Bush's spill puts scooter in spotlight

Boston Globe ^ | 6/14/03 | Joanna Weiss

[RJCogburn]

It would have been brilliant publicity: the leader of the free world, tooling around the family compound on a newfangled Segway scooter.

If only the leader of the free world hadn't fallen off.

On Thursday, President Bush failed to flip the ''on'' switch to the scooter he had purchased for his father, so the self-balancing mechanism didn't work. The president tumbled to the ground, unhurt. And news photographers, lingering outside the compound with long lenses, picked up grainy images of a presidential spill.

[RJCogburn]

Bush does a Gerry Ford...or is it Chevy Chase?

[ellery]

Okay, this is really funny...regardless of politics:-)

[MinuteGal]

I dunno. The photo series I saw showed the President taking a nose-dive, but never falling to the ground, and then nimbly recovering his standing balance. Am I correct on this, folks?

Leni

[Thebaddog]

I was suprised frombehind at O'hare by two cops on those scooters. They are no good near normal people who aren't expecting a dork on a broom with wheels.

[LibKill]

Doesn't matter if he landed on his feet or not, the leftist swine are trying to make a big deal out of it.

They never learn. The great majority of people really like G.W.

[cynicalman]

do we have a picture of this scooter?

[lelio]

''The slick corporate campaign by Segway repeatedly assured the Legislature that adults would be able to operate this safely,'' said state Senator Jarrett Barrios, co-chairman of the Committee on Public Safety. ''On hearing the news of our president's fall, I don't know what to think.''
I'm thinking that Mr Barrios has never had an accident on a bicycle, especially when just learning how to ride one.

[anncoulteriscool]

This proves we need a new scooter-control law to make our world safe for all the children everywhere so that we can all live in a more peaceful world full of hapiness and love . LOL!

[ilgipper]

said state Senator Jarrett Barrios, co-chairman of the Committee on Public Safety. ''On hearing the news of our president's fall, I don't know what to think.''

boy, I wonder what his party affiliation is...

[Shooter 2.5]

First off, no one has posted a picture where Bush hit the ground. The Segway tilted forward and the President hopped over it. He never fell to the ground.

Big Freaking deal. It's just another hit piece that started with Reuter's.

[MinuteGal]

It does matter to me. I love to play "gotcha" in matters large and small with the evil, lying, lazy liberal media.

Leni

[glock rocks]

They are no good near normal people who aren't expecting a dork on a broom with wheels.

LOL!

Mel's Angels.

[martin_fierro]

Save your dignity. Get a motorcycle.

	FReeper Motorcycle Hooligan
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[Backwoods Southern Lawyer]

Didn't Clinton bust his butt late one night while presumably partying with Greg Norman in Florida? As I recall, he tore something in his knee and had to have some work done on it. Clinton cannot walk in a house without falling, but you never heard much about that. There was no report on how much WJC had had to drink or smoke or snort that night either.

Bush did make a good, if not graceful, recovery though. All in all, Bush & Segway will benefit from this episode. Someone will have to remond GW to turn the thing on though.

[RJCogburn]

Jeez, the Bushbots are touchy. It is an amusing story.

Here in Manchester, NH, where these things are made, one can see people every now and again riding on about. It is virtually impossible to fall off one.

The inventor, Dean Kamen, has invented a wheelchair that will go up and down stairs on its own.

Lighten up!

[martin_fierro]

Didn't Clinton bust his butt late one night while presumably partying with Greg Norman in Florida? As I recall, he tore something in his knee and had to have some work done on it. Clinton cannot walk in a house without falling, but you never heard much about that. There was no report on how much WJC had had to drink or smoke or snort that night either.

Clintoon DID take a header (no pun intended), and according to Buzz Patterson in "Dereliction of Duty," it was because Clintoon was drunk off his a$$ at the time.

The resulting chaotic Presidential entourage trip to the hospital was a mess.

[Norse]

i need to be honest - who in the world would be caught riding one of those down the street?

[Ace Correspondent]

[RJCogburn]

[decimon]

But the company also wants to make the so-called Human Transporter a standard fixture on sidewalks across the nation.

Who wants this should try maneuvering a less-wide handcart on the sidewalks of Manhattan.