Bush was "annoyed" with Roberts' son

[liberalpragmatist]

This isn't really news, but I did find this bit amusing:



...John and Jane Roberts, a graceful, independent and tough-minded Washington lawyer, married late and had difficulty conceiving before they adopted. (Their 4-year-old son, Jack, energetically danced at his father's televised nomination announcement, upstaging and mildly annoying President Bush, says a White House aide.)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8683401/site/newsweek/page/6/

[Greeby]

1. Hmm

So, if Bush bombs another country, we have Jack to blame :P

[Bucky]

74. Bush was "annoyed" with Roberts' son and the child hasn't been seen since

Just kidding. Unless Jack has oil in him, I'm pretty sure Bush won't attack.

[Bucky]

75. Sigmund Freud's analysis of why Bush was angry at Dancin' Jack

with thanks to PDittie for providing this image:

[Cha]

2. Nobody "upstages"

the chimp and gets away with it.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[SmokingJacket]

4. If they say he was "mildly" annoyed,

you know he was majorly pissed off.

Bush does NOT like to be upstaged.

I can't imagine letting my son act that way, though -- I wonder what they were thinking.

[Cha]

38. My thought was that..

maybe she thought it was better to let him do what he wanted than try to curtail him which might have brought on an Even Bigger Scene..

Just sayin'

[RPM]

5. why didnt the missus snatch that child by the arm

i only say the missus, because the mister (as **'s presented guest) probably cant move from his spot..

but seriously, if i was acting like that, my mom would have grabbed me post haste.

i wonder what was going through her mind at the time...

[Catherine Vincent]

51. She did grab him at one point, but the little brat tried to bite her

it looked like, so she had to let him be. I saw the video on Olbermann, I really felt bad for the mother but she finally walked off with them before the announcement ended.

[RPM]

56. no way!!!!

yow - thats wild... what a little brat.

[Panda1]

88. Hahaha....how embarrassing

All is not perfect in plastic-50s-redux world.
I would love to see video.
Just wait until those two hit their teens.
Bwahahahahaaaa. Brat Camp?

[SpiralHawk]

6. Thou Shalt Not Upstage the Crusading Chimperor

Send the kid to Gitmo, with the rest of the Usual Suspects.

[nookiemonster]

99. Make him go to his room without supper,

no lemon chicken and two types of fruit.

Snarf.

[ck4829]

7. That's scary in a way

What's that say about an adult when he feels upstaged and annoyed by a child?

[asjr]

14. I think the Shrub is not child-friendly at all. That child was

being a child. I thought it was hilarious. And the '50s theme was terrific. So "conservative" you know!

[jean]

15. yeah, it does not take much to get under *'s blotchy skin. He so loves his

place in the world, that of dictator and war prez.

However, his wanting-to-be-led-to-their-death base probably approve that he was annoyed by a disobedient child - he's their stern father, don't ya know?

[mommajo65]

31. thats good

made me laugh :rofl:

[Contrary1]

36. Who amongst us ever accused the Shrub

of being an "adult"?

[tavalon]

58. That he isn't an adult

He's a dry (?) drunk and a four year old in a big person's body. But, we knew that.

[two gun sid]

8. Maybe Jenna could teach Jack 'The Butt Dance'.

[XanaDUer]

9. Probably listening to *'s voice

gave the kid St. Vitus' Dance.

[Gato Moteado]

16. good one

:)

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

10. Wonder how soon the kid will be deployed to Iraq...

[grasswire]

11. it's the distractability...

When George is speaking, no one in the room is allowed to move around. Seriously. His aides have issued the rule because he is easily distracted.

Seriously. It's the truth.

[Kurovski]

92. Yeah, remember early on how Bush used to flip out

over cell-phones going off?

A combination of shot nerves and narcissism stuffed with other varied disorders into that skin-bag of his.

It sure as hell ain't because he's a stickler for politeness. He's ruder than the drunkest, rudest steel-worker I ever met. But instead of being "raw and real" he's just plain raw. "White-knuckler" raw.

