I was taken in by the Crawford Ranch....

[erinlough]

well not actually taken in, but I did not know until this week that the ranch is all a set-up. I happened upon some cable news channel, while flipping around to find anything to watch. Dana, the girl who covers the pres., was talking about the pres. vacation and she was in front of the familiar chicken coop. The moderator asked if the noise he heard, a sawing sound, was the pres. clearing brush. She says, "well, I'm not actually at the ranch you know. This is the neighbors house, the ranch is off limits." I almost dropped the remote! I mean, I actually thought those pictures they shoot everytime he is out there were coming from the ranch!

I got curious as to what the "ranch" looked like and came across this article.
http://lookingglassnews.org/viewstory.php?storyid=2053

I'm feeling like a real dunce now. I should have guessed.

There's also a birdseye look at the ranch from google.
http://cryptome.org/bush-ranch.htm (big image, long download time)

Doesn't look "down home" to me.

[Bluebear]

1. Of course the "liberal media" has explained that to one and all.

Where have you been, everyone in America knows it's one big stage set! :sarcasm:

[FreedomAngel82]

37. Oh of course

Someone here posted how they bought the place very shortly before the 2000 selection. So they all had it planned and knew they would be successful. Apparently, from what I've read, the Bush's used to live in a gated community in Houston before 2000. And the guy who lives next door to Bush was quoted in another article someone posted how he didn't even know Bush and they don't know anybody in Crawford.

[4morewars]

2. A-swimmin in the cee-ment pond

They're the Crawford Hillbillies ! Guess which one is Jethro ?

[kliljedahl]

3. Common knowledge around here for a long time

He's a "cowboy" who's scared of horses. It's a sham, and after he's impeached he'll move back to Connecticut.



Keith’s Barbeque Central

[erinlough]

6. I knew that , but I thought.....

since he was Governor and all, maybe he really had owned a ranch. I didn't hear it was a set-up from the news thats for sure and I guess I became a regular reader and poster after the discussions here. I think there are a lot of people out there like me.

[Bluebear]

9. 99% of America thinks it's something out of a Marlboro commercial

Trust me. The image has been carefully crafted and very few know that it's all Disneyesque.

[erinlough]

10. Thanks Bluebear...

at least I don't feel so stupid. I like to think I'm up on things, I've been here for a year and at Smirkingchimp before that. I am amazed that I didn't catch on before.

[XemaSab]

25. He bought the ranch

when he was running for governor, I think.

Definitely not the old ancestral home....

[Critters2]

57. When he was running for President

My friends in Texas tell me they all knew he was a Yalie from Connecticut, so buying a ranch wouldn't have mattered to Texans. It was bought for his Presidential run.

[XemaSab]

65. Ah ok

Yeah, now I remember!

He married Laura when he was running for governor!

:hide:

[ClintonTyree]

27. Technically, it's what's called a "ranchette"..........

it's not remotely used for anything that a real ranch is used for, raising cattle, sheep, growing crops etc. bush bought it before his failed 2000 presidential bid to get the Ronnie Raygun vote. He wanted to portray himself as a rough, tough Texas rancher, a man of the land. :eyes: It's nothing more than a stage prop. bush is scared of horses and travels the "ranchette" in his pick-up truck. I believe that one of the Secret Service's main jobs is to plant "brush" for bush to clear. Over the years he must have cleared the "ranchette" of brush 5 times over, it keeps coming from someplace. Of course they do it clandestinely, they wouldn't want the spoiled frat boy to think they're interfering with his manly chores. :eyes:
It used to be a pig farm before bush bought it. The pigs left but all of the shit remained.
The "ranchette" will be on the market as soon as he's either removed from office or his second stolen term ends. He won't want a damned thing to do with Texas or brush once his role as president comes to a close.

[SammyWinstonJack]

31. He'll keep a "residence" here for taxes purposes, just like his

slimy parents do, using Texas for his financial gain, just as he did as Gov.

