When George Bush was President and other stories from the road

 

arlingtoncemetery.netWhen George W Bush was President of the United States of America, we sometimes intimated that we were Canadian while we were traveling. Anti-American sentiment was high, especially in the Middle East, Northern Africa, and parts of Asia, that it seemed smarter to create a new nationality for ourselves.

Traveling while Barak Obama has been President, especially in Indonesia, has been fantastic as now I can say, “Cami orang Obama. Cami orang America.” I am a person of Obama. I am a person from America. Now locals are so happy to meet us.

A Canadian family shared their deck of Bush Playing Cards from Project Pretzel. Each card in the deck has as a photo and quotes or comment from someone in the Bush Administration. They remind us why we occasionally preferred to be Canadian.

 

Ace of Spades: George W. Bush, President of the United States of America:

“I’m the commander—see, I don’t need to explain—I do not need to explain why I say things. That’s the interesting thing about being the president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don’t feel like I owe anybody an explanation.” –quoted in Bob Woodward, Bush at War

Ace of Clubs: Dick Cheney “Big Time” Vice-President, Former Halliburton CEO

$36 million: 2000 Halliburton income

$7 billion: Value to “no-bid” Contract given to Halliburton to rebuild Iraq

13,500: pages of energy documents Cheney refuses to give Congress

135: Minutes Cheney was President during Bush’s colonoscopy

Ace of Hearts: Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense

“As we know, there are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don’t know we don’t know.”

Ace of Diamonds: John Ashcroft, Attorney General

Ashcroft’s attacks on the Bill of Rights are well documented. Less publicized is the ritual that he — an honorary Bob Jones University degree–  performed upon assuming official duties; to emulate biblical kings, Ashcroft anointed himself with Crisco oil.

Two of Diamonds: Ann Veneman, Secretary of Agriculture

Veneman headlined an Agri-summit where she lectured developing nations on the need to accept genetically modified foods. The Agriculture Secretary is a former director of Calgene, a “frankenfood” company that extoled the virtues of a technology that has spliced fish genes into tomatoes.

Five of Clubs: Rod Paige, Secretary of Education

Doing his part to defend the Homeland and protect America’s children, Paige declared that the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers’ union, was a “terrorist organization.”

With this group in charge, it is no wonder mysterious events happened — like disappearing Weapons of Mass Destruction, and “unofficial” official wars without end. I am proud to say that President Obama will have four more years in the White House while remembering what truly makes America great.

Lisa Ellen Niver

Lisa Niver is an award-winning travel expert who has explored 102 countries on six continents. This University of Pennsylvania graduate sailed across the seas for seven years with Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, and Renaissance Cruises and spent three years backpacking across Asia. Discover her articles in publications from AARP: The Magazine and AAA Explorer to WIRED and Wharton Magazine, as well as her site WeSaidGoTravel. On her award nominated global podcast, Make Your Own Map, Niver has interviewed Deepak Chopra, Olympic medalists, and numerous bestselling authors, and as a journalist has been invited to both the Oscars and the United Nations. For her print and digital stories as well as her television segments, she has been awarded three Southern California Journalism Awards and two National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards and been a finalist twenty-two times. Named a #3 travel influencer for 2023, Niver talks travel on broadcast television at KTLA TV Los Angeles, her YouTube channel with over 2 million views, and in her memoir, Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty.

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