It's not even a RANCH, so stop calling it that!

[senseandsensibility]

I'm sure most of you already know that *'s vacation home is just that, a vacation home. It is not a ranch, and it has never been one. Although the lapdogs will eagerly present it as a ranch, using corn pone knicknacks, such as bales of hay, you never see the house.

I'm sure it is some kind of McMansion with every possible luxury. I even remember they tried to name it Prairie Chapel, or some such nonsense. The lapdogs eagerly parroted that for a while, and CNN even had a special graphic for it. But it must not have tested well in the polling. Soon it was back to "the ranch".

Does anyone have a picture of the house itself? Funny, I've never seen it. I'm sure it's just a weathered old farmhouse that reflects the simple goodness of the chimp. Or maybe not.

[hobbit709]

1. A 148 acres is not a ranch

LBJ had a ranch. What idiot son has is a former pig farm in the middle of farming-NOT ranching country.

[SteppingRazor]

7. A ranch is...

A large farm where horses, sheep, or cattle are raised. If he raises any of the above three, I don't have any problem with his place being a ranch. But I don't think he does, so it's not.

A ranch, after all, need not be a few hundred thousand acres. Ranches in places like Missouri are usually a lot smaller and raise small herds of cattle usually destined for dog food.

[Clark2008]

18. My boss lived on 46,000 acres in New Mexico

Now THAT'S a ranch. :)

[Bluesplayer]

34. Even Reagan had a ranch

and I'm sure that bush was told that he'd better get one too.

I hate that fucking ramshackle shed that all the newsholes have in their background while they're reading today's handouts. It's not a ranch, it's a set.

[SteppingRazor]

2. One quick point...

You can have a ranch and still have a massive mansion on it. In fact, a lot of them do. Owning a few thousand acres tends to give one enough money to build a nice house.

I agree, however, that this is hardly a "ranch," in that as far as I know, Bush's spread doesn't produce any livestock.

[hobbit709]

4. No livestock

but it produces plenty of BS.

[senseandsensibility]

6. ROFL

:rofl:

[LeftNYC]

3. Heres where Bush should be spending his time in Crawford...

[etherealtruth]

5. I am sure you are right ....

...gotta hand it to the right wingers, they are masters at controlling rhetoric.

Saying idiot son is "goin" to the ranch sounds a lot better (to us simple Americans) than stating that he is going to his vacation home.

[vptpt]

8. Remember "Western White House"?

I heard a reporter use that one once, I think on CNN. It was months ago, though.

[City Lights]

14. Only once?

Whenever the _shrubling is in Crawford, the former pig farm is referred to as the "Western White House." They even had an official seal made up that appears on the podium used for press conferences. :puke:

[jaxx]

9. He bought the "ranch" in 1999........that Reagan image ya know.

<snip> George W. and Laura Bush purchased around 1600 acres just outside of Crawford in 1999. Located 18 miles southwest of Waco, Crawford is about 90 miles north of Austin and convenient to Fort Hood for those flights in on Air Force One. The ranch itself, eight miles northwest of Crawford, is in an area known as Prairie Chapel.
http://austin.about.com/cs/bushbiographies/a/crawford_ranch.htm

[eShirl]

10. I could swear Pickles mentioned something about horses.

Of course I've never seen any livestock in any video from there...

[leveymg]

11. It's an ugly, cheap tract house. Here's a photo:

Found it on GOOGLE: "Crawford ranch"

[jean]

12. 1583 acres, 7 canyons, 3 miles of river/creek footage, plus buildings -pix

I found a few pix, but think the one of 'the house' and of Laura inside the house, are actually of the renovated farmhouse, not their built-from-scratch abode with the 10 foot wide porch circling it 'like a moat..."

http://quest.cjonline.com/stories/122300/gen_1223007482...
Town near Bush's ranch gains notice
December 23, 2000


President-elect Bush stands in the doorway of his ranch house outside Crawford, Texas.
Associated Press Photo


The house on President-elect Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.
Associated Press Photo

"Bush's ranch is fenced, has one gated entrance down a dirt road and no indication of who lives there. Only a large field dotted with trees can be seen from the road.

snip

The Bushes are building a home on the property and have renovated a 60-year-old farmhouse. Bush, an avid fisherman, also has built a private fishing lake to be stocked with largemouth bass.