[Critters2]

58. Like Cheney,

who moved his residence out of Texas and back to Wyoming when he decided to run for VP. The Consitution (which is always being a pain in the ass) says the Prez and VP can't come from the same state. But now that they've shredded "that piece of paper" he might as well move back.

[Ilsa]

55. I think it's bigger than a ranchette, like a couple of thousand

acres, but you are correct in that it isn't a working ranch. I think someone is paid to live there and be a ranch hand, but there are supposedly only a few animals there.

My understanding is that the press shoot from a location about five miles away.

[Critters2]

63. I see...

in the Midwest, we call these "hobby farms", and laugh at the urbanites who own them.

[madokie]

30. After a while at Hague.

federal prison is in his future.

[kliljedahl]

33. That's my hope

Keith’s Barbeque Central

[txindy]

4. It's an ex-pig farm, actually.

They razed the old homestead, I believe, and built a new, state-of-the-art home. It is a sham, a propaganda tool to fool the masses. I'm sure a lot of people still buy the image, although many, like you, are discovering the truth. :toast:

[Lisa]

47. I think they kept the old house to use as a photo-op background ...

Sometimes they set the lectern up in front of it, so it looks like * has popped out of his cozy humble "little house on the prairie". Actually he lives in his expensive new custom-designed home.

[txindy]

50. That's exactly right. The old homestead is used as a backdrop.

So are the giant hay bales. Gives it that rustic touch, I suppose. :eyes: I can't believe they get away with it. One day a reporter will turn around and have the camera pan to show the Potemkin Village set.

[Lisa]

52. what really made me laugh ...

That little green house (where the original owners once lived) is now called "The Governor's House". Apparently Laura makes Dubya store all his junk there -- including a row of old stadium seats, and one of those singing "Billy Bass" fish!

Various other posters have mentioned all the ecological features in the new house. Bush is going around taking credit, but he doesn't seem to know how they work (there's a hilarious quote where he muddles up the explanation of "his" heat pump!).

"But even more efficient, however, is the transference of heat and cool as a result of circulating water below the -- it's called thermal heating and cooling -- okay." -- Aug. 25, 2001


Laura and the architect put all that stuff in. When they put him in front of the cameras, Bush goes off on a sensitive little monologue about how much he loves that house, and how he wants to grow old there ... but it could have been an off-the-shelf mobile home, for all he cared about the design.

"But in 1999 when Governor George W. Bush gave architect David Heymann a list of design priorities for the new ranch house that he and his wife sought to build, the Texan's top three requests were anything but extravagant: a king-sized bed, a good shower, and some comfortable chairs on the porch."

http://www.cowboysindians.com/articles/archives/1202/bush.html


p.s. there was a great hay-bale pic from the 2004 campaign (not in Crawford) -- someone took a photo from the side, and showed that the bales were actually arranged as a kind of barricade between Bush and the audience ... and that he was quite a distance from the crowd (while the head-on pic favored by the news made it look like he was almost in their laps).

[Demit]

5. just fyi--that image is a bear. It took 4 minutes to load, even with DSL

[erinlough]

8. sorry, I'll edit to let people know. Thanks n/t

[Erika]

7. He does have a fish stocked pond within reach of his patio

He can sit out on the patio chair and catch fish. Just your normal rugged Texan who was born and educated in New England.

[FreedomAngel82]

40. Don't they put the fish in there for him?

[Minnesota_Lib]

11. I always found it amusing that....

...his very first vacation to this set-piece was heralded as the "traditional" Bush family vacation to their Crawford ranch (gives new meaning to the word 'traditional').

If nothing else, it proves P.T. Barnum was correct in his observation about fooling people.

[LibDemAlways]

12. Everything about the chimp is a fraud,

including his "make Muricans think I'm a cowboy" phony ranch. Millions of true believers think he and Pickles are holed up in some modest farmhouse like something out of Little House on the Prairie, when nothing could be further from the truth. And the whore media, well aware of the 10,000 feet of brand new McMansion, perpetuate the myth by spouting the "clearing brush story" bullshit.

