed. > [@](#): > > President Dec. 21, 2004 > George W Bush > > Dear \, > > Thank you for your great help on my campaign in Ohio. Your state played a critical role in this electiom, and the Vice President and I were fortunate to have your help in campaigning in Ohio. > I am honored by the trust of my fellow citizens, confident in our purpose, and looking forward to continuing to lead this nation four more years. > Laura joins me in thanking you for your steadfast support and in wishing you and your family a wonderful Holiday. > > ``` > Sincerely, > > George W Bush > > ``` Now what the hell is up with that? Is he stalking me? I gave him no ‘support’ in the election? I gave money to Dean and Kerry/Edwards! For God’s sake…I was one of the ‘Ohio Business Leaders for Kerry/Edwards’ and did an editorial in my pub endorsing Kerry! He’s getting to be like that creepy guy in college who wanted to join my circle but never quite figured out how. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-george-w-bush-trying-to-be-my-friend/282138/2 "2004-12-29T20:39:06Z")
Maybe it’s just part of his evil plan for world domination? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-george-w-bush-trying-to-be-my-friend/282138/3 "2004-12-29T20:48:10Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > I don’t NEED any more friends. In fact…some of the friends I **do** have I don’t even like! You’re talking about me, aren’t you… _sniff sniff whimper whimper_ ---
**Author:** ![Abbie\_Carmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Abbie\_Carmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abbie_Carmichael)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-george-w-bush-trying-to-be-my-friend/282138/4 "2004-12-29T22:15:03Z")
Heh, I got the same Christmas card and letter. I worked on the campaign, though. How you ended up on the list is beyond me. You voted for Kerry, and I doubt you’re a registered Republican. _shrug_ Maybe a clerical error? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-george-w-bush-trying-to-be-my-friend/282138/5 "2004-12-29T22:59:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Maybe a clerical error? Maybe some evil friend made a donation in your name. Could it have been one of those friends you don’t like? ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-george-w-bush-trying-to-be-my-friend/282138/6 "2004-12-30T00:38:59Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Maybe some evil friend made a donation in your name. Could it have been one of those friends you don’t like? If I’d thought of it it could have. DANG! ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-george-w-bush-trying-to-be-my-friend/282138/7 "2004-12-30T00:50:03Z")
Bastard! No, I just checked [fundrace.org](http://fundrace.org) and it’s not there. I did once send a fairly irritated email concerning the torture of prisoners in Afghanistan to The White House. But that was at a different address. So somewhere along the line the ‘hates Bush with a passion’ database got conflated with the ‘loves Bush’ database. You think they’re keep those two seperate. ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-george-w-bush-trying-to-be-my-friend/282138/8 "2004-12-30T01:00:13Z")
Something similar happened to a friend a couple of years ago. Like you, she had no connections to his campaign. All of a sudden, she started getting friendly e-mails and invitations to fundraising events. At about the same time, I read in the paper about someone else who was receiving the same type of correspondence. In both cases, the recipient had previously donated to Democratic campaigns. My thought was that someone had taken a list of Dem donors and shared it. Maybe it’s happened again…? GT ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-george-w-bush-trying-to-be-my-friend/282138/9 "2004-12-30T01:17:54Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > Bastard! > > No, I just checked [fundrace.org](http://fundrace.org) and it’s not there. > > I did once send a fairly irritated email concerning the torture of prisoners in Afghanistan to The White House. But that was at a different address. > > So somewhere along the line the ‘hates Bush with a passion’ database got conflated with the ‘loves Bush’ database. > > You think they’re keep those two seperate. You think they really put a lot of thought into who gets these things? A long time ago J. Peter Grace headed a commission that looked into federal government “waste.” Senator Alan Cranston (D, CA) was hot to implement the recommendations of the report. George Will, of all people, looked into the details of the methodology and data of the report. Or more likely he had his staff look into it. Will then wrote a column detailing the report’s many failings; wrong assumptions, faulty comparisons and on and on. I clipped the column and sent a copy of it to Sen. Cranston along with my comment that reducing waste was an admirable goal but in view of Will’s analysis the Grace Report didn’t appear to be the way to go. In due time I got a response thanking me for my support of the Senator’s efforts to reduce waste in government. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-george-w-bush-trying-to-be-my-friend/282138/10 "2004-12-30T03:10:17Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > I clipped the column and sent a copy of it to Sen. Cranston along with my comment that reducing waste was an admirable goal but in view of Will’s analysis the Grace Report didn’t appear to be the way to go. In due time I got a response thanking me for my support of the Senator’s efforts to reduce waste in government. I’ve on more than one occasion sense letters expressing various opinions to my elected representatives and more than once recieved responses that clearly showed whoever was in charge of the form letter response hadn’t read my letter. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-george-w-bush-trying-to-be-my-friend/282138/11 "2004-12-30T03:22:38Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > Bastard! > > No, I just checked [fundrace.org](http://fundrace.org) and it’s not there. > > I did once send a fairly irritated email concerning the torture of prisoners in Afghanistan to The White House. But that was at a different address. > > So somewhere along the line the ‘hates Bush with a passion’ database got conflated with the ‘loves Bush’ database. [Emphasis is Polycarp’s.] > > You think they’re keep those two seperate. Quick, somebody, hide this thread. Can you imagine if that’s actually the case, and they send copies of their strategy for dividing America next election to somebody like **rjung**? 😃 ---
