For having more integrity than almost every right-wing blogger out there (admittedly, a low bar):
Michelle Obama has a new defender from those who say she isn’t patriotic enough — First Lady Laura Bush. In an interview with ABC News, Bush said that Obama’s February remark that she was proud of the United States “for the first time in my adult life” was misconstrued.
“I think she probably meant ‘I’m more proud.’ That’s what she really meant,” Bush said from Afghanistan.
“You have to be really careful in what you say because everything you say is looked at and in many cases misconstrued,” she said.
Good for her.
rob!
absolutely good for her. that’s class.
btw, i just saw one of the idiot reporter talking heads they have on MSNBC, in a segment about Michele Obama, say “…and there’s supposedly a tape of her saying ‘whitey’…which probably doesn’t exist.”
THEN WHY DID YOU BRING IT UP, YOU F**KING MORON??
you know, i once f**ked Scarlett Johannsen…
(…that probably isn’t true)
Zifnab
WHY DOES LAURA BUSH HATE AMERICKA!?!
She’s always been more candid and less aggressive than her husband’s political party would have her become. Laura is probably the smartest person inside half a mile of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. I’m honestly not surprised she’s taking the non-asshole approach.
Zifnab
/me eagerly awaits the tape’s release.
Scarlett Johannsen banging rob! would be both hot and a very big deal. I’m going to tell all my friends and create, like, a fan site or something. If this tape exists, it could totally make or break rob!’s Hollywood career. Or expose him as a secret muslim, depending on whether or not he does it missionary style and faces Mecca.
Pug
Props to Laura.
I usually don’t have a problem with candidate’s wives, but Republicans sure do. They have attacked Kitty Dukakis, Hillary Clinton, Theresa Kerry and, now, Michelle Obama. Seems to be a pattern they’ve developed. And a pretty disgusting one at that.
Democrats, for some reason, haven’t attacked wives, even though Cindy McCain could be a pretty soft target given some of the things she’s done. Imagine if Michelle Obama had been a drug addict and was caught stealing prescription drugs from a children’s charity. Think right-wingers would use that info?
rob!
Zifnab-
i like the way you think.
if we can start a rumor like that on the web, and it develops legs, then maybe we can force Scarlett to have to DENY it, getting me one step closer…
(though my girlfriend would most likely object)
Punchy
My Understatement Meter just exploded.
b. hussein canuckistani
I’m sure your girlfiend would be proud to be able to snag someone hot enough to do Scarlett. Isn’t it just like saying that you think she’s just as hot as Scarlett Johannsen?
DannyNoonan
A comment like that shows insight, understanding and some sense of decency. Jesus. She must cry herself to sleep every night when looking at her husband.
LanceThruster
Thank you, Pickles (sincerely). I’m sure a lifetime of having to explain away many of Shrub’s gaffes gives one unequaled expertise in these matters.
AkaDad
Everyone in the know, knows that Laura has always been a closet Liberal. Not surprised.
Billy K
Laura’s such a tease. Every once in a while she throws “The Left” a bone to make us think she ain’t so bad.
Billy K
Wishful thinking. (I wish it too.)
jake
She’s also been quoted as saying she admires Hillary Clinton’s grit and determination. This can only mean one thing:
We must find the tape of the HOT LAURA, HILLARY, MICHELLE THREE-WAY!
Pardon me, were you trying to eat lunch?
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
Well, I for one take this as unequivocal evidence that the Bush family is endorsing Barack Obama for President.
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
UPDATE: I just got off the phone with Mrs. Bush’s Chief of Staff, and they are endorsing Barack Obama for “Preznit”, not “President”.
Cris
I am impressed. That’s a pretty compassionate comment by the First Lady. She obviously knows what it’s like.
On the other hand — and I’m sorry to belabor this old non-story — I don’t actually agree with L. Bush’s explanation. I don’t think Michelle Obama meant “more proud.” I think she meant exactly what everyone thinks she meant: up to know, she’s never really felt proud of her country.
