Tunes for the Freewheelin' George Bush

[rodeodance]

Jr is being humanized.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/11/politics/11letter.html

April 11, 2005
WHITE HOUSE LETTER
Tunes for the Freewheelin' George Bush
By ELISABETH BUMILLER

WASHINGTON

Between his return on Friday from Pope John Paul II's funeral in Rome and his meeting today with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel, President Bush spent an hour and a half on Saturday on an 18-mile mountain bike ride at his Texas ranch. With him, as usual, was his indispensable new exercise toy: an iPod music player loaded with country and popular rock tunes aimed at getting the presidential heart rate up to a chest-pounding 170 beats per minute.

Which brings up the inevitable question. What, exactly, is on the First iPod? In an era of celebrity playlists - Tom Brady, the New England Patriots quarterback, recently posted his on the iTunes online music store - what does the presidential selection of downloaded songs tell us about Mr. Bush?

First, Mr. Bush's iPod is heavy on traditional country singers like George Jones, Alan Jackson and Kenny Chesney. He has selections by Van Morrison, whose "Brown Eyed Girl" is a Bush favorite, and by John Fogerty, most predictably "Centerfield," which was played at Texas Rangers games when Mr. Bush was an owner and is still played at ballparks all over America. ("Oh, put me in coach, I'm ready to play today.")

The president also has an eclectic mix of songs downloaded into his iPod from Mark McKinnon, a biking buddy and his chief media strategist during the 2004 campaign. Among them are "Circle Back" by John Hiatt, "(You're So Square) Baby, I Don't Care" by Joni Mitchell and "My Sharona," the 1979 song by the Knack that Joe Levy, a deputy managing editor at Rolling Stone in charge of music coverage, cheerfully branded "suggestive if not outright filthy" in an interview last week.

[AnnitaR]

1. "Freewheelin"???????

Oh give me a fucking break! These people are killing me with this shit!

The fucker can't ride that bike without planting his face in the dirt and we're supposed to believe he can ride a bike AND listen to an ipod at the same time???

[rodeodance]

3. i imagine this is prove that he is "hip"--

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

90. Ewwww,comcast had this on their homepage as I was checking my email

Who is picking the music? I don't see any hip hop, alternative, hard rock, metal or punk...this music is most likely what appeals to those who despise him.

They (gwb's PR advisors) are all f**king clueless. Country, yeah right, big surprise. Recycled 70's hits. OK, whatever. Nothing contemporary, nothing edgy, basically, nothing.

However, I resent his attempts to pollute the music of Joni Mitchell, John Fogerty and Van Morrison. MKJ

[Lithos]

4. Freewheelin' fits

[DS1]

11. FRANK!!!

:rofl:

[0007]

17. Ain't that the truth? Now if junior will just pop a few willies for us,

the show will be complete.

"Where there's hope there's dope and where there's dope there's hope"

[ElsewheresDaughter]

26. ya gotta see the pic of bush that accompanies this article in the NYTs....

this isn't it ( i can't find it to post here but, this one is almost as funny

[DRoseDARs]

2. "With him, as usual, was his indispensable new exercise toy..."

How can it be "with him, as usual" if it's a "new exercise toy"? :shrug:

Moron. :eyes:

[Bhaisahab]

5. Songs you will NEVER find on the monkey's iPod...

Power to the People - Lennon
Eat the Rich - Aerosmith
Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits
Peace on Earth - U2
Respect - Aretha Franklin


any others...?

[BulletproofLandshark]

7. Black Sabbath - War Pigs

Fits * to a T

Generals gathered in their masses,
just like witches at black masses.
Evil minds that plot destruction,
sorcerers of death's construction.
In the fields the bodies burning,
as the war machine keeps turning.
Death and hatred to mankind,
poisoning their brainwashed minds.
Oh lord, yeah!

Politicians hide themselves away.
They only started the war.
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor, yeah.

Time will tell on their power minds,
making war just for fun.
Treating people just like pawns in chess,
wait till their judgement day comes, yeah.

Now in darkness world stops turning,
ashes where the bodies burning.
No more War Pigs have the power,
Hand of God has struck the hour.
Day of judgement, God is calling,
on their knees the war pigs crawling.
Begging mercies for their sins,
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings.
Oh lord, yeah!

