tweety time -- nah he still likes the frat boys

Doesn't sound like much of an apology. The "Maybe" certainly undercuts the impact wouldn't you say?

I was wrong might be a better way to start.

Frankly, the mystery is how a clearly ignorant man ever got nominated by a major political party, and ever made it to the White House.

or even better - how did a clearly ignorant man ran for the White House - and the other party decide not to use the fact? Or even better how the supposedly brilliant strategists of one party thought that it would be a good idea not to go negative on an ignorant candidate?

But is that a wise basis for choosing a president?

if you're a dim-witted, fraidy-cat, intellophobe, it's as good a reason as any other you're likely to have.

Maybe Americans prefer to have a beer and burger with the charming frat boy to the student who always does his homework. But is that a wise basis for choosing a president?

That's crazy talk.

Shorter Margaret Carlson: After 5+ years of Bush screwing up the planet with incompetence and corruption, I'm finally willing to consider the ideas of someone I helped bring down because I could profitably make fun of him.

Well it's good to know there is some limit to her shallowness.

Who the fuck is Margaret Carlson calling a nerd?

Maybe Americans prefer to have a beer and burger with the charming frat boy to the student who always does his homework.

To each his own, I guess.

Yuck yuck.

What next?

You gonna tell me Gore created the Internets?

I never understood this whole "I'll vote for the guy I'd rather have a beer with." I don't think real people thought this way until the media started harping on the beer thing.

Normal Americans didn't want to have a beer with President Bush. Normal Americans expect that they will never see the President in person, much less stand in the same room with him, much less shake the President's hand, much less ride on a plane with him, much less spend 5 minutes with him, much less get to ask him questions.

Normal Americans don't expect that in a million years, they'd ever have a beer with the President.

But DC journalists? They expect they will. Or, at least, have a beer with the President's people. They know this guy's personality is going to influence the day-to-day of their job for the next 4 years. So they pick the President they think will make the office more fun--or at least, less of a drag.

And then they tell the American people that it was the people's choice. The people wanted the jokey guy who made the office a more fun place, not the boring guy who liked to work.

DC media invented this whole beer thing because it made them feel better about wanting the fun President to win. They could blame it on the American people's shallowness (especially them red-staters!), not their own.

I don't see, in a democracy, how you get around the issues Carlson raises, for in the end, aren't all elections just popularity contests?

Sorry, Margaret. Too late. Fuck you.

I'm not sure it was just the whole frat-boy vs student thing that sank Gore.

It was partly because the frat-boy said he'd give people cash to go buy big TVs, while the student wanted to invest the money for their retirement. What Nascar fan wouldn't prefer the big TV?

Me, I have always despised and thoroughly been disgusted baggerscum. Most of 'em are morons, and they have too much money. I worked my way through college on my way to my Ph.D. washing dishes in a fraternity, and I was treated like a servant, never like a person doing a job. The one saving grace was that one of these repellant creatures had a really excellently cute girlfriend who would come down on Sunday in a bathrobe.

Baggerscum are like the Americans during WWII: Oversexed, overpaid and over here.

I don't see, in a democracy, how you get around the issues Carlson raises, for in the end, aren't all elections just popularity contests?

Maybe so, thanks to pundits like her, but I'd still rather have a beer with Al Gore than the smirky frat boy.

but I'd still rather have a beer with Al Gore than the smirky frat boy

What's even weirder about the persistence of this analogy is the fact that Bush doesn't even drink. I mean, is there any place in America where O’Doul’s is considered "a beer"?

Pansy-ass frat boy.

Who would you rather have a beer with?

What a stupid, stupid question. What we got was an incompetent dumbass, and what we missed was a boring but articulate, learned candidate.

It's all good, this is all a game. A silly little game.

Peering through the mists of time, I'm thinking I can make out the vague outline of an antecedent to 'competence vs. fratboy' debate. I think it had something to do with the selling of GHWB after 8 years of Mr. Likability and Charm. But alas, the mists are thick, and rosy hued to boot.

Yeah, I'd take Gore over Bush for a beer as well, though don't ask me about Bush vs Kerry.

