Bush: Holding Three Jobs 'Uniquely American' [drudge]

[hezekkia]

From Matt Sludge (sorry, can't find it from any better sources)...

Last Friday when promoting social security reform with 'regular' citizens in Omaha, Nebraska, President Bush walked into an awkward unscripted moment in which he stated that carrying three jobs at a time is 'uniquely American.'

While talking with audience participants, the president met Mary Mornin, a woman in her late fifties who told the president she was a divorced mother of three, including a 'mentally challenged' son.

The President comforted Mornin on the security of social security stating that 'the promises made will be kept by the government.'...

Begin transcript:

MS. MORNIN: That's good, because I work three jobs and I feel like I contribute.

THE PRESIDENT: You work three jobs?

MS. MORNIN: Three jobs, yes.

THE PRESIDENT: Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that. (Applause.) Get any sleep? (Laughter.)

[rooboy]

1. The man is a sociopath. n/t

[stevedeshazer]

2. That's their vision

Slavery revisited.

[BlueEyedSon]

3. Mornin in america... holding 3 jobs is supposed to be a GOOD thing????

:wtf:

[patricia92243]

4. Fantastic that somebody HAS to work three jobs! The man is crazy.

[Merope215]

6. Fuck him. n/t

[xchrom]

5. his response is fascinating

he's not concerned that the wages she receives for her labours aren't enough to work fewer jobs.
second -- i'm assuming she doesn't make a bunch of money -- or that's the tenor i get here -- how much can she contribute to this pyramid scheme?

[Scurrilous]

7. Obviously.....

...the Chimperor finds wage slavery humorous.

[paineinthearse]

8. One of the lost posts from Monday afternoon.

Thanks for resurrecting this, it had been posted Monday and had several replies but was lost when the software hiccoughed.

It was called (from "my posts") "CULTURALLY INSENSITIVE RIGHT-WING IDIOT QUOTE OF THE DAY <6 Replies>".

[ignatius 2]

9. Good God, has there ever been a more callous,dysfunctional person,

other than Paris Hilton.

Bush is the Paris Hilton of men.

[iamjoy]

10. OMG!!!

If we find a reputable source on this, I say his response goes on Top 10 Conservative Idiots.

I am trying to think of how one of our Democrats would have responded.

I can imagine Dean going into a rant about right wing policies hurting Americans and how he could change that. I think Edwards would "reflect" back to her (an empathetic listening skill) and then work it into his poverty and job loss stump speech. Maybe Kerry would talk about how many other Americans are in the same boat and what a shame it is. Don't know about Clark or the others, but I can't imagine any of them being "impressed."

[tanyev]

11. WHY in the sam hill is a single mother

with a mentally challenged son who is working 3 jobs a Bush supporter????? Leaving to bang my head against the wall.....

[lasttrip]

17. was thinking the same thing.

also leaving to bang my head against the wall...

but hey, people were clapping and laughing.

:argh:

[FreedomAngel82]

32. They were laughing?

What? How horrible. :\

[dad]

28. Perhaps the mental damage was inherited!

(DUCKS) >> Sorry, had to say it!!

[jbm]

12. last night on Lou Dobbs...

Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi) made some statement about supporting policies that would 'create a healthier and better educated workforce". I suppose one could argue that there's nothing inherently wrong with that statement, but it struck me as being a very aristocratic thing to say. The United States that I believe in supports policies that provide equal opportunites and liberties for all.

The matter of fact way he tossed out the statement made me think of an all mens club filled with fancy rich white men gathered to discuss how best to manipulate the 'inferiors'. We gotta take this country back...

[cestpaspossible]

15. Except Cochran was lying

in reality, he does not support policies that would "create a healthier and better educated workforce". If he did, he'd be a Democrat.

[Botany]

13. Clueless ..... uterly fucking clueless

The man is a MORAN!


:bounce:

[fishwax]

27. I'd say classless rather than clueless

at least in this case ... we all know he's both :grr:

But getting a chuckle out of a poor woman's struggle is just so typical of his privileged pompous ass. It makes me sick.

[paineinthearse]

14. Sludge got this from American Progress who got it from the WP

It was in Monday's "Progress Report". (That's where I plagerized it from Monday afternoon).

CULTURALLY INSENSITIVE RIGHT-WING QUOTE OF THE DAY: "In Omaha on Friday, a divorced single mother named Mary Mornin tells the president, 'I have one child, Robbie, who is mentally challenged, and I have two daughters.' 'Fantastic,' the president exclaims...Later, the 57-year old Mornin tells Bush that she works three jobs, which the president deems 'uniquely American' and 'fantastic.' He asks her if she gets any sleep."

...who got it from http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A1548-2005Feb5?language=printer

I recommend reading the entire piece, it's one of the best expose's I've ever read. But be sure you have not recently eaten.