[O.M.B.inOhio]

12. Roger Waters, Leaving Beirut addresses Bush personally

"Geooorge, oh George / That Texas education must have F*cked you up when you were very small."
it's on iTunes, packaged with To Kill the Child, another indictment of the war.

[Blue Belle]

34. "Free to be you and me" - Marlo Thomas (I think)

Or any song by any artist that was on the "Vote for Change" tour this year...

[Missy Vixen]

57. Amen

>Respect - Aretha Franklin<

Miss Aretha Franklin does not belong on Bunnypants' iPod. He doesn't have the soul to appreciate her and her art. As an Aretha fan, I'd like that download to be permanently blocked to him and his administration.

I might also add that somehow, I'm thinking that U2's "One" won't be on that iPod, either.

Julie

[CatholicEdHead]

71. Holy Wars -> Megadeth

http://www.lyricsxp.com/lyrics/h/holy_wars_megadeth.html

[orleans]

72. Don't Stop (thinking about tomorrow)

fleetwood mac's song & clinton theme song for his election(s)

[orleans]

74. OHIO

crosby stills nash & young

[xmas74]

80. He needs that on there.

It's coming back.

[EVDebs]

86. No, this version of OHIO from oilempire.us stolen elections site

Vote Fraud in Ohio

Lost ballots and Diebold's counting
We're finally on our own
This winter I hear Bush laughing
Vote Fraud in Ohio

Gotta get real ballots
Paperless taking us down
Should have been done long ago
Keep blacks from voting and
TV won't make a sound
Kerry won, but he said no.

Vote Fraud in Ohio
Vote Fraud in Florida
Vote Fraud in Nevada
Vote Fraud in Iowa
Vote Fraud New Mexico ...

http://www.oilempire.us/stolenelection2004.html

[paulthompson]

6. Here's a quote from the article...

... that I'm going to blatantly and childishly take out of context:

"The songs by Mr. Jackson indicate that the president "has a little bit of a taste for hard core..."

;)

[Catfight]

8. Enmin's "MOSH" nt

[last_texas_dem]

9. Dubya's such a "freewheeler"

A regular wild man, he is. Nauseating... All I can think of is that classic photo of Shrub falling off his bicycle at his "ranch."

Oh yeah, and Kenny Chesney is "traditional country"? More like redneck pop...

[stevedeshazer]

31. Right on re: Chesney

"Redneck pop" :rofl:

[thebigidea]

10. is this the android who wrote about Dubya new "impish" comedy persona?

the liberal media strikes again!

[Binka]

13. Yes It Is Her And Her Fine Bush Journo-Fellatio

She sucks...REALLY...

Hey Big how ya doin? I PMed you last week.....write me back

[Pepperbelly]

14. Elisabeth Bumiller is disgusting.

Her weekly fellating of Bush.

Each week, regular as clockwork, she gets on knees and does the Big Nasty with Bush.

:puke:

And she's been doing this for a long, long time.

[dbt]

15. Any Flatt and Scruggs? What about Johnny Cash?

Bob Wills? Asleep At The Wheel? Patsy Cline? Wanda Jackson? Who's got the whole playlist? I wanna see if this construct has anything approaching a soul--though I already suspect the truth.

:evilgrin:

PS: Has he even heard of The Pogues?

[Citizen Suspect]

73. If Bush ever listens to Johnny Cash, he'll turn into a pillar of salt.

There's a man goin' round takin' names.

[Stockholm]

16. Where did his biking buddy download this music from? n/t

[noonwitch]

18. I always thought "My Sharona" was a disgusting song.

But here's the fun irony-one of the members of The Knack is Geoffrey Fieger's brother.

[truthisfreedom]

19. hey george! check out something new and hip like the ulrich schnauss album

"a strangely isolated place" or chemical brothers "push the button." it will hip-i-fy you a lot faster than that country crap and audio-porn oldies like my sharona, you pervert.

[soup]

John Fogerty?

A little air time for Fortunate Son? Run Through the Jungle? I Saw it on TV? Mr. Greed? Deja Vu (All Over Again)?

doubt it

[Mad_Dem_X]

20. "Centerfield," but no "Fortunate Son"?

