The Alleged Athleticism of George W. Bush

[Crankie Avalon]

Maybe this is trivial, but Dubya and his handlers ram this fiction down our throats so often that it's become a slight pet peeve whenever I come across it in the "news." Anyway, this is the Lounge. ;-)

How often have we heard what a magnificient "athlete" and specimen Dubya is supposed to be? As a former athlete in a sport with weight classes in it, as well as someone still into exercise, I always knew Dubya weighed far too much for his frame. He weighs 200lbs and isn't even 6 feet. That would be OK for a sprinter or wide receiver, but Dubya isn't the least bit muscular. He's a small framed, skinny-armed, skinny-legged, thick-waisted little squirt. He should weigh no more than 170 if he really wants to pretend he's such a scary uberspecimen.

A lot of ordinary men have an extra twenty or thirty punds of middle age spread on them. No athletes do. Dubya is just an ordinary guy, and there would be nothing wrong with that if he would just stop expecting everyone to play along with his fanstasy that he's actually Lance Armstrong.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Bush Healthy But Laments 'Too Many Doughnuts'
By Caren Bohan

BETHESDA, Md. (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) was declared to be in "superior" health after his annual physical exam on Saturday but lamented a weight gain he blamed on months of campaign travel...SNIP

...The nearly 6-foot Bush weighs just shy of 200 pounds. His weight had crept up from 194 pounds at his last physical in August 2003.

Although many people often remark on Bush's fitness, his weight gain gives him a body mass index of 27, putting him in the category of the more than 60 percent of Americans who are overweight. A body mass index of 25 or above is considered overweight.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/bush_health_dc

[Jack_Dawson]

1. * is not healthy

Or if he is, I'm not seeing it.

Still, he's skinnier than most Americans. Don't believe me? Head on over to Wal-Mart.

[Contrary1]

27. He may look thinner...

but his heart is still hauling around an overload.
My doc has told me the same thing...doesn't matter
how "good" you wear the excess pounds, it still takes
a toll on the body.

[nickgutierrez]

2. * hasn't been "working out" with Condi recently.

That would explain the weight hike.

:evilgrin:

[elehhhhna]

3. Why is he being put on cholesterol lowering drugs and daily aspirin

if he's sooooooooooooo fabulously fit?

[Not_Giving_Up]

4. Could it be overeating from the stress that he might be

found out? Hmmmmm.....

[eek]

yeah -- this annoys me as well

of course it is trivial but it also *isn't* trivial.
It is just another example of them never being truthful about anything.

he supposedly runs X miles a day. Right. he'd be pretty wiry is that were true.

And look at some of the other "little white lies" like the lump in the bed poem that he wrote. Oops - he didn't write.


He never reads the papers. Oops - he brings pickles her coffee and they read the papers in bed.

He and Pickles weren't going to attend their daughter's graduation ceremonies because it would be disruptive and unfair to the other students . But they both scheduled commencement addresses at swing state schools during the campaign.
And then they went to the girl's graduations after all.


Dickweeds. If they automatically lie about the little stuff just imagine the whoppers they're selling on the important stuff.



And what the fuck was the stupid deal with the stupid pretzel.

[tnlefty]

5. Do we need some new nicknames now?

Chubby Chimp in Chief

[peekaloo]

6. Don't all cheerleaders get fat?

[LDS Jock]

35. lol.. mean, but funny n/t

[CornField]

7. Just another ploy

Working every possible angle to form a relationship with both Wall Street 'fat' cats and your average beer belly redneck.

[gollygee]

8. Alcohol has a lot of empty calories

hard to stay thin when you drink a lot

[elehhhhna]

14. That explains the daily aspirin prescription.

[BOHICA06]

9. He has forgotten ... as have you,

the rule of life:

As you get older things get bigger, hairier, and closer to the ground.

If he can drop the weight - more power to him, but its going to be "hard work"

[Crankie Avalon]

12. I don't know where you get the bit...

...about me forgetting "the rule of life." I quite explicitly wrote it's normal for men to have 20 or 30 pounds of "middle age spread" on them.

