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George Makes His Childhood Friends Call Him "Mr. President"

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Stephanie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 11:41 AM
Original message
George Makes His Childhood Friends Call Him "Mr. President"
Oh good lord this Vargas interview is a hoot!




http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=1672006&page=3

BUSH: You know, it's interesting, you said that one of the things that we love doing is to invite our buddies up from Texas. And I think about the time we had Jones, Procter and Selee . These are guys we grew up with in Midland, Texas. They are down to earth, you know, they have no agenda, except being with their friends Laura and George.

VARGAS: They call you George?

BUSH: No, they call me Mr. President.

VARGAS: I was going to say…

BUSH: They probably don't want to call me Mr. President, but they do call me Mr. President. And we sit up there in the White House. First of all, it's a great joy to see their joy about being here. It's a fantastic experience for people to be able to come here.
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CottonBear Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 11:43 AM
Response to Original message
1. Sadistic frat boy psychopathic pretzeldent.
:puke:
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earthside Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 11:50 AM
Response to Reply #1
7. That's Too Many Words ...
"Sadistic frat boy psychopathic pretzeldent"

He's a 'Weirdo!'

:freak:
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gatorboy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 11:44 AM
Response to Original message
2. He wouldn't have it any other way..
:eyes:
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mark11727 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:16 PM
Response to Reply #2
31. I'll bet he does the same thing to Pickles...
...DURING...

Ew.
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Lochloosa Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 01:17 PM
Response to Reply #31
52. Man, I just ate lunch....
:puke:
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DBoon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 11:45 AM
Response to Original message
3. Talk about stalinist "cult of personality"
* belongs in North Korea.
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BurtWorm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 11:46 AM
Response to Original message
4. He had friends?
Interesting.
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oneighty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 11:49 AM
Response to Reply #4
6. Blowing up frogs society
most likely.

180
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librechik Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 11:59 AM
Response to Reply #4
15. "I make them "like" calling me Mr President--I used to do the same thing
Edited on Wed Mar-01-06 12:09 PM by librechik
to those ol boys back during school recess, only a little rougher. Heheh."
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ixion Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:00 PM
Response to Reply #4
17. probably purchased in 2000, just like 'the ranch'
:evilgrin:
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Skidmore Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 11:48 AM
Response to Original message
5. Why don't people call him on this kind of crap.
I want one person to correct him when he's calling them by some snide cutesy nickname...let him know he doesn't have their permission to do that and demand that he treat them with respect.
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Dora Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 11:54 AM
Response to Reply #5
9. Amen to that.
His insistence on using nicknames for everyone around him is intentionally demeaning and belittling, and it is further evidence of the Bush family's neverending power trip.

Much like the time he cleaned his eyeglasses on a Late Show producer's skirt.

He is not king, he is president, albeit questionably so.
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Bridget Burke Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 11:57 AM
Response to Reply #5
11. Most of Bush's "friends" are using the connection for business..,
I wonder what they say about him when he isn't around?
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Johonny Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 11:53 AM
Response to Original message
8. He's probably to embarressed
to say what they really call him
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jackstraw45 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 11:56 AM
Response to Original message
10. I call him Mr. Chimp.
I probably don't want to call him Mr. President so I don't.
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WilliamPitt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 11:57 AM
Response to Original message
12. Good
Show minimal respect for the office.

I remember an episode of West Wing where Bartlet was wrestling with a decision to save a convict from federal execution. At the end of the episode, he had a Catholic cardinal he'd known for years come to counsel him. The cardinal asked him, "How do I refer to you?" Bartlet insisted that he be called Mr. President. "It helps," explained Bartlet. "It isn't an ego thing. The decisions you have to make in this office, it helps to have the title, to know that you're doing it as the president."

"Mr. President it is, then," said the cardinal.
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rpgamerd00d Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 11:59 AM
Response to Reply #12
14. Owe me a beer - I was gonna say that :)
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Stephanie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:01 PM
Response to Reply #12
19. A fictional example for the fictional president
Edited on Wed Mar-01-06 12:02 PM by Stephanie
Your example concerns an official function of office. George is talking about shooting the shit with his buddies from Midland, eating barbecue, hanging out. It's emblematic of his narcissistic need to constantly have his ego inflated by every person he meets and lord it over the plebes.
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Marr Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:07 PM
Response to Reply #19
25. Agreed.
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Arkansas Granny Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:06 PM
Response to Reply #12
24. Indeed, show respect for the office when you are there in an
official capacity to discuss official matters. But to expect old friends who have been invited to visit to address you as Mr. President in an informal situation strikes me as an ego thing.
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renate Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:26 PM
Response to Reply #12
37. but when he's sitting around with his friends
he's not making decisions as the president.
:shrug:

I remember another episode of West Wing in which Lily Tomlin got her job even though she'd written him a letter disagreeing with him because she granted him the respect of referring to him as "the President." And I could see the point of that, too, just like with the cardinal. But again, she was writing to him in that context.

