In Bid to Burnish “Green” Legacy, Bush Uses Recycled Material in State of the Union Address
WASHINGTON, D.C. In his final State of the Union address, President George W. Bush sought to establish his legacy as an environmentally-conscious leader by using recycled 4″ x 6″ note cards containing oral reports and speeches given by him and members of his family. “This is my last one–I’m outta here,” Bush explained to the White House speechwriters’ pool. “You guys can take the rest of the day off.”
“I’m not going to tell you how ‘David Copperfield’ ends, ’cause I want you to read the whole book.”
Bush used note cards from speeches he gave as a student at Doak Walker Junior High School in Midland, Texas, including a book report on Charles Dickens’ “David Copperfield” and “UFOs: Friends or Foes?”, an oral report he gave in a 9th grade Current Events class.
Doak Walker
Shifting gears to education, Bush used notes from a speech given by Laura Bush to promote a vacation reading program while employed at the Kashmere Gardens Branch of the Houston Public Library, entitled “Your Public Library: The Place to Stay Out of the Sun for Summer Fun!”.
“Take advantage of our summer specials–daily fines have been reduced from 3 to 2 cents.”
Focusing on the problem of substance abuse by America’s youth, Bush borrowed two essays by his daughters, ”Lessons Learned: Go First Class When Buying Fake IDs” by Jenna Bush and “Nolo Contendere: A Girl’s Best Friend” by Barbara Pierce Bush. The two were charged with alcohol-related misdemeanors in 2001.
Helen Thomas
Bush’s decision to use recycled material was praised by members of the White House press corps, who must summarize the State of the Union address and file stories under tight deadlines. “It’s a professional courtesy we really appreciate,” said UPI’s Helen Thomas, the senior member of the corps best known for her role in “Swamp Thing II”. “We change the date from ‘2007′ to ‘2008′ and can be out of here in time to make last call at the National Press Club bar.”
Copyright 2008, Con Chapman