Really, who gives a crap what's on his iPod???:eyes:

[soup]

21. Jinx. I think you owe me a Coke.

:hi:

on edit: Maybe it isn't widespread and I should explain myself... My kids used to say this to each other if they said something at the same time. They rushed to be the first one to say jinx.

[Mad_Dem_X]

23. Consider it done.

Great minds think alike. :hi:

[soup]

24. Oh, dear.

You should strive to keep better company. ;-) My mind is a vast empty wasteland.

Could I get just a spot of rum with that Coke, and the tiniest slice of lime, or would that be pushing it? :D

[rocktivity]

39. If we said the same thing at the same time,

we'd try to be the first to pinch the other and say, "Shakespeare!"

:headbang:
rocknation

[Danmel]

18 miles in an hour and a half?

Can the man pedal? Doesn't that seem awfully (dare I say it?) SLOW?

Bumiller has been writing fluff pieces on the Boy King for ages (remember his favorite fluffy pillow?)

[DS1]

25. Well, in all fairness, it's a mountain bike

Road bikes were probably too hard on his pampered little butt.

[truthisfreedom]

22. george,since your people lie about everything else "personal" in your life

(like the poem you supposedly wrote for laura? the lump one?) we all know that you've got nothing but east-coast bands on your iPod. you're no Southerner. you're an ivy-league loser, george, who got hooked up with the wrong bunch. get over yourself. you're probably listening to bon jovi on that subliminable rovian-doctored contraption.

[rocktivity]

40. Jon Bon Jovi supported Kerry and Gore and appeared at their rallies

In fact, you can see him and guitartist Richie Sambora in the opening shots of Farenheit 9/11. How DARE you, LOL!



:loveya:
rocknation

[ElsewheresDaughter]

27. photo-op gives iPod and bikers a bad rep.......he looks ridiculous

this is not the photo that accompanied the NYT article (it was funnier) but this one will give you a clue

[Lisa]

42. yes -- he makes any kind of safety gear look dorky ...

I'm worried that people see what he looks like in safety glasses, earplugs, helmets, etc., and decide not to wear protection, thus endangering themselves.

[demokatgurrl]

28. Who takes an iPod mountain biking? OK maybe I don't have a

clue. I run every day and enjoy the LACK of anything being broadcast at me.

[DemBeans]

29. oh, barf

This is news? A ridiculous puff piece that's so utterly vapid it could pass as a PR release?

Freewheeling....oh, how sickening. This man is a monster, and no happy talk about how hip he is with his iPod changes that fact.

[Straight Shooter]

30. Aaaaaarrrggghhh! "Brown Eyed Girl a favorite"? Say it isn't so!

This brown-eyed woman who has loved that song since forever runs screaming from the room. Aaaaarrrrggghhhhh!!!

And I'm taking Van Morrison with me :P

[Dervill Crow]

37. Right behind ya, sista.

Oh, the pain. That song will be forever tainted for me.

[EVDebs]

54. Repub pollsters all know that chicks dig The Doors and VanMorrison....eom

[Brooklyn Michael]

32. What? No Green Day?

But their last album was MADE for him.....?

[Dervill Crow]

33. Dumbya knows how to work an iPod?

Amazing.

[4MoreYearsOfHell]

35. There's no mention of whether

or not it was turned on...

[ImpeachBush]

36. 18-mile mountain bike ride at his Texas ranch?

For me to do an 18 mile bike ride on MY property, I would have to ride around the lawn about 126 times.

[rocktivity]

38. "By ELISABETH BUMILLER..."

plus President Mightymouse...plus his mountain bike...plus an iPod...equals :puke:

PUFF PIECE ALERT!

:puffpiece:
rocknation

[Zerex71]

41. Freebasin' is more like it.

[BiggJawn]

43. But what does he listen to most?

"Suck in....Blow out....Suck in....Blow out....Suck in....Blow out...."

[Rose Siding]

44. White House Letter: President Bush's iPod

snip>
The president also has an eclectic mix of songs downloaded into his iPod from Mark McKinnon, a biking buddy and his chief media strategist during the 2004 campaign. Among them are "Circle Back" by John Hiatt, "(You're So Square) Baby, I Don't Care" by Joni Mitchell and "My Sharona," the 1979 song by the Knack that Joe Levy, a deputy managing editor at Rolling Stone in charge of music coverage, cheerfully branded "suggestive if not outright filthy" in an interview last week.
....
As for an analysis of Mr. Bush's playlist, Mr. Levy of Rolling Stone started out with this: "One thing that's interesting is that the president likes artists who don't like him."