Can't believe I'm the first one to post the obligatory onion link:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/42590

Shorter Carlson: The media should tilt EVEN MORE to the left to make sure democrat presdents get elected. Our efforts in 2000 were insufficient. We also let down The Party in 2004. Hopefully, we can make it up in 2006.

Gosh yuh think?

Sorry, apology NOT accepted. Gore is not the class nerd. On any objective account he's the class stud, as well as the class leader -- not to mention a fundamentally decent human being with whom this country would be infinitely better off as president. The fucking media whore just couldn't resist the backhanded compliment even while ostensively "apologizing".

Hey Maggie, you skanky, wrinkled, media whore. You know all that bad stuff you listed? You bear partial responsibility for it, bitch.

Kevin, you are too quick to ley bygones be bygones.

How could anyone come up with the word charming to describe this obnoxious, repellent creature. He is totally lacking in wit, real life experience and insight, and is petty and mean. Maybe Margaret wouldn't mind having bushie passed out in a puddle of vomit on her carpet(remember the pretzel) but I wouldn't want the sob anywhere near my house.

Jesus, better trolls please.

American Hawk: If you're being paid to troll here, you should put more effort into it.

If you're doing it for fun, take some pride in your work.

If you're actually serious, I can recommend some nice institutions that'll fix your problems right up.

I hate this shit. You know who I wanted to have a beer with in 2000? Al Gore. Why? Because hanging out with some beers and having interesting conversations with smart people is fun.

Who would I rather have eighteen beers with? Bush, I guess. But that is definitely not a good system for picking a president.

I like what she has to say, but there's an odor of "I made one horrendous, consequential mistake and I want you to still like me."

I dunno she's kinda cute. Is she married?

.... Bush doesn't even drink ....

Pretty sad isn't it?

He couldn't even control that fundamental reflex.

Couldn't find the middle ground even in his own life.

Had to go cold turkey because he's got such a weak personality.

No self discipline.
No backbone.
No ability to self-monitor.

What a miserable fuck-up of a man...

I never got the Bush likability thing. This guy is NOT likable! He's obnoxious! He's a dry drunk with half his brain cells pickled. He's so obviously not a nice guy. What's to like? Someone please explain.

The notion that presidential elections are pure personality contests is a silly, if persistent, one. Were that true, Kennedy -- as likable a president as we've ever had -- would have whupped Nixon's butt, instead of just squeaking by. Humphrey was a bit dorky, but he lapped Nixon in the personality department. Hell, Goldwater was probably more likable than LBJ.

Presidential elections are decided by a preponderance of the evidence (domestic and foreign accomplishments vs. failures) of the incumbent administration, with candidate personality perhaps a contributing factor in very close contests. But even there, Gore outpolled the allegedly appealing Bush.

Carlson et al. still cling to their myths (Gore the worst candiadte ever; Bush one of the best) even while supposedly apologizing.

Speaking of SCLM reporting, check out the headline on google news:

Al Gore takes global warming to Cannes
San Jose Mercury News - 3 hours ago
CANNES, France - Michael Moore has been the American on a mission at the Cannes Film Festival the last few years. This time it's Al Gore, with the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth.". The former US vice president ..

The authors frame their story with an invocation of Michael Moore, that boogey-man of the right. Al Gore is like MICHAEL MOORE!! And how is this not bias against Al Gore?

enzohino stole my line. I'm afraid I have to inform poor little Margaret that no one is likely to mistake her for Angelina Jolie...or Dorothy Parker. And that dumb twat still seems to be wringing mileage out of the whole class president metaphor she was so fond of back in 2000. You know, back when our country didn't suck.

You would think that the 2500 dead soldiers and 1000 dead residents of New Orleans would make her sit up and realize that this ain't high school.

I dunno she's kinda cute. Is she married.
She's single. But she spends most of her time in a van with her three friends and their dog going around the country solving mysteries. No one's gonna nail that woman down.

She's single. But she spends most of her time in a van with her three friends and their dog going around the country solving mysteries. No one's gonna nail that woman down.
heh

No one's gonna nail that woman down.

Ever since that missing weekend she spent with the Harlem Globetrotters she's been a bit of a pariah.

