the Bush twins speech - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

FaderMonkey · 09-01-2004, 07:42 AM

Did anyone catch Jenna and Barbara speech last night at the RNC? I missed it, but a friend said I needed to find a video of it cause it was too funny. Anyone know if there is a video of it on the internet anywhere?

Here's part of a LA Times article about it:

http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/s...,4494583.story

Quote:

The Bush daughters, fresh from their booing this week at the MTV Video Music Awards in Miami, came onstage at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday night and introduced a new strategy in the war on terrorism: giggling.

They were there to introduce their father, President Bush, who appeared via satellite from Pennsylvania, where he stood in front of a softball game and introduced First Lady Laura Bush.

But there were hiccups along the way to the first lady's entrance, courtesy of her 22-year-old twin daughters, who carry themselves with an implied raunch.

The strategy Tuesday, apparently, was to have sisters Jenna and Barbara humanize and soften the grim-faced Politburo image that dogs the Bush-Cheney campaign, which hasn't made much of an effort to court those young Americans who call it a good day if they've remembered to TiVo "The Simple Life."

So here they were, girlie and giggly and glammed-up (Jenna in some kind of Juicy couture-looking track suit top over white pants, Barbara in a black cocktail dress).

They told slightly off-color jokes, apparently to drive home the point that, supporting a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage aside, their parents weren't totally freaked out about S-E-X. Her grandmother, Jenna said, "thinks 'Sex in the City' is something married people do but never talk about," getting the show's name wrong. Barbara said, "Jenna and I are really not very political." She's the one who graduated from Yale.

The Republicans, you were reminded, are really good at chest-thumping and flag-hugging, but they ought to stay away from showcasing their privileged, Prada-wearing first daughters until the campaign is over.

After the speeches were over, even CNN's talking heads seemed to be struggling to make sense of the sisters' sister act. Judy Woodruff stammered, "I'm not sure what that was about," while an incensed Jeff Greenfield called the appearance a "frankly discordant moment."

onetime2 · 09-01-2004, 07:50 AM

LOL. I didn't catch it but people certainly seem to be over reacting a bit to it. Oh well, such is life.

irateplatypus · 09-01-2004, 07:52 AM

grim-faced politburo? implied raunch?

i caught the speech. i didn't think it was that great... pretty much what you would expect from a candidate's children. deliberately a bit racy with average delivery. i would say that the Bush twins have better public speaking abilities than Kerry's daughters do, but it wasn't that big of a deal imho. i don't know what the CNN anchor's deal was, this is standard fair for convention speeches. i guess i should doubt the writer's interpretation of their reaction first.

i thought the Kerry girls got boo-ed at the MTV awards... or did they both?

maleficent · 09-01-2004, 07:52 AM

It was funny - if they didn't look how they looked, it would have been awful.

It wasn't all that rehearsed but their public speaking skills need a lot of work.

The Kerry women, while they annoy me, seem to have more polish, the Bush girls, need some -

It was entertaining... there was a Cheney joke that was pretty funny, and a few pokes at themselves.

Haven't come across either the text of the video of it...

FaderMonkey · 09-01-2004, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by irateplatypus

i thought the Kerry girls got boo-ed at the MTV awards... or did they both?

I didn't see the VMAs either, but that's what I thought too. I had only heard that the Kerry daughters got boo-ed.

onetime2 · 09-01-2004, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FaderMonkey

I didn't see the VMAs either, but that's what I thought too. I had only heard that the Kerry daughters got boo-ed.

Didn't see the VMAs either but had heard that both were booed. The Kerry daughters supposedly tried to quiet the crowd when the Bush twins started to talk (I guess they thought the boos were for the twins) but the boos got louder. The interpretations from most press accounts I read were that both sets of daughters were being booed because the audience wanted the show to go on and suffering through vote mongering wasn't on their agenda.

FaderMonkey · 09-01-2004, 09:59 AM

Here's a text of the speech, but I still can't find a video of it:

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...h_twins_text_1

Quote:

JENNA BUSH: It's great to be here. We love Arnold. Isn't he awesome?

Thanks to him, if one of us ever decides to marry a Democrat, nobody can complain, except maybe our grandmother, Barbara. And if she doesn't like it, we would definitely hear about it.

We already know she doesn't like some of our clothes, our music, or most of the TV shows we watch.

Gammie, we love you dearly, but you're just not very hip.

She thinks "Sex and the City" is something married people do, but never talk about.

We spent the last four years trying to stay out of the spotlight. Sometimes, we did a little better job than others.

We kept trying to explain to my dad that when we are young and irresponsible, well, we're young and irresponsible.

BARBARA BUSH: Jenna and I are really not very political, but we love our dad too much to stand back and watch from the sidelines.

We realized that this would be his last campaign, and we wanted to be a part of it.

Besides, since we've graduated from college, we're looking around for something to do for the next few years.

Kind of like dad.