**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:** [December 30, 2004, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-george-w-bush-trying-to-be-my-friend/282138/12 "2004-12-30T03:44:05Z")
How weird. All of the letters I’ve sent to people in government, even the ones that brushed me off, showed at least a cursory understanding of the letter I’d sent. (My most recent coup was getting a city councillor to phone me at home about an email I’d sent.) ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-george-w-bush-trying-to-be-my-friend/282138/13 "2004-12-30T03:48:07Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Quick, somebody, hide this thread. > > Can you imagine if that’s actually the case, and they send copies of their strategy for dividing America next election to somebody like **rjung**? 😃 Piffle. Imagine if **Reeder** got ahold of it… [sub]I kid, I kid.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-george-w-bush-trying-to-be-my-friend/282138/14 "2004-12-30T07:15:30Z")
[evil mother] He’s just lonely. He sent you some perfectly nice greetings, what’s to be mad about? Would it kill you to act like I raised you with some faint grasp of etiquette and just wish the poor man a happy holiday, hmm? [/em] ---
**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 30, 2004, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-george-w-bush-trying-to-be-my-friend/282138/15 "2004-12-30T13:13:05Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > Bastard! > > No, I just checked [fundrace.org](http://fundrace.org) and it’s not there. > > I did once send a fairly irritated email concerning the torture of prisoners in Afghanistan to The White House. But that was at a different address. > > So somewhere along the line the ‘hates Bush with a passion’ database got conflated with the ‘loves Bush’ database. > > You think they’re keep those two seperate. If he can’t keep the two ideas separate in his _mind_, how could they stay separate in his computer? Or policies? ---
**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:** [December 30, 2004, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-george-w-bush-trying-to-be-my-friend/282138/16 "2004-12-30T14:59:52Z")
They screwed up and put you on the wrong list. Just thank fate or God or whatever the mistake wasn’t putting you on the enemy combatant list instead. ---
**Author:** ![ladybug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@ladybug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladybug)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-george-w-bush-trying-to-be-my-friend/282138/17 "2004-12-30T15:19:18Z")
Last January, my mom had her 82-year-old mother put on a list for birthday greetings from the White House (apparently they’ll send cards to U.S. citizens over 80). My grandmother hates George W. Bush with a passion and was extremely annoyed that my mom did this. I’m wondering if grandma will get a similar letter thanking her for her work on the Bush re-election campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-george-w-bush-trying-to-be-my-friend/282138/18 "2004-12-30T15:32:54Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > I did once send a fairly irritated email concerning the torture of prisoners in Afghanistan to The White House. But that was at a different address. :dubious: There’s more than one White House? Well, getting friendly letters from him is okay, just so long as he doesn’t want to crash at your house on St. Patrick’s day. The last thing you want on your living room couch the day after is a hungover nuclear power. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-george-w-bush-trying-to-be-my-friend/282138/19 "2004-12-30T17:02:51Z")
> [@ladybug](#): > > Last January, my mom had her 82-year-old mother put on a list for birthday greetings from the White House (apparently they’ll send cards to U.S. citizens over 80). My grandmother hates George W. Bush with a passion and was extremely annoyed that my mom did this. > > I’m wondering if grandma will get a similar letter thanking her for her work on the Bush re-election campaign. I think you can write “Refused” on it and put it back in the mail box. I regularly get requests for financial help from Republican organizations. When they include a return envelope with postage paid I always return the empty envelope. If I could find a source of cheap sheet lead I’d cut off a hunk of that and put it in the envelope. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-george-w-bush-trying-to-be-my-friend/282138/20 "2004-12-30T17:14:53Z")
[FundRace.org](http://FundRace.org) is incomplete - I’m not showing up and I made a donation to Kerry that made their threshhold. Also, is it possible you have an evil twin with your same name, and they just pulled the address out of the white pages? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-george-w-bush-trying-to-be-my-friend/282138.md?page=2)