<I> I Knew Gene Kelly. The President Is No Gene Kelly.</i>
By Nicole Belle Friday Mar 28, 2008 2:45pmThere are some smackdowns that are just better than others. I don't know why this tickled me so, but my mother, who shares my love of Gene Kelly movies, clipped this out of the dead tree version of the NY Times. Patricia Ward Kelly, the widow of the great Gene Kelly, took umbrage to Maureen Dowd's casual reference to Bush's soft shoeing as acting like Gene Kelly. Can you blame her?
Surely it must have been a slip for Maureen Dowd to align the artistry of my late husband, Gene Kelly, with the president's clumsy performances. To suggest that ''George Bush has turned into Gene Kelly'' represents not only an implausible transformation but a considerable slight. If Gene were in a grave, he would have turned over in it.
When Gene was compared to the grace and agility of Jack Dempsey, Wayne Gretzky and Willie Mays, he was delighted. But to be linked with a clunker -- particularly one he would consider inept and demoralizing -- would have sent him reeling.
Graduated with a degree in economics from Pitt, Gene was not only a gifted dancer, director and choreographer, he was also a most civilized man. He spoke multiple languages; wrote poetry; studied history; understood the projections of Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes. He did the Sunday Times crossword in ink. Exceedingly articulate, Gene often conveyed more through movement than others manage with words.
Sadly, President Bush fails to communicate meaningfully with either. For George Bush to become Gene Kelly would require impossible leaps in creativity, erudition and humility.
Oh, snap! You get more truth in column inches in that letter than the last four years of Judy Miller's tenure at the NY Times.
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Chris! Chris LaVoie! Be sure to queue up a "You Go Girl" for Patricia Ward Kelly on Monday's Stephanie Miller Show!
(Yes, you're now taking orders from random bloggers. At least you're well paid! Oh. Well, at least you have a job!)
Bush's performances are more like Chevy Chase's spoof of Gerald Ford on SNL.
Makes me want to know more about Gene Kelly - and less about Bush
Wow.
That was just plain...beautiful.
Ha! ...sure wish I could do the sunday NY times crossword... in ink...
peter @ 3:
He acted in quite a few musicals. One of his most famous performances is starring in Singing in the Rain
I DO do the crosswords in ink
The trick is to write very, very lightly.
And Nero fiddled.
Thank you, Mrs. Kelly, for your true words about your wonderfully gifted and graceful husband, a native Pittsburgher. We in the Pittsburgh area revere your husband's talents and memory. I am aghast that Maureen Dowd would make any sort of comparison between the late Mr. Kelly, a man of grace, intelligence and talent and the current president, who lacks all three.
Blue Taliban Osama Buddha @ 6:
A little OT, ... I have never been a real fan of musicals, but Singing in the Rain is a great picture.
But let's give credit where credit's due: Not even Gene Kelly could've danced his way past impeachment, a war crimes trial, and civil commitment hearings.
Dubya' just Singin', Singin', while Insane!
Bush.
Gene Kelly was a masterful dancer, he practiced diplomacy and civility, and he made people happy.
Bush is a turd.
Big difference.
Ahh what a pleasure to know that even when dead all these years Gene can still come back and kick some Bush ass even if his wife has to dance in his place. Also a pleasure to know that somebody I admire on screen would have turned over in grave at the idea of Georgie chimpy bush presidency. Gene Lives.
I also knew Gene. We worked together for about 4 months. He was an intelligent and kind person (not to mention a great dancer), and would have been horrified to be compared with Bush the village idiot.
Don Davis @ 11:
Beautiful. Gave me a real good and loud laugh Don. Thanks
You can tell the way Mrs. Kelly articulates her criticism that she has more class and intelligence than Shrub and Dowd combined.
Don Davis @ 11:
Good point!
Pennsylvanianne @ 9:
Don't be aghast, Pensylvanianne, 'tis a supreme waste of emotion on the likes of a $2 whore such as Dowd. In the immortal words of Messrs. Lennon and McCartney, "Let It Be."
I would also add that Gene Kelly also had a half decent singing voice!
I think she meant Emmett Kelly!
Gene Kelly was like Cary Grant and George Clooney. They are incredibly talented, intelligent and human. And men and women liked them, they were real. Maureen should watch some of Kelly's work, maybe she would understand how devastatingly inaccurate the comparison was.
Don Davis @ 11:
The music isn't finished yet Don, perhaps bush will have to dance, maybe not as we would wish (while hanging in the air), but he still may have to get on the floor. Maybe others will "sing".
Just shows how lame ignorant our media is these days. maureen dowd obviously is in the "un-reality based group of morons" that believe this idiot is really "something special.
NEVER has this country had such an embarrassment for a leader. Shame on us.
I think that Mrs. Kelly deserves a column in the NYT. If they'll let the likes of Miller and Kristol to sully The Gray Lady, maybe Mrs. Kelly will provide a bit of fresh air.
Did anyone read beyond the Gene Kelly line? Because this didn't sound like a positive article on the boy king. More like a lon,g deserved ton of anvils to his ego.
He's dancing on the graves of 4,000 US soldiers.