Mr. Levy was referring to Mr. Fogerty, who was part of the anti-Bush "Vote for Change" concert tour across the United States last fall. Mr. McKinnon, who once wrote songs for Kris Kristofferson's music publishing company, responded in an e-mail message that "if any president limited his music selection to pro-establishment musicians, it would be a pretty slim collection."

Nonetheless, Mr. McKinnon said that Mr. Bush had not gone so far as to include on his playlist "Fortunate Son," the angry anti-Vietnam war song about who has to go to war that Mr. Fogerty sang when he was with Creedence Clearwater Revival. ("I ain't no senator's son ... Some folks are born silver spoon in hand.") As the son of a two-term congressman and a United States Senate candidate, Mr. Bush won a coveted spot with the Texas Air National Guard to avoid combat in Vietnam.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/11/politics/11letter.html?

[whistle]

45. Isn't downloading copyright music to iPods illegal???

[htuttle]

48. Not if you own the CD

[Warren Stupidity]

49. hello?

Get with the program. Ipod took peer-to-peer legit with its buck a song music service and its digital rights protections. The chimps ipod could contain illegally copied music but most likely it doesn't.

[htuttle]

46. He likes 'My Sharona'?

(eyebrow arches suspiciously...)

[mondo joe]

50. Oh lord now I have this image of him dancing to it alone in the oval

office.

I feel so violated.

[Lisa]

58. isn't that one of the songs in "Janet Reno's Dance Party"?

That old SNL sketch with Will Ferrell (one of his non-Bush roles).

[progressivebydesign]

52. "running up the lenght of my thigh, Sharona"....

Godly man indeed! That is so rich. John Hiatt's on there? I may have misjudged the idiot-in-chief. I didn't see anything about Elvis Costello.. now THAT would have sent me into a tailspin. He CAN'T like Elvis Costello..

[Missy Vixen]

59. Of course he doesn't.

>He CAN'T like Elvis Costello..<

He'd have to listen to "(What's So Funny About) Peace, Love and Understanding," and I'm afraid the iPod would not survive being hurled against a tree...

I think Elvis is safe, at least for the time being.

Julie

[EVDebs]

47. I hear they're putting "They're Coming to Take Me Away" on the iPod LOL

They're coming to take me away, HA HA
They're coming to take me away, HO HO HEE HEE HA HA
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I'll be happy to see
Those nice, young men
In their clean, white coats
And they're coming to take me away, Ha-haaa!

And out of the White House
Where life is beautiful all the time....


http://it.stlawu.edu/~x0tsing/takeaway.htm

[orleans]

76. lol!

great last line (out of the white house!)
:rofl:


How about "Bad Company"

[rocktivity]

51. Duplicate thread

nt]

:puke:
rocknation

[Spinzonner]

53. What, no Kinky Friedman ?

[grasswire]

56. another lie about his weight!!

".....who has recently lost eight pounds after eating a lot of doughnuts during the 2004 campaign."

They've given about six different reasons for his weight gain.

[Placebo]

87. iPod One

heh :P

[EVDebs]

55. I'm sure the Dixie Chicks are a personal favorite with GWB, LOL !!!!

[neuvocat]

60. Who gives a rat's ass?

All that time you spend reading the article will never be returned.

[BamaLefty]

61. n/t

LOL

[geomon666]

62. Bush playlist puzzles pundits

Dan Glaister in Los Angeles
Tuesday April 12, 2005
The Guardian

As he ponders the future of the free world, the fate of social security or the state of the brush on his Crawford ranch, President George Bush can turn to one source for solace: his iPod.
A birthday present from his daughters last year, the Bush iPod contains just 250 songs, from the knockabout comedy of Joni Mitchell's (You're So Square) Baby, I Don't Care to the straight ahead country blues of Stevie Ray Vaughn's The House Is Rockin'.

Although Mr Bush doesn't do anything so vulgar as download the songs himself -- that duty is performed by an aide - the selection of music has analysts scrambling to de construct the contents of the presidential iPod.

