News and Notes

Commentary From the Editors

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Karl Rove Gets a Divorce

From Politico:

Karl Rove, former senior adviser to President George W. Bush, has been granted a divorce in Texas after 24 years of marriage, family spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

"Karl Rove and his wife, Darby, were granted a divorce last week," said Perino. "The couple came to the decision mutually and amicably, and they maintain a close relationship and a strong friendship. There will be no further comment, and the family requests that its privacy be respected."

The Roves married in 1986.  That's Rove at right above, with Bush and his wife Laura.  

More photos of Karl Rove in the White House >>



(Photo credit: Carrie Devorah / WENN)

Labels: George W. Bush, Karl Rove, Laura Bush

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 10:04 AM0 comments  

Monday, November 16, 2009

Book Review: 'Road Dogs' by Elmore Leonard

Here's a funny moment from Road Dogs, the latest novel by veteran crime writer Elmore Leonard.

The setup: Road Dogs brings back Jack Foley, the charming bank robber from Leonard's 1996 book Out of Sight. This time Foley is on Venice Beach, hanging out in the mansion of a former prison buddy. Page 233:

In the morning Foley had his breakfast and at ten went over to the big house -- the way he thought of it -- to have a cup of coffee with Cundo. If he called it the White House he'd see President Obama cleaning up Bush's mess. He didn't see Cundo all day yesterday and missed talking to the little Cuban.

Zing! And this is no political novel. He just drops it in there.

Leonard is 84 now, godblesshim, old enough to take whatever shots he wants and successful enough to talk his editors into leaving them in.

Road Dogs has that same old tough-talking Leonard vigor, helped along immensely by the charm of Jack Foley and the lingering image of George Clooney playing Foley and romancing Jennifer Lopez in the 1998 movie Out of Sight. (Karen Sisco, the U.S. Marshall played by Lopez, appears only briefly, alas, in Road Dogs.)

Leonard acknowledged the Clooney angle in an interview with The LA Times in May, when he was a lad of 83:

Like his heroes, Leonard doesn't do small-talk. He sits at his table and discusses the origins of "Road Dogs."

"I like George Clooney," he says. "And I thought, well, hell, he'll want to do another one of these."

Leonard has always prospered by looking to Hollywood. Film money bankrolled his career for decades. It's said he always puts an actor's face on his characters when he's writing.

Leonard confirms this, firing up a Virginia Slim Light. "The one I visualize more often than anyone is Harry Dean Stanton. They say he never misses his mark, never ever forgets his lines and always knows what word to hit, which is more than you can say about movie stars."

Which is amusing for a few reasons. One is that the femme fatale in Road Dogs smokes Virginia Slims Lights, and Foley gets grief from a fellow tough guy for smoking one:

"Virginia Slims, Light, Menthol? This what you smoke?"
"What's wrong with Slims?" Foley said.
"I think is funny is all."

The amusing part about Harry Dean Stanton is that in the original book, Foley is actually likened to Stanton: "Not looks -- they didn't look anything alike -- but his manner: both real guys who seemed tired of who they were, but couldn't do anything about it." Foley's exact age is unstated, but a 50ish con tells Foley that they're about the same age.

In Road Dogs, written after Clooney played the role, Foley seems younger, handsomer and, well, more Clooney-esque. (Hat tip to What Alan's Watching for pointing that out.) Clooney was 37 years old when he played Foley in Out of Sight (he's 48 years old now). Of course, Foley also says in Road Dogs that he's been robbing banks for 25 years; do the math and draw your own conclusions.

As far as Leonard borrowing from his own life, The LA Times also points out that Bloomfield Hills, where Leonard's characters often commit mayhem (including Foley's home invasion in Out of Sight), is the same wealthy Detroit suburb where Leonard himself has lived for years.

(Cool aside: Leonard's researcher describes how Karen Sisco came to be.)

Road Dogs is a great read, and it's in the lighter Leonard vein (like, say, The Hot Kid) instead of his harsher vein. If you liked Out of Sight, book or movie, you'll enjoy catching up with Foley again here.

Labels: Barack Obama, Elmore Leonard, George W. Bush, Harry Dean Stanton, Jack Foley, Jennifer Lopez, Out of Sight

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 12:36 PM0 comments  

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Speech-Less

This rather long excerpt from Matt Latimer, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush is a fascinating look behind the scenes at the White House during last year's economic crisis.

There are plenty of funny parts, too, even though it reveals confusion at the top that's not really all that funny. The excerpt is from Latimer's new book, Speech-Less: Tales of a White House Survivor.

Labels: George W. Bush, Matt Latimer

Posted by Mr. Hehn at 11:28 AM0 comments  

Monday, August 10, 2009

"For Bushies Only"

According to a report in The Raw Story, former staffers from the administration of President George W. Bush plan to create a social network, Facebook-style, specifically for fans and ex-employees of the former president.

