Posted on 03/24/2002 2:07:15 PM PST by doug from upland
Well, ladies and gentlemen, the whiners who still can't get over Florida were attempting to run with a story that our President waved to blind entertainer Stevie Wonder at a recent event. Unfortunately for them, the story is not true. Here it is from www.snopes2.com -----
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Claim: Hoping to attract the singer's attention at the March 2002 Presidential Gala, George W. Bush waved at Stevie Wonder.
Status: False.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2002]
When Stevie Wonder sat down at the keyboard center stage, President Bush in the front row got very excited. He smiled and started waving at Wonder, who understandably did not respond. After a moment Bush realized his mistake and slowly dropped the errant hand back to his lap.
I know I shouldn't have," a witness told us yesterday, "but I started laughing."
Origins: This story appeared in the pages of The Washington Post in early March 2002. Because it was such a juicy tidbit ("The Prez is such a dolt, he waves at blind folks!"), it was subsequently picked up by numerous talk radio hosts who gleefully fed it to their listeners and reached an even larger audience through the medium of television via Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Saturday Night Live.
Was it true? Well, not really. Although Stevie Wonder did perform at the 3 March 2002 Presidential Gala held at the Ford Theatre in Washington where President Bush was in attendance, the "wave" was both far less that initially made out to be and appears to have been directed at someone else.
After running the item as true and being challenged upon it by the Ford's Theatre Artistic Director, who was seated by the President that night and didn't at all recall this incident, Washington Post writer Lloyd Grove delved further into the story. Editors working on turning film of that event into a television special (which is scheduled to air April 12) went frame by frame through the video captured by the "presidential isocam" (as the camera trained on Bush is called). At the point where Wonder was getting settled behind his keyboard, Bush briefly raised his palm and smiled. The gesture was not the excited, enthused wave it is now comically portrayed to be; it was a small motion of the sort one routinely makes to an acquaintance across a crowded room. Moreover, the motion appears to have been directed at Kelsey Grammer, the emcee of the evening.
Stories that showcase blockheadedness stick to George W. Bush like feathers to a tar-coated chicken because they seemingly confirm what much of the public already holds as true about this public figure, that he's not the brightest fellow that's ever been. It is human nature to revel in yarns that the hearer at some level agrees with, thus tales of this sort will always fall upon appreciative ears. Witness the excitment with which the false story about presidential I.Q., as Bush's ranking upon this list was greeted as another example of this phenomenon in action.
Otherwise, it's a good article and thank you, Doug.
Well that is refreshing...usually the artsy types are liberal and corroborate each other's lies about conservatives.
How many stories were done about how Clinton viewed the DMZ with the lens caps on his binoculars? Oh, I forgot, Clinton is very, very smart.
The only thing stupid here is another one of these "Bush is stupid" stories.
PS - He can fly jets!
This doesn't sound convincing. "appears and seems to be".... Is there a link to video as proof? Otherwise the story will live.
What if Bush wanted to make sure Stevie's family saw him showing respect?
I would like to say that with the exception of the astronomy grade, those are pretty good marks for Yale in 1966, WHEN GRADES STILL MEANT SOMETHING.
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