My point is the guy is pretending to be something he isn't. He should grow up and accept it, but I guess the "athlete" bit is part of his self-mythologizing cult of personality--like Idi Amin and his old claim of being the world's greatest swimmer.

[BiggJawn]

24. Au Contrare....

Check out Eddy Merckx a coupla summers ago:


And check him out NOW....Woo-Hoo! the Cannibal is BACK!



He'll be 60 soon.

[msgadget]

34. That's the same guy?!

Talk about an extreme makeover!

[BiggJawn]

37. Incredble, no?

Hard to believe, isn't it?

[msgadget]

39. And, check out the younger, pudgier bikers in the background!

:bounce: Truly inspiring.

[BiggJawn]

41. He inpsires me, I know that much.

I still have both my nuts, and hopefully quit smoking in time to avoid Lung Cancer. So I really can't relate personally to Lance.

But I *AM* a Lard-Ass. Eddy, I can relate to.

Wonder if those younger dudes were wondering "That old guy must sure like his Eddy Merckx bike. Shit, he's got Merckx' logo all OVER him!"

[flvegan]

10. He's certainly not healthy, but the height/weight ratio shouldn't

Be the issue or yardstick that his overweightness (is that a word?) is judged by. The body mass index is a crock of shit, as it doesn't take into consideration any musculature nor body fat percentage. Take any 6 foot tall, fit athlete (say a boxer, football player, hockey player, etc) and see what they weigh. Some will be under 200, but many will be over.

[Crankie Avalon]

13. I specifically wrote his height/weight would be OK...

...if he was built like "a sprinter or a wide receiver" but he most certainly isn't. Don't some people around here read before replying?

He has never had significant "musculature" as can be seen from his yothful photos. He is a former thin guy who got old and put on too much weight. If he were to think it's OK for him to be 6 foot 200lbs because certain muscular athletes are that way, he'd be kidding himself.

[flvegan]

20. I don't know, don't some people around here

Consider other aspects of their posts and the responses thereto before knee-jerk jumping to the conclusion that what was stated was in response to an opinion they added to an article, rather than a factual statement about something else in that same post?

Beats me.

[Crankie Avalon]

23. Can't some people just say the last thing they tried to say...

...in a more straight forward way? :D

Anyway, if you are trying to say what I think you are, then sorry...I've noticed that posting a thread about a body/weight issue is a very tricky proposition around here and I tried my best to be as sensitive as possible and not give any openings to the "flame warriors."

There are a few quarrelsome people around here who seem to have nothing better to do than to go around looking for offense...and to sometimes create some if there isn't any. So, when the person who posted right before you deliberately ignored my efforts to anticipate and defuse that sort of impulse, I was looking through that prism when I read your first response.

[flvegan]

28. Gotcha.

I'm no flame warrior. I really was just stating my thoughts on the BMI, and not suggesting anything is inaccurate about your post.

It doesn't even have to be a body/weight issue, either. Almost any topic can go horribly wrong.

[TyeDye75]

17. Under the BMI system

Shaqille O Neil and Maurice Green are both considered obese

[LeftyMom]

54. Shaq *is* obese, or at the very least overweight

Sure he's tall, but he's got one heck of a gut and his butt pretty darn big. His toe problem was exacerbated by his excess weight. Every summer he commits to losing the weight and every summer he doesn't. He's not the best example of a healthy person fasely maligned by the evil BMI chart. Besides, a tool used to evaluate the health of the general population doesn't need to be much good when evaluating a freak of nature like the Big Sofa. He's a statistical anomaly in a population where the vast majority of adult men are in the 5'-6'6" range

I'm not a big fan of the BMI but it's weakness in evaluating large or excsessively muscled people is well known.

