Posted on 09/18/2002 4:50:06 PM PDT by altura
Over a year and a half into the Bush II administration, W magazine has blown the lid off the deep secret about the social whir at the White House under President George W. Bush there isn't a whir.
In its October issue, the New York-based fashion and style periodical features a story called "The Big Chill," about the lack of social buzz in Washington. Of course, most anybody in Dallas, Austin or Midland could have told them this before George W. ever put his hand on the Bible. If you expected George W. Bush the party animal to show up in Washington, you're 20 years too late.
Before the inauguration, media outlets from D.C. phoned me frantically wanting to know what the Bush social scene would look like. Like a mantra, I would repeat to each one, "He doesn't dance, he doesn't drink, and he goes to bed early." That is all ye know on Earth and all ye need to know.
"You hear a lot of people complaining, especially among Bush's biggest supporters," one Republican stalwart tells W of the lack of social life around the Bush White House. "This crowd is just very insulated. They were isolated in Texas, and they still are. It's a very tight clan, much tighter than their parents'. They had their wagons circled before they ever left Austin."
People, please ... you're reading too much into this. Let's go back a step: "He doesn't dance, he doesn't drink, and he goes to bed early." When he was governor, you had to catch him before dinner and not wait until after or he'd be out the door faster than Superman ducking a pass from Lois Lane. Wherever he was, the governor made a point to leave early to fly back to Austin so he could say good night to his daughters, Jenna and Barbara.
Fort Worth-reared Clay Johnson, Bush's pal from Andover and Yale and former COO of the Dallas Museum of Art, is on the short list with his wife, Ann, for private dinners in the family quarters. He is now White House personnel director, and she is director of the State Department's Art in Embassies program. Ann reports that Bush usually makes invites for these get-togethers at the last minute. "He calls direct, without a switchboard operator," Ann tells W.
Perhaps when he's whipped Osama and Saddam he'll be able to worry about the more important things in life, like making cocktail chat on the Beltway social circuit.
No problem. I saw that RWP hadn't done it, and since I have the list for my superfluous postings of the Dose (hehe), I went ahead and pinged everyone.
Good article about a genuinely good man.
Woo-eee, a shallow, phony party - I'm in!
Clinton was and is the abnormal one, he's very insecure and needs the constant praise and fawning. He's having a very hard time without the fawning and constant praise right now, which is why he had to go on the Letterman show on 9/11. He craves attention like a small child.
Rintense is probably waiting for you to put your thread up first, lol.
She must have been reading FR and needed to don the tin foil very quickly ....... hehe!
Regarding the President, I hope when he goes to Congress about Iraq he allows "Hail To The Chief" to be played. It sets the tone and moves him above all the partisan bickering.
It's crackin' me up that all these society toads don't have their usual party central at our expense any longer!
And a big fat AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! for the wonderful breath of fresh air that now resides at the White House!!
Write to: apeppard@dallasnews.com
Truly, the more one compares the current "Presidential mode" to the previous, the more nauseating the previous becomes.
Reminds me of what Ed McMahan used to tell Johnny about New Years Eve, "I stay home. I never drink with with the amateures." Its better to watch the Super Bowl alone with your dogs than with a room full of dolts that only watch one game a year.
Believe me, Bush probably treasures his solitude. When you have to deal with, meet, talk, shake hands, etc. with so many different people, day after day, it's a great pleasure to be able to escape to the solitude of your own room to relax and enjoy your own company. Bush likes himself and feels comfortable having his own private time, unlike Clinton, who needed the company of people to make him feel important.
I enjoy watching sports alone. Conversation during sports takes away from the enjoyment of the event. I like watching movies around my friends though.
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