Bushies cast a chill over D.C. [and about time too]

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LIZ SMITH

September 12, 2002 --

'THIS CROWD is just very insulated. They were isolated in Texas . . . It's a very tight clan, much tighter than their parents. They had their wagons circled before they ever left Austin."

TOMORROW, THE fashionable publication W will drop this quote and a bag of social cold water on the Bush White House. Susan Watters has written a piece titled "The Big Chill," stating that "two years into Bush's first term, Washington's social scene is near death - and the natives are restless."

It occurs to me that perhaps the timing of this blast isn't so good, coming as it does, on the day the president addresses the United Nations as to why we should invade Iraq and get rid of another nation's leader. Maybe this wasn't the time to discuss anything so trivial as the social scene being moribund.

But, this being the news that is, here goes. Glamour is, of course, gone from D.C. Pizzazz is dormant. Wretched excess won't rear its tiny head. This is not post 9/11 doldrums, according to W. The Bush clique simply doesn't want to party, get dressed up in black tie, meet new people or lure fabulous famous types to big state dinners. The result, according to the capital's reigning hostess, Sally Quinn is "Washington, as we know it, is over . . . the social scene has come to a screeching halt."

White House social secretary Catherine Fenton doesn't think the Bushes are "shy." She sees them as close-knit, preferring small a impromptu evening with friends, replete with Tex-Mex, hot dogs, hamburgers, socializing with old pals and relatives. Yet neither of the Bush daughters has ever been part of the White House crowd, so their youthful exuberance hasn't been evident. The Bushies are cozy, but that's not what Tout Washington wants from its chief executive and first lady. Even Bush supporters complain about the shut down and shut out.

Laura Bush, according to W, has no power to take a position of authority, to guide a glittering scene. But maybe she just doesn't want to. One insider says she is in control and describes her as "a tough cookie who is running a tight ship." Maybe she is just doing what is best for her husband and "social life is not necessarily what he needs for comfort and rest . . . his party days are over. He gets his strength from her."

It is said that after former first lady Nancy Reagan dined with the Bushes a while back, she advised the first couple to reach out more to the Washington community. "Any White House is well-served by staying in touch," concludes lawyer C. Boyden Gray.

I know the Bushes like to do things their way and mostly they enjoy being down in Crawford at the ranch with their Texas friends. But it must be hard to pump up a wartime White House, especially remembering the plane that seemed headed for the White House and the dead and wounded from the Pentagon, not far away.

-- Anonymous, September 12, 2002

Answers

What a crying shame. The economy's in the dumper, we're very near to war, but there's no good parties to go to!

-- Anonymous, September 12, 2002

E. D. Hill (Fox and Friends) noted yesterday that Kofi Annan (who they had just been discussing) seemed to find enough parties to go to as he was always all over the gossip columns, seen here, there and everywhere.

I very much appreciate the fact that the Bushes are not spending our tax dollars throwing lavish parties, like the Clintons did, except when a state dinner or a real appreciation function is absolutely necessary. I feel good about a pres who's off to bed around ten and not mucking about with some honey in the Oval Office.

-- Anonymous, September 12, 2002


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