No, it was just Arnold being Arnold. Nixon has been being "rehabilitated" for years. He worked hard at it until his death, and for a long time he's gotten the occasional article about his presidency that goes out of it's way to dwell on the positive things he did during his time in office, and also going out of it's way to not address what got him thrown out. I think he would be seen, as odd as it sounds, as too moderate for today's Republican Party. Arnold is too moderate as well. But that's what the Republicans are selling at their convention, as cynical and dishonest as it is... moderation. I'm a big fan of Arnold the actor and the guy. I wish he were a Democrat. He would make a far better President than Bush, if he could run. Of course, that wouldn't take too much. Not much at all.
On topic, here's an "overview" of the reaction of the Bush twins and their moment at the convention from the Washington Post... Sister Act Wednesday, Sep 01, 2004; 8:40 AM NEW YORK--I don't want to be unfair to Jenna and Barbara. Growing up in a fishbowl isn't easy. But to paraphrase what Jay Leno said to Hugh Grant after his little escapade with a street hooker: What the hell were they thinking? And what was the person who vetted their speech thinking? Sex jokes about former first lady Barbara Bush? I've been covering conventions a long time, and this might have been the weirdest moment since George McGovern gave his acceptance speech at 3 a.m. I mean, it looked like a video you would make in your basement, and then show only to your closest friends. To judge by the reaction of the scribes around me, already pumped up by Arnold, it was cringe-inducing. Maybe they were trying to appeal to the Paris Hilton crowd. Fortunately, their mom gave a nice speech to round out the evening. I thought I must have been living on a different planet when Fox's Chris Wallace started gushing over how the young women had been funny, sexy, intelligent and so on. The reviews were not so kind on the other channels, or in the morning papers. Take the Los Angeles Times: "The Bush daughters, fresh from their booing this week at the MTV Video Music Awards in Miami, came onstage at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday night and introduced a new strategy in the war on terrorism: giggling. . . . "The strategy Tuesday, apparently, was to have sisters Jenna and Barbara humanize and soften the grim-faced Politburo image that dogs the Bush-Cheney campaign, which hasn't made much of an effort to court those young Americans who call it a good day if they've remembered to TiVo 'The Simple Life.' So here they were, girlie and giggly and glammed-up (Jenna in some kind of Juicy couture-looking track suit top over white pants, Barbara in a black cocktail dress). "They told slightly off-color jokes, apparently to drive home the point that, supporting a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage aside, their parents weren't totally freaked out about S-E-X. Her grandmother, Jenna said, 'thinks "Sex in the City" is something married people do but never talk about,' getting the show's name wrong. Barbara said, 'Jenna and I are really not very political.' She's the one who graduated from Yale. "The Republicans, you were reminded, are really good at chest-thumping and flag-hugging, but they ought to stay away from showcasing their privileged, Prada-wearing first daughters until the campaign is over. After the speeches were over, even CNN's talking heads seemed to be struggling to make sense of the sisters' sister act. Judy Woodruff stammered, 'I'm not sure what that was about,' while an incensed Jeff Greenfield called the appearance a 'frankly discordant moment.'" The New York Post, which likes the Republican convention better than it liked the Democrats'--"CONAN THE AMERICAN" is today's banner headline--finds no socially redeeming value in the daughters' shtick: "The Bush twins made their national television debut last night -- with a string of weak one-liners that drew cringes from the crowd and at one point brought a soft rebuke from their grandparents. "The twins, Barbara and Jenna Bush, had the job of introducing President Bush, who in turn introduced First Lady Laura Bush. "For much of their brief time on stage, the twins seemed to amuse themselves more than the crowd." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/nation/columns/kurtzhoward/ It appears that they bombed. No question that Arnold was the star of the night and that Laura came across OK, and better than in 2000.
As a general aside, I always get a kick out of watching people edit their responses to me. Do you know what that move says about them? It says FEAR. It says SELF DOUBT. It says WEAKNESS. Continue.
