New Bio Shows President Bush in "Pop Culture Void"

NY Daily News/Drudge ^

[Recovering_Democrat]

The United States is being led by a lowbrow from the upper-crust ghetto, largely unaware of culture — high, pop and maybe even yogurt — a forthcoming biography of President Bush says.

New York Times reporter Frank Bruni, who was assigned to cover Bush during the 2000 presidential campaign and the first eight months of Bush's presidency, describes the 43rd President of the United States as affable and good-natured, but shallow and largely clueless about many aspects of the culture of the nation he heads.

Bruni's book, "Ambling into History," goes on sale March 5, and offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into Bush's interaction with reporters on the campaign trail.

"At long last, the Republican Party had nominated its first baby boomer for the presidency, and the man they had chosen was no more culturally 'with it' than Bob Dole, the septuagenarian previous nominee, had been," Bruni writes.

Bush viewed the musical "Cats" as modern theater at its finest, Bruni writes, and openly admitted that martial artist Chuck Norris was his favorite film actor.

Leonardo Who?

The candidate had never heard of actor Leonardo DiCaprio or television newscaster Stone Phillips — despite the enormous nationwide exposure of both, Bruni writes.

Asked about HBO's smash hit "Sex and the City," Bush thought it was "an inquiry into his erotic and geographic whereabouts," Bruni writes.

Bush, who gets generally positive treatment from Bruni in the book, nonetheless comes off in parts as a stranger to America outside his own upper-class WASP background. When reporters on the campaign trail used words like "vegan" or "yenta," Bush had no idea what they were talking about, Bruni writes.

Bloat Cuisine

Bush bragged to sushi-eating reporters about how good his peanut butter sandwiches were. His snacks of choice on the campaign trail were Fritos and Cheez Doodles.

Though he wasn't familiar with DiCaprio's role in "Titanic," the highest-grossing film ever, Bush knew the "Austin Powers" movies inside out.

Bruni writes that Bush often lifted his pinkie to the corner of his mouth to mimic the Dr. Evil character in the Powers flicks.

Bush, a competitive and ordinarily focused politician, was nonetheless prone to distraction by trivial matters, Bruni writes.

On the night before the South Carolina primary, which Bush desperately needed to win to stop the momentum of Arizona Sen. John McCain, Bush spotted "an attractive brunette" slipping into the hotel room of campaign staffer Matthew Dowd.

Bush, "in a manner more voyeuristic and gossipy than judgmental," became obsessed with asking campaign officials whether Dowd's wife was with him on the trip. (She was.)

On one of the biggest nights in his political career, "Bush was focused on whether one of his deputies was having a little naughty extracurricular fun," Bruni writes.

[Recovering_Democrat]

OH MY GAWWWWWWWWWWWWWD!Our President has never heard of Leonardo DiCaprio?????????????????????????????

CONGRESS
MUST
INVESTIGATE!

For God's sakes....who gives a rat's rearend?? After having a President that didn't know what "is" meant, or even what the truth was, I am DELIRIOUS WITH JOY that G.W. has been concentrating on running his state and the nation instead of engaging in the latest "hip" stuff.

The fact he likes Austin Powers is a bonus for me. The first movie was hilarious.

[MizSterious]

"Lowbrow?" After the white-trash crowd that just vacated the White House, carrying off anything that wasn't nailed down? Lowbrow? Fer cryin' out loud!

[Inkie]

Great minds think alike. See the article about Middle America that I posted just before yours appeared.

[newzjunkey]

I noticed the story doesn't mention that Bush openly eschews television favoring books instead. Funny that, a then governor with a family, is "out of touch" with pop culture (and considered "low brow" for it) in an arena where multiculturalism is all the rage, and where people aren't reading. Seems he's pretty in touch with ranch and Texas culture to me. But that doesn't count--wrong ethnicity?

[Dr. Frank fan]

Actually I thought this was a great piece. It details an overhwhelming number of reasons to like and respect President Bush. Each instance of Bush's "ignorance" (i.e. DiCaprio, Sex and the City), as well as the things he does like (Chuck Norris, Austin Powers, making sure a staffer isn't having an affair), are examples of amazingly positive traits, taste, and concerns.

I'm not sure the writer meant it to come across that way, but... ;)

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

I would really feel better if GW Bush knew the lyrics to all of the Backdoor Boys albums.

[raisincane]

"Low Brow?"!! America is much in tune with high brow, low brow, mid-brow, and now, snow brow. We've been snow browed for 8 long years. We need to get the message out that we have THE message. God Bless America.

