Political pairs: photographs of Presidents and their pals (and frenemies, accomplices, and fairweather friends)

By Jack Brummet, Presidents Editor

If you've followed ATIT for any length of time, you probably know that The Presidents are part of the fun here.  Here are a handful of our favorite shots of Presidents with their pals (and frenemies, accomplices, and fair weather friends).

Future President George W. Bush and Karl Rove

Presidents Gerald R. Ford and William J. Clinton at the five President summit

President Gerald R. Ford and "Joe" Garagiola the night Ford lost the election to Jimmy Carter

Future President William J. Clinton and future 

Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Lyndon B. Johnson (with funhouse mirror effect)

President Richard M. Nixon with

his Florida pal Bebe Rebozo

President Richard M. Nixon with his golf pal Jackie Gleason

clowning for the cameras at a Florida golf course

President Lyndon B. Johnson with his pal, 

future Supreme Court justice Abe Fortas

President John F. Kennedy tries to control his 

running mate, future President Lyndon B. Johnson

President Barack Obama and his loyal henchman (and 

Chief of Staff) future Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel

President Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama (what was it he said?)

President Harry S. Truman and Lauren Bacall (after seeing 

this photograph, Bess Truman went nuclear on HST) 

Two bros bro'ing it up.  President George 

W. Bush and his brother Governor Jeb Bush

Future President Senator John F. Kennedy with future first lady 

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. This is probably a photo booth shot.

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The Traveling Wilburys "The End Of The Line"

By Jack Brummet, Rock Editor

This is a most bittersweet video.  Somewhere between the time when they recorded this originally, and when they shot the video, Lefty Wilbury a/k/a Roy Orbison, passed on (his name is a tribute to country great Lefty Frizzell).  This video shows Orbison's guitar rocking in a chair as the rest of the group play, followed by a brief shot focused on a framed picture of Roy.


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Drawings from Turkey: Goreme, Cappadocia, Istanbul

Drawings and text by Jack Brummet 

[2'x2' surplus hospital muslin with Sharkie[tm] and pencil]

click to enlarge

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Dan Ratherisms - from Election nights past

by Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Editor

One thing we won't hear tonight are classic Dan Ratherisms. Daniel Kurtzman compiled this AMAZING list of Quotes from CBS Anchor Dan Rather on Election Night.

Click here to see the entire mother lode as compiled by by Daniel Kurtzman Quotes from CBS Anchor Dan Rather on Election Night "Do you hear that knocking...President Bush's re-election is at the door." "This race is hotter than a Times Square Rolex.""His lead is as thin as turnip soup." "The presidential race is swinging like Count Basie." "This race is hotter than the Devil's anvil." "Ohio becomes like a sauna for the two candidates. All they can do is wait and sweat." "One's reminded of that old saying, 'Don't taunt the alligator until after you've crossed the creek.'" "This situation in Ohio would give an aspirin a headache.' '"Bush is sweeping through the South like a big wheel through a cotton field." "No question now that Kerry's rapidly reaching the point where he's got his back to the wall, his shirttails on fire and the bill collector's at the door." "This presidential race has been crackling like a hickory fire for at least the last hour and a half." "Let's see where it goes from here. Round and round it goes, where it stops nobody knows." "We keep talking about Ohio if you've been tuning in and out or you put the baby to bed or you went to pop the cap on an adult, or otherwise, beverage..." "In southern states they beat him like a rented mule." "We had a slight hitch in our giddy up, but we corrected that." "In some ways, George Bush's lead is as thin as November ice." "John Kerry's moon has just moved behind a cloud, as far as Florida is concerned." On Kerry's chances: "To use a metaphor, he's gotta draw to an inside straight. But hey, sometimes you get lucky and hit that straight." "We don't know what to do. We don't know whether to wind a watch or bark at the moon." On how the results are affecting strategists: "It's one reason so many of them drink a lot." "This race is shakier than cafeteria Jell-O.""He swept through the South like a tornado through a trailer park." "This race is tight like a too-small bathing suit on a too-long ride home from the beach." "It's about as complicated as a wiring diagram to some dynamo." "This race is as tight as the rusted lug nuts on a '55 Ford." "The presidential race still hotter than a Laredo parking lot." "These returns are running like a squirrel in a cage." "Frankly we don't know whether to wind the watch or to bark at the moon." "We've lived by the crystal ball, we're eating so much broken glass. We're in critical condition." ---o0o---

The Kremlin Clock Tower

By Jack Brummet, Russian Travel Editor

The 500 year old Kremlin Clock (Russian: Кремлёвские часы; Kremlyovskiye chasy) is an often rebuilt clock on Spasskaya Tower in The Kremlin. The clock dial is above the main gates leading into Red Square. The clock chimes on the quarter hour, and bells toll each full hour.  According to various historical accounts, the clock on the Spasskaya Tower appeared between 1491 and 1585.  It has been tinkered with, rebuilt, music added, clockworks re-engineered, and of course, the clock dials have been updated, re-gilded, and more. 

