
After staring down terrorists for eight years, former President George W. Bush is taking on a new challenge: a speaking gig at the Safari Club International Annual Hunters' Convention in Reno, Nevada.
But wait, there's more! In addition to listening to Bush speak, conference attendees will also be able to attend a variety of hunting-related seminars such as: "Proper Boots -- Proper Care," "Through the Eyes of a Young Hunter," "Wild Game & Wine Pairing," and "Shotgun Chokes: How they Work," just to name a few.
Bush will deliver the keynote address on Saturday, January 23, the final night of the four-day convention. Though it's unclear what he'll talk about (WMD's in Iraq, maybe?), the convention's Web site boasts: "His intellect and humor will make this a night to remember and share for years and years." The former leader of the free world will be joined by such top-notch acts as comedian Frank Caliendo, Three Dog Night, the Bellamy Brothers, a country music group, Dennis Miller, and a Beach Boys cover band, "Papa Doo Run Run."
The Safari Club, which is closely associated with Republicans and gives millions to GOP candidates and causes, bills itself as an organization dedicated to "the freedom to hunt through policy advocacy, litigation and education for federal and state legislators to ensure hunting is protected for future generations." The group has spent close to $300 million on wildlife and hunting-related causes since it's founding in 1979, according to their Web site.
Liz Cheney, the daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, will also speak at this convention, a move that will definitely burnish her conservative creds. SCI-PAC has a history as a Republican-friendly group. In 2004, it spent $339,431, with 89% going to Republican candidates; in 2006, it spent $527,714, with 86% going to Republicans; and in 2008, it spent $766,295, with 76% going to Republicans.
This will probably be a fun event, as SCI knows how to do it up right. Back in June 2006, Safari Club International held a charity auction, presided over by special guest auctioneer Tom DeLay, the former House Republican leader and later a guest on Dancing With The Stars. As auctioneer, the staunch social conservative DeLay engaged in wordplay surrounding the animal vest that was being sold: "Who wants a beaver?" DeLay said, also adding: "Everybody likes beaver, even women."
shooter242
January 12, 2010 10:32 AM
Sounds like a lot more fun than a PETA convention. Even fiscal conservatives like beaver.
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jeffgee
January 12, 2010 11:31 AM in reply to shooter242
Except Mark Foley and Larry Craig.
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tiowally
January 12, 2010 3:12 PM in reply to jeffgee
And Lindsay Graham.
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Overreach THIS!
January 12, 2010 10:54 AM
His...*intellect*??!
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The Decider
January 12, 2010 11:27 AM in reply to Overreach THIS!
You betcha! Just because I don't use big words doesn't mean that I don't know a thing or two. I am a people person and I will be the life of the party at this shindig! I may be retired but I am still ready to party!!
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Overreach THIS!
January 12, 2010 2:26 PM in reply to The Decider
We never doubted your exuberance, Decider!
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CityGuy
January 12, 2010 11:32 AM in reply to Overreach THIS!
I know... the whole "intellect & humor" phrase had me in stitches!! Um, sorry Decider.
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Overreach THIS!
January 12, 2010 6:32 PM in reply to CityGuy
I guess he and Cheney were the first intellectuals to determine that Iraq needed to be attacked after 9/11!
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714Day
January 12, 2010 12:16 PM in reply to Overreach THIS!
Well, his intellect IS humorous...
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Hussein Stemper
January 12, 2010 10:58 AM
Boy, has Dennis Miller sunk from the days when he would blast Newt Gingrich and the GOP in his HBO rants...
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714Day
January 12, 2010 1:41 PM in reply to Hussein Stemper
Dennis Miller has been a rightwing hack forever, in spite of his cream puff jabs at Newt. It wouldn't be quite so awful if he didn't channel Henny Youngman with every joke. Henny was still alive when Miller started recycling his hackneyed material. If it weren't for SNL, Miller would have been on the midwest lounge circuit for eternity.
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Overreach THIS!
January 12, 2010 11:09 AM
Maybe old man Cheney can give a talk on gun safety?
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Hussein Stemper
January 12, 2010 11:24 AM in reply to Overreach THIS!
Rim shot! :)
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Overreach THIS!
