February 16, 2004
Texas Soufflé
By Andrew Dobbs
Sometimes the good Lord just hands you such a beautiful nickname, such a wonderful summing up of things in a simple turn of phrase that it must become widely used. Interestingly enough, one such name was developed in the early 1970s by Alabama Republicans, according to Time Magazine:
George W. Bush has long had a habit of giving people nicknames—and perhaps that's because he picked up a few along the way himself. Like the one he earned in 1972, when he left his home in Houston to work on the long-shot Senate campaign of Winton M. (Red) Blount in Alabama. Bush, then 26, would often turn up at campaign headquarters in Montgomery around lunchtime, recount his late-night exploits and brag about his political connections, according to a Blount campaign worker. All that made him slow to win over the Alabama crowd, who began to complain that Bush was letting things slide. C. Murphy Archibald, a nephew of Blount's who worked on the campaign that fall, told TIME that Bush "was good at schmoozing the county chairs, but there wasn't a lot of follow-up." Archibald, now a trial attorney in North Carolina, remembers that a group of older Alabama socialites, who were volunteering their time, gave Bush a nickname because they thought he "looked good on the outside but was full of hot air." They called him the Texas Soufflé.
Texas Soufflé- sums up the sort of spoiled rich kid, all hat and no cattle persona of George W. Bush to a T if you ask me. In fact, let's try and googlebomb this one. Without any further ado, Texas Souffle.
Posted by Andrew Dobbs at February 16, 2004 01:01 PM
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How apt, and they are notorious for falling.
Speaking of George being "soft," in a way it is surprising that "Poppy Bush" arranged for Lil' George to get into the Guard. For all his shortcomings, George Sr. was a bona fide war hero.
You would think that a man that exhibited such bravery and courage in WWII would not let his son wimp out in the Guard. (Then again, he knew the horrors of war.)
Kind of the antithesis of Ol' man Joe Kennedy (who also had a lot of his own shortcomings, like running with the mob and being an Anti-Semitic S.O.B.) who pushed his sons to WWII as a high calling to test their mettle. It even cost him his eldest son. It almost reads like an Arcadian tragedy.
Just random musings I suppose.
Alright, the historian in me has to jump up and contradict this one. According to Robert Dallek's marvelous An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy 1917-1963, Joe Kennedy was deeply opposed to WWII, orchestrated the Munich accords (where Britain appeased Hitler, fat lot of good it did them) mostly because he feared losing his sons. It was Joe Jr. and John that took the initiative upon themselves to serve- John did so in spite of devestating physcial infirmities. Both served honorably and with enormous bravery- Joe Jr. was killed in action and John was a hero for saving his entire crew after his PT Boat was sunk. Their father was a coward and tried to keep his sons out of combat but the boys chose to serve. George W. Bush was a coward.
Yes, Joe did what he could to keep the US out of war, precisely because he knew that if we went to war, his kids would have to fight. However, once we went to war, he accepted the calling for his sons. I suggest you read Laurence Leamer's "The Kennedy Men," among other biographies.
This is probably the one attribute of Joe that I admired. (I.e. His acceptance of the call to duty and setting the tone of the Kennedy-esque, "living life to its fullest" doctrine, much like T.R.'s speech, "I advoate the doctrine of the strenuous life") Otherwise he was a complete sack of shit. I expecially like FDR's rationale in appointing him to head the newly formed S.E.C.: "It takes a crook to catch a crook."
Texas Soufflé sounds like one dish which should first be tested for political botulism.
