"bush" news and stories

Whether mourning the loss of the current Presidential administration or counting the minutes until the new one takes over, all Americans are preparing to party (though not exactly like it's 1999) on January 20. You can take a look at the official document of the second Bush administration's legacy at the official site of The White House. Whether this heartens or disheartens you, once you've had enough, visit the First Lady's site.

First Ladies also leave legacies. Abigail Adams, Florence Harding and Hillary Clinton were known as powerfully insightful political partners to the President. Eleanor Roosevelt and Rosalynn Carter were forces to be reckoned with socially, as in their own social ways were Dolley Madison, Mamie Eisenhower and Jackie Kennedy. While Julia Grant was known as a lavish (to some, excessive) hostess, Lucy Hayes was Temperance. Did people who joked about Nancy Reagan's astrologer know about Mary Todd Lincoln's consorting with spiritualists? And did you know that Laura Bush has been amassing place settings?

Presidential China is not a new, frivolous development -- indeed, it is a time-honored tradition. As each administration takes residency, they impart their own style to the residence -- not that different, other than scale, from setting up housekeeping anywhere else. Just as we have presidential pets from horses and goats to scruffy dogs, so do we have china patterns, stemware, art, et cetera. Lest your social conscience be saluting, note: the Bush legacy china, along with other items, was purchased with funds from The White House Historical Association, The White House Endowment Trust, and The White House Historical Trust, each of which, as Mrs. Bush noted, are privately funded for the purpose acquiring objects for the White House.

This will teach everyone to choose their words very, very carefully.

On April 7, Slate writer Daniel Gross said he was so skeptical that President Bush would name a banker to replace outgoing Treasury Secretary John Snow, that if the President did indeed do that, Gross would buy a copy of the book Dow 36,000 and eat it.

Guess what happened? Yup. And now Gross is eating the damn book. You can even watch the video! He served it with greens and lots of vinagrette.

Update: As many readers have pointed out, it's John Snow, not Tony.

Bernard-Henri Lévy, author of American Vertigo, was the guest on The Daily Show tonight. In speaking about the political landscapes of the U.S. versus that in France, he said France's political leanings were like caviar vs. cassoulet.

I found that a little funny, as cassoulet is starting to be just very popular here, but I'd bet anything the concept doesn't work in the U.S. because both sides of the spectrum seem to have their redneck tendencies. And I wonder what food George W. Bush would identify with? Hmmm... he must be barbecued ribs, I think, so what does that make the Democrats? Clinton was a McDonald's hamburger, Kerry was... what, a clam bake maybe? Hillary, she seems like a cucumber sandwich kind of woman. Or is it lobster roll?

The new executive chef for the White House will be Cristeta Comerford, the first female to hold the position. The previous chef, Walter Scheib, left six months ago amid rumors of a personality clash with Laura Bush. Comerford had been an assistant chef at the White House since 1995. It has been said that Laura Bush was looking for a lighter, more American cooking style. At a recent dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Comerford served chilled asparagus soup and lemon creme, pan-roasted halibut, ginger-carrot butter, basmati rice with pistachio nuts and currants and herbed summer vegetables, and salad of Bibb lettuces and citrus vinaigrette. Comerford was born in the Phillipines and has her bachelors degree in food technology from the University of the Philippines. While this announcement may not make a huge difference to most of us who will never get to eat at the White House, it's still nice to finally have a woman in the top slot.

[via Superchefblog]

Source