Franken-Lies-And-the-Lying-Liars-Who-Tell

his shoulders go up and down like this." Then I did my little impression: Dubya laughing,
"heh, heh, heh," his shoulders shooting up and down.
Her face darkened noticeably. "I've never seen him do that."
"Well, I'm sure Dana will do it better. And, of course, it's going to be a very valuable
impression," I said. That lightened the moment. So much so, that 1 made what was, in retrospect,
an unwise decision. I decided to kid. "You know, until November."
A scowl flashed across her face. And, dismissing me with an imperious wave of her
hand, she issued a stern "Well, I'm through with you!"
It was so over the top, I was convinced she was kidding. "Oh, c'mon, I'm a Democrat,"
I said, all in good fun.
"I gathered that. And I'm through with you!" Another wave of the hand.
Suddenly, I was dealing with the Queen of Hearts. But I honestly couldn't tell whether
she was being serious or just having a bit of fun-in which case, I would have been selling her
short just to go back to my seat. So I tried again. "I was just kid—"
"I told you. I'm through with you."
So I nodded and backed away, looking to the Secret Service man for some clue. She's
kidding, right? I got nothing from the guy. But they're trained that way.
I spent the next couple of hours reliving the conversation, becoming more and more
convinced that Mrs. Bush had the most fabulous sense of humor and the whole "I'm through
with you" thing was just a hilarious bit of playacting. After dinner was served and cleared, I
decided to try again.
"Here's something you'll like about me," I said as I approached.
Which was met with a severe "I told you. I'm through with you."
"Ah, yes. But I'm a friend of John Ellis." (This was true, and, in retrospect, a little sad.
You may remember John Ellis as the Bush relative who manned the Fox News Decision
Desk on election night and called Florida for his first cousin. I had known John since his days
as a political analyst at NBC, though I've lost touch with him since he helped steal the election
for his family.)
"Well, John Ellis is a good man."
We discussed Ellis for a couple of minutes. Then I took my leave before she was
through with me. Success. I was back in Barbara Bush's good graces.