Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Its All in the Pay Off
From the White House dot Gov. archives - June 2001 | George W. Bush:
[bold emphasis mine.]
The first thing that struck me after reading this was what's so funny? Why the "(laughter and applause)". What are they laughing about? Ya know, you can almost relive the snickers and smirks and heh, heh, heh's, even now, but why? Whats the joke? I don't get it. Was it the "lesson in southern politics" crack? Was it the "spent a little time in Alabama" mention? Was it the "friends in this state from those days" wink-wink that set 'em into a-yuckin' it up and applauding? What the hell is so funny!
Yeah, well, I guess ya had to be there. In any case, apparently, none of them unforgettable "friends" noted above happened to be attending drills with the 187th Tac Recon Group in Alabama in the autumn of 1972. At least none that can remember Mr. Smoothie Junior joining them in any such drills. And apparently Mr. Smoothie 43 hisself cain't quite recall any such friends either. Well shucks. Why you'd think an amiable friendly cut-up feller like GW could at least cack up a couple of chummy buddy photos of himself and a buddy pardner mugging for the camera or posed for a snapshot flexing in their underwear or holding up a cheesecake pin-up of Miss Alabama 1972, or something buddylike like that.
Guess not. On the other hand, the Blount campaign was apparently something of an unforgettable learning experience chock full of new buddies. At least when it came to "southern politics". Whatever that means. Which appears to have "paid off" nicely judging from the "laughter and applause."
Just for the heck of it, here are a few buddy snapshots, in a manner of speaking, from 1972:
1- Red Blount, was a former memebr of Richard Nixon's cabinet.
2- On Oct. 10, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward reveal in the Washington Post the efforts of the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP) to wage a dirty tricks campaign against the Democratic Party and McGovern campaign. As in: "to crush its political opponents and illegally hide its acts."
3- On Oct. 26, Henry Kissinger announces that "peace is at hand" in Vietnam.
4- On Nov. 7th Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew are reelected by 61% of the voters.
5- Dec 18. Nixon orders the bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong in order to appease South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu.
6- Red Blount lost his Senate race.
7- Freita Fuller was Miss Alabama 1972.
*
[bold emphasis mine.]
I want to thank -- I don't know if Red Blount is here or not, but I spent a little time in Alabama in 1972 working for Red Blount's senatorial campaign. It's a pretty good lesson of Alabama politics. But I've made a lot of friends in this state from those days, friends that I'll never forget. And I thank you for your friendship and I thank you for giving me a pretty good lesson on southern politics. It paid off in the year 2000. (Laughter and applause.) ~ Remarks by the President at Senate Dinner for Senator Jeff Sessions Jefferson Convention Complex Birmingham, Alabama, June 2001
The first thing that struck me after reading this was what's so funny? Why the "(laughter and applause)". What are they laughing about? Ya know, you can almost relive the snickers and smirks and heh, heh, heh's, even now, but why? Whats the joke? I don't get it. Was it the "lesson in southern politics" crack? Was it the "spent a little time in Alabama" mention? Was it the "friends in this state from those days" wink-wink that set 'em into a-yuckin' it up and applauding? What the hell is so funny!
Yeah, well, I guess ya had to be there. In any case, apparently, none of them unforgettable "friends" noted above happened to be attending drills with the 187th Tac Recon Group in Alabama in the autumn of 1972. At least none that can remember Mr. Smoothie Junior joining them in any such drills. And apparently Mr. Smoothie 43 hisself cain't quite recall any such friends either. Well shucks. Why you'd think an amiable friendly cut-up feller like GW could at least cack up a couple of chummy buddy photos of himself and a buddy pardner mugging for the camera or posed for a snapshot flexing in their underwear or holding up a cheesecake pin-up of Miss Alabama 1972, or something buddylike like that.
Guess not. On the other hand, the Blount campaign was apparently something of an unforgettable learning experience chock full of new buddies. At least when it came to "southern politics". Whatever that means. Which appears to have "paid off" nicely judging from the "laughter and applause."
Just for the heck of it, here are a few buddy snapshots, in a manner of speaking, from 1972:
1- Red Blount, was a former memebr of Richard Nixon's cabinet.
2- On Oct. 10, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward reveal in the Washington Post the efforts of the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP) to wage a dirty tricks campaign against the Democratic Party and McGovern campaign. As in: "to crush its political opponents and illegally hide its acts."
3- On Oct. 26, Henry Kissinger announces that "peace is at hand" in Vietnam.
4- On Nov. 7th Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew are reelected by 61% of the voters.
5- Dec 18. Nixon orders the bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong in order to appease South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu.
6- Red Blount lost his Senate race.
7- Freita Fuller was Miss Alabama 1972.
*
