Brushes with, um, not greatness

[lwcon]

What's the closest you've ever been to a big-time Republican?

My two closest brushes were:

1. I used to share a bus stop with Grover Norquist. I didn't know him well, but I remember that he was head of the Young Republicans in high school. The town was very liberal back then, but there was this groundswell for Nixon's re-election, and even in the land that would soon brag "Don't Blame Me, I'm From Massachusetts," you could feel it coming then.

2. Charles Colson, fresh from Watergate disgrace, was at his son's (and my) high school graduation. I'm not sure if he was "born again" just yet.

Also, once I worked in a record store and a rather striking woman came in, avidly running up a big tab to get back at her estranged husband, who was some Rockefeller or other (not a then-famous one like Nelson).

Anyone else have stories to share?

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[Kutjara]

1. I was once made to shake hands with Reagan when...

...he was Governor of California.

I've washed the hand many times over the years, but I still won't touch my children with it.

[lwcon]

2. LOL!

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[globalvillage]

8. .

:rofl:

[bbinacan]

3. I met Jesse Helms

when I was in college back in the 80s.:scared:

[lapfog_1]

4. I met Clinton twice, while he was doing tours of the facility

where I worked. Gore chaired a meeting where I was one of the "back benchers".

Met Chuck Yeager and Scott Crossfield at a dedication.

Kalpana Chawla (K.C.) was a co-worker of mine for a number of years before joining the astronaut corps.

Given tours to any number of Silicon Valley big shots (Larry Ellison, Steve Wozinak, etc, etc).

Helped that I worked for NASA for more than a decade.

[Kutjara]

5. CLINTON"S A REPUBLICAN!??!?! OMG! WHY WASN"T I TOLD?!??! n/t

Still, I wish I'd met him. Interesting man to talk to, I would think.

[lapfog_1]

7. OOPS, sorry, didn't read the title of the thread closely enough.

Must still be sleepy today.

[roguevalley]

6. I saw Marty Balin and Grace Slick walking in Haight Ashbury in

about 1968. :)

[peace frog]

9. I had the dubious pleasure of meeting Watergate burglars

Frank Sturgis and Bernard Barker.

Sturgis was a well known all-round-weirdo figure around the Miami area after Watergate. My fiance's office was in the same warehouse-style building near the airport as Sturgis' and he saw him around the place frequently. I had my first and only encounter with Sturgis in 1979 a few days before my wedding - I dropped by the office to pick something up in the presence of my groom and his best man. Sturgis was in the company of several buddies, all of them drunk as skunks - when they saw the three of us they began making obscene jokes en espanol. My fiance's best man was a bit of a rough character, a long-haired biker who always carried a scary-looking knife on his belt... when he heard the nasty drunken speech he whipped out the knife and advanced on them somewhat menacingly... my groom and I grabbed him and held him back. The look on the drunks' faces was priceless! Not only did they not guess we understood spoken Spanish, they did not expect so intense a reaction. Hilarious!

I had met Bernard Barker a couple years earlier at the state university located in Miami. I used to do volunteer work in the cashier's office, during very busy periods like registration and last day to pay student fees when the lines were extremely long and the employees needed a break. One day who should come to my window but Bernard Barker, surrounded by genuflecting sychophants, to pay for his registered courses. I looked at him, recognized who he was and recoiled in distaste. His response was to sneer and be on his way, suck-ups in tow. Disgusting! I felt soiled by the face to face contact.

[LiberalEsto]

10. A few

I used to be a newspaper reporter, and had to cover a lot of political stuff.

Met rethug Jack Kemp when he ran for the GOP nomination, can't remember what year.

Met Tom Kean (former rethug NJ governor and head of the 9/11 Commission) dozens of times when I covered the NJ Highway Authority and he was a commissioner on the authority.

Rethug NJ governors William Cahill and Kean. The late NJ Rep. Millicent Fenwick. Former NJ Governor and US EPA Director Christine Todd Whitman.

Can't recall any others, but may have (mercifully) forgotten some.

[spooky3]

11. Met Sen. Shelby at a reception.

He was nice to everyone.

I once worked with Maureen Reagan. She was a lot of fun. RIP.

[northofdenali]

12. Only near greatness up here, I'd think -

I've met Frank "the Bank" Murkowski (now $Governor), Ted Stevens on a number of occasions, Lisa Murkowski, the Bank's daughter and replacement, the late (and great, for a rethug) Jay Hammond, and a couple others.

Then I sat on a plane from Orlando to Dulles in 1970 with musician Jonathan "Frankenstein" Winter (not the comedian, drat it), and was waiting for a friend in the airport here in Fairbanks in 1969 when Jefferson Airplane arrived to do a concert. Airport hasn't been the same since....

:P

[lwcon]

13. was reply to a deleted message

[WinkyDink]

14. In Munich, as we were driving. My husband spotted Henry Hyde

on the sidewalk, stopped, and booed him!

[lwcon]

15. Whose wife was Hyde with?

[NativeTexan]

16. 1972, in High School. The Choir that I was in sang at........

.....a local "non-partisan" dinner, held in honor of three local representatives. A State Representative, a State Senator and a Congressman. Now this is a town of less than 25,000 people.
Texas was also a BLUE State back then. Anyway, speaking at this engagement were then-Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Carl Albert of Oklahoma; former Governor of Texas (and still Dem at the time) John Connally, and former President of the United States Lyndon Baines Johnson, who flew in to the local airport, and then by helicopter to the gymnasium where this all took place.

It was supposed to be a surprise, but we had heard rumors all day that it was a possiblity. We had never sung at a dinner, where people didn't listen but just conversed casually. After the president showed up, we started singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Suddenly, the crowd started, from front to back, getting quiet. It was spooky. Weeks later when the State Representative came by to present us with a collage of photo of us singing, the president speaking, etc., the question was asked what had happened during the Battle Hymn. He told us that as soon as we started singing it, the president fussed, "SHUT UP I WANT TO HEAR THIS!"......and the rest is history.

As he was leaving the dinner, I was able to reach with some of my choir mates, and shake the man's hand. A memory I will take to my grave.

Within THREE MONTHS.......LBJ was dead.

[lwcon]

17. Awesome story, thanks for sharing! (n/t)

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Hey, the liberal light is always on at the Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy. Please stop by and say "hi!"

[NativeTexan]

18. Thanks, it was awesome.

[Clark2008]

19. I was a reporter, so it's not fair.

I interviewed Fristy, Fred Thompson, Jack Kemp and Howard Baker. Oh - and Jerry Falwell! I actually met him and talked to him for an hour or better.

But, on the upshoot, I also got to interview Al Gore. :)

[dorktv]

20. I have had to shake JD Hayworth's hand twice.

ick