Another funny thing about this: Bush is supposedly the guy people wanted to hang out and have a beer with. Not so much after all, huh?
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giant_robot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:38 PM
Response to Reply #37
39. Hell, when he's sitting in the oval office he's not making...
...decisions as president. That's Cheney's job.
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Marie26 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:57 PM
Response to Reply #37
40. Imagine that photo-op
Bush, tense, sitting in the midst of blue-collars workers at a Texas bar. The cameras flash as a patron explains his problems getting health insurance. Bush nods & attempts to look interested while his eyes keep darting to the nearest exit. Finally, the worker calls him "Bush" instead of "Mr. President" and Bush angrily & insistently corrects him. I really wish they would try that photo-op - it would end the "Bush is a guy you can have a beer with" line once & for all.
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FreedomAngel82 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 01:04 PM
Response to Reply #12
46. I loved that and the difference is
Bush is doing it for the ego. He doesn't seperate himself at all.
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Stephanie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 01:09 PM
Response to Reply #46
48. He truly believes he is royalty.
Demanding that commoners address you by title even in a private situation with friends is the perfect example.
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warrens Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 11:58 AM
Response to Original message
13. Reminds me of the That's My Bush episode
When he had his old frat brothers up to the White House and staged an execution for their entertainment. Except it was real.
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Harald Ragnarsson Donating Member (366 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:00 PM
Response to Original message
16. It's a fantastic experience for people to be able to come here.
and be able to bask in, what I call, my greatness!"

Lord, this moron sure has a high opinion of himself, don't he?

He really does seem to think God speaks through him or something at this point. I thought it was all schtick.

More evidence: During the Inaugural Parade after 2004, people were ordered not to attempt to look him in the eyes, must keep their eyes averted. That's Royalty crap there, folks. Not American in any way.
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underpants Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:00 PM
Response to Original message
18. He has childhood friends?
that's news to me.
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Marr Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:04 PM
Response to Original message
20. Just what you'd expect from a small man with an elitist mindset.
Edited on Wed Mar-01-06 12:05 PM by Marr
I've always assumed that presidents insist their old friends call them by their first name, at least in private. What sort of delusional wannabee would insist that old friends call him "Mr. President"?

BTW- remember that reporter that Bush snapped at for calling him "sir" rather than "Mr. President"? I recall Bush barking, "who are you talking to?!".
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grytpype Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:05 PM
Response to Original message
21. What a freak.
He really think the sun shines out his ass. Who's going to tell him he's the worst and most unpopular president we've ever had?
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applegrove Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:06 PM
Response to Original message
22. That reminds me of the line from "A History of Violence" when
the psychopath says to his wife "I remember the very day you fell in love with me".
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jimshoes Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:06 PM
Response to Original message
23. I'd be happy to call him
indicted and guilty.
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Orsino Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:08 PM
Response to Original message
26. Then they're not "buddies."
But the myth of *'s normalcy requires that he have childhood friends, and these folks will come when called.
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Stephanie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 01:14 PM
Response to Reply #26
50. they're probably the husbands of Laura's friends
it's impossible that he has any of his own
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genie_weenie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:09 PM
Response to Original message
27. Why do we as Americans have to defer to politicians?
Is it illegal to not call a politician the Honorable so-and-so? (I'm thinking of the f-ing criminal Duke Cunningham) Why should the President get any pomp & ceremony from me? Isn't he just another US citizen bound by all the laws that I am? This smacks of Aristocracy to me...
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Marr Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:15 PM
Response to Reply #27
30. I agree with you completely.
Edited on Wed Mar-01-06 12:16 PM by Marr
I've never understood it, and think I it reeks of aristocracy as well. These are beauracrats, not bishops and cardinals. I don't see why there's any 'protocol' to begin with, and if some elected beauracrat- a PUBLIC SERVANT- insisted that I call him by a fancy title, I'd tell him to piss off.
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Marie26 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:26 PM
Response to Reply #30
36. There's that little thing called
"free speech." We can call him whatever we want. It does make sense, as a matter of etiquette, for people to use his title in offical settings. Making old friends use it is ludicrous. He even gets offended if someone says "sir" instead of using his whole title. I really wonder what would happen if someone addressed him as the "Chimperor"? I would pay very good money to see that!
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genie_weenie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 01:12 PM
Response to Reply #36
49. Respect is one thing but if someone
consistently shows themselves to be criminal and false, it doesn't make much sense to me to defer... I might be able to sneak in and call him the Chimpy the Second, after all I'm a OEF and OIF vet, maybe they'll think I'll be a * defender...
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Marie26 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 02:28 PM
Response to Reply #49
55. A DU undercover agent!
It might be satisfying to try, but probably not worth the trouble. I wouldn't want you to be declared an "enemy combatant" or anything.
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genie_weenie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 01:09 PM
Response to Reply #30
47. Thanks for the reply
I always wondered if I was alone! It just doesn't seem right. I mean it occurs to me that the whole reason we have such ridiculous pomp associated with Congress and the WH is to force people to accept the legitamacy of the Government. Which as I study history is always how Tyrants have tried to overawe their people, with these displays of power and wealth. Maybe it's a limbic system or reptiallian brain thing?
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Stephanie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 01:15 PM
Response to Reply #27
51. smacks of aristocracy is right
George thinks he's King, no doubt about it.
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genie_weenie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 01:20 PM
Response to Reply #51
53. Any idea how the whole thing got ingrained?
I know John Adams and some other early "Federalists" wanted to address Washington as "Your Majesty" but many of the Democratic minded (i.e. Jefferson, Aaron Burr, Madison) derided this suggestion as to much.
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gatorboy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:11 PM
Response to Original message
28. Shoots a hole in that "you can have a beer with Bush" persona, eh?
Like a regular ole Joe....A Joe that demands that you refer to him as President.

