[QUOTE]Originally posted by Doug
[B]17-Apr-02
PHONY TO THE CORE: The "Ole Family Ranch" in Crawford is a
Set Completed the Same Day the Election was Stolen By
Cheryl Seal
Have you seen all those article and pictures of Bush "at
home on the ranch" in Crawford - the ones that imply that he
is "just an ole ranch hand" more comfortable on the family
homestead than in the "Big City," be it Austin or
D.C.? Well, if you bought this image, you've been royally
snuckered. The Bush family homestead in Crawford is
nothing more than an elaborate set. The house, built in
2000, was designed to be ready for Bush to step into -
like a set awaiting an actor - during the 2000
presidential election. Not only was the "ranch" created
in 2000 - so, essentially, was the "town" of Crawford!
Before then only about 400 people lived in the area. The
Crawford Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture were formed
shortly after the ranch was finished.
The 1,600 acres on which the "ranch" sits was purchased in
1999 for an undisclosed price, but it was a helluva lot less
than the current real estate agents' appraisal of $1.2
million. Yep, worth $1.2 million, but G.W. has a sweet deal
at the tax appraiser's office, where the property is valued
at about $988,000. Oh, and that "homey ole ranch house?"
It's actually a 10,000-square-foot single level
mansion/compound that won't even be 2 years old until this
November! The compound features a swimming pool for
daughters Jenna and Barbara, who apparently loudly demanded
it - the Bushes call it the girls' "Whining pool." Btw - we
hear Bush got a sweet deal on the house construction, (the
cost, of course remains undisclosed): the builders came from
a religious community in El Mott, Texas. The original
completion date of the house was November 7 - election day
2000. In other words, the curtain went up on the set on
schedule for "show time." The very timing of this event
indicates that Bush was absolutely confident that the
election would be successfully engineered in his favor.
The whole idea behind the ranch set, of course, was so that
the public could be treated to footage of Bush seeking a
quiet "retreat" at the family ranch. Americans would thus
assume that the ranch was a rooted family homestead or
compound like the one Kennedy's had in Martha's Vineyard or
FDR had at Campobello. But when Bush retreated into his
"homestead" in November, 2000, he was merely walking onto a
prepared set upon which the paint had barely dried, let
alone even the barest of roots put down! When we see photos
of Bush bombing around the ranch in his leather jacket in
his "ole pickup," supposedly knowing every tree and bush -
it's all pure fantasy! If Bush knows every tree and bush
after actually spending, all told, a total of about 2
months on the ranch (if you put the odd days end to end)
since it was bought, then I''d like to know when he found
time to hold all those endless Crawford press conferences!
Seems to me he'd be way too busy introducing himself to
trees and bushes.
Until Bush and handlers decided that a rural ranch would be
a slick bit of PR for the presidential campaign, Bush had no
interest in a "home on the range." Instead, his preferred
weekend retreat was to the Rainbo Club, an exclusive
lakeside hunting club in Henderson County, about an hour
south of Dallas, much closer to the comforts of Austin. When
a Bush run for president began to look like a pretty good
bet, the 1,600 acres were bought and the Bushes started
making weekend trips to a 60-year-old ranch house that
existed on the property - not of course, before refurbishing
it! - so they could build the "lore" that would take in the
American public, hook, line and sinker.
In an interesting side note - while Bush is anti-
conservation in his presidential policies to please his
corporate pals, in his OWN home, he has installed several
conservation/energy saving features, including solar panels
for heating water, rainwater collection for landscape
irrigation, an air conditioning system that uses groundwater
and a gray water recycling system. The obvious impression
here is that Bush, being all PR show and no substance or
real convictions, wants to cover all the bases. Block
conservation when it is expedient, but have some
conservation "stuff" to show off when that is expedient.
So, in short, we have a "president" who, ON THE SAME DAY -
November 7, 2000 - stole an election and had the last nail
driven into a phony ranch set. But with a completely
snuckered press corps, we also have had a completely
snuckered public. And a platoon of completely snuckered
world leaders, chief among them Blair and Putin, who have
been hosted at the "ole ranch" set and completely taken in.
Alas, the Crawford ranch is a symbol of the utter corporate
phoniness of this administration. The whole scenario reminds
me of those type of sophisticated con artists (like the ones
who recently convinced several investors they could turn
sand into gold! ) who blow into town, rent an upscale office
space just long enough to give them enough credibility to
hoodwink investors. Then, once they have fleeced enough
"marks," they disappear. What makes the Bush case much, much
worse is that I doubt he will disappear.
Additional Notes on "Rancho Boguso" from Bonafide Texans
Apparently Rancho Boguso has done time not just as a small-
time cattle ranch but was once a pig farm as well! And
those horses you see in photos? Window dressing only - Bush
can't ride!!!
Read with interest your article at Democrats.com. Being from
Waco I know well what you say. Crawford first of all is
closer to Waco than the Branch Davidian Compound but this is
never said.
For your information Bush was just given a saddle as a gift
that is now on tour around the state. This saddle is of NO
use to him since he does't ride horses. Ask Vincinte Fox -
who wanted him to go riding on Bush's trip to Mexico.
Another fact is that he doesn't own any of the cattle on
his "ranch". They are the cattle of the previous owner,
who helps run the "Movie Set". He's a cowboy with more hat
than cattle.
"MikeYankee" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:So what?
Does anybody out there seriously believe that GWB,
also born with a silver spoon in his mouth, is a man
of the people?
Mike Yankee
(Address is munged to thwart spammers. To reply, delete
everything after "com".) [/B]
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