It turns out there's already The Bush-Cheney Alumni Association, which is less of a social network and more of a collection of articles whose theme is "we didn't do so bad," mixed with a little "and anyway, this Obama guy isn't so hot, either."

We learned that the president and vice president really liked the troops. In one story, the president highjacks a couple of soldiers for two hours to talk to them about the difficulties in being president. In another story, we're told Vice President Dick Cheney liked to host parties for wounded troops, with live entertainment. With country music, but no rap, he says. "The country and western is sort of a compromise between old folks -- you know, the big band sound of the '50s and the rappers that the younger generation understands."

Another story included these details:

"On June 30 the vice president -- code-named "Angler" by the Secret Service for his love of fly-fishing -- staged a fly-fishing event on his lawn with a group of wounded troops being helped out by the charitable organization Project Healing Waters. Rather than the usual rubber waders and camouflage fishing hat, the vice president sported a dark suit, a white shirt, green tie and business shoes but still managed to show off his favorite fly-fishing cast to the troops. Instead of water, he aimed for a bright green patch of grass as the smiling military men and their wives picked up tips and practiced themselves."

We have plenty of presidential stories on Who2. We also have a list of all the presidents for easy reference, we have profiles of First Ladies and a special feature on The Unfinished Terms of Vice Presidents.

Labels: Barack Obama, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, Presidents

Posted by Mr. Hehn at 4:06 PM0 comments  

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Bush Shoe-Tosser Gets Three Years

Three years in prison.

That's the sentence for Muntadhar al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George W. Bush during a Baghdad press conference in December.

Labels: George W. Bush, Muntadhar al-Zaidi

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 7:19 AM0 comments  

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Some (Presidents) Like It Hot

"He's from Hawaii, O.K.? He likes it warm. You could grow orchids in there."

Obama advisor David Axelrod on his boss's Oval Office habits.

The piece also has a few enlightening (catty?) notes on George W. Bush's coat-and-tie policy:

"I'll never forget going to work on a Saturday morning, getting called down to the Oval Office because there was something he was mad about," said Dan Bartlett, who was counselor to Bush. "I had on khakis and a buttoned-down shirt, and I had to stand by the door and get chewed out for about 15 minutes. He wouldn't even let me cross the threshold."

Labels: Barack Obama, Dan Bartlett, David Axelrod, George W. Bush, Oval Office

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 6:16 AM0 comments  

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Bush Leaves a Note for Obama

During his last moments at the White House, former President Ronald Reagan scribbled a note for his successor on a notepad with a turkey insignia that said, "Don't let the turkeys get you down."

Thus starting a tradition that George W. Bush apparently carried on today, leaving a note for Barack Obama. No word on whether it included a sketch of a turkey.

The tradition sounds a little like the old joke about Nikita Khrushchev.

And how is Bush this morning, reporters asked press secretary Dana Perino?

"He's good," Perino said, describing the president's mood. "He's the president of the United States, the way he always is. He hasn't changed. He gave me a big kiss on the forehead."

Labels: Barack Obama, George W. Bush

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 6:32 AM0 comments  

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Bush's Last Days

He's off to Camp David for the weekend. The West Wing will be a "ghost town." And then...

Labels: George W. Bush

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 12:15 PM0 comments  

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Bushisms

"Will the highways on the Internet become more few?"

"It would be a mistake for the United States Senate to allow any kind of human cloning to come out of that chamber."

"They misunderestimated me."

The BBC lines 'em up.

Labels: George W. Bush

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 6:34 AM0 comments  

Monday, January 05, 2009

"India," First Cat, Dies at White House

It's been quite a month for White House pet news.

First the hubbub about a new dog for the Obama family.

Then the poor health of Socks, the former First Cat favored by Chelsea Clinton.

Now the White House has announced the death of India, the little-known feline of the Bush White House. India (aka "Kitty" and "Willie") was 18.

Labels: Barack Obama, Chelsea Clinton, George W. Bush, India the Cat, Socks the Cat

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 10:29 AM0 comments  

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

"Internet Flooded With Shoe-Throwing Games"

Courtesy of Muntadhar al-Zaidi.

The best title so far: Sock and Awe.

Labels: George W. Bush, Muntadhar al-Zaidi

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 6:22 AM0 comments  

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

President Barack Obama By the Numbers

Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States. Here's a by-the-numbers look ahead at this historic event.

{ 1 }   Obama will be the first president born in Hawaii. (Small surprise: Hawaii didn't become a state until 1959. Obama was born in 1961.)

{ 77 }   Days until Obama's inauguration on 20 January 2009.

{ 47-5-16 }   Obama's age in years, months and days when he takes office in January.

He'll be the fifth-youngest American president ever. Theodore Roosevelt is still the champ at age 42, followed by John Kennedy (43), Bill Clinton (46 years, 5 months), and Ulysses Grant (46 years, 11 months). Obama will bump Grover Cleveland (47 years, 11 months) from the top five.