[AAABEST]

President Bush in "Pop Culture Void"

As an objective observer of Bush, I find this to be a most endearing quality.

[RonDog]

I'll take "Bible Belt" over "Trailer Trash" EVERY TIME.

[Bommer]

If it's anything, its an inditement on Bush's GOOD TASTE and how bad Hollywood SUCKS!

[BunnySlippers]

I have never seen a Leonardo de Caprio movie (last movie I went to was about 7 years ago) ... nor have I seen Sex and the City. Unlike Drudge I think it is commendable that the President doesn't have time for that trash.

[dalereed]

I have no idea who the "people" he's suposed to know are and I really don't care to know. I haven't wasted my time going to a movie in almost 50 years and rarely watch one on TV.

[ao98]

On one of the biggest nights in his political career, "Bush was focused on whether one of his deputies was having a little naughty extracurricular fun," Bruni writes.

If this deputie had been having an affair do you think Bruni would have ingored it? Of course not, the story would be; Bush aid caught cheating, what does this say about Bush?

[jackbill]

Bush,who gets generally positive treatment from Bruni in the book

Looks like it wasn't necessarily the author of the book who did the hit job on the President, but rather the liberal effete snob, Joe Williams, who couldn't resist every negative in the book. In my experience, Pi$$ants lose every time.

By the way, who is this "Leonardo"? If he's not a member of Al Qaeda, why should President Bush care?

[mystery-ak]

What is *vegan and yenta*?
GW is not alone!

[Engine82]

Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooood

[Illbay]

Whenever I read stuff like this my first reaction is, "good grief, consider the source."

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Re: Yentagate

Boy, Bush didn't know what "yenta" means or who the DiCaprio boy is? Sound the alarm. Civilization is obviously imperiled.

< has been blown by a yenta. Feel safer?

[stripes1776]

This is actually great news. We have a President whose sensibilites have not been dulled by pop culture. No wonder the man is such a capable leader.

[Illbay]

...the things he does like (...Austin Powers..), are examples of amazingly positive traits, taste, and concerns.

Uhhhhh.....

You wanna run that by me again?

[SBeck]

From Amazon, a reviw of the forthcoming book. Given the next to last sentence I'd say that the book is probably pretty even handed.

---

" Frank Bruni, a New York Times reporter, has, in Ambling into History , drawn an informal, evenhanded, largely anecdotal and revealing portrait of George W. Bush, whose presidential campaign he covered. Bruni initially describes Bush as "part scamp and part bumbler," but his respect grows, and he finds that, with the September 11, 2001, bombings, Bush "inherited his true purpose," thereby spurring his emergence as a leader. Bruni is not especially concerned with Bush's political philosophy, preferring instead to relate many "small moments" to show what Bush "looked and acted like on the edges of what was usually considered news." Bruni is at his best when describing--often humorously--the exhausting life of the media corps during a campaign: the 24-hour days, the harrowing deadlines, and the brutish tedium of listening to and reporting on the same speech over and over again, a process he likens to "aerobic stenography." An equal-opportunity cynic, Bruni decries the "superficiality" not only of American politics but the media's coverage of it. This is an amiable and seemingly trustworthy peek behind the presidential dias and into a reporter's notebook. --H. O'Billovich"

---

I look forward to taking a peek at this one.

[irish_lad]

I agree. The nation is better off without the Arkansas hillbillies.

[Eva]

This is too funny. I thought that he was going to say that Bush never heard of Leonardo Da Vinci, not DiCaprio. If DiCaprio and Sex in the City is this author's idea of high brow, hip culture, he belongs back in the eighth grade.

[Moonman62]

On one of the biggest nights in his political career, "Bush was focused on whether one of his deputies was having a little naughty extracurricular fun," Bruni writes.

I guess to a Clymer, cheating on your wife is just a little fun.

[Miss Marple]

Mrs. Bruni should hire a private detective and possibly an attorney.

[DouglasKC]

Asked about HBO's smash hit "Sex and the City," Bush thought it was "an inquiry into his erotic and geographic whereabouts," Bruni writes.

I have not a clue as to what this show is about either...

[IVote2]

I haven't seen a DiCaprio movie either, I have no interest in watching Titantic or Sex in the City.

I also commend Dubya for not knowing who Stone Phillips! This is exhibiting excellent taste in watching television.

[Paul Atreides]

Wow! W's sky-high approvals really have the Clinton War Room desperate. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that I do not want a President who is in tune with the average fat horny frump housewife's entertainment choices. But, it is so much worse than a President using Cuban cigars as dildos and a Junior Senator who only wears the same old ratty pantsuit all the time.

