Bush background - Texas Monthly article from 11/3/2000

[whometense]

If you can stomach it, and in light of his mummy's lovely quote. I may have read this article by Louis Dubose before - I don't remember it though. Recent news events cast the info on Bush's and Rove's history in a very different light.

In the lobby of the Canal Street Hotel where the Texas delegation was housed for the 1988 Republican National Convention in New Orleans, George W. was courting the Texas press corps. Easy and accessible, he locked on with those blue eyes, first-named reporters, and held forth in the hotel lobby for as long as anyone holding a tape recorder cared to stand and listen.

The only time he showed any sign of anger was when he was asked about then-Governor Ann Richards’ comment about his father being "born with a silver foot in his mouth." The blue eyes narrowed as he responded to the reporter who asked the question. "It was mean and uncalled-for," he said. "It didn’t bother my dad. He’s lived with ‘Doonesbury,’ so he’s used to that. But it hurt my mother." Governor Bush talks like his father, who was equally prone to malapropisms and non sequiturs, but he thinks like his mother, whom Nixon admired because, he reportedly said, "she knows how to hate." Which is a way of saying that George W. believes grudges should be transgenerational and involve corruption of blood and children avenging the wrongs visited on their parents.

On that afternoon in New Orleans twelve years ago, Bush was clearly itching to get even. And that was just for a slight aimed at his father. What if W. himself loses the presidency? I think we all know what: If George W. Bush loses the election next month, he will come back to Austin looking to settle some scores–Barbara Bush-style. And anyone who thinks the Texas governorship is a weak office is going to learn a little something about the exercise of power by the master–not George W. Bush, but his chief strategist Karl Rove. They’re keeping lists. Of every insult, no matter how small. Of every criticism, no matter how fair. Of every news clip. Of every joke, no matter how innocent. . . .

. . . . Watch out. This is going to get ugly.

The more happens and the more I read the more shocked I am at the corruption of the electoral system. And the media. How did this callous jerk ever get elected president?????? How did people not come to be enlightened as to who he was? Especially with info like this in circulation. Do you think the people who might have made a difference were that intimidated by the Bush crime family?

And it makes Kerry's courage in daring to stand up against them not once but many times that much more impressive.

[whometense]

1. And in new Texas news...

the Lone Star Iconoclast has a column on Cindy Sheehan that contains this paragraph (bolding is mine):

Ms. Sheehan's protests, in substance, are strikingly reminiscent of John Kerry's. Disillusioned by the war in Vietnam, especially by the suffering of the Vietnamese people, Kerry set up a bivouac outside the Nixon White House. When Nixon tried to use the law to get Kerry out of his sight, the young protester hit back: "This is a government that cares more about the legality of where men sleep than the legality of where we drop bombs and why men die!" Although much denied in conservative circles, it was Kerry who, knowingly or unknowingly, initiated the political death of Richard Nixon. The moment Kerry stepped in Washington, Nixon's days were numbered. It remains to be seen if nature will let Ms. Sheehan re-enact that aspect of Kerry's antiwar campaign.

Writer's tagline adds this interesting note:

Kapil Komireddi is a freelance writer who has contributed to various publications; he is presently working on a compendious biography of Sen. John Kerry, to be published in 2007, and can be contacted at: [e-mail]

[TayTay]

2. Wow, a compendious biography

Is that different from a regular biography. (I think it means it's going to be a doorstopper. Lord knows there is enough to write about.)

This is good news. I look forward to it. It will make a nice companion to 'Tour of Duty.'

And I concur. Those long ago protests set the stage and called Nixon on his bullshit.

[whometense]

3. with the help of google,

I found this comment on the Kerry2008 site:

Entry #: 36


Date: 2005-07-06 08:29:55
Name: Kapil Komireddi
Site Rating: 10
Comments:

Great going. Thanks for keeping this great American's name flying high. Let's get him nominated and, then, elected. Remember, there's one empty slot at Mount Rushmore!

Sounds like the book will not be a semi-hit job a la Boston Globe. He's a fan!

[karynnj]

4. The quote sounds like he belongs here!

This will be great if it happens. Kerry's life could certainly provide content for a fascinating book. The quote sounds very non-Boston Globe. (The most damaging thing about the semi-hit job is that it's clear that the Globe actively looked for dirt and found very very little - but it's liberal reputation probably had readers elsewhere thinking they would whitewash any problems. The weird relationship with Newsweek which they never addressed, probably affected coverage as well. He may be the only future candidate they called a conspiracy nut - when he was right.