Birth of a Salesman: Pitching Social Security

By Mark Leibovich
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 6, 2005; Page D01

FARGO, N.D. -- George Bush wants to retool Social Security badly enough to visit Fargo in February. He comes in on a roll -- fresh from his inauguration, an election in Iraq and a well-received State of the Union speech. It's even sunny and warm here, like the president himself, who is in a hot sales mode.

"As you can tell, I'm upbeat," the president says from a stage in front of 7,000 screaming fans. He no longer has to run for reelection or sell himself. But Bush is still selling, pitching the unsexy policy widgets of "personal retirement accounts," "thrift savings accounts" and "an ownership society."

The president is also touting: "courage" (to act), "responsibility" (to our young people) and "freedom" (whether from tyrants or government-imposed financial burdens). Social Security is Bush's signature product rollout this year. It is a tough sale, even to the rent-a-choir audiences of ticketed supporters the president addressed last week. The issues are complex and the here-and-now is comfortable.

much, much more............

[mcscajun]

22. Your warning was well put...

...eating in close temporal proximity to reading this article is an environmental hazard to your immediate surroundings. Witness the Amway-ing of America :gag:

Reading the Omaha link fills in a bit more of the tale; with the help of a photo of this hard-working single mom, you find out she's pretty well-groomed and well-dressed for a gal with three jobs. She doesn't look the least big haggard or harrassed by her situation. Nothing spells out how many hours she works at those other two jobs, either. But still...she votes Republican? The mind boggles.

[iamjoy]

16. Don't Cry For This Woman & Reputable Link

a little search by her name turned up (in addition to something about a Willie Nelson song)

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1636&u_sid=1328222

http://worldwarbush.blogspot.com/


Here is an article in the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A1548-2005Feb5?language=printer

[sonicx]

21. Bush didn't know the woman's financial situation...

If someone told me they had kids and 3 jobs, "fantastic" is the last thing that would come out of my mouth...

[iamjoy]

23. He May Have

The way they screen these people - she was up there on stage with him, you think he didn't know she worked on his campaign?

[sonicx]

30. oh, of course

The first link said she was picked through her being a shrub volunteer.

But the woman just said she had 3 jobs, and from that alone without any other context, bush makes his dumb comments.

I admit...If I knew nothing else except that she had 3 jobs, I probably would have said it's good that's working hard to provide for her family, but I would not have said that "uniquely American" crap.

[FreedomAngel82]

33. Don't you know that

the media can't know that so it will sell to the people? It's like the whole show with the Iraqi woman at the union speech.

[libpunkmom]

18. I guess my hubbie is

unique. He has worked 3 jobs for over 2 years now. It's not "unique". It's fucking HARD!!! Just too pissed off to function now!!

[AlCzervik]

19. And being a barely functioning illiterate and trading on your family's

name is "Uniquely" Bush.

I swear to God he saves his most insane moments for when Jon stewart is on vacation.

[FreedomAngel82]

34. When is Jon coming back?

I miss his show and my daily fix (heh heh). Maybe he'll have tons of material to use when the show comes back. :)

[Gloria]

20. Doesn't holding 3 jobs affect the much-hallowed family value of

having a home life and spending time with those kids????

[tuvor]

25. Nah, having "family values" just means that you're not gay.

[Warren DeMontague]

39. That is NOT TRUE.

It also means you HATE Gays, even if you don't admit it publicly.

[OneTwentyoNine]

24. Bush:You really don't need a minimum wage increase then do you?

I,ah... meen...if all Murkinans that constantly bitch about a minimum wage increase would get off their ass and get that second and third job then you wouldn't need that economy killing minimum wage increase!!

[fishwax]

26. what an asshole

talking to a single mother working three jobs and making humor out of her lack of sleep is pretty damn classless.

[solinvictus]

29. Transcript is

at whitehouse.gov.

[CAG]

31. What if Clinton said this????

Could you imagine the disgust that would be coming thru the airways for weeks from the republicans and their minions in the media???

Which makes me think why aren't our democratic leaders jumping all over this??

[FreedomAngel82]

35. Most definietly

I don't know why they're not jumping either. If any democrat leader was doing the same things as Bush he would be so jumped on it wouldn't be funny, yet Bush is a god and doesn't ever get questioned. :wtf:

[kskiska]

36. He said it was "fantastic" to have a mentally challenged child

In Omaha on Friday, a divorced single mother named Mary Mornin tells the president, "I have one child, Robbie, who is mentally challenged, and I have two daughters."

"Fantastic," the president exclaims, and he tells her she has "the hardest job in America, being a single mom."

[Warren DeMontague]

37. This from a guy who's never had ONE.

Asshat.

[opihimoimoi]

38. Bush should try it, he might quit after 13 nanoseconds....

He is SO Dismal its pathetic...