Bush’s “good ole boy” image, is he really like you and me?

[The Lone Liberal]

For a good part of the almost three years Bush’s handlers have worked hard to portray GW as one of the great mass of Americans. The question is he really just like you and I? I don’t think so;

First, he has all the doors opened for him simply by the happenstance of birth. The Bush name gained him entrée without qualifications. Doesn’t sound like me, does it sound like you.

Secondly, because of the name he has capitalized and parlayed that name into money, big money. Bush is probably worth several hundreds of millions. Doesn’t sound like me, does it sound like you?

Thirdly, Bush has never played by the rules he has always felt the rules were for everyone else. Case in point is his handling of the stock in his oil company. He bailed without regard to any other investor. Fairness is not in his lexicon. Doesn’t sound like me, does it sound like you?

Regardless of how many photo-opts there are of him working away on the ranch, it just isn’t so. He has never sweated at a job. Doesn’t sound like me, does it sound like you?

Face it he is not like the average Joe. It is all bologna served up by the master chef Karl Rove.

[Pale_Rider]

1. I would feel more comfortable having a beer ...

... with Bill or Al.

[MuseRider]

2. I would die of shame

if I thought I had anything in common with him.

[grasswire]

3. it's odd

My beautiful, very liberal, well-educated (Berkeley) 35-year-old niece told me the other day that yes, she thought Bush would be more fun to have a beer with than Al Gore. I couldn't believe it. Of course, Al Gore WAS demonized in California.

[Demobrat]

8. Are you sure she wasn't just referring

to his party-boy past? Bush is the kind of kid you're friends with because he can always be talking into doing something stupid for laughs. Gore, on the other hand, is the DD. Now, I know who I would want in my life longterm. But for one night? Bush is the guy in the headlights with his pants down.

[SharonAnn]

26. But I couldn't stand those guys when I was in my teens, or in my

twenties, and my taste hasn't deteriorated since then.

What a shallow, egotistical (enough about you, let's talk about ME), unintelligent, cowardly, irresponsible, lying jerk.

I'd definitely rather have a beer with Al who would be a lot more fun because he has a brain, and a wicked sense ofhumor.

[supernova]

4. Only thing * and I

have in common is we're members of the same species. Other than that, Ewwww.

[punpirate]

13. You're sure of that?

After all, he might have been given his nickname because he's missing a few genes.

You might be safe, after all. *smile*

[unblock]

5. bush is "only" worth about $14 million

he had a remarkably hard time converting his name into $$.

it really wasn't until they decided to make him president that they engineered a way to make him look like a successful businessman.

[Redleg]

6. Bush wouldn't have a beer with any of us...

I laughed when some idiots commented that they would rather have a beer with Bush than with Gore. Little did those idiots know that Bush would never have a beer with their sorry working-class asses. Bush is a patrician and all the pig farms, cowboy boots, big belt buckles and giant pick-up trucks he buys will not change that fact.

[supernova]

7. Exactly

It simply amazes me that people don't see this.

[greatauntoftriplets]

9. Bush is a Connecticut-born child of privilege who got into Yale

as a legacy. It is doubtful that he would have been accepted at the school based on his intelligence alone.

The "good ol' boy" persona is a lie that he has affected. No different from all his other lies. Sad that so many people buy it.

[Aristus]

10. I've said this before, but it bears repeating. * has constantly

described himself as "jes' a reg'lar guy. Jes' a ordnury Joe Six-pack, jes'like y'all." The one true thing * has ever said is that he is ORDINARY. That's God's truth. There is nothing about him that is excellent, extraordinary, or above-par. He is a shallow, pathetic, unlettered, incurious mediocrity. He has never striven for superior performance, higher grades, or inspired leadership. He's a flat line, a cypher. A man in a gray flannel suit. A nobody.

Without his family's wealth and political cache, the Chimp would have languished in obscurity for his whole miserable life.

'Nuff said.

[Lisa]

24. "a media creation"

He said so himself. Aristus, you were right on target with the "ordinary" thing -- Bush doesn't have the common touch, so much as he is a mediocre nonentity. He's barely a cypher (which would imply a touch of mystery).

[kskiska]

11. Here's how Joe Conason describes him

re: his relationship with Karl Rove:

CONASON: Well, it’s Upstairs, Downstairs, you know? I mean, Bush is a patrician. He’s from a nice family with a lot of money and some kind of social background. Karl Rove is a sort of lower middle-class guy who never went to college. Of course he’s going to carry the garbage out. This is a division of labor in American society; it's perfectly reflected in that relationship.

