Readers of National Review's group blog, The Corner, are always thankful for the contributions of former White House press secretary Dana Perino. Perino, if you remember, was the woman who frequntly got confused when asked about things like the Cuban Missile Crisis ("It had to do with Cuba and missiles, I'm pretty sure"). Anyway, yesterday she responded to the GQ piece written by former Bush speechwriter Matt Latimer, which I blogged about earlier. Latimer wrote about Bush's reaction to the Palin VP selection as follows:
“I’m trying to remember if I’ve met her before. I’m sure I must have.” His eyes twinkled, then he asked, “What is she, the governor of Guam?”
Perino comments:
Seems that every administration goes through this — yes, even the Obamas will have someone take advantage of the career opportunity of a lifetime to try to feather their own nest at someone else's expense — no matter how far-fetched their story may be." For example, he writes that President Bush didn't know who Sarah Palin was. That's rubbish — Bush had just met Palin the previous month in Alaska, and he mentioned that to me literally two seconds after McCain made his announcement.
Er, Ms. Perino, I think Bush--you know, the guy whose eyes "twinkled"--was joking.
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COMMENTS (1)
Obviously Dana Perino is so devoted to the truth that just as Stephen Colbert doesn't see race, Perino doesn't hear sarcasm. Must have made for some very interesting conversations between Perino and the oft-sarcastic Bush. Also, it contradicts Perino's claim that she herself was being sarcastic about the whole Cuban missile crisis thing.
Anyway, even one who believes Bush was a dope would not read the Guam line as an expression of Bush's dumbth; it's clearly an expression of Bush's contempt for Alaska, a contempt largely shared by the vast majority of lower 48ers, except those who were fans of Northern Exposure back in the day, and they're all Democrats. (I jest, but actually contempt ... view full comment
Obviously Dana Perino is so devoted to the truth that just as Stephen Colbert doesn't see race, Perino doesn't hear sarcasm. Must have made for some very interesting conversations between Perino and the oft-sarcastic Bush. Also, it contradicts Perino's claim that she herself was being sarcastic about the whole Cuban missile crisis thing.
Anyway, even one who believes Bush was a dope would not read the Guam line as an expression of Bush's dumbth; it's clearly an expression of Bush's contempt for Alaska, a contempt largely shared by the vast majority of lower 48ers, except those who were fans of Northern Exposure back in the day, and they're all Democrats. (I jest, but actually contempt for Alaska is kind of a thing in Texas. It's a size issue. That's where I figured the Guam joke came from.)