Not your fault you didn't discover the truth sooner. When was the last time the media published a photo of the chimp and Pickles in front of the palace? Answer: Never.

[erinlough]

13. I never found a picture of the actual mansion, not even google

has one. I would love to find one to send to some of the RW people I know. They have fallen for it worse than I did.

[Bluebear]

16. Even the press conferences are staged outdoors

Here's a shot of one of the 'outbuildings' behind the staged outdoor scene. The photographer who took this angle shot is probably in Gitmo. :)

[LibDemAlways]

19. I'm sure that building was deliberately

chosen to give people the impression that it - or something very like it - is Bush's modest dwelling on the ranch. In reality he'd rather ride a horse than enter that structure.

[Bluebear]

14. Precisely. They can photograph him in a pickup truck..

"clearing brush", anything cowboyish and outdoorsy but never, ever have I seen a photo of the living quarters, the ceement pond, the accoutrements. (oops, that's FRENCH!)

[FreedomAngel82]

41. This will show you how fancy this is

From: http://cryptome.org/bush-ranch.htm

The passive-solar house is positioned to absorb winter sunlight, warming the interior walkways and walls of the residence. Geothermal heat pumps circulate water through pipes buried 300 feet deep in the ground. A 40,000-gallon underground cistern collects rainwater gathered from roof urns; wastewater from sinks, toilets, and showers cascades into underground purifying tanks and is also funneled into the cistern. The water from the cistern is then used to irrigate the landscaping around the four-bedroom home.

Bush added an 11-acre man-made pond that is stocked with 600 bass and thousands of bait fish.

Sounds very homey eh?

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

15. For some reason, "Save" seems to be disabled on that pic site

No matter. It was an easy Google to find a direct download web page link, for those who are interested.

http://www.bewareofthis.info/pagecache/index.php?dir=page1014/&sort=a&sortMode=m&AutoIndex=80188e64a1fe89e474d2e5ac28bddd2a

[EstimatedProphet]

17. Wonder why the ranch isn't deleted from Google Maps?

Cheney's place is.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

18. 'Cause the ranch is a fraud and nobody cares about it.

Cheney's house has that secret bunker/command center/spider hole underneath it, and that won't be moving after he's kicked out of office.

[Jara sang]

20. Prediction: The Crawford "ranch" will go on the market December 2008

Bush will sell it right after the 2008 elections.

[DemoTex]

21. Bu$h and Pickles are already house-hunting in Dallas...

In POSH Highland Park (Dick Cheney's old lair), one of the 10 wealthiest ZIP Codes in the country (75205). Thank goodness I am out of there! But if anyone truly deserves Bu$h, it is the Highland Parkies.

[FreedomAngel82]

43. Won't surprise me

[donheld]

22. How do we get the rest of America to realize it's all a fraud?

The sooner the better.

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. ...

[Rene]

24. I don't believe the town of Crawford even existed before the 'ranch'

was built. It's in WACO....which of course they wouldn't want known. They cobbled a few homes in the area together and c r e a t e d the town of Crawford. and YES, it was and still is a pig farm.

[Auntie Bush]

64. We should call it his Crawfraud Ranch.

[XemaSab]

26. Maybe we should start referring to it as a compound

in Waco.

:P

[bklyncowgirl]

28. Amazing, which brings me to one of my favorite rants?

Erinlough, I'm sure you're a well informed American who is not a fan of the Bush administration. I have several friends, coworkers etc. who are also well informed Americans who plain and simple didn't know this and didn't believe it when I told them. They turned around when they looked it up for themselves.

The Crawford Ranch is a fraud, plain and simple.

Why in hell haven't the Democrats called him out on this? I mean he's a joke--rich man living in a poor man's shirt (to quote Springsteen). A cowboy who's afraid of horses.

Kerry could have said something like this.

