Revisiting a Golden Oldie: Bush and "The Segway Incident" (6/03)

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

This is an entry on Dubyaspeak.com. They also have a lot of audio files, and its generally a clearing-house of Bush stupidity.



(Excerpted/Adapted from articles in The Scotsman and The American Prospect, Jun. 13-14, 2003)

Attempting to square the circle of Middle East politics may be all in a day’s work for George Bush, but yesterday he found himself flummoxed by the latest in transport technology.

Mr Bush got into trouble when he took the Segway Human Transporter out for a test drive.Trumpeted by its manufacturers as the "world’s first dynamically stabilised, self balancing human transporter", the scooter-like vehicle is designed to be stable. But the United States president found the futuristic machines to be anything but stable as he went for a spin with his father, former president George Bush, on the driveway of their weekend home in Kennebunkport, Maine. Attempting to mount the device while holding a tennis racket, Bush was unable get a foothold on the machine and went flying.

So how did Bush manage to nearly fall flat on his face? The possibilities were numerous: The ground could have been slippery. Maybe Bush impatiently got on the machine before waiting the few seconds needed for the Segway to warm up. Could the battery have run out? A spirited discussion raged on the chatboards of SegwayChat.com. One Washington resident and Segway enthusiast -- who compared the Segway's effect on his life to "having kids" -- told me he would "put money" on the theory that Bush had thought the machine was in "Power Assist Mode," not the "Balance Mode" that is required to ride it.

The true explanation, it turned out, was far simpler. "You have to turn it on," explained Segway spokeswoman Stacy Ferguson, whose office had spoken to White House officials after the incident. In all likelihood, she said, Bush "didn't see the display." (That display is green, with a smiley face, if the unit is ready to go. Maybe the president didn't see the blank screen.) The president was holding a tennis racket when he got on, so perhaps he was distracted. "We have been saying that the Segway is great on the sidewalk, but it's not meant for the tennis court," ventured Ferguson -- though the president was on a driveway.

[Ironpost]

1. So now I get it. Pretzels ride segways

[UrbScotty]

2. LOL

:-)