I already have people to drink beer with, thankyouverymuch. I don't need the President to be one of them.

Gee, thanks Margaret. Now, can we have the other half of the confession? "And I and the rest of the American press corps were (and continue to be) complicit in perpetuating a negative and dishonest narrative about Al Gore. Why? Because we really got off on tearing down someone who made us feel inadequate and who didn't stroke our egos."

Until I hear that, it's all just chin music. Your attack on a decent man has literally meant death, dismemberment and agony to tens of thousands of people in Iraq. And that's just the tip of the crimes committed by these corrupt SOBs.

I echo comments above saying I would always prefer having a beer and burger with Al than with Bush. He's smart as a whip, travels the world, has a way with a quip, and enjoys his food. What's not to like? I like talking to people who can tell me something new.

fercryinoutloud

Isn't Carlson the one who admitted that it was fun to dis Al Gore, hence contributing to the effort to make aWol president? Apology not accepted.

The whole likeability thing was a sham, an illusion, dreamed up by the GOP and helped along by an obliging press. George W Bush is not likeable. He gives his staff demeaning nicknames. And apparently they are all afraid to disagree with him,to tell him the truth. Forget likeable. Spiteful and narrow-minded is a more apt description.

Did she really say "a ill-conceived war?" Did she? I guess she was all for making the pie higher, too.

Morat-- It's hard to take columns like this seriously. When a story favors liberals, the media pounds away at it. When a story favors conservatives, the media runs it for a day at most and then it vanishes forever. The Swift Boat Veterans (you know, that group of war heroes the media says it's okay to smear) had to pay for airtime, but their critics were constantly on shows for free. It is true that the media picked on Gore for his massive character flaws, but the notion that the portrayal was a net negative to him is simply laughable on the face of it. The only possible motivation for putting out that lie is to give the media a meta-narrative excuse to gloss over whatever flaws the next democrat candidate has.

The notion that presidential elections are pure personality contests is a silly, if persistent, one. Were that true, Kennedy -- as likable a president as we've ever had -- would have whupped Nixon's butt, instead of just squeaking by. Humphrey was a bit dorky, but he lapped Nixon in the personality department. Hell, Goldwater was probably more likable than LBJ.

Yes and no; personality is but one part of popularity. Many politicians over the years have acquired a following by their willingness to tap into and exploit Great American Myths. One that they go back to time and again is the notion of America as the Perfect Nation, the Shining City On The Hill constantly besieged by barbarians wishing to destroy The American Way Of Life. Nixon understood this, however awkwardly (in fact he probably loathed having to play that game). Ronald Reagan was the master. And GWB and his handlers were able to exploit the myth, especially after 9/11, and save what was almost certainly a one-term Presidency.

massive character flaws What the f are you talking about? You must be confusing him with the little shrub - now there's a guy with massive character flaws we can really get into!

What was serious about Al Gore's campaign in 2000?

massive character flaws What the f are you talking about? You must be confusing him with the little shrub - now there's a guy with massive character flaws we can really get into!

Made me so irritated I couldn't even type the tags in right.

ExBrit--His blind acceptance of the theory of man-made global warming is nearly as bad as ID (except global warming has a more solid base, albeit not at nearly the level the global warming evangelists would have you believe). He's arrogant. He makes rants that make me fear for his mental health. He also was the one who took a democratic election to the court system, although we obviously didn't know that before the election itself.

His infamous chartering of a flight after Katrina is perfect; rather than doing anything useful, he 'rescued' about 200 people after the danger passed and called himself a hero.

Margaret Carlson, author of ``Anyone Can Grow Up: How George Bush and I Made It to the White House''

With her mea culpa, half of the title of the book comes true.

A-Hawk,
Your fabrications about Al Gore can't disguise your transparent attempt to avoid discussing the character flaws of shrublette. Where would we start?
Drunk driving arrests? Going AWOL? Arbusto? Smirking at death row conversions? Wonderful character building experiences that got us into an ill conceived war where thousands of our soldiers have died.

hedley, yes, that was margaret carlson.

american hawk, old-timers here have suffered through some truly stupid trolls - the legendary am, for instance - but you are right in the competition for the stupidest, most ill-informed, most profoundly asinine poster of all time at political animal.

congratulations - i know it took some work to achieve a level of idiocy as profound as yours.