"Yeah, I'm rich. Born to money--married more. I'm not going to kid you on this. I like to do things that my wealth allows me to do. I like skiing and windsurfing. Lots of middle class people do these sports too but I can afford the best equipment and I do them in style. When I'm at the family farm I like to hang out with my kids and pets. No brush clearing for me."

Instead I once heard him lamely telling a group of farmers how much he enjoyed riding his tractor. Give me a break, John.

According to Don Imus, who had him as a guest at the ranch, Kerry is a competent horseman. Why couldn't he have gotten on a horse at least once during the campeign and thrown that gauntlet down to Cowboy George? He could have gotten his ass up on a horse and ridden down some picturesque western main street in a 4th of July parade. He could have loped around a rodeo arena or two. Hell, if he rides English reasonably well he could have jumped a few solid looking fences with the cameras rolling or just ride along some picturesque trail like Reagan used to do.

The point isn't that you enjoy equestrian activities--it's that your opponent--who adopts this phony cowboy persona for the rubes--for some reason does not. Throw it in his freakin' face.

And it's not just Kerry--I don't want to pick on him. I didn't hear this from Edwards--who sometimes acts as if he's still living in that little house he grew up in--Edwards could have brought this up--to the best of my knowledge he did not. Howard Dean by all accounts lives a modest middle class lifestyle, he's slammed Bush on everything you can think of but I've never heard him speak out on this. Perhaps if he'd won the nomination he might have done so but my guess is that Howard may be a tad sensitive of the fact that he grew up on Park Avenue and that his family has been among the bluest of bluebloods since around the time of the Mayflower.

High level Democrats today seem to feel the need to play down their personal wealth in order to make their supporters believe that they understand them. This leaves them seemingly incapable of taking Republicans to task for adopting the false trappings of populism while doing everything they can to destroy the middle class.

My message to the Democrats: Get Real.

[LibDemAlways]

35. You have a good point.

Not one Dem, to my knowledge, has dared called the chimp on this phony "I'm just a regular guy with a modest ranch" bullshit. And of course it's because they're scared stiff of being accused of being hypocritical because they all have more money than God, too.

It probably wouldn't have made a difference in the outcome of the election, but it sure would have been refreshing for Kerry to have come clean on his wealth and social standing and then point out that Bush is a Connecticut born Yalie, too, who vacations in a brand new 10,000 sq. foot mansion on a "ranch" bought to be a backdrop to convince Americans he's a cowboy they could have a beer with. Dropping that one on him at some point during the debates might have caused his head to explode, and his listening device to catch on fire.

[bklyncowgirl]

36. Franklin Roosevelt was as rich as Croesus--and blueblooded as ...

...as the Queen of England, but the guy was a champion of the working man.

No one was going to hold it against John Edwards that he made a fortune as a trial lawyer or against Kerry that he married money.

And it might just have made a difference if people realized that Bush was bullshitting them with this "regular guy on the ranch crap". After all, if he's lying to us about this, what else is he lying about?

[Straight Shooter]

42. I never understood why Kerry didn't go for a good horse ride with Redford.

I had it all pictured in my mind, two genuine men who want to protect the environment, riding their horses through Redford's property. An image of the "tough" Western guy that so many Southerners (?!?) are in love with. Also good for the women's vote who think Redford is hot. (I don't)

But, he never did it. I thought Redford supported Kerry, but maybe I'm wrong. Why Kerry's campaign missed this major marketing appeal, I'll never know. It's like his managers did not have a clue that American voters have sadly become, for the most part, a mob that chooses style over substance. (*snort* as if bush has style)

[FreedomAngel82]

44. Remember with Kerry

when he went out to do some hunting? They all called him a fraud and said he was doing it for votes for the gun owners even though he does hunt himself. I believe he hunted either his Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. And yes he and his daughters ride. There's a picture of him with his daughters when they were younger on horses riding and he is an active sportsman and has done sports since he was at least in high school.