It was actually a compliment to you that I edited. It says THANK GOD I CAN EDIT. Now take you weak a$$ back to work.
Do you know what that move says about them? It says FEAR. It says SELF DOUBT. It says WEAKNESS. What does it mean when a guy has to constantly proclaim himself the greatest and the strongest. Something about self image? What?
From that article: "Laura's high school friends say she was not involved with sports but had made a habit of dating the most handsome guys from the football and track teams." so how'd she end up w/ this chimp lookin fool
The Bush twins were horrible. If they weren't so bad, I might have kept watching until Laura came on.
Except for balancing the budget for the first time in decades, keeping the peace, fighting terrorism, and being a brilliant statesman. And that is from someone who didn't even vote for him.
I expect them to represent the University of Texas better than a couple of often drunk sorority sisters. OK, OMG, whatever, our dad is like the President and stuff and like the most powerful dude in the world, you know? I don't even have to wait in line at the bar anymore. So awesome.
wow i just watched their speech right now on cspan (was watching Father of the Pride and Scrubs premieres last night) and I think Fiona Apple did a better job at her acceptance speech at the VMAs a few years ago. Horriblllle. I do like Barbara admitting graduating college does not mean you can get a good job these days. this is interesting though Bush gals to see gay vows When Washington-area beautician Erwin Gomez and his longtime partner James Packard celebrate their marital vows with 400 of their closest friends next month, two of Gomez's best customers will probably be in attendance: President Bush's twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara. Yesterday, the 39-year-old Gomez - a makeup expert for the Elizabeth Arden shop in the D.C. suburb of Chevy Chase, Md. - told Lowdown that the First Twins have become devotees of his popular eyebrow waxes over the past few weeks. And, Gomez added, Bush's daughters have expressed an enthusiastic desire to go to Gomez and Packard's Sept. 11 wedding celebration at their home in Laytonsville, Md. "I gave them the party invitation, and they said, 'That sounds great, we'd love to come - it sounds like a lot of fun,'" Gomez said. "The way they reacted, they were very open-minded." Never mind that their father supports a constitutional ban of gay marriages. Heterosexual marriage, Bush said in February, is "the most enduring human institution" and "cannot be severed from its cultural, religious and natural roots without weakening the good influence of society." While Gomez holds the hard-carousing girls in high regard ("so casual and so real"), his disgust for their father's politics is obvious. "I think it's wrong - he has no right to touch that," he said. "He's trying to change the freedom of America. ... History is repeating itself, just like blacks and Jews were discriminated against." Gomez and Packard were "wed" last spring in San Francisco after Mayor Gavin Newsome issued them and scores of others a marriage license. But the legality of such unions has been in question since the California Supreme Court last week declared that Newsome exceeded his authority in sanctioning gay marriages. As for the Bush sisters, "I've done their eyebrows three times - they usually just call my cell and pop in," said Gomez, who also plucks and waxes the eyebrows of Saudi Princess Haifa. Yesterday, the First Twins' spokeswoman, Susan Whitson, had only this to say: "At this point I cannot confirm that the twins are attending. I only comment on official campaign activities."
Your mamma! Seriously, I am not an idiot. Who do you guys think made the "We (heart) Laura" signs for George and Barbara? So folksy. For a minute I thought they were regular people at a high school football game. When they bought the materials do you think they went through the U-Scan line? I was going to vote for W until I saw those signs. No respect for the office.
-Thanks. This guy must have been living in a cave or listening to Rush from 92-00. The budget was balanced, welfare was reformed, we didn't launch any wars based on personal agenda, i mean "miscalculation", we left the next administration with a surplus, we had one of the biggest and longest economic booms in American history, we had high international stature and respect, advanced free trade with NAFTA, etc...Other than that, it sucked though.
Like they say, the Apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Stupidity and low IQ runs in the family. It's a disgrace that in a country of such great people, a complete moron like Dubya can get elected as President. It's astonishing really.