[msgadget]

11. It's hard work

keeping fit after a certain age. :bounce:

[BiggJawn]

25. And even harder work GETTING fit....

Oh, don't we knows that? :evilgrin:
:7

[msgadget]

40. Fer sure!

[VTdem]

15. Amazingly in a Sports Illustrated poll shrub

was voted ahead of Kerry as a better athlete. I guess people forgot that Kerry played 3 sports in college and is still doing them into his 60's.

[TyeDye75]

16. Kerry would kick Bush' ass.

Although I will give Bush some props.He was quick enough to dodge military service.

I think the best way to decide the election would have been 21 rounds of bare nuckle boxing.

[msgadget]

18. I don't know about that

From all appearances he's a pugnacious character with a temper. :mad:

Kerry doesn't seem as volatile or physically oriented in responses. He is, however, more fit.

[ProfessorGAC]

19. Being Quick, Agile, & Smart. . .

. . .can often far outdo pugnacity. Smart people process the stimuli quickly enough to make the attacker a failure. I think we know that Li'l Georgie is not the sharpest tack in the box, and is definitely a coward. Besides, Kerry had combat training. Li'l Georgie would take a serious beating, i fear.
The Professor

[msgadget]

33. I don't think he's stupid at all and even if he was, I've known a lot of

mean dummies. Meanness counts for a lot, imo. Kerry could outdo him linguistically every day of the week but outside a tavern after a night of drinking and trash talk...? :beer: I dunno who I'd put my money on.

[msgadget]

46. ROFL!

This whole discussion is cracking me up!

First, I never underestimate anyone. I think if W caught Kerry off guard he could gain serious ground before Kerry got himself fully into the fight. Kerry had a little bit of combat training waaay long time ago but W has been pugnacious his whole life. One's a thinker, the other a do-er. And, the height disparity would give some advantage to the shorter more compact dirty fighter.

OTOH, if the wives fought, I'd bet on Theresa. :+

[Crankie Avalon]

47. W is a "doer"?

You mean like the time he courageously dodged Vietnam? Or the time he put it all on the line by being a cheerleader trash talking from the sidelines but never entering the fray himself? :D

We all have our opinions, but, respectfully, I think he's been a physical coward all his life. He's only "pugnacious" when someone else has to answer for it ("bring 'em on"--as if he were the one it was going to be brought to, instead of the troops).:eyes:

If you read the exceptionally well-researched Kelley book, the only times Dubya has ever gotten into anyone's face was when they were women. That's right, women.

I agree with the person who posted that Dubya would run screaming from even the possibility of an altercation with an adult male.

[msgadget]

48. LOL! A do-er is someone who'd rather do than, say, read

or listen to opinions other than their own. Honestly, I don't think either of them would do well in a physical altercation. They're two older rich guys, for goodness' sake! But, one's initial instinct is to do whatever it takes, especially if its devious, while the other pauses to consider every conceivable consequence before making a move. The latter quality has been been documented in the media (for what that's worth).

My point, basically, is that just because Kerry was the candidate of choice around here doesn't make him infallible. He's a mere mortal still recovering from prostrate cancer who probably hasn't had a physical dust-up in decades. The same applies to the other guy.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

44. He's a punk

A chickenshit weaselfucker who'd run screaming like a little girl (sorry, ladies, but I'm a girl, too) if he ever had to face John Kerry without his little band of back-up thugs to protect him and do his dirty work for him.

Did I mention that I hate his guts, although I wouldn't mind seeing them spread out in a tasteful pattern on my driveway?

[Cadence]

21. I thought he was 5'11"?

[Crankie Avalon]

29. That's right...

...in my original post, I believe I referred to him as being "not even six feet." I guess I should have been more specific and written out "5'11."

[Cadence]

31. Oh sorry I wasn't trying to be nitpicky. I was more

legitimately asking...if he is 5'11" because to me he seems shorter. If you see him next to Rumsfeld they're the same height and they both seem so much shorter than everyone else.

[Lisa]

52. gee, I wonder why the media are suddenly reporting the 5'11" thing?