The meds he's on can only do so much to mitigate the irritable human disaster we call W.

[Pepperbelly]

12. Dancing Jack, at age 4, accomplishes more than me.

Damn, I wish it had been me that annoyed Bush. I would so enjoy that.

[ClassWarrior]

13. Lil bastard will probably grow up to be a goddam gay pinko liberal.

:rofl:

NGU.

[TahitiNut]

17. The Chimperor can't stand sharing a stage, even with the Lebensborn.

The Narcissist in Chief demands your complete attention, pee-on!

[lateo]

18. All eyes on me!

squeeled the Chimp.

[PDittie]

19. Reminds him too much of his own past:

[MsTryska]

30. *lmao* @this

freakin hilarious (and true) photoshop...


altho it would have been even better if you had Barb's hatchet-face look from the latest picture of her and dubya hanging together.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

41. oh that hurts! *ies outfit is wrong though...

[Catherine Vincent]

52. ROTFL!

That is hilarious!

[Mob Mama]

53. omg....lmao!! So true!

[i miss america]

59. Bravo!

:yourock:

[Supersedeas]

67. damned kids

[koopie57]

20. IMHO that poor kid has a tough life ahead of him

Who would put their little boy into something so stupid looking and make him wear saddle shoes to add insult to injury. Let the kid dance while he still feels like it. And kudos to him for pissing * off. Ice cream for everyone!

[janx]

69. Maybe the saddle shoes

made him feel like dancing! :rofl:

That kid looks hilarious.

[JDPriestly]

21. Go back to the takes from the 2000 post-election

period. I think it was when the press discussed with Bush the fact that Gore had withdrawn his concession, Bush got annoyed because his dogs were barking or something during the filmed interview. You can see him losing his temper. I don't recall whether he yelled at the dogs or just cast a really dirty look in their direction. But, it was clear to me that he has, as Helen Thomas as said, "a short fuse." A guy who shows that kind of anger at his dogs in front of the camera and obviously has no sense of humor about it has a psychological problem. He does not have the nervous system or temperament to be a leader of any kind, much less a president. It would not surprise me at all if Bush were quite annoyed with Jack.

On the other hand, Jack's parents should have known better than to put their child through the ordeal in the White House. The children should have made a very brief appearance on stage for the photos and then been allowed to watch from the distance. Another alternative would have been for the father or mother to smile real big at Jack, give him a big hug and distract him from his antics. That worked for my kids every time. It also worked for the Edwards kids. Jack felt a bit rejected because no one was paying any attention to him. That is normal for a child his age to a certain extent. He needed to be reassured that his father and mother still loved him even though they were not paying very much attention to him.

The Roberts, however, were not poised enough and not experienced enough as parents to know what to do. I bet their nanny or babysitter, or whoever actually raises their children while Jane Roberts works, would have known how to handle it. They should have brought her along to take care of Jack during the ceremony. I'm telling you, I know big firm life. The Roberts have been living in a cocoon for most of their adult lives. They don't know much about real life. Roberts probably has a good legal mind, but neither he nor his wife has the practical experience to understand the problems of average Americans. They've lived in a bubble. Where is Thurgood Marshall when we need him?

[Bunny]

39. "...whoever actually raises their children while Jane Roberts works...."

Did you mean to single out just the working mother in this couple? Or did you want to include the working father as well? Why imply that there's an issue with the mother working, if you're not going to include the father as well?

[EVDebs]

60. R's are probably blaming Dems for 'sparing the rod, spoiling the child'

Remember, it's always those damn librals fault for EVERTHING that's gone wrong, never the R's

"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security,
unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes that you can do these things. Among them are a few Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid." --President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1952

And from the Sunday Oregonian,

"Other than telling us how to live, think, marry, pray, vote, invest,
educate our children, and, now, die, I think the Republicans have done a fine job of getting government out of our personal lives."