Exbrit:

You didn't address my points. However, I'll address yours anyway:

Drunk driving arrests?

He had one or two misdemeanor arrests in the 70s. He paid his debt to society in accordance with due process. That's on about the same level as, say, smoking pot, as Clinton admitted to doing.

Going AWOL?

No evidence he went AWOL, unless you count forged documents. He was honorably discharged.

Arbusto?

Do you think capitalism is bad? Do you object to him being a businessman? What?

Smirking at death row conversions?

Source? I'd also point out that defining the death penalty is a function of the legislature, and carring it out is a function of the judiciarcy. The liberal obsession with it in Texas is another of those liberal oddities.

Why should I address your points? Kevin's post is about Bush's likeability.

And you didn't address, I notice, the last 5 years of his administration. And, indeed, why would you.

"OK, it's six years too late, but whatever. Apology accepted."

Fuck her and god damm apology.

shorter Margaret Colson:

Yes, I am proving that you are right not to take me seriously as a journalist, as I spew mindless crap out of my mouth and my arse....

Carlson's slamming Bush for "high gas prices" is truly stupid. First, higher gas prices would be a GOOD policy, if it were a policy at all. Gas and other hydrocarbon fuels are too cheap, and the Clinton/Gore BTU tax would have been a great idea. Bush hasn't done anything one way or the other on gas prices. Second, presumably Gore himself would agree - based specifically on the very movie Carlson is writing about - that hydrocarbon fuels ought to be way more expensive than they are now because of the enormous harm they cause. Or does Carlson think Gore is proposing some "energy policy" that deals with global warming AND makes gas cheaper? Do we all get ponies too?

HEH HEH AM Hawk got his peeps mixed up,Son Bushy has the Flaws.Heh heh eh heheh hehh hh.I guess the Righties have stopped paying trolls, Now we get the dumb ass fee lancers.

one asks oneself over and over: do we respond to the idiocy of the american hawks or do we not?'

mostly i opt for not, but every so often i find myself with an extra few moments and can't help myself.

so...of course bush was awol. what's missing is any evidence that he fulfilled his requirements, because he didn't. the not-ever-proven-to-be-forged documents were not about whether he was AWOL or not; they were about whether he was warned about his failure to perform.

the issue with arbusto isn't the vagaries of free-market capitalism; it's about crony capitalism bailing out a loser so that he could get liquid, buy a piece of the rangers, and "earn" the general partner's payoff that paid for the ranch.

and that famous communist, tucker carlson, is the source of the smirk story.

and drunk driving is a danger to society; pot smoking is not. get the difference?

i doubt it.

Smirking at death row conversions?

Source? I'd also point out that defining the death penalty is a function of the legislature, and carring it out is a function of the judiciarcy. The liberal obsession with it in Texas is another of those liberal oddities.

What the hell do you mean "source"? The Tucker Carlson interview where Bush imitates death row inmate Carla Faye Tucker pleading for her life is notorious. And what's up with your strange attempt to pass the buck to the legislature and the judiciary? Bush had the power to pardon her. You may be glad he didn't, but that doesn't mean the power itself is inappropriate.

I don't agree with all of exBrit's points concerning Bush's likeability, but this one is dead-on. Making fun of a woman about to be executed after she asks you for a pardon is contemptable. He could have just said something bland and righteous like "as a Christian, I admire her acceptance of the Lord while in prison, but in this state we have laws and punishments, which I am obliged to uphold etc, etc..."

But he made FUN of the woman. This is typical of the conservative tendency to try to have it both ways: playing the pious prick while really being a giggling, amoral douchebag.

It's not who you'd prefer to drink beer with, stupid - it's who you'd trust to be your heart surgeon. That was the point that the press and the democrats failed to make twice.
And I'm sorry, Kevin, but speak for yourself, 'cos I ain't accepting apologies yet... ;)

I keep saying but it never seems to stick: why would anyone want to drink beer with a dry drunk? Aren't there just a few things wrong with that idea, right on the face of it? It's not a hypothetical -- if you're talking about likability, don't you have to look at the whole condition of the person, for better or worse? And yet every time that trope came up during both elections, no pundit ever bothered to raise any concerns about it.