What, for example, to make of the inclusion of The Knack's chirpy yet sleazy My Sharona, a staple of American college life for the last 20 years?

But that is about as risky as it gets.


Oh man. Think of the possibilities.

[Carni]

63. Interesting in light of Sharon's visit today

Just kidding lol

[gmoney]

64. He's a David Sirota fan?

"My-my-my-my-whooo! M-m-m-My Sirota"

(c) The O'Franken Factor

[AlCzervik]

65. They don't believe he can operate the ipod click wheel and neither do i

the rest of their bs is just window dressing.

[Starlight]

79. I don't even need to think about it. I KNOW he can't operate one. n/t

[jimshoes]

66. They're only now

wondering what is going on in his head?

[cry baby]

67. Why do they waste ink on this stuff, can't they find anything

else interesting to tell us about?

[kskiska]

68. This stuff comes from the same place as his "reading" lists

Probably Karen Hughes.

[Orsino]

70. Why should we believe any press release...

...from the * White House? I didn't fall for his daddy's extolling of the "Nitty Gritty Ditty Dirt Band."

Isn't this just a safe way to make * look hipper?

[Dr Fate]

82. It's all contrived- just like the fake ranch & cowboy imagery.

I doubt he knows George Jones from the Beatles.

[izzybeans]

69. No "take this job and shove it"

YOu know he's bumping that on the ranch on his way out to the chopped down tree for the photo-op. Muttering under his breath. "Stupid people, Stupid Karl Rove, why can't I stay in the playpen with peppermint patty and my light bright. They keep making me sign stuff. and take pictures. Peppermint Patty doesn't make Georgie feel all grows' up. Georgie want to play with his light bright. Work is for losers and those Mexican guys I paid to cut down that tree."

I agree they are trying to put a human face on this android-I hope I don't get sued by the evil lord Lucas for using that word.

[pinniped]

75. That POS needs "Highway to Hell" and that's it.

.

[icymist]

77. "My Sharona"?! How about "You're So Vain" by Carly Simon?

"You're so vain....
You probably think this song is about you!
You're sooo vain....
I bet you think this song is about you don't you don't you?"

[Starlight]

78. There's no way in hell * could figure out how to turn on an Ipod,

much less program songs. No way. I don't believe it. He's just not that technologically advanced. And not that smart. :silly:

[AuntiBush]

81. Jr is human?

:rofl: He's a "POD" for daddy & henchmen. KKKRove is keeping him giddy happy like a kid on Christmas.

Oh, wake me when 4 yrs is up! Or the hopeful impeachment.

:banghead::banghead::banghead:

[T_i_B]

83. Bush gets in tune with iPod generation

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/04/12/wbush12.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/04/12/ixportal.html

Employees on the Bush ranch at Crawford, Texas, have been privy to the secret for some time. Mr Bush was given an iPod by his party-loving twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara, for his birthday last July. Since then he has regularly strapped it to his side as he rides his mountain bike.

Between his return from the Pope's funeral on Friday and his summit with Ariel Sharon, Israel's prime minister, yesterday he spent an hour and a half on an 18-mile bike ride at Crawford, with his iPod.

Releasing the details of the president's top tunes yesterday, Mark McKinnon, a regular biking companion and his chief media strategist in last year's election campaign, urged people not to read too much into the selection. "No should psychoanalyse the song selection," he told the New York Times. "It's music to get over the next hill."

Mr Bush's fondness for selection is dominated by country singers.

[insane_cratic_gal]

84. No one though this was a scam?

I watched it last night on Cnn.. i kept thinking the whole time.. what total bullshit!

First we have an unpopular chimp, who you never really see ever runnin with an Ipod.. or any device.

He Chief media stragisit organized and gave the interview on CNN.. something stinks, and it's not on my shoes

[LibDemAlways]

88. I smell the same rat.

This is bs spoonfed to the masses to bolster the chimp's sagging poll numbers. "Look what a regular guy he is on his bike enjoying pop and country on his Ipod."

Next week they'll take him to a Walmart in the heartland where he'll buy Pickles some new cookware for the ranch.

Give me an f-ing break.

[devinsgram]

85. And this is interesting, why?

Please, I have better things to with my time then think about this.

[DC Law]

89. charmed

Wow, this is all the info I needed to know that Bush is "just like me."