Rawstory: Bush has near 'tractor accident' in visit to Illinois factory

[wakeme2008]

http://www.rawstory.com/

nothing more at this time......

:popcorn:

[Roland99]

1. Didn't realize there was much brush that needed to be cleared in Illinois

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. imagine the uproar if Clinton had the same accident. . .

you would not hear the end of it.

All we hear is the sound of silence, and, that ultrareichtists are bemoaning the unwarranted attacks on their president.

[atommom]

3. I thought it was a bulldozer he was driving?

My understanding is that he almost took out the press corps.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. that was no accident, that was practice. nt

[meegbear]

5. Here's the story ...

The White House announced its visit to a Caterpillar factory in East Peoria, Illinois, yesterday, where President George W. Bush advanced his case for expanding free trade negotiations. But it didn't detail the President's clumsy driving of a giant D-10 tractor that sent the White House press corps and presidential staff scrambling, which was reported at a Newsweek blog.

At "The Gaggle," Newsweek reporter Holly Bailey writes that the president clambered into the driver's seat of Caterpillar's giant D10 tractor. "I would suggest moving back...I'm about to crank this sucker up," she reports him saying.

But as White House staff started to move the press corps back, the situation became more chaotic. Bailey writes that "the tractor lurched forward" and White House staff "too were forced to scramble for safety. "Get out of the way!" a news photographer yelled. "I think he might run us over!""

Bush chuckled about the incident, and referenced driving the tractor during his speech, saying "I'm impressed by a culture of excellence and accomplishment that is the spirit of Caterpillar. I also appreciate the chance to drive a D10. If you've never driven a D10 -- (laughter) -- it's a cool experience. (Laughter)," according to the White House website.

Bailey looked less fondly upon Bush's test drive of the D-10. "Yeah, almost as much fun as seeing your life flash before your eyes," she wrote in response to the president's remark about his "cool experience."

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Bush_has_near_tractor_accident_in_0131.html

[Doctor_J]

6. What a moron

god, what a black mark in history having this loser in charge. :cry:

[atommom]

7. I can just hear Jon Stewart doing the "heh heh heh"....

[Earth_First]

8. Caterpillar D-10

Why would they allow someone to operate a piece of machinery this large with ZERO experience?

[Kali]

17. Because the emperor DECIDED he wanted to.

You don't argue with the decider.

[Hokie]

10. Reminds me of the M*A*S*H Episode

This reminds me of the episode where Frank Burns is showing off and runs over a tent and a jeep with a tank. As a matter of fact Burns and Shrub have a lot in common come to think of it.

[halobeam]

13. LMAO you are KILLIN' me....

:rofl: :rofl: Now all I can do is think Frank Burns when I see Chimpo. OMG!!

[fishwax]

30. yeah, he is a lot like ferret face

:rofl:

[zbdent]

33. No he isn't ... ferret face

served ... showed up for duty ...

Don't get me angry ...

[ThatsMyBarack]

35. Brava! from a M*A*S*H fan!

That was one of the most hilarious moments in TV history! However, it isn't funny in reality when a supposed "leader" tries shit like this.

[woodsprite]

14. Watching ABC news this morning - I thought their statement sounded

fishy. They said "Pres. Bush took a turn driving a huge tractor at the plant. He drove it about 20 feet without incident".

Made me think that last statement was said for a reason. I actually said to hubby "Yeah, I bet."

[GCP]

26. "Without incident" is CYA speak in the circles I work in

I'm an RN, when a patient goes through a procedure of any kind, it's usually documented as " Pt X was catherterized without incident, Pt tolerated the procedure well".
That Bush drove a tractor "without incident" implies they saw it was some kind of a dangerous situation, but he managed to pull it off without killing anyone.
God, I loathe that motherfucker with the blazing heat of a million galaxies.

[gatorboy]

37. Didn't he run over, like, 50 Bobbies in Europe or something?

Someone help me out here. I coulda sworn I rmember a story where the idiot injured a few police with his biking skills.

[Bigmack]

39. Savage...

I went to your link about Dan Savage and I couldn't believe it!