I mean, Bush is the guy who said his favourte band was the Beatles, "until they went weird". What kind of baby boomer best-friend material is that?

sorry, the first paragraph of my last post was obviously a transmission from whatever world American Hawk lives on.

Why should I address your points? Kevin's post is about Bush's likeability.

And you didn't address, I notice, the last 5 years of his administration. And, indeed, why would you.

.... so, you shouldn't address my points, but I should address yours? I'm done with you, I think. I also like how you want me to apparently every decision made by the federal government for five years in a comment to a blog post.

And what's up with your strange attempt to pass the buck to the legislature and the judiciary? Bush had the power to pardon her. You may be glad he didn't, but that doesn't mean the power itself is inappropriate.

The pardon power is one of the most easily abused, and therefore governors only use it in extreme circumstances. The legislature defined under what circumstances death is an option. The judiciary tried her, and twelve citizens found her guilty. The Board of Pardons and Paroles did not reccomend her sentence be commuted. According to her own words, she orgasmed while commiting murders. There's no dispute that she actually did them.

So, basically, under THAT set of circumstances.... you're criticizing Bush for deferring to the other branches of the government? How very ironic.

So, basically, under THAT set of circumstances.... you're criticizing Bush for deferring to the other branches of the government? How very ironic.

Reread my post, moron. I never criticized Bush for not pardoning the woman. I criticized you for saying the executive has no role in the assignation of when the death penalty is appropriate. By law, in most states he does. Whether you are happy about that is irrelevant.

Bush's sin was in doing a bizarre impression of the murderer who begged him for a pardon. This is not a likeable guy, this is a swamp rat.

Sweaty guy-- That's like critizing the Supreme Court for not striking down a federal law they don't like. In the strictest sense, they have the power to do so, but are trusted to use their restraint in using it. It's very clear you haven't read any of the jurisprudence on how pardons are supposed to work, or their history within the American legal system.

As for the 'impression': He was asked what he said he thought her requesting it might have looked like. He answered. Should he have refused to do so?

congratulations, american hawk: you win! you are the stupidest poster ever! fantastic effort.

what bush was supposed to do was take other people's lives seriously, not treat them as a joke. is that beyond you?

and your other babble about pardons demonstrates that you are a tried-and-true propaganda robot, well-educated in college republican debate tactics but completely clueless about life and reality. good work....

Sweaty guy-- That's like critizing the Supreme Court for not striking down a federal law they don't like. In the strictest sense, they have the power to do so, but are trusted to use their restraint in using it. It's very clear you haven't read any of the jurisprudence on how pardons are supposed to work, or their history within the American legal system.

Whatever. Shorter American Hawk: "Technically you are right, but don't you understand there is a rich tradition here, you uneducated buffoon?!?"

And yes, Bush should have refused such a request. Doing so would not necessarily have been callous, he could have just said he respected but disagreed with the woman's pleas, and that speculation of what those pleas looked like was beneath him. That would have been an immeasurably more statesmanlike approach.

American Hawk and rdw, if separate entities, certainly rank as the most prolific, and most hysterical, trolls ever. Just think if we could harness all that negative, whining energy for the good of humanity! Or if we could at least find them a job or two...

I didn't see an apology in there.

I hate be incivil, but fuck Margaret Carlson. If she and her cohorts hadn't spent so much time tittering and snickering over ginned-up Gore-bashing stories, Bush might never have become president.

Why do they even consider Bush likeable anyway? He seems petty and vindictive, touchy, close-minded, and anyone who would have Rove operating for them is not really a good person. As my mother said, "They like him [Bush] because he's dumb like them." I don't know what the presswanks excuse was.

Look, American Sqawk doesn't believe global warming is real.

WTF do you expect from a clownhole like that?

I have to make some amends to jayarbee over our recent argument about whether the media was fatally biased against Gore, after being reminded of Carlson's warm 'n' fuzzy hairball journalism ...