[sandnsea]

46. I begged for a horse ride

I specifically contacted a couple of people in DC and begged them to cancel the goose hunting, because I knew hunters wouldn't buy it anyway, and put him and Teresa on horseback in the autumn leaves in Ohio. I mean I BEGGED. And to tie it into the fake ranch and Georgie being skeered of horsies. A ride with Robert Redford would have been cool too, or Willie, or Brian Schweitzer, or a myriad of choices. I don't think it would have swung the election, but I do think city people shouldn't make outdoor choices for our candidates.

And, btw, he didn't say he enjoyed riding his tractor. He said he used to ride a tractor around his aunt and uncles farm when he was a kid.

[bklyncowgirl]

56. The point isn't that he rides--it's that Bush doesn't.

Any occaision to point out that your opponent is a fake, phony, fraud should be taken.

Also I probably did have it wrong about the tractor. I remembered it because I just found it annoying at the time and it struck me as something that really wasn't going to appeal to working farmers. They probably would have preferred some serious talk about crop price supports.

[sandnsea]

62. Gee

You think he never said anything about crop prices and farm bills and agribusiness?? Why do you assume he didn't? Geesh. I guess you paid about as close of attention to the campaign as you did my post. Because I said the campaign should have put him on a horse in order to connect it to the fake ranch and the fact that Georgie is askeered of horsies.

[Bridget Burke]

29. Too bad Bush the Smarter never bought a ranch....

Back then, he could probably have afforded a place in the Hill Country. Lots of rich and/or new Texans set down some "roots" that way. There's a tax break for running cattle--probably the reason Bush has some rented cattle on his "ranch." But, over the years, even part-time ranchers get involved in the business of ranching. The kids could have learned to ride & actually become more "Texan."

But Bush only bought homes in Texas as needed--then sold them. Ann Richardson pointed out that he spent many years in "government housing." Bush Sr used a hotel suite in Houston as his official address through his Presidency; Texas's lack of an income tax probably had more to do with it than any love for the place. When Clinton booted him out of the White House, he & Barb built a house on a very small lot in a Houston gated community.

(No, the title to this post is not meant to refer to Bush's air crew--who bought their farms many years ago.)

[FreedomAngel82]

45. I think the reason for that

is only junior has the whole fake cowboy image for his base. Senior is more of a business man and that's why he never did that. Gotta give him that much for not doing that. Poppy is an oil/business man pure and simple who has gotten into politics for more money and business.

[mwb970]

32. It's phony, just like everything else The Failure does. (n/t)

[Stephanie]

34. You'll enjoy this article too >

http://www.vanityfair.com/commentary/content/printables/051107roco01?print=true

[erinlough]

54. Thanks for the read!

I don't know whether dubya is an actor or a crazy despot. I only know those "true believers" are all over, not just in Waco. I see them every day. There is no cure for that kind of crazy.

[ryan_cats]

38. I wuz scammed too

I wuz scammed too. I thought the photos with pootie-poot showed Bush good at something. I should have known, he can't even clear brush. He's such a modest man of the people who really cares about the little folk-GAG.

Media frauds had the nerve to criticize Hillary for the house in Chappaqua. The thing is, the Clinton's never tried to give the impression they were something they weren't.

I'd sure like to know why scrub-ya is scared of horses and how he got out of riding with Vincente Fox.

You just know the for sale sign goes up when we're finally through with his 'leadership'. How many years to fix his mistakes-shudder?

[dailykoff]

39. When does Jeff blab about the Ferris wheel and monorail? n/t

[No Exit]

48. It's not a ranch, it's an ESTATE.

[Lisa]

49. you musn't feel embarrassed -- these people are well-paid pros ...

The White House hires top-notch Hollywood experts to create illusions. They have worked for years to learn what makes things look convincing on movie and TV screens, and now they're applying it to "real life". It helps to imagine that all of this is like a theatrical production. They cast the actors and the extras, come up with lines for them to say, and manufacture a setting with props and lighting. Audiences are pretty good at spotting what looks "fake" in a Hollywood film, but when those images are presented on the news shows, no wonder the public gets confused.