I am reminded of an old saying; if you want to get something done, ask a busy person. If W has so much time on his hands to know about these Tinseltown freaks, then he won't inspire much confidence.

[SBeck]

" I guess to a Clymer, cheating on your wife is just a little fun. "

Don't take this personally, but I learned something a long time ago from someone I consider an absolute genius, my Dad: you never know what goes on behind closed doors.

[mware]

Asked about HBO's smash hit "Sex and the City," Bush thought it was "an inquiry into his erotic and geographic whereabouts,"

Well GW just went up a couple more notches in my book.

[Schakaljager]

oh well, I was dragged to see Titanic and fell asleep half way through, so I don't blame the president for not knowing DiCaprio. but naming Norris as his favorite actor was pretty lame, if I were W., I'd just say no favorites.

[Paul Atreides]

I will never forget the tacky public spectacle of trashy Bill Clinton "auditioning" before the nation, on Arsenio Hall, with that saxophone.

[Kryptonite]

GWB probably doesn't know anything about meth cocktails, speedballs and fisting either . . . good for him and especially for us.

[Inkie]

Better you should be raised in a whorehouse and leverage the Presidency to make you and your sheister wife rich. Silly me.

[Inkie]

Better you should be raised in a whorehouse and leverage the Presidency to make you and your sheister wife rich. Silly me.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Re: Yentagate/DiCapriogate

Is a "yenta" by any chance a New Yawk version of the Yeti?

[Mr. Bungle]

This bio (which obviously intends to mock the President for the sin of pop-culture illiteracy) mocks nobody but the author, and those who might imagine significance in such useless spew. But it will actually serve to remind, at least in flyover country, just how refreshing a departure we've made from our former president ***stain. Who, of course, broadcasted his pop culture awareness so agonizingly often that nobody with any sense could bear to watch him without vomiting.

[altura]

You know what? I blame Drudge for this. Why would he give so much publicity to some hack who combed through this book to find anything derogatory about Dubya.

This just makes up my mind to forego Drudge radio tonite. I usually like to get on the Drudge thread and bash him, but I managed to live without him last week and think I can do it again.

BTW, I find it very hard to believe that the Prez likes Austin Powers. I mean, my son-in-law does, but it is just so cheezy!

[nopardons]

I've never seen this latest vesion of the Titanic going down. I suppose that that somehow makes me a " lowbrow " ? In what universe ? DiCaprio , to quote the British papers, looks like a pubescent girl. Who cares that President Bush is uaware of him and begans, and whar a yenta is ?

After 8 long, weary, immoral, corrupt , horrible years of Slick and his crew, President Bush is a GOD send !

[xp38]

YEAH BABY!!!!

[Diddle E. Squat]

Oh, I think Drudge is a little smarter than you give him credit for. Drudge is simply hastening the self-destruction of this author.

Please don't throw Mr. Bush into the briar patch!

[mel]

Me too about Da Vinci, ha, BTW, does this mean he won't have Hollywood sleepovers in the White House? I want to be void of Pop Culture, I love music, but can't name one song (if you can call them songs) on Billboards hits of the year.. oh perhaps might know a couple about 10%.

[sweetliberty]

You mean you're not concerned that Dubya doesn't know all about Leonardo di Caprio? OMG!! We may not make it through if he doesn't learn these important things. ROTFL!

[Bush2000]

Get ready. The Dems are back selling their "George Bush doesn't know how much a loaf of bread and milk cost -- he's out of touch with the average voter" lies...

[sweetliberty]

"I have no idea who the "people" he's suposed to know are and I really don't care to know.

Well, I guess because he doesn't have his every public appearance decorated by the Hollywood crowd, that makes him out of touch with "pop" culture. What is so special about pop culture that he should be in touch with it anyway?

[Howlin]

Articles like these just kill me; are they HOPING that it will make us not like Bush? For me, it does just the opposite.

Here is an article that I really believe Maureen Dowd MEANT to be snotty; after reading it, I was positive who I was going to vote for!

Cultural Drifter / MAUREEN DOWD

Politics/Elections Editorial Opinion (Published)
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/library/opinion/dowd/100399dowd.html
Published: October 3, 1999 Author: MAUREEN DOWD
Posted on 10/02/1999 23:49:47 PDT by JohnHuang2

October 3, 1999

LIBERTIES / By MAUREEN DOWD

Cultural Drifter

WASHINGTON -- Here are some things you might not know about George W. Bush:

He hasn't gone out to see a movie in the last five years.

