{"id":71,"date":"2010-11-05T00:20:00","date_gmt":"2010-11-05T00:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ethanlewis.org\/icarus\/2010\/11\/05\/its-a-small-world-after-all\/"},"modified":"2019-03-31T09:43:34","modified_gmt":"2019-03-31T13:43:34","slug":"its-a-small-world-after-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ethanlewis.org\/icarus\/2010\/11\/05\/its-a-small-world-after-all\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s A Small World After All…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes I like to play the “What Do They Have In Common” game.\u00a0 Like, it’s cool to know that the members of Steely Dan and Larry Hagman all went to Bard College.\u00a0 Or that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4, 1826, 50 years to the day after they signed the Declaration of Independence.\u00a0 Or that Carol Channing and Joe Namath were both on Richard Nixon’s enemies list <\/a>(and, presumably) both wore pantyhose.\u00a0 But every so often, something new pops up that amuses and amazes in the same breath.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

This past week, former President George Bush (the two term one, who started two unnecessary wars, not the one term one who only started one and a half unnecessary wars–remember Panama?) was making the rounds of tv shows to flog his upcoming new book<\/a>.\u00a0 In a conversation with NBC “news” host Matt Lauer, Forty-three described some of the most pivotal moments in his time in the White House<\/a>.\u00a0 According to the former POTUS, Hurricane Katrina marked a new low; well, not exactly<\/i> the hurricane…<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

BUSH ON KANYE WEST:\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
MATT LAUER:<\/b><\/span>
\nAbout a week after the storm hit NBC aired a telethon asking for help for the victims of Katrina. We had celebrities coming in to ask for money. And I remember it vividly because I hosted it. And at one part of the evening I introduced Kanye West. Were you watching?<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:<\/b><\/span>
\nNope.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
MATT LAUER:<\/b><\/span>
\nYou remember what he said?<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH<\/b>:<\/span><\/div>\n
Yes, I do. He called me a racist.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
MATT LAUER:<\/b><\/span>
\nWell, what he said, \u201cGeorge Bush doesn\u2019t care about black people.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:<\/b><\/span>
\nThat\u2019s \u2014 \u201che\u2019s a racist.\u201d And I didn\u2019t appreciate it then. I don\u2019t appreciate it now. It\u2019s one thing to say, \u201cI don\u2019t appreciate the way he\u2019s handled his business.\u201d It\u2019s another thing to say, \u201cThis man\u2019s a racist.\u201d I resent it, it\u2019s not true, and it was one of the most disgusting moments in my Presidency.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
MATT LAUER:<\/b><\/span>
\nThis from the book. \u201cFive years later I can barely write those words without feeling disgust.\u201d You go on. \u201cI faced a lot of criticism as President. I didn\u2019t like hearing people claim that I lied about Iraq\u2019s weapons of mass destruction or cut taxes to benefit the rich. But the suggestion that I was racist because of the response to Katrina represented an all time low.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:<\/b><\/span>
\nYeah. I still feel that way as you read those words. I felt \u2018em when I heard \u2018em, felt \u2018em when I wrote \u2018em and I felt \u2018em when I\u2019m listening to \u2018em.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
MATT LAUER:<\/b><\/span>
\nYou say you told Laura at the time it was the worst moment of your Presidency?<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:<\/b><\/span>
\nYes. My record was strong I felt when it came to race relations and giving people a chance. And\u2013 it was a disgusting moment.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
MATT LAUER:<\/b><\/span>
\nI wonder if some people are going to read that, now that you\u2019ve written it, and they might give you some heat for that. And the reason is this\u2013<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:<\/b><\/span>
\nDon\u2019t care.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

In other words, in an interview in which he describes his DUI arrest, the decision to go to war in Iraq and other key moments of his life, George Bush says that the “worst moment of his Presidency” was when a rap star who 60% of Americans (and 124% of Republicans) wouldn’t recognize if they saw on the street said he “didn’t like black people”.\u00a0 Wondering what else was in contention among the low moments of Bush’s time in office I put my crack research staff (a\/k\/a my memory) to thinking of a few other options.\u00a0 Here is what we found:<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n


<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. the economy tanking in his final months as President\u00a0<\/a>including oil rising to $100\/bbl; the US going from a surplus to six trillion dollars in debt, and entering the worst recession since the 1930’s.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. rising unemployment<\/a><\/span>
    \nunemployment rising from less than 4% to over 8% and the loss of millions of jobs.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. not finding the<\/a>\u00a0WMOD<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n
  4. not finding Osama Bin Laden<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Hurricane Katrina <\/a>(the part where people drowned and a city was destroyed, not the tv show)<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. oh yeah, and September 11, 2001<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Another noteworthy part of the interview (airing on your GE or Comcast owned network Monday, November 9th) was when Mr. Bush described topic number 3, above:<\/span><\/p>\n

    MATT LAUER:<\/span>
    \nYour words. \u201cNo one was more sickened or angry than I was when we didn\u2019t find weapons of mass destruction.\u201d You still have a sickening feeling when you think about it.<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:<\/span>
    \nI do.<\/span><\/div>\n

    This Bush guy sure feels sick a lot, doesn’t he?\u00a0 Hopefully the $7 million advance he received for the book<\/a> can buy all the Pepto-Bismol he needs.<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \nSpeaking of advance sales, and finally getting to the point of this post, singer-songwriter ingenue     Taylor Swift is coming out with a new album<\/a> at the same time as President Bush’s book.\u00a0 Among the songs on the nation’s number one selling record is “Innocent” which details Ms. Swift’s upstaging on the MTV Music Video Awards show by none other than Kanye West<\/a>.\u00a0 Young Taylor Swift seems mature beyond her (20) years when she sings<\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
    Thirty two and still growing up now<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    Who you are is not what you did<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    You’re still an innocent<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    Time turns flames to embers<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    You’ll have new Septembers<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    Every one of us has messed up too<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    Minds change like the weather\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    I hope you remember<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    Today is never too late to.. be brand new.<\/span><\/div>\n

    \u00a0So yes–I’m sure this still hurts Taylor Swift, but she is able to forgive and move on.\u00a0 Hopefully George Bush will download a copy to listen to on his iPod when he goes back to the ranch to clear brush.\u00a0 But deep down, I wonder if, when SHE is old and washed up, if Taylor Swift will one day be asked to name the low point in HER career.\u00a0 And wonder if she’ll say: “that time that Kanye shoved me on tv and said Beyonce should have won for “Single Ladies”…<\/span><\/p>\n

    <\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n

    Views: 214<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Sometimes I like to play the “What Do They Have In Common” game.\u00a0 Like, it’s cool to know that the members of Steely Dan and Larry Hagman all went to Bard College.\u00a0 Or that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4, 1826, 50 years to the day after they signed the Declaration […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[153,142,338],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-george-w-bush","category-kanye-west","category-taylor-swift"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ethanlewis.org\/icarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ethanlewis.org\/icarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ethanlewis.org\/icarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ethanlewis.org\/icarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ethanlewis.org\/icarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.ethanlewis.org\/icarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":478,"href":"http:\/\/www.ethanlewis.org\/icarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71\/revisions\/478"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ethanlewis.org\/icarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ethanlewis.org\/icarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ethanlewis.org\/icarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ethanlewis.org\/icarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}