Cops Shot Far Rockaway Teen 11 Times
Video: New School Students, Comrades Toss Trash Pre-Arrest
Schumer: "Real Momentum" For Health Care Reform Now
Prosecutor: D Train Murderer Was Unprovoked
NYC Wants Death Penalty In Terror Trials, Germany Doesn't
Note to all politicians: If you need a shot of adrenalin at one of your events, get subway superhero Wesley Autrey on board. Because when President Bush cited Autrey's amazing rescue of another subway rider who had fallen into the tracks, we feel that Autrey brought down the house. Bush said:
Three weeks ago, Wesley Autrey was waiting at a Harlem subway station with his two little girls, when he saw a man fall into the path of a train. With seconds to act, Wesley jumped onto the tracks, pulled the man into the space between the rails, and held him as the train passed right above their heads. He insists he's not a hero. He says: "We got guys and girls overseas dying for us to have our freedoms. We have got to show each other some love." There is something wonderful about a country that produces a brave and humble man like Wesley Autrey.Autrey waved the crowds, seemed to mouth "You the man" to the President, and shook the hands of First Lady Laura Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney's wife Lynne. (Autrey's youngest daughter seemed to be sleeping.)
And last night's State of the Union address got off to a nice, classy start when President Bush made note that he had the "high privilege and distinct honor to begin a speech with the words, 'Madam Speaker.'" The standing ovation for Nancy Pelosi gave the evening a nice boost, but everything that came after was a bleak reminder of how President Bush has been disappointing on so many fronts. You can read the President's speech here at the White House website, and this NY Times editorial mentions the problems with the President and this NY Sun editorial finds a silver lining in last night's speech.
Did you watch the State of the Union? What did you think?
Top photograph of Wesley Autrey during the State of the Union by Susan Walsh/AP; bottom photograph of Speaker Pelosi and President Bush, possibly discussing an arm wrestling match, by Lawrence Jackson/AP
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
I watched the only interesting part -- watching Bush act all humble in front of Pelosi. Then switched over to a rerun of Chapelle's Show.
Heres the video.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=inrnSzLscmU
Those two pictures are awesome. Autrey seems like a great guy, but he looks less the "humble" hero than an aspiring Mussolini on a balcony. And Bush looks like he's arm-wrestling Pelosi.
Autrey's also a hero for being the only person to keep it real in the whole Capitol building that night.
Bush is a pig. Autrey should feel soiled for being exploited like that.
autrey seems like he's gonna snap. this definitely seems like a story that could only end in tragedy. i can imagine him engineering a fake heroic act, using his daughters perhaps as props.
Look at the love Autry was giving last night! Giving props to Bush. Shaking the hand of the Laura Bush and Lynne Cheney (who had that "who is this negro and why is he touching me" look). And he hugs the soldier next to him. Best scene of the night!
If I was Wesley Autrey I would have done the truly heroic thing, turned down the honor (preferably on live TV) and snubbed the shrub.
what a weird handshake for a president.
No doubt he didn't pay a single dime for that trip to the nation's capital where he was able to take his daughters to a State of the Union address. that's more than a once in a lifetime opportunity and I can't fault Autrey for taking advantage of it.
I watched Syriana then the post Speech coverage on MSNBC. I love watching people recoil when Mr. Autrey hugs them. Bloomberg is the major offender of this act.
Loved the photos, but everything that came after was a bleak reminder of how Gothamist has been disappointing on so many fronts.
.."what a weird handshake for a president"
Well, there you have it: he can't speak, he can't think, he can't tell the truth AND he can't shake hands.
did anyone else think that autrey mouthed "you the man" when he was pointing down at bush?
.."what a weird handshake for a president"
I thought Cheney was the president.
.."what a weird handshake for a president"
It's a black handshake. Few people know this but Bush is actually a member of an offshoot of the Black Panthers; the Dumb Panthers!.
.."what a weird handshake for a president"
Actually, he's arm-wrestling. And losing as usual.
pelosi's blinking is far too distracting for a backdrop.
What was up with Cheney's weird facial "expression" for the duration? The poor guy needed an Ex-lax brownie.
"The poor guy" needs nothing! Why waste a perfectly good brownie and some perfectly viable Ex-lax on the likes of him? Whatever he "needs" should not be pleasant tasting nor pleasant in any way. He's deserving only of being dismissed & diregarded. Unpleasantly, if possible. As for the look on his face throughout the speech-- just a little reflux from the cartload of babies that he'd eaten just before entering the chambers.
"The poor guy" needs nothing! Why waste a perfectly good brownie and some perfectly viable Ex-lax on the likes of him? Whatever he "needs" should not be pleasant tasting nor pleasant in any way. He's deserving only of being dismissed & diregarded. Unpleasantly, if possible. As for the look on his face throughout the speech-- just a little reflux from the cartload of babies that he'd eaten just before entering the chambers.
"The poor guy" needs nothing! Why waste a perfectly good brownie and some perfectly viable Ex-lax on the likes of him? Whatever he "needs" should not be pleasant tasting nor pleasant in any way. He's deserving only of being dismissed & diregarded. Unpleasantly, if possible. As for the look on his face throughout the speech-- just a little reflux from the cartload of babies that he'd eaten just before entering the chambers.
Even though this is now buried, I had to comment on it.
Reagan started this, featuring ordinary guy, uncontroversial "heros" in his state of the union address. It was annoying even when Reagan did it, but as a former B movie actor, he could pull it off. Since then, all his successors have had to do the same thing. Its bogus.
The SOTU was originally a WRITTEN report from the President to Congress on the state of the union. It was intended to be a constitutional duty, not a cheap public relations spectacle. The subway hero, or Dikembe Mutembe, have nothing to do with the actual state of the union. Until we get another actor-president (Ahnold?), commentators should start blowing rasperrries on this.
That must be the fourth time Bush has thought about actual New Yorkers (instead of the WTC) during his entire presidency