While we usually think of our Vice President as having the corner on
the market, apparently President Bush is quite adept at leaving verbal
droppings himself. These are from the Friday, January 17, 1992 New York
Times (page A28):
"I hope I stand for anti-bigotry, anti-Semitism, anti-racism."
- President George Bush
Notes:
* This one has been attributed to V.P. Quayle in this group in
the past.
* The article went on to add that Mario Cuomo replied to this Bush
slip-up by saying he was relieved that the President did not go on
to insult Italians by saying he was anti-pasto.
"For seven and a half years I have worked alongside him, and I am proud
to be his partner. We have had triumphs, we have made mistakes, we have
had sex."
- then Vice President Bush during his 1988 campaign, enthusiastically
describing his relationship with President Reagan.
Some Bush quotes from the latest NEWSWEEK (January 27, 1991, p.
18-19).
On the recession: "The guy over there at Pease -- a woman, actually
-- she said something about a country-Western song, you know, about
the train, a light at the end of the tunnel, I only hope it's not a
train coming the other way. Well, I said to her, well, I'm a
country-music fan. I love it, always have. Doesn't fit the mold of
some of the columnists, I might add, but nevertheless -- of what they
think I ought to fit in, but I love it... But nevertheless, I said to
them you know there's another one the Nitty Ditty Nitty City -- that
they did. And it says if you want to see a rainbow you've got to
stand a little rain. We've had a little rain. New Hampshire has had
too much rain. A lot of families are hurting."
On having faith: "Somebody said ... we prayed for you over there.
That was not just because I threw up on the prime minister of Japan
either. Where was he when I needed him? But I said, Let me tell you
something. And I say this -- I don't know whether any ministers from
the Episcopal Church are here. I hope so. But I said to him this.
You're on to something here. You cannot be president of the United
States if you don't have faith. Remember Lincoln, going to his knees
in times of trial in the Civil War and all that stuff? You can't be.
And we are blessed."
His wife: "Everybody's talking about where's Barbara, we miss her
very, very much. And I told her I didn't need her here, I was not
going to throw up. How many people here have had the flu? ... I'd
like a loan because it cost a lot to dry-clean a suit over there in
Japan and the prime minister had a nice expensive one."
His health: "So don't feel sorry for -- don't cry for me,
Argentina. We've got problems ... and I am blessed by good health."
His opponents: "I am sick and tired ... of these carping little
liberal Democrats jumping all over my you-know-what."
On Extending unemployment benefits: "If a frog had wings, he
wouldn't hit his tail on the ground. 'If.' Too hypothetical."
From _Time_ of 20 January 1992:
"Even good old-fashioned American competitiveness may not be enough to
crack the market in a society where stylized rituals still predominate
in business as well as pleasure.
"Last week in Kyoto, Bush watched eight men in brightly colored robes
demonstrate an ancient Japanese game called _kemari_, in which players
use their feet to keep a large deerskin ball inside their small circle
without ever letting it touch the ground. The object of the
1,300-year-old game is not so much to win as to display proper form
and correct etiquette.
"The President watched the less-than-riveting spectacle for a while,
then impulsively threw himself into the contest. Without regard for
the players' harmony, or _wa_, Bush entered the circle (strike 1), hit
the ball with his head, soccer-style (strike 2), and kicked it out of
the circle completely (strike 3).
"At game's end, while the Japanese players politely tried to mask
their dismay, he shouted: `We won! We won!'"
(
geocities.com/hanson_c)