The fact that Karl Rove may have a lot of money now and gets to go to an embassy dinner party and things like that doesn't matter. Karl Rove is a servant who does the dirty work like most people who work for George W. Bush. And George W. Bush is the son of privilege who can screw up as much as he wants, and he still gets to go to Yale. And he still gets the easy job. And he still makes the easy money. And there is always somebody there to open the limousine door. That’s it. That’s not complicated. Everyone knows that’s how it works.

BUZZFLASH: And he smiles and –

CONASON: Sure, he smiles. Well, hey, it’s not that hard to be nice to everybody who’s always nice to you.

http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/03/08/01_conason.html

Yeah, just the guy next door.

[JohnKleeb]

12. of course he isnt

Of all the candiates in our primary and no its not just because hes my pick I identify with Kucinich the most. Now I dont have a simliar upbringing like Dennis but we have much in common. He has heart trouble which prohibited him from playing sports in high school and so do I. Me and Dennis are both Catholics but like to add parts of other religions in to our faith. Dennis was like the school sports statician in high school and Ive been wanting to the same. I am not a little guy like him though. He also ancestrly comes from the same region as me somewhat too. I also love his work ethic being at roll votes when ever he can I try to be in class most of the time but I gotta to admit I cant compare to Kucinich.

[sandnsea]

14. Dimestore Cowboy

I would think more people would see that.

[leesa]

15. I wouldn't know, I'm not vastly wealthy entertaining heads of state

from around the world on a routine basis.

[CaptainMidnight]

16. Bush's Ranch

You know,

The symbol of Bush's "good ole boy" image? Bush didn't own his "beloved" Crawford Ranch until 1999, when he decided to run for President.

All part of the folksy machine!

Captain Mike

[Ouabache]

18. As recently as 1997 his "ranch" was a HOG LOT

I read it somewheres, folks.

[JohnKleeb]

19. sinnook is that why people call it the pig farm?

or is this news to everyone too?

[Karenina]

17. The *dauphin

would piss in your, your mother's and your child's face and expect a laugh.

[dbt]

20. Is he like you and me? Of course he is...

If we're all reptiles!

:evilgrin:
dbt

[RobinA]

21. He's Not Like ME

People think he's like them because he has parlayed his stupidity into an "I'm just simple folks" routine. It's easy for him because he is, in fact, simple.

I mean, does Joe Six-Pack really WANT the leader of the world do be just like him? I know that I like to think that a President knows a thing or two that I don't if he's going to have his finger on the nuke botton, and I consider mtself fairly intelligent.

[Dob Bole]

22. He's like me...

He grew up on a farm in the South...didn't he?

He relied on the free lunch program for a few years. That's why he wants to cut it now, to put that horrible past behind him...isn't it?

Bush's mama raised him to leave that cocaine alone...didn't she?


The answers to all these are obviously NO. So it troubles me when I turn on the TV and see an image of Bush that is, well... like me.

[Lisa]

23. what, people like mean-spirited teasing with their beer?

If it's that much in demand -- hey, I could do that! Twenty-five cents per smartass remark. (Way cheaper than a Dubya fundraiser.)

In my experience, Bush is NOT as pleasant, generous, or witty as most of the ordinary Americans I know. And compared with recent Presidential hopefuls, I'd rather have dinner with Al and Tipper -- or the Clintons or Carters. (At least Al can cook -- he knows how to roast a turkey in the fireplace, by various accounts -- and Jimmy makes his own wine!)

About the only thing I have in common with Bush is that we both enjoy chocolate -- and he's so greedy, he'd probably jab me with a fork while trying to grab my dessert.

As that Conason quote pointed out -- it's not hard to be nice, for short periods of time, to people who are the same as you, or who either want something from you, or have something that you want to barter for. The real test is, can you be nice to someone who has no reason to like or trust you ... and who doesn't give you an advantage (or puts you into disfavor with "the right sort") if you're seen together? I've noticed that Bush can be pretty snappy, even during occasions when he is at a "friendly" gathering -- reveals a lot of insecurity.

At the Yale reunion -- see how quickly the warm, friendly persona disappears when he's confronted by what he perceives as indirect criticism.
http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/03/07/02_reunion.html

[whathappened]

25. sure and hell is'nt like me

i don't even want that 2 faced boy coming to my town , he would plug up are streets and cause all kinds of screew ups , we live in a small town and i no he don't know we even are on the map , lucky us , if he was like me , he would be concerned about his family who are suffering from the slow down in this country and how bad my family are trying to make ends meet , as alot of alot of familys out there , my wife and i have nothing , but what we have we share with our family to make sure the grand kids have something to eat and have cloths on there backs and a place to live , now would jr. even think about all of this if he did'nt have all this money , no he would boot the kids out just so he could have a steak and not even think about the kids only having water and bread , this is what jr. is about to me

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

27. No.

I'm a shitload smarter than him. I just wasn't born into the right family.