Read this article! Bush's people have lots of money to spend, and here's what they do with it. So far it's worked ... but now that more of us are onto them ... they know it's going to backfire, when they cruise around New Orleans looking for dramatic photo-op sites for Bush (never mind everyone who needs help), and the best they can come up with is the "haunted mansion" speech. And now increasing numbers of people are calling them on it.

Americans really don't like phonies. And minute by minute, the fakery (and the way in which the electorate are being played for saps) are becoming more evident. My guess is that everyone has heard stories about a run-in with an admired actor or celebrity who turned out to be snobbish, rude, or otherwise disappointing -- and after you heard that story, you never felt the same way about that person again? The anger with this administration is going to be just like that, but more intense and primal.


"Officials of past Democratic and Republican administrations marvel at how the White House does not seem to miss an opportunity to showcase Mr. Bush in dramatic and perfectly lighted settings. It is all by design: the White House has stocked its communications operation with people from network television who have expertise in lighting, camera angles and the importance of backdrops.

On Tuesday, at a speech promoting his economic plan in Indianapolis, White House aides went so far as to ask people in the crowd behind Mr. Bush to take off their ties, WISH-TV in Indianapolis reported, so they would look more like the ordinary folk the president said would benefit from his tax cut."

(snip)

"Media strategists noted afterward that Mr. Sforza and his aides had choreographed every aspect of the event, even down to the members of the Lincoln crew arrayed in coordinated shirt colors over Mr. Bush's right shoulder and the "Mission Accomplished" banner placed to perfectly capture the president and the celebratory two words in a single shot. The speech was specifically timed for what image makers call "magic hour light," which cast a golden glow on Mr. Bush.

"If you looked at the TV picture, you saw there was flattering light on his left cheek and slight shadowing on his right," Mr. King said. "It looked great.""


http://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/05/16/nyt.bumiller/

[ultraist]

60. zactly...the "ranch" is a hollywoodish set

Keepers of Bush image lift stagecraft to new heights

By Elisabeth Bumiller
New York Times
Friday, May 16, 2003 Posted: 1108 GMT ( 7:08 PM HKT)


WASHINGTON -- George W. Bush's "Top Gun" landing on the deck of the carrier Abraham Lincoln will be remembered as one of the most audacious moments of presidential theater in American history. But it was only the latest example of how the Bush administration, going far beyond the foundations in stagecraft set by the Reagan White House, is using the powers of television and technology to promote a presidency like never before.

[Greyhound]

51. GoogleEarth is the coolest...

:rofl:

[JohnyCanuck]

53. It's sort of a Potemkin ranch

Except the original Potemkin villages were allegedly fake villages specially set up by one of her ministers, Potemkin, to fool the empress Catherine the Great of Russia as she toured the country that the serfs who were quite down and out and living in poverty were really happy and prosperous.

In this case the Chimp's Potemkin ranch was set up by the Emperor Chimp's ministers to fool the serfs that the Emperor (a useless, coke addled twit who is scared of horses) is really a hard working, brush clearing cowboy and son of the soil just like one of them.

:rofl:

[SoCalDem]

59. Yep..and the fake haybales are probabl;y left over from Green Acres

Everything about him is FAKE..The "pig farm ranch" was not even finished when he was running..They had to have a place that was remote enough so he could truly get out of DC and be unavailable..

I am confident that once he's done. he will NOT retire there.. This place is just a prop..a place to hide him away..

[Justitia]

61. It's a former pig farm! Hay bales for what?? No animals! Here is a REAL

Texas RANCH, owned and run by a REAL TEXAS RANCHER / PRESIDENT:

http://www.nps.gov/lyjo/range.htm

Check out those beautiful Herefords, whose line flourishes yet today in the Hill Country of TX...

Bush's pig plot is like the fake-o set of the movie "Giant" down in Marfa:

http://photos.marfa.org/displayimage.php?album=topn&cat=0&pos=2