He likes Van Morrison.

The last actress who made his heart race was Julie Christie in "Doctor Zhivago."

He doesn't identify with any literary heroes, but is drawn to Paul Newman's defiance in "Cool Hand Luke" and Jack Nicholson's irreverence.

He loved "Cats."

In an interview about culture, W. gamely concedes there are yawning gaps. Baseball, he says, is his favorite "cultural experience." (Like his father, he views cultural questions as some kind of psychoanalysis.)

We're in a van on the way to Reagan airport after his speech to the Christian Coalition.

He has one word for opera: "No." He likes "nice, quiet jazz on the radio." He went to one ballet "and was amazed by the athleticism."

Although some of the Bushes are musical -- his uncle Jonathan was in a Bronx revival of "Oklahoma" in 1958 and his uncle Bucky plays the guitar and sings -- W. is not.

"I loved 'Cats,' " he says brightly.

He said he doesn't watch TV series, just news and sports. "Culturally adrift," he says, making a funny face. "Occasionally, I'll cruise into an A&E biography. The last one I saw was about me."

He avoids cable chat. "Now that I'm the subject, there's no telling what you'll hear about yourself. So I've just chosen not to listen."

He says he's usually asleep by Leno and Letterman, but adds: "They're actually very funny. Even at my own expense."

I asked if he and his wife, Laura, ever fight over the clicker. He says he's mostly doing work stuff or falling asleep. "We're both usually reading instead of battling over flickers."

He did not try to impress his librarian wife when they were dating by reading more. "Our first date was to go play putt-putt golf," he says.

As to literary preferences, he said: "I've always liked John La Care, Le Carrier, or however you pronounce his name. I'm mainly a history person." He's just finished "Isaac's Storm," a history of the Galveston hurricane of 1900, and reads Robert Parker's detective-for-hire stories.

Asked if he likes movies, he says: "Not too much. I like 'em O.K. I haven't been to a movie theater since I've been Governor. We occasionally rent movies. We've got a Blockbuster card the girls use more than Laura and me. The last movie I saw I really liked was 'Saving Private Ryan.'

"But prior to getting elected I did go to movies. Laura and I were talking the other day about the last time we'd gone to a movie. I think it was the day Ann Richards called me a jerk. It was 'Forrest Gump.' "

Has he ever censored his twin 17-year-old daughters' movie picks? "I can't think of anything. Uh oh, a giant hole in the net of censorship."

In an interview with GQ, the 53-year-old Governor said that when he was at Yale in the 60's, he did not share the musical tastes of the counterculture. He said he liked the Beatles before their "weird, psychedelic period."

I asked who was his favorite Beatle. "The first drummer," he joked. "As you know I was a fraternity man at Yale. I had parties. We had a lot of groups come in. I just was not, I mean, I like music. But I'm not a great aficionado of music."

Asked if he would set a cultural tone in the White House closer to Jackie's Pablo Casals or Bill's Kenny G, W. replied: "I imagine it would be eclectic. You know we've had Lyle Lovett come to the mansion to play. I probably won't be spending a lot of time making the list up. I'll delegate."

W. sometimes waggles his hips when he's on a stage. Does he like to dance?

"No," he said. "It's not a religious thing. I just don't dance. At the last inauguration, I did the box step for about 25 seconds and declared my dancing over for the year.

. . . I don't go to dances and I don't socialize very much."

Asked about Warren Beatty's Presidential flirting, W. asks something that probably hasn't even dawned on the Hollywood star: "The question is, Can he survive the Iowa caucuses?"

The Governor's perfect day would include running, fishing and watching sports on TV, followed by dinner with friends with Van Morrison playing in the background. Then, bed by 10.

Is this a great country or what?

[Howlin]

Put me down under VOID if this is the criteria.

[My Favorite Headache]

President Bush is writing a letter back to the NY Daily News here he is typing to them: "WHO GIVES A CRAP?!?"

EXCLUSIVE FREEREPUBLIC PHOTO:

[Dr. Frank fan]

Uhhhhh..... You wanna run that by me again?

If you like. I'll try to be clearer.

For W not to know about pop culture things that shallow trendy people think everyone should know about is a good thing. And people who complain that a President doesn't know about shallow trendy pop culture things, or think that it is a criticism of some kind, are exposing themselves as idiots.

Was that easier to understand?

[gaspar]

The quintessence of lowbrow and popculture: Matt Drudge. The world's most boring radio personality: Matt Drudge. The world's best internet site: Matt Drudge. He should have quit when he was ahead.