January 12, 2010 6:30 PM in reply to Hussein Stemper
;)
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thecrow
January 12, 2010 11:19 AM
http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2008/12/10/forgive-and-forgetforget/
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tweakyd
January 12, 2010 11:23 AM
my country was built on beaver
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Burro Hall
January 12, 2010 11:25 AM
"I told them a hundred times, it's 'Spinal Tap' first, 'puppet show' second."
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FlownOver
January 12, 2010 11:27 AM
WE DEMAND VIDEO!!
Especially Liz and Dennis in an eight-way with what remains of Three Dog Night.
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howie
January 12, 2010 11:31 AM
Miller should speak directly before W to make W seem smarter.
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jeffgee
January 12, 2010 11:33 AM
Will there be films of Dick Cheney's hunting prowess, shooting disabled birds and occasionally, his hunting partner's face?
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Mumphrey
January 12, 2010 11:41 AM
Three Dog Night? What the hell? I love those guys. I would never have pegged them as willing to show up for something like this. I'm praying it's a mistake, or maybe their agent sold them out...
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Hussein Stemper
January 12, 2010 11:48 AM in reply to Mumphrey
W can join them on "Never Been To Spain." :-|
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lousgirl84
January 12, 2010 12:40 PM in reply to Mumphrey
I used to too but this will change my mind.
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Marinus van der Lubbe
January 12, 2010 11:48 AM
This is the best Bush's agents could do? Old Has-beens like 3-Dog Night? Even Borscht Belt comics get better gigs than this. What's next...Super Wal-Mart openings? Throwing out the first pitch in the Winter Mexican Leagues? MC at the Prickly Heat Telethon from Dothan, Alabama? Voice overs for the 'New Adventures of Deputy Dawg'?
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georgecs
January 12, 2010 11:51 AM
The nitwits who elected Dubya because they wanted to have a beer with him are getting their wish. A fitting legacy for a president in the same league as McKinley and Harding.
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eve cairo
January 12, 2010 11:52 AM
"his intellect and humor will make this a night to remember for years"?! you mean that he has neither while everyone waits for the display of both? how come daddy makes $100k a pop shilling for rev moon and junior has to do this? moon being broke got anything to do with it?
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Subliminability
January 12, 2010 12:04 PM
Intellectual property lawyers (whom I expect comprise a sizeable percentage of TPM's readership): Do the actual Beach Boys have any chance of legal intervention that would prevent this irredeemable debasement of their music?
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lousgirl84
January 12, 2010 12:40 PM in reply to Subliminability
I will check on that.
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Marinus van der Lubbe
January 12, 2010 6:32 PM in reply to Subliminability
Hey, the Beach Boys were a steady gig for the Reagans and were/are very conservative. One of the beefs the Reagans had with James Watts, he of the off color racist jokes in his Department of the Interior, was that he had also dogged the Beach Boys and pissed off Nancy Reagan. didnt matter he was a garden variety racist, but damn, dont desecrate the Beach Boys!!!
If you listen to anything they recorded after 'Holland' in 1973, youre pretty much an Orange County GOP pogue.
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Peter Principle
January 12, 2010 12:07 PM
"His intellect and humor will make this a night to remember and share for years and years."
Miracles usually are.
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Tony C
January 12, 2010 12:09 PM
Holey Hell, how many dead would there be if this group went out to actually hunt ?
GWB
Liz Cheney
Dennis Miller
A Beach Boys cover band
Three Dog Night
I'm going with the entire BB cover band dead, Miller with a bullet in the rear (blaming Pelosi), and everyone pissed that Liz brought a bazooka.
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T Groan
January 12, 2010 12:29 PM
Once again TPM beats the National Enquirer to the headline!!!
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GTFOOH
January 12, 2010 12:30 PM
Intellect and Humor? Boy, they aren't promising much!
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Kuyleh
January 13, 2010 2:00 AM in reply to GTFOOH
Meh, the humor is almost guaranteed. Any time President Shrub plays smart and demands to be taken seriously is hilarious.
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Weitberg
January 12, 2010 12:30 PM
Frank Caliendo will be discussing how his television show was viciously murdered by the ratings.
