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

But another, even more interesting, insight came from everyone who knew the
Bushes. They all agreed. "Dubya is her son." He's mean.
Now, I don't know George W Bush. I met him once briefly, and I found him charming
and likeable. I wrote about it in the paperback edition of Why Not Me?, but I think, in the
context of this book, it bears repeating.
It was August 1999, and I was covering the Iowa Republican straw poll for George
magazine, at a front-porch event in Indianola, a small town about fifteen miles south of Des
Moines. As he was giving the short version of his standard "compassionate conservative"
stump speech, literally on a front porch, he caught a glimpse of me standing among fifteen or
so members of the press.
He looked a bit surprised, then gave me a little wink. Which, I thought at the moment,
was kind of charming. I mean, he knew who I was!
After the speech, he glad-handed the good Iowa neighbors who had come to see him.
And then, on the lawn, held a press availability. I was going to get to ask him questions!
We gathered around him, and the first thing he did was point to me and say, "I see
they're lettin' anyone in these days." Light, funny. After a few other questions, he called on
me.
Now, this was the period when the rumors about his cocaine use had first come out.
So I said, "Governor, I personally don't care about whether or not you did cocaine years ago
when you were a young man. But since we're in Iowa, I feel I have to ask you: Have you ever
manufactured any crystal meth?"
Everyone laughed, including Bush. Again, charming. But, and I think this is the important
part, he did not answer. Important not because I think George W. Bush ever cooked a
tub of metham phetamines. But because, if Bush had answered the question, I would have
trapped him. Because he had been refusing to answer the coke question. By laughing instead
of answering, he had outsmarted me.
I talked to him about a couple of other things. If you're curious, Why Not Me? is still
in print. But the point is, I came away from my one interaction with the guy kind of, well,
charmed. And that, I understand, is a very common experience.
Don't get me wrong. As you've probably figured out by now, I don't like this president.
I don't like his policies. He gives me the willies whenever he speaks. I don't like him.