I haven't read his stuff in years... haven't been around Seattle, where the Stranger is distributed... but I never imagined for a moment that he supported this clusterfuck.

Has he changed his mind? Has he lost his mind?

[Supersedeas]

40. a cool experience for the Frat Boy in Chief

[OKNancy]

9. Here is a link to the ORIGINAL

story, not a rehashing and repackaging of someone else's material

http://www.talk.newsweek.com/politics/default.asp?item=464251

[meegbear]

12. WELL! I NEVER!

:hi:

[Demit]

15. Oh yes, significantly different.

What's the problem? Raw Story hotlinks to the Newsweek piece, and a White House take as well. Blogs do this all the time. What do you see wrong with it?

[Bucky]

29. Apparently a news aggregator that occasionally does its own reporting too is disgusting

I mean, it's not like Yahoo or Newsweek or MSNBC ever do that sort of thing (assuming you don't count Reuters or AP or Cox feeds or the frequent number of times they link to other news sources on the web) and those news outlets are working with essentially the same resources that Raw Story is, give or take a couple mil.

[Just-plain-Kathy]

11. First thing that went through my mind was -Cheney's going to do him off...n/t

:+

[pink-o]

16. Don't forget...

...This is the idiot who can't stay on a Segway....(if someone could dig up those pix of his falling over the handlebars, we would be very grateful!)

He falls off his bike on protected bike paths (Love to see him try my ride thru San Francisco traffic and up some righteous hills) chokes on a pretzel, et al...

Why the hell do people keep giving him the keys to big machinery? Are they hoping for the worst??? Unfortunately, Bush being Bush, he'd take out a bunch of innocent people before a hair on his own head was messed up.

[Earth_First]

19. The Segway incident:

[mitchleary]

18. Well you remember

contributors driving the sub that pulled the Ihime Maru under a few years ago. Inexperienced people should not be driving equipment like that, especially borderline retarded one.

[zbdent]

20. I thought it was a typo ... "Detractor accident"

Someone who might disagree with him may have actually been able to get within a mile of where he was at ... and lived ...

[Tin Man]

23. Perhaps the detractors will be given "dee tractor" treatment?

LOL

[zbdent]

31. Wasn't that the girl that the freeptards chuckled about

because she was crushed by a bulldozer protesting in the Middle East?

;)

[PinkUnicorn]

21. So in other words....

At "The Gaggle," Newsweek reporter Holly Bailey writes that the president clambered into the driver's seat of Caterpillar's giant D10 tractor......Bailey writes that "the tractor lurched forward"

So in other words he got behind the wheel, tried starting it while it was in gear, lurched it around for a minute until the engine finally stalled.

What I want to know is who the hell left the keys in the ignition of the machine when it has been shown numerous times, Shrub can't even drive a Tonka toy let alone the real thing.

[Mind_your_head]

22. I wouldn't even trust the shrub to microwave a sponge properly n/t

[dogday]

24. I hope the tractor is ok, hope shrub didn't hurt it nt

[zbdent]

34. If he did it, I'm sure Cheney would pressure it to apologize

for giving Bush some anguish ...

[TexasThoughtCriminal]

25. Bet he was sportin' wood while driving that big piece-a machinery

Damn insecure chickenhawk has to surround himself with symbols of masculinity -- ranch, cowboy hat, flight suit, war, and now heavy constuction equipment. The world suffers cuz this psychofuck has to prove himself.
:mad:

[FuzzyDicePHL]

27. A better subject line might have been

"Bush nearly runs over press corps." The title as it is now gave me false hope.

[Zenlitened]

28. Better yet: "Bush Charged with Attempted Murder; Bail Denied"

[blogslut]

32. Accident my ass

The bastard jumped behind the wheel of a Caterpillar tractor and tried to run down the White House press corps!

[Beetwasher]

36. He's A SERIOUSLY DEMENTED FUCK- He Did IT ON PURPOSE (Read This Part)

"Watching the chaos below, Bush looked out the tractor's window and laughed, steering the massive machine into the spot where most of the press corps had been positioned. The episode lasted about a minute, and Bush was still laughing when he pulled to a stop."

[bif]

38. Too bad there isn't a video of this!

That would be a thing of beauty.