- - - - - - - - - - -


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prairie_Chapel_Ranch

"Buildings on the land built by the Englebrechts were refurbished for new uses, such as Secret Service quarters and guest houses. Bush and his wife had David Heymann, an associate professor of architecture at the University of Texas at Austin, design a 10,000 ft² (930 m²) honey-colored native limestone single-level home on the site. Over half of that square footage is from a ten-foot-wide limestone porch that encircles the house. The house was built by members of a religious community from nearby Elm Mott, Texas and wasn't completed until after his inauguration.

The passive-solar house is positioned to absorb winter sunlight, warming the interior walkways and walls of the residence. Geothermal heat pumps circulate water through pipes buried 300 feet deep in the ground. A 40,000-gallon underground cistern collects rainwater gathered from roof urns; wastewater from sinks, toilets, and showers cascades into underground purifying tanks and is also funneled into the cistern. The water from the cistern is then used to irrigate the landscaping around the four-bedroom home. Photographs of the interior of the house indicate a sophisticated take on rough-hewn living, with generous English-style club chairs covered in what appears to be printed Fortuny linen.

Bush added an 11 acre (45,000 m²) man-made pond that is stocked with 600 bass and thousands of bait fish. In 2002, the ranch was wired for what Bush described in a 2003 tour of the ranch as "real time, secure videoconferencing" to be used for his briefings from the CIA and Dick Cheney."
-----------------

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/11/images/...
November 2001

First Lady Laura Bush reads her Radio Address from Prairie Chapel Ranch in Crawford, Texas.
------------------

http://business.baylor.edu/Tom_Kelly/The%20Impact%20of%...

snip

Bush never released financial details of the ranch purchase, but local real estate agents have said the 1,600-acre property is worth $1.2 million, or $800 to $900 per acre. The market value is $988,353, according to the county tax appraiser's office. Bush constructed a single-level ranch house on 10,000 square feet with high-ceiling rooms making up about one-third of the space. A limestone porch takes up the rest, circling the house like a moat. (The builders, who Bush got to know on a first name basis, were from a religious community in El Mott.) There’s a swimming (“whining”) pool for his twin daughters and a 10-acre man- made pond stocked with 5,000 bass to serve his love of fishing.

snip

[Vickers]

13. Omigawd, that photo is actually on www.whitehouse.gov?!?!?!?!

Jesus, it looks like it's been Swamp Ratted!!!!!!!!!

Edit: I'm talking about this one:

[CatWoman]

15. so THAT'S what happened to Al Bundy's sofa

[Vickers]

17. Oh, and look at how they defaced that flag on the wall...

From the US Flag Code:

The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature.

But, you know, what do these idiots know about respect for the flag. But hey, if they pass that Protect the Flag Amendment (or whatever they are calling it) they can be arrested, woo hoo! :toast:

[KurtNYC]

27. Do you suppose they have any American flags which are not

written or drawn on? What up with that?

[kenny blankenship]

26. Wow it really has that

never been lived in look. I wonder how they did that. Threw darts at a couple of home furnishings catalogs maybe.

[XemaSab]

32. Wonder if he got a corps permit

to build that private fishing lake?

[jayctravis]

35. Look at that room. That's not *their* house.

That's a designed room. A real family would have pictures and belongings, not a pop-art painting of the White House.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

16. My brother-in-law was there. He said the "ranch/house" they

show on tv is NOT where they live. It is kind of a folksy down home setting. He went into where they really live and there are expensive persian carpets and crystal chandeliers...

[Meeker Morgan]

19. You never heard of a dude ranch? n/t

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

20. I never do.

It is the Crawford Pig Farm, and that's what I call it consistently.

http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/03/08/17_crawford.html

Whatever You Do, Don't Call the Crawford Photo-Opportunity Backdrop a Ranch!

BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY
by H. Russell

August 17, 2003



I think Buzzflash should help take the lead on calling Bush's photo-op prop what it really is--- the (big) Little House on the Prairie.

He only bought the place as he announced he was forming a "exploratory commission" for his run on the White House. We all know he purchased it just to capture some of that LBJ/ Goldwater/ Reagan cowboy cache. But, LBJ had a ranch long before becoming VP and both he and Goldwater actually rode horses on their ranches. We have all seen the pictures of Reagan riding horses in the mountains of his spread. Heck, Buzzflash has linked to the articles showing Bush prefers expensive Italian loafers to cowboy boots for his daily foot ware. Some cowboy!