JENNA: Our parents have always encouraged us to be independent and dream big. We've spent a lot of time at the White House, so when we showed up the first day, we thought we had it all figured out. But apparently my dad already has a chief of staff, named Andy.

BARBARA: When your dad's a Republican and you go to Yale, you learn to stand up for yourself.

I knew I wasn't quite ready to be president, but number two sounded pretty good.

Who is this man they call Dick Cheney (news - web sites)?

JENNA: I think I know a lot about campaigns. After all, my grandfather and my dad have both run for president, so I put myself in charge of strategy. Then I got an angry call from some guy named Karl.

BARBARA: We knew we had something to offer. I mean, we've traveled the world; we've studied abroad. But when we started coming home with foreign policy advise, dad made us call Condi.

JENNA: Not to be deterred, we thought surely there's a place for strong willed, opinionated women in communications. And next thing we know, Karen's back.

BARBARA: So we decided the best thing we could do here tonight would be to introduce somebody we know and love.

JENNA: You know all those times when you're growing up and your parents embarrass you? Well, this is payback time on live TV.

BARBARA: Take this. I know it's hard to believe, but our parents' favorite term of endearment for each other is actually Bushy.

And we had a hamster, too. Let's just say ours didn't make it.

JENNA: But, contrary to what you might read in the papers, our parents are actually kind of cool. They do know the difference between mono and Bono. When we tell them we're going to see Outkast, they know it's a band and not a bunch of misfits. And if we really beg them, they'll even shake it like a Polaroid picture.

BARBARA: So, OK, maybe they have learned a little pop culture from us, but we've learned a lot more from them about what matters in life, about unconditional love, about focus and discipline.

They taught us the importance of a good sense of humor, of being open-minded and treating everyone with respect.

And we learned the true value of honesty and integrity.

JENNA: When you grow up as the daughters of George and Laura Bush, you develop a special appreciation for how blessed we are to live in this great country.

We are so proud to be here tonight to introduce someone who read us bedtime stories, picked up car pool, made us our favorite peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cheered for us when we scored a goal, even when it was for the wrong team.

BARBARA: Someone who told us we actually looked cute in braces, always welcomed our friends and was there waiting when we came home at curfew.

JENNA: Ladies and gentlemen, one of the two most loving, thoughtful people we know.

BARBARA: Your president and our dad, George W. Bush.

Stompy · 09-01-2004, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by irateplatypus

i thought the Kerry girls got boo-ed at the MTV awards... or did they both?

Either way, it's pretty ridiculous (not to mention utterly pointless) to boo the non-political DAUGHTERS of politicians, so my guess is they booed em both. The MTV bunch aren't exactly the brightest bulbs on the tree ya know

the_marq · 09-01-2004, 10:56 AM

Damn, Barbara is hot.

Bobaphat · 09-01-2004, 11:38 AM

I watched it and quite frankly, I don't know what they were thinking. Not the girls mind you, I am sure they just did what they were asked and doubt very highly they had much of a hand in what they read. In any circumstance, it was embarrassing both for the girls and the party. A joke here or there to loosen the crowd is ok, but this was like a poorly written stand up routine. Maybe they were asked to give that speech to detract from the fact that none of the actual speakers had anything to say about most of the issues that the voters are concerned about.

Rdr4evr · 09-01-2004, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maleficent

It was funny - if they didn't look how they looked, it would have been awful.
It wasn't all that rehearsed but their public speaking skills need a lot of work.

What do you expect? They take after Daddy.

smooth · 09-01-2004, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobaphat

I watched it and quite frankly, I don't know what they were thinking. Not the girls mind you, I am sure they just did what they were asked and doubt very highly they had much of a hand in what they read. In any circumstance, it was embarrassing both for the girls and the party. A joke here or there to loosen the crowd is ok, but this was like a poorly written stand up routine. Maybe they were asked to give that speech to detract from the fact that none of the actual speakers had anything to say about most of the issues that the voters are concerned about.

I thought it was terrible. My wife and I couldn't wait for the one-liners to stop--only they didn't. Their delivery was worse than some of the last comic standing acts. My wife's pretty good at reading facial expressions and both of us agreed that Laura did not seem very pleased or proud at their performance, despite what she said. It could be because they are terrible at public performance, or it could be because they really didn't want to be there.

In any case, I think many of the people in the audience just wanted them to stop and were more indulgent than supportive. I didn't like Laura's speech too much either. She appeared to be superficial in quit a few instances, and I think she plays right into the stereotype of the Christian right, republican ideals about how women should portray themselves in public.

She looked and acted just like my mother-in-law, who fits that stereotype, as well. Only this time, it appears that she may secretly vote for Nader (Go Mom!), whom she attended college with, of all people!

whocarz · 09-01-2004, 01:38 PM

Ugh. I think I'm got more dumber from reading that speech. Wait, I did! Every time those two are let out of their cages, Bush takes a credibility hit. I mean, those are his spawn.

shakran · 09-01-2004, 07:49 PM

did anyone else notice that they sounded like Beavis and Butthead? They did the "huh huh huh" giggle after EVERY freakin' bad joke!