TheWeekinRebuke.com
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Subliminability
January 12, 2010 12:43 PM
Wonkette does this one:
http://wonkette.com/413133/george-w-bushs-is-now-very-tragic-gun-clown
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ariseatex
January 12, 2010 12:43 PM
"a speaking gig at the Safari Club International Annual Hunters' Convention in Reno, Nevada."
Dear writers/cast of Reno 911:
PLEASE. BE. THERE.
Love, ariseatex.
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traitorjoe
January 12, 2010 12:45 PM
After we hunt for wild boar and lion, we'll search for them Al Qaedas. Look, there's one over there!
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dem4life
January 13, 2010 8:58 AM in reply to traitorjoe
Liberman is a turncoat
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CT Voter
January 12, 2010 1:01 PM
This is pathetic on so many levels.
First the motivational seminar, now this? I know it's hilarious, but seriously: has any other president sunk so low so soon after leaving office? Why is he doing it? Does he need money?
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monet768
January 12, 2010 1:28 PM
LIZZY YOU NEED A STIFF ONE.....HAVE DICK WHACK YOU.
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JAH41F20
January 12, 2010 1:39 PM
One would do well to avoid being so smug about hunters. Like it or not, they vote. Some of the seminars look interesting, but only hunters with money to burn would travel to Las Vegas to learn about shotgun chokes. You can read about it on the Web, and even then the only reason would be that you are a beginner.
I used to hunt, gave it up because the thrill was gone. Still, I don't look down on hunters like some feel the need to do. This convention looks to be more of a front for "right-wing" fundraising, with hunting as the cover story.
Bush can speak wherever he wants. He's still George W. Bush, omnicriminal. If you resent his speechmaking, then you harbor a bitterness that tells more about you than him. You continue to give him power that he would not possess otherwise.
What really matters is that for some curious reason no prosecutor or court has seen fit to indict the entire Bush criminal regime for its many crimes. As long as Bush is granted impunity for his criminal activities, we have no rule of law. We can be thankful that he is reduced to speaking at a "hunters convention" in Las Vegas. It is some testament to the fact that the whole world sees him as the lowest of criminals. Maybe next he can rev up the crowd at a conclave of "birthers."
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tiowally
January 12, 2010 3:08 PM in reply to JAH41F20
The convention is being held in Reno. While Reno doesn't have the cachet of Las Vegas, it's still a far cry better than The Hague, at least where Shrub is concerned.
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krag
January 12, 2010 1:51 PM
Lets see what the Bush intelligence agencies report said about the Bush/Cheney administration.
Iraq War Made Americans Less Safe
The National Intelligence Estimate titled "The Terrorist Threat to the Homeland" amounts to a devastating critique of the Bush administration's policies on Iraq, Iran, and the terrorist threat itself. July 7, 2007
http://www.dni.gov/press_releases/20070717_release.pdf
WHAT?
From what Dick Cheney has been saying, he and Bush made america more not less safe... which is it? the Bush/Cheney Intelligence Agency report or Cheney?
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jollyroger
January 12, 2010 2:44 PM in reply to krag
Intelligence Agency report or Cheney?
Who ya gonna believe? Me, or your lyin' eyes?
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Tom Hagen
January 12, 2010 2:29 PM
TPM should not use Theodore Roosevelt's name in the same lead in with W. One was quite literate and accomplished great things in his time. The later is barely so and tried to emulate a 100 year old model of foreign policy that just does not work now.
As for the hunters in Vegas......I hunt and fish but not with that crowd. My T shirt reads "I would rather fish alone over one fish than fish with a couple of assholes over a thousand".
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Suznaz
January 12, 2010 3:14 PM
A good gig for the still "all hat, no cattle" guy.
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Peter Principle
January 12, 2010 4:00 PM
Shrub, Liz AND Three Dog Night. Now that's entertainment.
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Kuyleh
January 13, 2010 1:59 AM
Well, I guess they could do worse...It could have been Cheney.
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Tom Hagen
January 13, 2010 3:29 AM
"TPM should not use Theodore Roosevelt's name in the same lead in with W."..... The batteries in my Irony Detector were taken out by my landlord. Carry on.
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dem4life
January 13, 2010 8:56 AM
Liz and famiily are all slobs
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