{ 8 }   Presidents, including Obama, schooled at Harvard.

Of those eight, he is the second to attend Harvard Law School. Rutherford B. Hayes was the first; he graduated in 1845, 146 years before Obama.

{ 24 }   Years Michelle Obama will be older than the youngest first lady.

Michelle Obama will turn 45 on January 17th, three days before her husband takes office. Frances Folsom married Grover Cleveland at the White House in 1886, when she was only 21. There have been many youngish First Ladies; most recently, Jackie Kennedy was 31 when JFK took office in 1961.

{ 2 }   Michelle Obama will be the second First Lady with a law degree. Hillary Clinton was the first.

{ 7 } and { 10 }   Ages of Obama's daughters Sasha and Malia when he takes office.

Jenna and Barbara Bush were 19 when George W. Bush was inaugurated. Chelsea Clinton was 12 at the start of her father's term in 1993. Amy Carter was nine when Jimmy Carter took office in 1977.

{ 1 }   Obama will be the first Columbia University undergraduate to become president. (Dwight Eisenhower was president of Columbia when he was elected U.S. president in 1952.)

{ 4 }   Presidents, including Obama, with strong ties to Illinois.

Abraham Lincoln remains the state's favorite son (though he was actually born in Kentucky). Ulysses Grant was a clerk in Galena, Illinois when the Civil War broke out; he was living there again in 1868 when he received word he had been elected president. And Ronald Reagan was born in Tampico in 1911.

{ 44 }   Obama will be the 44th U.S. president. (Grover Cleveland -- him again! -- is counted as both the 22nd and 24th presidents, having served non-consecutive terms.)

{ 55 }   Obama's age on leaving office in 2017, if he serves two terms. That's one year older than George W. Bush was when he took office in 2001. In the year 2017, Michelle Obama will be 53. Sasha and Malia will be 15 and 18.

{ 1 }   Barack Obama will be the first African-American president. It has been 138 years since the 15th Amendment guaranteed African-Americans the right to vote.

Labels: Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama, Chelsea Clinton, Dwight Eisenhower, George W. Bush, Malia Obama, Michelle Obama, Ronald Reagan, Sasha Obama, Teddy Roosevelt, Ulysses Grant

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 9:25 PM10 comments  

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Phony Presidential Trivia

Here's a swell new Onion interview with writer John Hodgman.

He's the dowdy "PC" on Apple TV ads, and a regular on Jon Stewart's show. He's also the author of the fake-trivia books The Areas of My Expertise and More Information Than You Require.

Who2 has a love/hate relationship with Hodgman. Five years ago we wrote a fake trivia book of our own -- Utterly False Trivia -- and couldn't get it published. We're glad Hodgman got his out there, but full of envy and irritation that we couldn't get it done ourselves.

That's not Hodgman's fault, of course. The shame is ours.

However: In honor of the presidential elections of 2008, here are a few choice items from the "Hail to the Chief" section of our unpublished UFT.

                               *   *   *

Baseball star Babe Ruth portrayed President William Howard Taft in Big Bill, the only film in the Bambino's brief post-baseball acting career. Ruth played both the president and himself in a scene where Taft throws out the first ball to Ruth at the 1912 World Series. It was the first use of split screen in Hollywood history.

                               *   *   *

President Ronald Reagan's Four Famous Commands to Mikhail Gorbachev:

1. "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
2. "Mr. Gorbachev, put down that maid!"
3. "Mr. Gorbachev, turn down that thermostat!"
4. "Mr. Gorbachev, make me a ham sandwich!"

                               *   *   *

The Barkley Presidential Length Index (BPLI) uses a formula of height multiplied by length of term to measure the inch-hours served by each chief executive.

William Henry Harrison, at 5'10" but only 33 days in office, has the lowest BPLI. Abraham Lincoln, had he lived, would have had the hightest BPLI of any two-term president. The all-time highest BPLI belongs to four-term president Franklin Roosevelt, if measured while standing instead of in his wheelchair. However, had Lyndon Johnson (6'4") run again for reelection in 1968 and completed 9+ years in office, he could have become the new BPLI leader.

                               *   *   *

In his 2004 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush repeatedly referred to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein -- who had been dubbed "the Butcher of Baghdad" -- as "the Barber of Seville."

                               *   *   *

In an attempt to raise spirits during the Great Depression, President Herbert Hoover had "Hail to the Chief" replaced with "The Charleston" whenever he appeared in public. The original song was quietly reinstated by Franklin Roosevelt in 1933.

Labels: Abraham Lincoln, Babe Ruth, Franklin Roosevelt, George W. Bush, Herbert Hoover, John Hodgman, Mikhail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan, William Henry Harrison, William Howard Taft

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 7:58 AM0 comments  

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