Bush is in no way a likeable human being -- most of us saw it instantly.

The "have a beer" meme is doubtless a creation of the DC press corps.

That said, Gore *did* run a shitty campaign and could have been elected if he didn't. The media didn't tank him; he ultimately tanked himself.

But Carlson certainly didn't make it any easier.

Heh, so much for "liberal media bias" -- right, Vulture? :)

"My mama done told me / get something for dinner" ...

Bob

It seems like a lot of what one needs to know about George Bush is summed up in the photo at http://z.about.com/d/politicalhumor/1/0/t/Y/bush_yale_righthook.gif

Gail Sheehy's GW profile from 2000 campaign trail illustrated "the fun".

http://www.gailsheehy.com/Politics/polimain_bush3.html

why is my dope dealer so obviously inferior to american hawk's?

i blame affirmative action.

your pal,
blake

Apology accepted.

no it isn't. i hope she is haunted till the day she dies for her complicity in the appointment of george bush.

Arbusto?

Do you think capitalism is bad? Do you object to him being a businessman? What?

Do you think bankruptcy is bad? Do you object to him destroying every business he ever touched while being a trust fund baby? Past performance isn't an indicator of future results, but it's the way to bet.

The pardon power is one of the most easily abused, and therefore governors only use it in extreme circumstances.

Oh puhLEEEZE! When it comes time for Bush to start laying out pardons his toughest decision will be "Signature stamp or auto pen?"

This is typical of the conservative tendency to try to have it both ways: playing the pious prick while really being a giggling, amoral douchebag.

Without the giggling, amoral douchebag vote, the GOP is nothing but a very small third party.

5.5 years with 2.5 to go of bush and his endless destruction/fuckup regime is some monster fucking wrong. it flat out doesn't get any wronger than that. and the real crime isn't even revealed yet: that the same assholes would and will fall for the lies and bullshit to do it all over again. dumb and wrong they will always be.
.

I'll have to agree with Linda. Apology not accepted. Can't forgive careless, lazy people who are not aware of their ignorance and bias.

Many people disliked Gore for all the wrong reasons and liked Bush for all the wrong reasons. They were prey for Karl Rove and may well be prey for the next Karl Rove.

This is typical of the conservative tendency to try to have it both ways: playing the pious prick while really being a giggling, amoral douchebag.

Nice turn of phrase.

Judging from the lack of responses to my question, I guess there was nothing serious about Al Gore's 2000 campaign.

He supposedly is serious now about "global warming." Why didn't he emphasize that issue in the campaign?

What was serious about Al Gore's campaign in 2000?

Judging from the lack of responses to my question, I guess there was nothing serious about Al Gore's 2000 campaign.

Psst!

brian, you're an idiot.

Clearer now?

We should give Margaret a break here. She is endangering her invitations to all the best D.C. parties by writing that. No more brie and chablis at the Rumsfield's for her.

I wish the parties would give us a better choice of candidates. There are 300 million Americans. It seems like one among us would be both smart AND likeable.

brian, how narcissistic can you get? we all recognized your 7:02 as the snotty little remark of a typical right-wing robot, not worth the effort to answer. life is short you know....

I agree, brian. You need to more fully engage the group here. You can't just sit back and expect a response to a question so lazy it's almost rhetorical.

We're here for you, but you just have to show us you're trying, y'know?

Somebody in here referred to the USA as a democracy (as in "...in a democracy..."). Sorry, folks, but the US was still learning how to be one when the Busheviks took over by rigging one election after another... And now? After dumping international treaties and threatening everyone who disagreed with the insane Bush rhetoric? After attacking Afghanistan and occupying Iraq? After all the lies, corruption, torture, destruction and death? Democracy has left the building, people!

create lists of "possible child molesters." And it might work. But would we be OK with the FBI tapping someone's phonejust because they fit a statistical profile? Or staking out their house? Or investigating their friends?

If there was an apology in there, I missed it. For the record, "Oops, I guess he is an incompetent screwup" is not an apology. "I was wrong and I'm so sorry" is an apology.

In any case, neither is worth much at this point.

