November 30, 2003 by s.z.

Visiting Iraq, Feeding the Multitude, Not Accepting Money and Hookers From China: George is NOTHING Like His Brother Neil  Mark Steyn joins in the universal mocking of Neil Bush, but not because it's so much fun.  No, Mark does it to make the point George is probably the finest man who ever lived; well, at least, way better than Bill Clinton. But what do you make of this part of the compare/contrast fest-o-rama: George W is the only one of the Bush boys who is not a Texas native - he arrived in Midland in 1950 as a four-year-old, when his parents bought a house on Maple Street, now said to be worth a little under $15,000.  But, more than any of his siblings, he has imbibed the West Texas spirit. The old Bush house is now worth less than $15,000??  Did the family live in a refrigerator box or a tool shed or something? Or did the fact that George used to live in it cause the cause to depreciate that badly?  Or, is Mark possibly WRONG once again?  (You know, they finished the trial of Beltway Sniper John Allen Muhammad without once mentioning that he was linked to al Queda, like Mark claimed a couple of months ago.) Anyway, here's a paragraph from Elizabeth Mitchell's Revenge of the Bush Dynasty: George W. would spend his formative years surrounded by prosperity, but to a certain extent, Midland wealth was hidden. Since building a home over one-story makes little sense in a land of heat and sandstorms, the mansions hid their extravagances under their petticoats--squash courts were constructed below ground, swimming pools tucked behind high fences. So, somebody should buy that house for less than $15,000 and check for hidden swimming pools and squash courts. (Okay, the Bushes did live in a relatively modest suburban tract home from 1950-51, while waiting for the mansion to be built; it cost $7500 back then.  If it hasn't doubled in price in 50 years, then there is something seriously wrong with the real estate market in Midland.  But maybe Mark was referring to CANADIAN dollars . . .meaning the house is worth about $50 U.S. money.)  Mark also says, after commenting on Neil's fantastic luck with women while doing business in Asia (he just opened his hotel door, and women came in and had sex with him), that it's hard to imagine George availing himself of free hookers.  Yes, it IS hard, because the thought of a naked George Bush makes one kind of queasy. It's hard to imagine Dubya enjoying the services of Thai hookers, not only because, until the Apec summit a few weeks back, he had never been to Thailand but also because he has hardly spent a night away from Laura and, even when he does, he generally turns in at nine. It's good to know that even though George HAS spent many nights away from Laura while doing fundraising this fall, he goes to bed before the prostitutes start work, and so could never get into trouble.  No wonder Mark considers him a Christ-figure. 2:23:31 AM

A Mindless Walk Into a Cul-de-Sac Thanks to this article ("Bush's Go-To Guy") about Bill Frist, we know who that "Senate Slumber Party" was designed for:  Earlier this month Frist staged a 39-hour talkathon on the Senate floor to harangue the Democrats on the judges they blocked. The gabfest infuriated Daschle, who claimed Frist double-crossed him. Daschle had agreed to Frist's request to keep the Senate working through Veterans Day so it would have more time to clear its usual backlog.  Only later did he learn that Frist also planned to use the week's extra time for a Republican telethon to promote conservative justices.  Daschle dismissed it as a "colossal waste of time"—the judges remained blocked—and Democratic whip Harry Reid accused Frist of "amateur leadership."  Many Republican Senators privately admitted that "it was a mindless walk into a cul-de-sac," as one put it, "designed to appeal to the 20% of our base that listens to Rush Limbaugh every day."  Still, Frist had done what he set out to do: appease the restless troops on the right. So, the Bloviathon was a celebration in honor of Rush's return from rehab.  Makes sense to me. 1:23:03 AM

And Nicholas D. Kristof has the winners in his "Name That War" contest.  My favorites were "The Empire Strikes Out," "Trek 2: Wrath of Neo-Khan," and "Blood, Baath and Beyond." 1:13:44 AM

This was my favorite bit in Tim Greening's article titled Avoid these bad holiday specials:  -- In 1897, young Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the New York Sun asking if Santa Claus was real, and the response by editor Francis P. Church became the beloved holiday classic Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus. In this updated version, the same question is posed to newspaper columnist Ann Coulter and the result is Fox News Channel's first Christmas special, Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus and He's a Filthy Liberal Traitor with No Love for This Country.   1:08:03 AM