"Now get me my damn beer...I'm the President!"
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Marie26 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:14 PM
Response to Original message
29. That interview was great.
He's so down-homey & folksy when he makes all his childhood buddies call him "Mr. President". :rofl:
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PBass Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:19 PM
Response to Reply #29
34. He "big-times" people
like when he meets with Gold Star mothers, strides up to them face to face and says "Im George W. Bush, president of the United States of America. I understand you have something that you want to say to me".
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Cha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:17 PM
Response to Original message
32. You mean they don't call him "mr.
Psycho-Monkey boy" like I do? They don't address bush as "The White House Squatter" as he is?

I feel sorry for anyone who is in the farcial position who has to call banana-boy "mr president(sic)"..what a freak show of nature that must be.
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AzDar Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:18 PM
Response to Original message
33. If one chooses to dance with the Devil, I suppose you must let him
call the tune, no?
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LibertyLover Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:20 PM
Response to Original message
35. Good grief
do they have to kiss his pop-top ring too?
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louis-t Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:32 PM
Response to Original message
38. "it's a great joy to see their joy" What a simpleton.
"It's nice to be nice to the nice." -Frank Burns
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Stephanie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 02:21 PM
Response to Reply #38
54. noblesse oblige
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Rocknrule Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:57 PM
Response to Original message
41. He only has friends the way Voldemort has friends
They are nothing more than fearful followers
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iconoclastNYC Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:57 PM
Response to Original message
42. Victor Ashe makes W call him "SIR"
LOL.
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Stephanie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 03:51 PM
Response to Reply #42
57. you bad!
:spank:
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iconoclastNYC Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 03:55 PM
Response to Reply #57
58. HA HA HA
Yeah that's what Victor does to Dubya (the smiley)
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Craig3410 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 12:59 PM
Response to Original message
43. Whereas people like me call him
That fuckwad asshole presidential wannabe.
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WI_DEM Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 01:00 PM
Response to Original message
44. Well he was getting tired of them calling him "Mr. Asshole"
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FreedomAngel82 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 01:02 PM
Response to Original message
45. He acts like only priviledged people get to go to the White House
Newsflash to George: it isn't your house but OUR HOUSE!
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Marie26 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 02:37 PM
Response to Original message
56. Interesting comment
Edited on Wed Mar-01-06 03:01 PM by Marie26
This isn't really related, but Bush kind of inadvertantly reveals a lot about Barbara Bush here:
"But one of the reasons I'm standing here is, I'm convinced, is because my dad gave me a great gift which is unconditional love." Wouldn't someone normally say their parents?
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Lisa Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-01-06 07:42 PM
Response to Original message
59. Being called "President Bush" or "sir" makes him snippy!
http://www.dubyaspeak.com/incidents3.phtml
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