Happy President's Day!

[DD]

love it. we need some educatin' around here.

surely there are hundreds of little things we need to know about our presidents.

Ok Toots...here's some more crap for you...

15th president James Buchanan is the only unmarried man elected president. Buchanan was engaged to by married once; however, his fiancee' died suddenly after breaking up with him (hmmmm..) and he remained a bachelor all his life.

17th president Andrew Johnson never attended school. His future wife, Eliza, taught him to write at the age of 17. (He also only wore suits that he custom-tailored himself).

Ulysses S. Grant, 18th president of the United States, died of throat cancer. During his life, he smoked about 20 cigars a day.

Both ambidextrous and multilingual, 20th president of the US James Garfield could write Greek with one hand while writing Latin with the other. :shock:

Grover Cleveland, 22 and 24th president of the US underwent a secret operation aboard a yacht to remove his cancerous upper jaw in 1893.

The teddy bear derived from 26th US president Theodore Roosevelt's refusal to shoot a bear with her cub while on a hunting trip in Mississippi.

William Taft, 27th president of the US, weighed more than 300 pounds and had a special oversized bathtub installed in the White House.

Herbert Hoover, 31st president of the US, published more than 16 books, including one called Fishing for Fun-and to Wash Your Soul.

The letter "S" comprises the full middle name of Harry S. Truman, 33rd president of the US. It represents two of his grandfathers, whose names both had "S" in them.

40th president of the US Ronald Reagan broke the so-called "20 year curse", in which every president elected in a year ending in 0 died in office.

 

[Biff]

Bill Clinton gave a whole new meaning to POTUS!

 

[Mermaid]

We had the most wonderful President's Day celebration ever! The two of us just got back from a lecture given by former Secretary of State Colin Powell. I'm still reeling from it. That man gave a speech that was incredible--raucously funny, inspiring, and insightful. If only you could have heard his reminices about serving under Presidents Reagan and Bush. Talk about opportunities to use a LOT of diplomacy...wowee.

 

[DD]

We had the most wonderful President's Day celebration ever! The two of us just got back from a lecture given by former Secretary of State Colin Powell. I'm still reeling from it. That man gave a speech that was incredible--raucously funny, inspiring, and insightful. If only you could have heard his reminices about serving under Presidents Reagan and Bush. Talk about opportunities to use a LOT of diplomacy...wowee.

Mr. dd would be so jealous!! He loves CP! Sounds funn.

 

[Mermaid]

Mr. dd would be so jealous!! He loves CP! Sounds funn.

It was! I never in a million years thought he would be such a comedian but the stories Colin Powell was telling about the kings and queens and prime ministers who run this earth were so funny. He had the audience on the floor when he recounted talking to Japan's head of state, a man who loved Elvis and American baseball. But on the other hand, dd, he was plenty serious when the talk veered to what's going on in Iraq. That was really sobering to hear.

 

[DD]

It was! I never in a million years thought he would be such a comedian but the stories Colin Powell was telling about the kings and queens and prime ministers who run this earth were so funny. He had the audience on the floor when he recounted talking to Japan's head of state, a man who loved Elvis and American baseball. But on the other hand, dd, he was plenty serious when the talk veered to what's going on in Iraq. That was really sobering to hear.

I can imagine that got them quiet real fast.

 

[Mermaid]

I can imagine that got them quiet real fast.

The remarks about WMD were his closing remarks and yes, the audience was riveted to what he was saying, in no little part because it wasn't what anyone expected to hear. Merman and I go to many lectures and it never fails to surprise me how much more frankness you get from famous people (in all walks of life) when a TV camera isn't jammed in their face and there aren't reporters crawling up their back ready to dissect everything that comes out of their mouth.

 

[DD]

The remarks about WMD were his closing remarks and yes, the audience was riveted to what he was saying, in no little part because it wasn't what anyone expected to hear. Merman and I go to many lectures and it never fails to surprise me how much more frankness you get from famous people (in all walks of life) when a TV camera isn't jammed in their face and there aren't reporters crawling up their back ready to dissect everything that comes out of their mouth.

So...don't leave me hangin"! What did he say about WMD?

 

[Mermaid]

So...don't leave me hangin"! What did he say about WMD?

He said (this is the expected part) that when he made his testimony, the one that was greatly responsible for us going to Iraq to destroy all the weapons, that he said it because all information from all sources said WMP DID exist. And as we know now, not a one turned up. The unexpected part was that he said quite bluntly that it's incredible that our info was so totally screwed up. And not "incredible" in the "fantastic" kind of meaning. He made no bones about it. It gave everyone the heebie jeebies because the next thought in your head was--was it outright lying, outright incompetence, government agencies with their own agendas, etc. None of which are very good and none of which bode well for us. He said our next president has a LOT of work cut out for him/her in the effort to extract ourselves from Iraq in a responsible manner.

 

[DD]

He said (this is the expected part) that when he made his testimony, the one that was greatly responsible for us going to Iraq to destroy all the weapons, that he said it because all information from all sources said WMP DID exist. And as we know now, not a one turned up. The unexpected part was that he said quite bluntly that it's incredible that our info was so totally screwed up. And not "incredible" in the "fantastic" kind of meaning. He made no bones about it. It gave everyone the heebie jeebies because the next thought in your head was--was it outright lying, outright incompetence, government agencies with their own agendas, etc. None of which are very good and none of which bode well for us. He said our next president has a LOT of work cut out for him/her in the effort to extract ourselves from Iraq in a responsible manner.

Wow. Will we ever know? Do we wanna know? God luv the next prez.