New book re. Bush's biking: "Gassed off" after 80-min. ride, he sat silent during Katrina briefing

[DeepModem Mom]

WP, pg1: Roberts Suggested Miers, Book Says
Author Delves Inside Bush Controversies
By Michael Abramowitz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 3, 2007; Page A01

John G. Roberts Jr., now the chief justice of the United States, suggested Harriet Miers to President Bush as a possible Supreme Court justice, according to a new book on the Bush presidency. Miers, the White House counsel and a Bush loyalist from Texas, did not want the job, but Bush and first lady Laura Bush prevailed on her to accept the nomination, journalist Robert Draper writes in "Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush."...

***

The nomination of Miers was one of several self-inflicted wounds that have damaged the Bush presidency during its second term. After Miers withdrew in the face of the conservative furor, Samuel A. Alito Jr. was selected and confirmed for the seat.

In recounting this and other controversies of Bush's tenure, Draper offers an intimate portrait of a White House racked by more infighting than is commonly portrayed and of a president who would, alternately, intensely review speeches line by line or act strangely disengaged from big issues....

***

Draper writes that Bush was "gassed" after an 80-minute bike ride at his Crawford, Tex., ranch on the day before Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast and was largely silent during a subsequent video briefing from then-FEMA director Michael D. Brown and other top officials making preparations for the storm....Draper offers some intriguing details about Bush's personal habits, such as his intense love of biking. He reports that White House advance teams and the Secret Service "devoted inordinate energy to satisfying Bush's need for biking trails," descending on a town a couple of days before the president's arrival to find secluded hotels and trails the boss would find challenging.

He also makes new disclosures about the behind-the-scenes infighting at the White House that helped prompt the change from (Andrew) Card to (Josh) Bolten in the spring of 2006. By that point, he reports, some close to the president had concluded that "the White House management structure had collapsed," with senior aides Rove and Dan Bartlett "constantly at war."...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/02/AR2007090201422.html?nav=hcmodule

[aquart]

1. "Gassed" means "drunk or intoxicated."

<http://www.answers.com/topic/gassing-3?cat=health>

Drunk from a bike ride? Never had that effect on me.

[DeepModem Mom]

4. I was thinking it meant he was worn out from the ride -- and not interested in any Presidentin'.

Thanks for this interesting definition. Now I wonder...

[madeline_con]

8. Gaeesd, tanked, toasted, lit, shitfaced....

the list goes on...

Wonderful euphemisms for drunk: blitzed, blasted, blotto, cockeyed, crocked, ripped, looped, loaded, leveled, wasted, wiped, soused, sozzled, smashed, and shnockered. Stewed, stinko, stupid, tanked, totaled, tight, and tipsy. Not to mention feeling no pain, three sheets to the wind, in one's cups, intoxicated, addlepated, and pixilated. -- Bruce Weber

http://www.doctorfunnywoman.com/Moresmokinganddrinkingjokes.html

[SoCalDem]

11. I thought it was Texan for holding in 80 minutes worth of farts.

:)

[aquart]

14. Me, too. Got it from Google:

<http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=gassed+definition&btnG=Google+Search>

[RaleighNCDUer]

12. I've NEVER heard of "gassed" or "gassed out" refering to

being worn out from exercise.

I wonder what he's really doing on those bike rides.

[RamboLiberal]

13. I have heard being exausted after a hard workout

as being gassed - and that's how I read it in this article. Still damning though since it indicates Bush wasn't paying attention. But remember this book is supposed to be somewhat flattering to Bush!

gassed to be burn out, exhausted, capable of doing no more

I went to work today but got nothing done, I'm just gassed.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gassed

BTW, where I've mostly heard the term is referring to fighters, wrestlers or mixed martial arts fighters.

[DeepModem Mom]

18. That's how I read it -- although I'd never heard the term. Thanks, RL. nt

[Me.]

2. What The Heck Does Being Gassed Mean?

I was going to do a thread asking until I saw yours. Was he high,or what?

[DeepModem Mom]

6. See posts 1 and 4. I'm not sure, either! nt

[madeline_con]

3. "... strangely disengaged from big issues...."

Because he was GASSED more often than not. :beer:

[Me.]

5. Right On

All in all, a delicious little article

[creeksneakers2]

7. Bush chose this biographer for his sympathy and

lack of objectivity. Still stuff comes out.

I'd love to see a full inside explanation of what went on while Bush was ignoring Katrina. Whatever dirt comes in one book, the next guy with a book deal has to top it.Somebody on the inside is going to wind up taking the book money. The public will be shocked to learn many things.

[madrchsod]

9. george had "runners high"

A study in 2004 by Georgia Tech found that Runner's High was likely triggered by a release of another naturally produced body chemical, the endocannabinoid anandamide. Anandamide is similar to the active chemical THC in Marijuana. The body produces this chemical to deal with prolonged stress and pain from strenuous exercise, similar to the original theory attached to endorphins.

biking is easier on the knees that running or jogging

[DeepModem Mom]

10. Thanks for that info, madrchsod! nt

[aquart]

15. Ah. Thank you.

So he bikes to replicate being stoned? Or am I reading too much into simple exercise?

[RamboLiberal]

16. Gassed in the exercise world means to be exausted

not on a runner's high.

[Lisa]

17. self-medicating, perhaps?

A friend of mine who has Attention Deficit Disorder said that before he was diagnosed, he used to run, bike, and lift weights to the point of exhaustion, on a daily basis, just because it made him feel better. Now he has medication and no longer feels the urge to run himself into the ground.