The problem here is the way wingers use the word “proud.” They think that if you love this country, if you appreciate the immense benefits you get from living here, if you wouldn’t trade it for any place else, that you also have to be “proud to be an American.” But like George Carlin said:
By demanding that everyone who cares for this country has to declare their pride for it, they debase the notion of pride itself. If you give your pride away for nothing, it’s not worth anything.
Svensker
The Hub watches Fox News in the morning (to get his blood pressure in high gear for the day) and they were saying that Laura Bush was trying to BE NICE to Democrats so that the LIEBRUL MEDIA wouldn’t be so mean to poor widdle Repubs like they have been for the last 7 years but it WOULDN’T WORK, so Laura should just stop it.
Also, McCain’s campaign people were trying to do the SAME THING and were being soft on Obama by not bringing up Wright, Rezko and the 60s Terrorist Bomber Commie Guy, and that WOULDN’T WORK either, because the LIEBRUL MEDIA would just be mean to McCain and the Poor Repubs. So all Repubs better start being mean to Dems and Obama because Dems and Obama are lying scum who control the media and want the U.S. to be a Socialist Terrorist paradise.
Paraphrased only slightly.
Octavian
Mrs. Bush has always been pretty classy. Hell, even Alexander Cockburn likes her.
Leo
I don’t under stand why everyone is focusing on whether the tape of Rob! and Scarlett Johannsen really exists.
Given what we already know of Rob!, he almost certainly has fucked Scarlett Johannsen at some point. Whether there is any tape of it is really beside the point.
The Other Steve
Isn’t Fox News part of the LIEBRUL MEDIA?
rob!
i’m putting that on my resume under “references.”
RSA
I think what we know of rob! is irrelevant–Scarlett Johannsen has doubtless expressed affection for someone of the same skin color as rob!, which is conclusive proof of his conquest.
cleek
my country: right or wrong.
passerby
Mine too.
Laura Bush admitting the obvious, rivers and seas boiling, dogs and cats living together…MASS HYSTERIA!!
T
ThymeZone
OT, but omfg, I hope you all are listening to Obama’s speech on the economy.
John McCain needs to just concede now and get it over with.
This is going to be an historic ass-whipping.
Neal
A) I’ve always liked Laura. Her husband is dumber than a box of hammers but I have always liked her. She can be my librarian anytime.
B) I am now distracted by the thought of ScarJo expressing affection. Damn it.
ThymeZone
Man, I have heard some bitchslap political speeches before, but this hurt that Barack is putting on McCain right now is taking it to a new level.
Over. This contest is over.
jenniebee
And even if this turns out not to have any basis in fact whatsoever, what does it say about Rob! that we believe in its truthiness?
libarbarian
The intertubes are boring today.
montysano
ThymeZone said:
Let’s hope you’re right, but I think you’re getting over-confident. The 28% that make up the harcore knuckledraggers are in the bag for McCain. Then there’s another group of Repubs that will vote McCain even though they know that Bush has been a disaster (the Party-Over-Country Crowd).
McCain owns 40%+ of the vote, no matter how obviously lame and confused he is.
pantiesinabunch
Good for her, but….
From Afghanistan? Reuters?
Seriously, no main stream US media person had the opportunity to ask her about this before now?
Punchy
You know who’s not too misconstued? Olmert.
Ladies and Gents, I give you……war with Persia
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
I half to agree with montysano here.
You could run an old dog turd in a flaming paper sack, with Pat Buchanan’s collection of NSDAP memorabilia thrown in for grins-n-giggles, and get 40% of the vote in this country. We have to work to get the other 10% that is still reachable. The rest are hopeless.
Zifnab
Would it be irresponsible to ask whether a tape exists? I dare say, it would be irresponsible not to!
/Dowd
rob!
–Bay Buchanan, of all people.
gypsy howell
TZ, I missed the speech (maybe I can catch it later on Youtube), but I wondered aloud in another thread if McCain’s campaign was even going to make it to the convention.
Not that the republicans have a lot of better choices. Maybe they just figure they’d let old Mavericky McMaverick be the one to go down with the ship this go round. They never liked him anyway.
crw
Don’t be so sure of that. The Republican base is fragmenting because you have a number of factions who hate each other. The only thing that’s been holding them together is mutual hatred of anyone with a D after their name. Think back to 2004 – mutual hatred of an enemy is a great way to fire up the hard core base, but unless you have a well defined platform and forward looking vision, you aren’t going to be able to expand beyond that base.