Does any one have any pictures or film footage of him riding regularly riding horses on his ranch? I have never seen any.

How many heads of cattle does he own? Even if he did have some there, would HE even know how many there are? Has he ever personally over saw their tending to and does he know how much the up keep is for the herd? How many ranch hands take care of the place and what exactly are their responsibilities?

[Ikonoklast]

30. I was wondering about the so-called "ranch"

no livestock, horses, no nothing except dirt and sagebrush? I heard somewhere that Idiot Son was deathly afraid of cows and horses, anyway. Has anyone else ever read or heard that somewhere?

[orleans]

21. i read a couple years ago that it is a state of the art house

as far as being environmentally friendly, solar panels, recycling water, irrigation, etc.

which creates a bit of a contradiction from how he lives to to the way he "rules"--since when does he care about the environment?

[Contrary1]

22. The President is hard at work in Crawford , and I can prove it!

I was looking around one of the internets and found this article about one of his previous "vacations", as his many detractors here like to refer to his well-earned respites from the hustle bustle of DC...



"CRAWFORD, TX - George W. Bush's "Home to the Heartland Tour" began yesterday, and, as promised, President Bush immediately got down to the business of "hearing what's on the minds of the people" by building a nature trail on his 1,600 acre ranch.

"In Washington, DC, no one ever talks about how nice it would be to have your own nature trail that runs around your private lake," explained the President. "All they ever talk about is Mid-East this and Federal Budget-that. It's like they live in a fantasy land."

<snip>

White House spokesman Scott McClellan disagreed, noting that the President was taking a "working vacation" and was getting briefed regularly by staff members. "Not only that, President Bush has brought some books with him, which he fully intends to read."

"I've got some great books," confirmed the President cheerfully. "I got 'Where's Waldo?' I got 'The Compleat Keane: A Family Circus Compendium.' Oh, and I got 'Presiding over the Most Powerful Nation in the World for Dummies.' I mean, I'm reading books - that's hardly a vacation!"

More...http://www.nationallampoon.com/news/8_8a.asp

[senseandsensibility]

23. Funny stuff

Thanks for posting.

[kenny blankenship]

24. COurse it's a ranch, he's herding shrubs!

Head 'em out, ride 'em in,
Ride 'em in, let 'em out,
Cut 'em out, ride 'em in, rawhide!

[JohnnyBoots]

25. And neither he nor Reagan are/were cowboys.....shocking.

[senseandsensibility]

28. Yes, they're both so authentic, charming

and down to earth.:sarcasm:

[JohnnyBoots]

29. I once saw a bumper sticker that

said,"My heroes have always been cowboys." with W and Reagan's pics in cowboy hats. I had to laugh out loud. Andy griffith has alays been my favorite sherrif/lawyer, Ted Danson my favorite bartender, and Anne Coulter my favorite believable author. WTF? some people truly scare me.

[Changenow]

31. Ranchers call that a big yard.

Let's not even talk about chimps fear of horses and ranching.

[TexasLady]

37. I call it a Branch

just sayin...

[Cha]

33. What is it? A haven

for sociopaths?

[Stil]

36. He probably does have

some livestock there. Just out on the back forty to keep those critters away. Texas does have tax breaks for property owners with livestock. You know he does not have to actualy work it. Just get the indentured workers to.
BTW look at the other thread for actual picts of his real house.

[BenDavid]

38. Does not meet the true definition

of a ranch. According to The Illustrated Contemporary Dictionary...Encyclopedic Edition... it states, An establishment for rearing or grazing cattle, sheep, horses, etc. in large herds. Now if truth be known, I am under the impression is was at one time a place where they raised "pigs". Thus, it was called and named rightly, a "pig farm".... So now, seeing as there are no pigs,(I will not touch that) it all of a sudden changed into a "ranch". I will close by quoting Barney Frank who said this recently about Bush.
"Bush as proof that you can be
totally impervious to the effects
of Harvard and Yale education."
--Barney Frank

Cannot add anything to that......

[senseandsensibility]

39. Yes

The chimp is, in all ways, the opposite of an educated person. :puke: Although he got into Yale based on his connections, someone had to pay tuition for him....whoever it was deserves a full refund.

[LouisianaLiberal]

40. I think it should be called

The Potempkin Ranch.