If I were W or Laura I'd be mortified to put them on national TV.

Blackthorn · 09-06-2004, 06:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maleficent

It was funny - if they didn't look how they looked, it would have been awful.

It wasn't all that rehearsed but their public speaking skills need a lot of work.

The Kerry women, while they annoy me, seem to have more polish, the Bush girls, need some -

It was entertaining... there was a Cheney joke that was pretty funny, and a few pokes at themselves.

Haven't come across either the text of the video of it...

I think this is spot on. The twin(kie)s were pretty funny and decidedly unrehearsed.

TheKak · 09-06-2004, 07:02 AM

It was funny because I didn't laugh a single time.

Ustwo · 09-06-2004, 07:11 AM

The Bush twins were horrible and the Kerry girls were worse, but who cares.

From what I've been told only the Kerry girls were boos at the VMA but again who cares.

I have a good deal of public speaking experiance in front of a large audiances and I'd like to see how well any of you do at that age

james t kirk · 09-06-2004, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_marq

Damn, Barbara is hot.

Yes she is.

Jenna looks like a younger version of the old man in wig though.

shiver

09-01-2004, 07:50 AM	#2 (permalink)
onetime2 Junkie Location: NJ	LOL. I didn't catch it but people certainly seem to be over reacting a bit to it. Oh well, such is life. __________________ Strive to be more curious than ignorant.

09-01-2004, 07:52 AM	#3 (permalink)
irateplatypus can't help but laugh Location: dar al-harb	grim-faced politburo? implied raunch? i caught the speech. i didn't think it was that great... pretty much what you would expect from a candidate's children. deliberately a bit racy with average delivery. i would say that the Bush twins have better public speaking abilities than Kerry's daughters do, but it wasn't that big of a deal imho. i don't know what the CNN anchor's deal was, this is standard fair for convention speeches. i guess i should doubt the writer's interpretation of their reaction first. i thought the Kerry girls got boo-ed at the MTV awards... or did they both? __________________ If you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves. ~ Winston Churchill

09-01-2004, 07:52 AM	#4 (permalink)
maleficent Junkie Moderator Emeritus Location: Chicago	It was funny - if they didn't look how they looked, it would have been awful. It wasn't all that rehearsed but their public speaking skills need a lot of work. The Kerry women, while they annoy me, seem to have more polish, the Bush girls, need some - It was entertaining... there was a Cheney joke that was pretty funny, and a few pokes at themselves. Haven't come across either the text of the video of it... __________________ Free your heart from hatred. Free your mind from worries. Live simply. Give more. Expect less.

09-01-2004, 10:56 AM	#9 (permalink)
the_marq All hail the Mountain King Location: Black Mesa	Damn, Barbara is hot. __________________ The Truth: Johnny Cash could have kicked Bruce Lee's ass if he wanted to. #3 in a series

09-01-2004, 11:38 AM	#10 (permalink)
Bobaphat whoopity doo Location: Seattle	I watched it and quite frankly, I don't know what they were thinking. Not the girls mind you, I am sure they just did what they were asked and doubt very highly they had much of a hand in what they read. In any circumstance, it was embarrassing both for the girls and the party. A joke here or there to loosen the crowd is ok, but this was like a poorly written stand up routine. Maybe they were asked to give that speech to detract from the fact that none of the actual speakers had anything to say about most of the issues that the voters are concerned about. __________________ --size matters not-- yoda

09-01-2004, 01:38 PM	#13 (permalink)
whocarz Jarhead Location: Colorado	Ugh. I think I'm got more dumber from reading that speech. Wait, I did! Every time those two are let out of their cages, Bush takes a credibility hit. I mean, those are his spawn. __________________ If there exists anything mightier than destiny, then it is the courage to face destiny unflinchingly. -Geibel Despise not death, but welcome it, for nature wills it like all else. -Marcus Aurelius Come on, you sons of bitches! Do you want to live forever? -GySgt. Daniel J. "Dan" Daly

09-01-2004, 07:49 PM	#14 (permalink)
shakran Tone.	did anyone else notice that they sounded like Beavis and Butthead? They did the "huh huh huh" giggle after EVERY freakin' bad joke! If I were W or Laura I'd be mortified to put them on national TV.

09-06-2004, 07:02 AM	#16 (permalink)
TheKak Insane Location: Virginia	It was funny because I didn't laugh a single time. __________________ Roses are red, violets are blue, I'm a schizophrenic and so am I.

09-06-2004, 07:11 AM	#17 (permalink)
Ustwo Pissing in the cornflakes	The Bush twins were horrible and the Kerry girls were worse, but who cares. From what I've been told only the Kerry girls were boos at the VMA but again who cares. I have a good deal of public speaking experiance in front of a large audiances and I'd like to see how well any of you do at that age __________________ Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.