Barbershop Wisdom Says Bush Is in Trouble

Pacific News Service ^ | 6/11/2003 | William O. Beeman

[ArcLight]

"Bush is in trouble," he said.

This was neither a columnist nor a politician. It was my barber, Phil. And when Phil says that Bush is in trouble, he is.

Phil was born in the United States, but his parents are from Mexico. His Spanish is fluent. His intimate barbershop in San Jose reflects much of contemporary American society. His customers are U.S. citizens, but born everywhere: California, the Midwest, Latin America, East and Southeast Asia -- they all come through. The TV is tuned to CNN, when there are no sports to watch.

"We knew that Saddam was a bad guy, but how many bad guys are there in the world? Are we going to go after them all?" Phil asks. "And where are all those weapons?"

I expect that Phil's words are being echoed in many barber shops, beauty salons, taverns, ball fields, golf courses and around a lot of kitchen tables this month as Americans begin to ruminate on the Bush administration's actions in Iraq.

[grania]

Americans begin to ruminate on the Bush administration's actions in Iraq

I wasn't a fan of the action is Iraq, just as I didn't like the Kosovo bombing. It's US borders we should be dealing with. Currently, the administration seems more concerned about Iranians entering Iraq illegally than they are about the invasion across our southern border.

That being said, I don't see the Iraq action as a negative, not at all. The worst case situation is that someone might have to take a fall for bad information. Plus, it's impossible to measure how many terrorist acts were stopped by shaking up the Mideast.

It's the jobs situation, where so many people are unemployed and many who are employed don't have jobs up to their qualifications. Add that to the lost pension and retirement savings, and it's an issue.

[Cloud William]

"Bush is in trouble," he said.

This was neither a columnist nor a politician. It was my barber, Phil. And when Phil says that Bush is in trouble, he is.

Odd... back in late 1991, my barber scoffed at the notion that George H.W. Bush might not be re-elected. "This Clinton guy is going nowhere, trust me!", he said.

So much for the barber/soothsayer thing. I think they need to stop sniffing the Barbicide.

[OneVike]

The TV is tuned to CNN, when there are no sports to watch.

This is when I stopped reading the article, anything that fallows can be filled in by any left wing media personal.

[rs79bm]

TV is tuned to CNN. There's your problem right there.

[sinkspur]

Who gave you that lousy haircut?

My barber thinks WMDs are hormones that cause women over 50 to act crazy.

[dighton]

Just a regular Joe getting his hair cut.

;-)

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

I suspect this is what I like to call "wishful thinking" on the part of the author.

[denydenydeny]

I desperately hope expect that Phil's words are being echoed in many barber shops, beauty salons, taverns, ball fields, golf courses and around a lot of kitchen tables....

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

This is what the liberals are coming to: stories (real or imagined) relating to how their barber doesn't like GW Bush? They're so taken aback and knocked off their feet by the nation's approval of GW Bush, all they can do is seek out and quote liberal unknowns who moan about and cry about what a bad guy Bush is. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

[Hank Rearden]

My barber can beat up his barber.

And my barber's a girl.

[TomServo]

Just a regular Joe getting his hair cut.

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrright....;-)

[Martin Tell]

what does Greg Packer think?

Good one. For those who don't get the reference, a "Greg Packer" standing in line for Hillary's book was quoted (NYT?) on how great Hillary is, blah, blah. In her latest column Ann Coulter did a Nexis search and found "Greg Packer" quoted over 100 times for man-in-the-street interviews (dude is sort of like Tourist Guy, he gets around). Ann concluded along the lines of seems like too many reporters are stuck in Jason Blair's house. Ann really nailed the b*****ds. Her fact checking on this story should be major news, guess that why it ain't being reported.

[Miss Marple]

Report from my beauty shop:

They liked the carrier landing. They thought the troops in Iraq were cool. They think Cheney is ugly. They are glad to be getting money back on taxes. They have no clue who the nine democrats are, other than Lieberman. They wish Bush would invite the American Idol guys to the White House.

Remember, their votes count as much as ours.

[meenie]

For Pete's sake, don't let this man give you a shave!

[shaggy eel]

"It's too bad everyone who knows how to run this country is driving a cab or cutting hair!" - George Burns

,,, he could see the funny side.

[joebuck]

Anyone who remembers Mike Royko of the Chicago Tribune will recognize that Mr. Brennen is stealing Mr. Royko's style and literary device (with Royko it was Slats Grubinik, his taxi driver he had these conversations with.) Yeah, he's got Royko down to a tee except for the writing ability and intellectual insight.

[John Lenin]

His intimate barbershop in San Jose reflects much of contemporary American society.

San Jose is home to every drug addict in northern cal. This article is bunk !

[ladyinred]

Oh well, I didn't know Phil the barber said this! Why didn't anyone tell me? We might as well throw in the towel and give the White House back to the Clinton's and be done with it!

[Cicero]

Who is Greg Packer? Here's the scoop:

FINAL NIGHT & GREG PACKER

Thursday 27th March 2003


Venue: The Lounge, 243 Swanston St. Melbourne

Ask people one name synonymous with the growth of the Australian dance music scene, and you're very likely to hear the name Greg Packer. Packer is considered to be one of the pioneers of dance music in Australia, particularly in the area of breaks and drum'n'bass.

With ever-increasing success as a DJ since the early 90's, his more recent achievements as a producer have continued to establish his dominance both locally and even overseas with past releases on a range of labels and upcoming on LTJ Bukem's Good Looking Records.

With releases on Defunked, Beta, Good Looking, Hardleaders, Tangent and G2, Packer is undoubtedly Australia's worldwide rep of drum&bass.