If in fact an apology was what was actually intended, I'm not even interested in hearing it. I don't care about her regrets, if by some chance they should happen to exist.

Message to Margaret -- do something constructive, something to actually make things better, or STFU.

Thanks -

Judging from the lack of responses to my question, I guess there was nothing serious about Al Gore's 2000 campaign.

No, there was just nothing serious about your question.

...and let me join the legion of commentors in declaring that Carlson's so called "apology" -- and belated acknowledgement of the obvious -- is way too little, way too late.

Amreican hawk:
Here'e the straight story re Bush and Karla Faye Tucker. After you read it, tell me how this doesn't make Bush look like a creep unfit for the Presidency ?

From Devil May Care" by Tucker Carlson, Talk Magazine, September 1999, p. 106

"Bush's brand of forthright tough-guy populism can be appealing, and it has played well in Texas. Yet occasionally there are flashes of meanness visible beneath it.

While driving back from the speech later that day, Bush mentions Karla Faye Tucker, a double murderer who was executed in Texas last year. In the weeks before the execution, Bush says, Bianca Jagger and a number of other protesters came to Austin to demand clemency for Tucker. 'Did you meet with any of them?' I ask.

Bush whips around and stares at me. 'No, I didn't meet with any of them,' he snaps, as though I've just asked the dumbest, most offensive question ever posed. 'I didn't meet with Larry King either when he came down for it. I watched his interview with [Tucker], though. He asked her real difficult questions, like 'What would you say to Governor Bush?'
'What was her answer?' I wonder.

'Please,' Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, 'don't kill me.'

I must look shocked -- ridiculing the pleas of a condemned prisoner who has since been executed seems odd and cruel, even for someone as militantly anticrime as Bush -- because he immediately stops smirking.

'It's tough stuff,' Bush says, suddenly somber, 'but my job is to enforce the law.' As it turns out, the Larry King-Karla Faye Tucker exchange Bush recounted never took place, at least not on television. During her interview with King, however, Tucker did imply that Bush was succumbing to election-year pressure from pro-death penalty voters. Apparently Bush never forgot it. He has a long memory for slights." [Carlson, Talk, 9/99]

[Ed. Note: During the Larry King-Faye Tucker exchange, Tucker never asked to be spared.]

but I'd still rather have a beer with Al Gore than the smirky frat boy

Who'd you rather have a beer with -- the guy who'll get in the car drunk after having too many beers and then drive off plastered out of his mind, or the one who won't?

That said, Gore *did* run a shitty campaign and could have been elected if he didn't. The media didn't tank him; he ultimately tanked himself.

A "shitty" campaign that got him more votes than Bush -- half a million Americans more voted for Gore than for Bush. Let's not buy into Republican spin that he didn't win that election fair and square.

He also was the one who took a democratic election to the court system, although we obviously didn't know that before the election itself.

False. It was Bush, not Gore, who filed the first lawsuit in Florida, on November 11th, when he tried to stop the hand recount of ballot (Siegel v. LePore)

"OK, it's six years too late, but whatever. Apology accepted."

oh, puhleeeze.

Al gore was a good senator, but he was a poor presidential candidate after serving as VP for 8 years. He didn't even carry his own state of Tennessee.

This movie is reminiscent of Gore the Senator, showing great if not complete mastery of a difficult subject. If, after showing the movie and hopefully making a lot of money on it, he can run for president on a campaign message of implementing the solutions for maximum economic growth, he has a good chance of winning.

The problem with Carter's approach to energy was that Carter believed the solution had to intrinsically entail Americans getting used to a lower standard of living. The problem with Gore as candidate in 2000 was that he ran away from the most successful economic policy in recent history, while being indolent and distracted (or something) in the debates.

After showing the movie all over, including reruns on tv and video sales and rentals, Gore should formulate a well-thought-out 5 point plan of growth-oriented solutions for a more prosperous tomorrow. At minimum a really clearly drawn improvement over the Republican energy bill.

On top of everything else, this whole thing is giving beer a bad name. It's not beer's fault we got stuck with W! Leave beer out of it! Beer is one of the very few things about America that has actually improved significantly in the last several years.