Posted on 11/08/2004 6:53:17 PM PST by weegee
Pop quiz!
It's been a long time since a sitting president has had a son. President Bush has Twinkle and Turquoise -- the Secret Service code names for Jenna and Barbara, respectively -- and the Clintons have Chelsea.
So quick: Who was the last presidential son?
Was your answer Ron Reagan Jr.? That seems to be the first name that pops to mind. Or maybe you thought of the male offspring of Jimmy Carter or Gerald Ford.
All wrong answers. The last presidential son, of course, was . ..
George W. Bush.
Tricky! Reminds me of the old brain-twister about the father and son who get into an accident, and the son is taken to the hospital, and the surgeon announces, "I cannot operate on this patient, for he is my son," and you have to figure out if the doc is a stepfather or what, until it hits you:
It's his mother!
*****
About those Bush twins: I know this is politically incorrect and almost O'Reillyesque in its leering-ism, but let me ask you something.
Are they hot?
I've seen some Web talk postulating that Jenna used to be the hot one, but now Barbara's more smokin'. Others maintain that neither daughter is particularly attractive, while another school of thought (or non-thought) gives them extra points for being TWINS, because guys get really stupid about twins, not that any guy ever could actually handle it if twins proposed a menage a twin.
Then there's the royalty factor. A president's daughter is the closest you're going to get to a princess in this country (unless you think Paris Hilton and her stupid tiara indicate some level of upper class status), and for some guys that's extra incentive.
As far as I'm concerned they're just kids, but I'll tell you this: When the Sun-Times put the victorious Bush family on the front page Wednesday, the decision was made to darken young Barbara's clingy top, in the interest of decorum. In the original photo, it's quite clear that when Barbara was getting dressed that day, a bra did not factor into the equation.
I haven't seen anything that perky since the "Mary Tyler Moore Show" was in its prime.
*****
The 2004 campaign gave birth to a near-urban legend about cell phone users. Hopeful Democrats kept saying the poll numbers were skewed in Bush's favor because none of the surveys included voters who use only cell phones.
The reality: Only about 3 percent of Americans are cell-exclusive. That number could go up to 10 to 12 percent by 2008, but in the 2004 election, the failure to survey cell users was a non-factor.
*****
How can anyone give up a land-line for good when cell reception isn't any better today than it was when portable phones were the size of your head?
*****
Another oft-repeated fun fact that's already getting tired:
"Bush is the most popular president ever! He received the greatest number of votes in history, breaking Ronald Reagan's record."
That's accurate -- but not true.
Saying Bush is the most popular president ever is like saying "Titanic" is the most popular movie of all time. Both stats conveniently ignore historical context.
"Titanic" is the all-time domestic box office champ only if you don't adjust the numbers for inflation. With a level playing field, "Titanic" places sixth, behind "Gone With the Wind," "Star Wars," "The Sound of Music," "E.T. the Extra-terrestrial" and "The Ten Commandments."
In that same vein, it's true that Bush got more votes than any candidate ever. Then again, more Americans voted for John Kerry than ever voted for Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon -- or Ronald Reagan. Kerry's losing total is the second-highest number of all time.
In the Electoral College, Dubya Dubya II's tally is less impressive on the all-time chart. In raw numbers he's behind William McKinley in 1900 (292 electoral votes), Woodrow Wilson in 1912 (435), Calvin Coolidge in 1924 (382), Nixon in 1972 (520), Reagan in 1984 (525!) and Clinton both times, among others.
Remember too, that there are 204 million voting-eligible adults in this country. More than 59 million voted for Bush -- which means that 145 million adult Americans didn't vote for him.
I'm not sour-graping, just having fun with the numbers. As I said Thursday, Bush won fair and square -- and it really wasn't all that close.
Finally, a note of thanks to the hundreds of Republicans who wrote to me in thoughtful, intelligent terms after I printed excerpts from some particularly nasty e-mails from their political brethren. Many even apologized for e-mails you didn't write, which is unnecessary and beyond classy.
I also enjoyed the message from a Republican who said, "You're a rich white guy. Why the hell wouldn't you want Bush to win?"
Hail to the Chief!
Richard Roeper reviews "Alfie" and "The Incredibles" on the WBBM-Channel 2 News today at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
It's an absolute mess.
Another oft-repeated fun fact that's already getting tired:"Bush is the most popular president ever! He received the greatest number of votes in history, breaking Ronald Reagan's record."
That's accurate -- but not true.
Saying Bush is the most popular president ever is like saying "Titanic" is the most popular movie of all time. Both stats conveniently ignore historical context.
"Titanic" is the all-time domestic box office champ only if you don't adjust the numbers for inflation.
Anyone recall the media EVER putting an asterisk next to Michael Moore's claims of Fahrenheit 9/11 being the top grossing documentary of all time?
At times there were exclusions of IMAX and concert films and they always were excluding inflation.
Hey, Sun Times-- I'll write a column that's twice as good, twice as coherent, for half the bucks.
Did anyone make it through the entire column without turning away in pity and disgust?
The person who told Roeper he could write deserves a special deluxe room in Hell.
When you feel a need to clarify, that means you know you ARE doing the deed.
And I am sick of the press always trashing the Bush twins! Have you ever seen a nice piece written about them? Give them a break!
?Now there was some really good material to trash in the Heinz-Kerry tribe. e-gad! Foul mouthed daughters - not to mention that totally see thru' evening dress one of them wore - with nada underneath.
Now they are going to start talking context? Where was the context on the economy they claimed was a mess, their promises that Afghanistan would be a quagmire, their reflexive reporting on all that is bad in Iraq, the obsession with Bush's military record and the pass on Kerry's...etc. etc. etc.
LOL.....wondering if it's a sendup.
What was Chelsea's code name? Hillary!'s?
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