[JDPriestly]

64. You are right. I stand corrected.

while Jane and John Roberts are working. I saw a lot of parents in law firms billing their 2500 hours a year to the detriment of their children. What fools. Children are forever. Billable hours are not.

[Penndems]

100. "Whoever actually raises the children" is probably the nanny

They both have high-power jobs, so it wouldn't surprise me if they hired someone to take care of the children. That's the norm amongst the rich and powerful in this town.

Geez, let's hope the Roberts have been deducting Social Security and taxes, so as to avoid any "nanny issues". ;)

[formernaderite]

22. I guess that means Bush has somethng in common with alot of

DUers who were also annoyed.....and stupidly so.

[seaglass]

57. Now THAT was funny. n/t

[indie_voter]

23. Poor Mr President!!

4 year olds are unpredictable, some times grabbing the child can cause a bigger scene.

The lesson in this, mho, if you are worried about normal preschool behavior, DON'T USE CHILDREN AS PROPS.

I am mildly surprised (why, I don't know), Bush didn't understand the perils of a preschooler, he is a father himself.

I can understand people with no kids outraged by this, until one experiences the "joy" of raising young children, it is hard to understand. I didn't 'get' it until I had mine.

It is the measure of Bush's character that a 4 year old was able to make him feel so insecure.

A secure man, who has raised children, would have been able to handle this with compassion (and understanding) toward the child, grace, humor and dignity.

I can only imagine how Wes Clark,John Kerry,John Edwards, JFK (these folks seem to be trying to channel JFK and family) or even Ronald Reagan (no father of the year, but able to project warmth) would have handled the same situation.

[cornermouse]

25. Yeah, but Bush spent his daughter's preschool, grade school,

middle school, and high school years pickled.

[AndreaCG]

47. A story I heard on Salon's Table Talk a while back

Someone knew a woman who knew the Bushes when the twins were about 6 and had them over for a playdate. CCB came to pick them up and was annoyed that they were not ready to go. He bodily dragged the twins out of the house. One of them didn't even have her shoes on.

[Boomer]

48. Not a child-friendly situation

A formal event is no place for children -- they don't enjoy it, and the adults don't either.

But if you're going to drag them into the proceedings anyway, then, yes, a little warmth and humor are the only appropriate responses to your own bad judgement.

Bush is rather notorious for lacking both....

[gratuitous]

68. Don't use children as props?

Then how would the Republicans ever get their message of family values across if one of them wasn't hugging on some reluctant kid who's going to be trying to work out this little two-second photo op with a shrink 20 years from now?

Because you can't watch how Republicans actually govern and make the mistake that they value families -- cutting funds for Head Start, fouling the air and the water, starting unnecessary wars, and so on and so forth.

So, poor little Jack gets hauled out in front of the cameras in his little suit and way past his bedtime so that Daddy can make a campaign appearance with Daddy's new best friend. And 25 years from now, we'll get a chance to read all about it as little Jack tries to work through his adoptive childhood with the Stepford family and petitions some court to restore his birth name.

[gizmo1979]

24. DANCING JACK IS THE MAN!

I hope he keeps dancing on Bush's parade.

[musical_soul]

26. The little boy is really cute.

The little girl looks like she's hiding behind her mama from mean uncle George.

[patricia92243]

27. Remember how Bush tried to go through the door before Clinton - at

Clinton's own library. Bush wants all eyes on HIM not CLinton and certainly not a child. :gag:

[ebayfool]

63. This photo - classic *ush!

[quaoar]

28. Someone should have taught that kid to moonwalk

Why do people dress their sons in those ridiculous suits with short pants?

[no_hypocrisy]

29. Reminds of when 8 year old Andrew Guiliani upstaged father, Rudolf

during his first inaugural speech. He repeated every sentence after his father like he was an interpreter and then when Rudy left out two "meaningful" sentences, Andrew was quick to interject and provide them. Rudy was not angry, but bemused.

[msanthrope]

55. Oh, I remember Andrew Guliani spazzing out at more than one

event.....