Bush himself was one of the few people who wasn't claiming he was a six-footer back in 2000 (e.g. that interview with Alexandra Pelosi). His campaign site, and later on his medical records, said he was 6'. A magic number, you know. I remember doing a quick survey in early 2001 and a couple of times after, and the vast majority of media accounts quoted the 6' info.

And now that he doesn't have to go out campaigning and impressing folk with his "stature" ....

I suppose they could be responding to actual height shrinkage, but I thought that wouldn't be until he was in his 60s or 70.

[m0nkeyneck]

22. i dunno about bush but..

i have this fat friend that moves like a pro when playing ball and never gets tired.

[Bridget Burke]

42. Has your fat friend ever fallen off a Segway?

Or lost a fight with a pretzel?

Or dropped a dog?

[Bozita]

43. Not even 6 gyroscopes can keep Dubya on an even keel

[m0nkeyneck]

45. lol

i don't think so ;-)

[yellowcanine]

26. Mao used to set world swimming speed records in his 70s. Anyone

see any similarities between the need for Bush to protray himself as a manly specimen and Mao worship by the Chinese Communists?

[skygazer]

30. And what was with this remark?

"I've obviously have gone through a campaign where I probably ate too many doughnuts, if you get my drift" he said.

Hubby and I both caught that on the news and looked at each other, perplexed. Was this some sort of code for something? "if you get my drift". He makes the strangest remarks, things that are jarringly out of place.

He may be physically healthy (though you make an excellent point about his vaunted 'athleticism') but his mind is in pretty rough shape!

[YellowRubberDuckie]

32. Reminds me of the Chinese or North Korean propoganda...

can't remember which. Supposedly the leader of the country is such a fabulous golfer, he gets perfect scores and holes in one all the time. Sounds like we're going to be communist before too long. We've already got the crazy propaganda going. Bush has no coordination.
Duckie

[jmowreader]

36. Bush is a gym rat, not an athlete

"Athletes" are those who are skilled in a particular sport. Kerry is a good example--football, skiing, windsurfing and hunting that I know about. I know there are three or four more sports Kerry plays well, but I don't remember what they are. (It's that ol' CRS sneakin' up on me.)

"Gym rats" work out all the time but they never develop the skills to play a particular sport competitively. This describes Bush--he doesn't have the discipline to play sports well.

[MsAnthropy]

38. If he's such an athlete, why is his face is continually scuffed up

and he falls off of segways, bikes, and couches? Are those rug burns on his face?

[Lisa]

49. yes, that Bush is such a sportsmanlike guy

I agree that his handlers' attempts to portray him as some kind of super-athlete are irritating! It wasn't enough that he just be reasonably fit -- they had to present Bush as having an Olympian physique, and therefore superior to mere mortals. My (ultra-liberal) boss, who is of a similar age, IS a highly-conditioned athlete (marathons, 500-mile bike rides), and is very careful about what he eats, unlike Bush. He doesn't seem to need to nap and vacation as much as W, to maintain a high energy level! Even allowing for distortion and airbrushing of photos -- Bush seems to have a lot more fat than he does, all over his body including his face. This was evident before Bush's "months of campaign travel" and supposed physician-enforced break from exercising due to that knee injury.

There are worse things for one's health than being a few pounds overweight, but I guess Bush's image is so fragile that he can't bear to fess up and say he's "normal" (and in with the "masses" he not-so-secretly despises).

[Skittles]

50. they think waxing on about his superiour "physical health"

makes up for the fact he has a brain the size of a f***ing pea

[Sanity Claws]

51. Six pound gain?

More like sixteen pounds. Did you see him in the dictator's jacket last week? It looked at least a size and one-half too small. He must have gained much more than six pounds for the jacket to look like that on him.
Maybe the dry cleaners shrank it.

[orpupilofnature57]

53. rover held the rectal exam,briefed medical staff on function of the heart

What the hell is the (top fifth percentile)? is that the top 5% or is that the top 20%, ten doctors? ken image, fooled ? % .