It was pretty cool seeing it in person, although there were so many other fantastic buildings, churches, and sculptures that it almost becomes lost among all the other great sights.  I remember when I was young, they would often show the clock tower in reports on The Kremlin (our cold war enemies).  U.S. News, however, would more often show some grim, great Soviet building (there are only a couple of that style)--they almost never showed the great churches or towers.

 

The four Kremlin clock faces are 20 feet in diameter, with one on all four sides of the tower. The Roman numerals are two and a half feet tall.  The length of the hour hand is nearly ten feet, and of the minute hand nearly eleven feet. The total weight of clock and bells is 25 tons (or about 1/8 the weight of the gigantic Czar Bell on the plaza.  

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By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Editor


I voted.  You almost feel like you need a bath after voting these days.

It's the political, and pundit, and expert-fatigue--you can't help watching a train-wreck, and in many ways, this election has been one.  I, for once, am very glad it's nearly over.  I used to enjoy every minute of it.  But this year things got ugly.

It would be nice to have it decided Tuesday night, as opposed to a recount, or in the courts.  And then let Jeb-Rubio-Christie-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa -Andrew Cuomo-and whoever else start running for 2016.

There's been a lot of nasty stuff back and forth from both parties (and the libertarian/green 3rd and 4th wings).  Now it's time for the jawboning to end; time to quit blaming the 1% or the 2% or the 47%; time for the bi-partisan solutions both candidates and parties claim they truly believe in.  I don't watch much TV, but I read that some cities/battleground states have literally had ten thousands of ads scream across their screens.  I know the ones I hear on the radio are pretty bad (particularly thinking of our local Governor's contest).  Just a short time to go now, and it's all over but the post-mortem and the finger pointing.  It can't some soon enough.  As long as your guy wins, and maybe even if he/she doesn't.

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The Hurricane Bros: Christie and BHO in 'Jersey

by Mona Goldwater, New Jersey Editor

click to enlarge

“I have no idea, nor am I the least bit concerned or interested,” Christie said when asked whether Romney would visit New Jersey. “I’ve got a job to do here in New Jersey that’s much bigger than presidential politics, and I could care less about any of that stuff.”

Christie praised The President for how the storm response has been handled by the White House.

“The federal government response has been great. I was on the phone at midnight again last night with the president personally,” he said Tuesday on the “Today” show. “The president has been outstanding in this.” 

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A poem by A.E. Housman

By Jack Brummet
















This is a favorite small poem by A.E. Housman that has always stuck with me. . .

“The thoughts of others
Were light and fleeting,
Of lovers' meeting
Or luck or fame.
Mine were of trouble,
And mine were steady;
So I was ready
When trouble came.”

- A.E. Housman

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Vote For Us

By Jack Brummet

click to enlarge

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ATIT Reheated (from five years ago today): Kucinich questions Pres. Bush's mental health (and admits he's "seen a flying saucer")

Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich questioned President Bush's mental health yesterday because of comments he made about a nuclear Iran causing World War III.

"...we have to start asking questions about his mental health," Kucinich, an Ohio congressman, said in an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer's editorial board on Tuesday. "There's something wrong. He does not seem to understand his words have real impact."

Later that night, during the Democratic Presidential debate, Representative Kucinich admitted he had seen a UFO (see yesterday's All This Is That).

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ATIT Reheated: The end of the polling place

By Jack Brummet, Nostalgia Editor

 

[This article is reprinted from November, 2008]

2008 was a good election. . .it was the first in which most of what and whom I'd voted for actually won. As you can see from the sticker they gave me after I voted, it was also the last time I will go to the polling place. I know most people like the convenience of voting by mail. I never actually have. Call me a Luddite, or troglodyte. I like the polling place--the flags draped around the churches and Elks Clubs, schools and community centers. I like the old men and women, working for minimum wage, who regard me with suspicion, even after 20 years of voting in the same precinct.

I've always missed those gigantic steel analog voting machines, where you physically pulled a metal lever. I'll miss the election monitors, the occasional exit poller, and most of all, seeing your friends and neighbors line up a couple times a year. It's progress, I guess, but it is also one more chink in the armor of communities and neighborhoods. I'll miss voting live and in person.

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Faces No. 329 - the district office

By Jack Brummet

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