[KurtNYC]

65. When I saw that I thought that Giuliani's son

was developmentally challenged - seriously. And it kind of softened my image of Rudy. I thought 'wow, he has a retarded son and he is very open and accepting of it.'

[Beausoir]

32. Creepy looking family.

Look at mom's face. Baha.
That little girl is terrified.
Why would you drag your ill-behaved children into something that overwhelming?

And wow...that's quite the outfit lil' junior is sporting.

[Contrary1]

40. "lil' junior"...what are you talking about?

Shrub has the finest tailors, I'll have you know.

[SillyGoose]

33. Expecting a 4 yr. old to behave in such a setting is asking for trouble.

Being annoyed at this little boy is silly. Kids will be kids. I felt a little sorry for his mother because she must have been cringing inside during his dance and what could she have done without drawing even more attention to the situation? If it were me, though, I would have brought the kids up onstage after the President was finished speaking for the requisite photo-op.

[Coexist]

34. I thought conservatives believed in beating their children so they

became good little soldiers (not literally, of course, that is for the unwashed masses). Dr. Dobson will most certainly be contacting Mrs. Roberts on her child-rearing mistakes!

[Name removed]

35. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[gulfcoastliberal]

37. Hope those kids enjoy the world their daddy and his friends are leaving

them! Wonder what they'll think of daddy's legacy in 20 years? Bet it won't be a positive opinion.

[sleipnir]

42. The old Theater saying "Never have kids on animals on stage..

They will only Upstage you."

Proof of this old maxim once again...

[NYCGirl]

66. The entire list is,

"kids, animals, or actors dressed as Jesus Christ or Abe Lincoln."

:evilgrin:

[bunny planet]

43. You wanted the Stepford family photo op Jr. This is how four year olds

act Bubble boy. Perhaps he didn't know he was in the presence of the King, it's a wonder he didn't also tell the world you weren't wearing any clothes.

[deadparrot]

44. Jealous of a child? Isn't this indicative of some type of mental illness?

:shrug:

[fujiyama]

45. Bush is a narsicisstic ass hole

and I'm not surprised.

He wants all attention on himself. Hell, he has the reasoning capability of a four year old. I think the little dancing boy could make a better president than him.

[AndreaCG]

46. Give him a BB gun

CCB approves of them for kids!

[thinkingwoman]

49. Bush is a big baby

Four-year-olds get restless.

A kind, secure, self-confident person would have simply paused and smiled at the child, acknowledging that, wow, young kids don't do heavily choreographed ceremonies well.

Of course, that would have made W look human, which, as we all know, is absolutely impossible.

So, instead, the little chimperor throws a tantrum after the fact. I can't be the only person who thinks the leader of the free world should have to be a grown up. :eyes:

[Justice]

50. Remember how Kerry Handled Edwards' Son??

He picked him up and carried him, made him the center of attention. Kerry genuinely liked Jack and wanted to make him happy.

Only Bush would be jealous of the attention a young child received.

[BamaLefty]

76. Right Here......

And there's many more as well. Compare Kerry to Bush. No contest. :grr:

[RamboLiberal]

98. And remember the campaign photos

Every time * picked up a baby it was crying or looked like it wanted to pee on him. When Kerry picked up a baby the kid was beaming. I saw tons of those photos during the campaign.

That alone should've told the idiot * voters who was the more caring, better, more honest candidate!

[napi21]

54. Well, I HOPE he told Roberts that!

That's the best way I know of to get him to vote against any of Shrubs ideas if he gets on the court!

[tinfoilinfor2005]

61. Appears that Jack is a future Ron Reagan

who will love his father but who will think his cronies and his politics are bullshit.

Keep on dancing, Jack, and stay away from the koolaid!!

[Erika]

62. Bush wants ALL the attention = Jealous of a 4 year old

all the time, everywhere.

[bspence]

70. Those kids are fucking scary

I thought Republicans were against cloning?

or...

Didn't we defeat the aryan race?