I think part of McCain’s flip flopping is he’s trying to please all these factions, AND he’s trying to get moderate swing voters. The result is self contradictory mush. This year, the Republicans lack that consistent platform and forward looking vision because the conservative movement is spent. They just can’t agree where to go next.
Also, there’s 5 months between now and November and Democrats are hugely outstripping Republicans in new voter registrations this year. We shouldn’t take anything for granted, to be sure, but we also shouldn’t forget McCain by far has the tougher row to hoe.
AkaDad
FTFAccuracy
Genine
That rob!’s a Mack Daddy of the highest order? A Playa’s play? An OG?
All of which would make excellent references, depending on the job being applied for, btw. ;)
The Moar You Know
Bob Dole 1996 = John McCain 2008
May I humbly suggest “digging a trench to the 19th century” as the new McCain campaign slogan, to replace the one he stole from Obama.
cleek
here’s the text of O’s speech today.
Thelonius
I think it says he’s really Rick Astley.
gypsy howell
The funny thing is, McCain gets screwed again by Bush. First in 2000, with all that “black baby/ PTSD psycho” stuff, and then again in 2008 by the sheer idiocy of following in Bush’s footsteps. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving
personsleazebag.Jess
Very nice! Maybe we could commission some bumper stickers?
w vincentz
TZ,
Barack’s speech was quite the McSame ass whuppin’.
Too bad Andrea (fuckin’ clueless) had to cut it off.
Perhaps GE got a bit upset that he was hittin’ too close to the mark (defense contracts that need to be protected, doncha know). Then followed by Trent Lot (nice hair piece guy), switching the subject to “religion”, Dobson, BULLSHIT.
MSNBC should be ashamed for cutting Barack’s speech off.
Oh, (a funny)…a name I won’t forget, Cockburn. Especially when found in the same thread as Scarlett J.
Yup, I’d die burnin’ but smilin’.
Jill
Every now and then, when they take Pickles off the Thorazine, she says something that makes you think she may be an actual human being who’s held prisoner by the Bush Crime Family. Imagine being her age and this is a big rebellion.
Tsulagi
Read the post, was thinking of a comment, but then read a few of the earlier comments. Got distracted. Can’t think about Laura Bush now.
Hmmm, best lips/mouth…Scarlet Johannsen or Angelina Jolie? Oh to be a uniter with those two.
HumboldtBlue
Well, Laura may know of what she speaks, this photo essay on the other hand is worth taking a look at.
HumboldtBlue
http://www.scouttufankjian.com/main.php
Richard Bottoms
Laura “vehicular manslaughter” Bush’s opinion don’t matter so much to me.
Thepanzer
It says a lot about George Bush, the EPIC FAIL of the century, that he is such a bumblefuck and is so crushingly unpopular/incompetent that he has to send his wife on his behalf to bargain with a country that believes women are little better than livestock.
Words can’t describe how much this ratfucker has screwed our nation.
jake
Tsk! How crass. According to Emily Post the proper phrase is “I’d like to be the meat in that sandwich.”
SamFromUtah
I could never understand national or ethnic pride, because to me pride should be reserved for something you achieve or attain on your own, not something that happens by accident of birth.
I totally agree with the Carlin quote here. cf. the Vonnegut concept “granfalloon”.
Anonymous
Enough with the McCain bullshit. This is a Laura Bush thread. Does she seriously look like she’s hepped up on mama’s lil’ helpers these days or what?
Charity
Well. How refreshing. Thank you, Mrs. Bush. Very decent of you.
DougJ
I give Laura credit for this, but what’s she got to say about the Rachel Ray terrorist scarf controversy?
HRA
Librarians are mostly liberal. It wwould not be a surprise if Laura Bush does lean towards being a liberal. Yes, it was very nice of her to defend Michelle Obama.
Latest I saw about McCain was his comment on Putin being president of Germany. RNC – you have a problem.