[realFedUp]

71. in LA Times it states they are from two different birth mothers...

one father? John Roberts?

We have questions. We want answers.

[NYCGirl]

72. They're adopted. NT

[realFedUp]

73. I know they are adopted...so that means the birth father

wasn't Roberts or his sperm?...the kids look
alike, so was wondering if there was just
one father...

[NYCGirl]

80. No, he wasn't the father. NT

[realFedUp]

81. Do we know if one father fathered both of the kids?

since you seem to be knowledgeable.

[theboss]

83. What does it matter?

Why do you care so much about the background of these two kids' adoption? I don't think two adopted children need to have their family history investigated because we don't like their father.

[realFedUp]

84. just fills in a person who doesn't want to give much info.

You must not follow all those tabloid
programs or trials of the season.
Good for you for being above the fray.

I'm not.

[funkybutt]

77. Hope he has more patience with his grandchildren

Seems like he could have made one of his "witty" remarks about how he reminds him of himself when he was young. Being annoyed about it makes him look bad IMO.

[Mr_King]

78. They clearly don't spank their kids...

which makes me think he may be more Souter then Scalia. I'd love to see Roberts turn out to be more moderate, that would really piss off the neo-cons.

But the thing about that picture that sticks out in my mind is the clothes they have on in that picture. It looks like it could have been taken in the 1950's or early 1960's in the Eisnehower or Kennedy White House. Who actually dresses their kids like that in the 21st Century except on Easter Sunday.

I can't blame the kid for acting out like he was. I would to if I had to get dressed up like that.

I think Jimmy Kimmel was right when he said Roberts may change his position on abortion after that.

[Bucky]

79. Spare the iron maiden, bullwhip, and salt water, spoil the child

[loudsue]

82. Gawd! What a WEIRD looking bunch!

:kick:

[okasha]

85. The kid didn't

hit anyone
kick anyone
cuss
pee on the floor
drop his pants

On the whole, pretty good for a 4-year old at an adult ceremonial occasion.

[Bucky]

94. Neither did the lectern. Neither did the flag nor furniture nor rug...

All of the props stood perfectly still and well polished, except for Dancin' Jack. I demand his impeachment!

[Emendator]

97. HA! Bush was still doing those things

into his forties.

[Logiola]

86. don't blame the Roberts

The kid is adopted..

wonder how hard it was for them to make sure they adopted two blonde hair kids..

[digno dave]

87. I'd throw a fit too if i had to wear that prep-school mamma's boy outfit

[CBHagman]

89. We've all been there.

Kids do this stuff at the supermarket, during weddings, in church, and everywhere else. The small son of a friend of mine sang "Shake Your Booty" in church once -- during Lent. His mother intervened, but not in time to prevent mortification on the nightmare scale.

Keith Olbermann on MSNBC did a whole segment on embarrassing things kids have done at public events, such as Andrew Giuliani's famous mugging and gesturing during one of his father's speeches. I also recall Representative Bob Dornan's grandson mauling the ear of Dornan's son during a horrendously long Dornan press conference. We were all watching at my office and just aghast that no one stopped the kid from clawing at his father's ear. I hope the footage is still around someone; you won't believe it.

As for Bush, well, IS THERE A HYPHEN IN ANAL-RETENTIVE? :eyes:

[LittleClarkie]

90. Remember the K/E photo op with their kids

It looks like they were going for that kind of photo op, but it looks so stiff and unnatural.

[Ilsa]

91. W. is mad because he doesn't get to wear short pants anymore. n/t

[Ilsa]

93. Yes, as I suspected...

The real reason they don't want legal abortion is that they want the ability to spend all their youth on their careers, and then have some poor struggling white girl give up her baby to them.

(Flame away.)

[Contrary1]

95. The kid looks like he's trying to shake a turd loose...

I'm only sorry he didn't. Imagine Shrub's annoyance if little Jack had done that. :evilgrin:

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

96. I was more annoyed by Bushies attempt to "dance" w/ Ricky Martin. n/t