Nicole...i share your enthusiasm and appreciation for GK, thanks for the post....
it's also a good reminder of how sloppy and hackneyed dowd has become in the past few years....i think poor MD jumped the shark some time ago...
used to be that i was anxiously awaiting each new column, and I'd be among the first to read it.....now i find them so clunky and unoriginal that many are difficult to finish reading...
Actually, if you want the perfect comparison to Mr. Bush's "things aren't going well, so I'm gonna dance" moment, Ashlee Simpson's screwup at Saturday Night Live...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCeUwu9gOzk
...is more appropriate a comparison.
He says he grieves for the 4,000 US soldiers he's killed. If his daughters were amongst those 4,000 I doubt he'd be dancing.
lafin gas @ 21:
No, more like Pennywise. WAY more like Pennywise.
And, Gene Kelly was a decent actor, too. Did a fantastic job with the cynical "H.L. Mencken" character in "Inherit the Wind," too; those scenes where he verbally brawled with Spencer Tracy's "Clarence Darrow" resonated.
MAureen became a hack a long time ago. Her thing is she plays both sides of the fence all the time. She gave Bill Clinton such grief yet her tone is quieter with Bush even though the Chimp has destroyed this country and Bill only got a BJ, which is legal for all those still obsessing about it.
oh burn! yay patricia and gene kelly.
now if the shrub wants to be compared to a dancer of likewise talents i'd offer up tweety matthews.
That's the best thing I've ever read on this site.
Unfortunately the reason Maureen is still around is because she is, through her many years at the times, entrenched with the power elite which gives her access and which the times wants and she's also very attractive which no matter how you feel about it is important in this media driven society.
You all love the ol' cokehead, admit it.
as a kid growing up i watched gene kelley on the big screen in TECHNICOLOR, before cinemascope. I guess i didn't like musicals all that much, but gene kelley was special. can anyone who has seen it ever forget his Dancing in the Rain. That was a classic. to read the comments by his widow did me a world of good. how often have my celluoid heroes gone by the wayside because of their political views. Chuck Norris (just barely), Sylvester stallone, Bruce Willis, Clint Eastwood, all former stars of the big screen that i truly enjoyed watching. I enjoyed watching them all until the time that i found out they were conservatives and GW devotees. Now i can't stand watching any of them. although i will admit to sneaking in an eastwood or a bruce willis flick even though i feel guilty in doing it. How could people who are so gifted in one arena be so ignorant in their political views.
Soapbox aside, Gene Kelley was special, and i feel thankful that his widow wrote her views which were undoubtedly shared by gene. Thank you to the majority of hollywood stars who have stong political views and are not afraid to share them publicly.
19 year olds are dying for this country abd this idiot is having a ball goofing around.
Bush is an idiot and so is McCain. They both make me sick!
Whenever I see or hear the press corps joking around with shrub, I just shake my head. Laughing....with....shrub. This man has been indifferent to so much suffering, yet he brags about how well he sleeps at night. For anyone to engage in frivolity with this soulless empty suite, born to privilege and class having all of the former and none of the latter, this cruel frat-boy, alcoholic, hypocritical ex-party-animal, cheerleading buffoon, chewing with his mouth open, talking with his mouth full, bits of food falling out of his mouth as he says the most inane things, this human POS.... is beyond my comprehension.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2006/12/bushs_first_com.html
he was also an incredible choreographer and director - not just a performer.
Great job!
One of the best slap-downs I've ever read. Kind of like that elderly women calling Shrub "Whistle Ass" before decreeing in her will that her estate go toward getting the cretin out of office.
I watched Wanton Boy's little soft-shoe and wanted to reach through the computer screen and strangle him. Dancing while young men are still dying in his "oil war."
Dowd? A foxy, snarky Bush apologist.
It's amazing how much I hate Shrub. Goes beyond any antipathy I've ever felt toward any other thing.
Ha.
I meant "suit", not "suite" @40 but it works too, the key word being "empty."
Empty like a vacuum.
Empty like a coke vial at six AM.
Empty like the space between Cheney's lungs.
Empty like Laura's smile.
I mean empty!
Bravo Mrs. Kelly! Very bravely and well-spoken.
Gene Kelly epitomized qualities that were worth looking up to and striving to achieve. Compare it to the qualities certain pathetic goons display these days and you can't help but feel very saddened, ashamed, and grossly pessimistic. Kelly added to society; shrub constantly takes away and destroys.
I love it! I just love it!
Thank you, Mrs. Kelly. Oh, and by the way, I love watching your late husband dance. He was poetry on two feet.
Mrs. Kelly, thank you for speaking out in your husband's memory. Class, which you seem to have in abundance, is very hard to find in today's world of Politics; or for that matter, in today's world, period.
I agree with the poster who suggested you have your own column. We need to have an antidote to the garbage that passes as most journalism today.
i saw kelly dance live once...he musta been in his late 60s at the time
he still had it
bush has never had it
and hes dancing and joking while men and women are dying for his war
say what you want about lbj, but at least he had a concience and left the white house a broken man
bush is a sociopath who should be put into a padded room
How can those reporters laugh at anything that bastard does? Every time I see him on t.v. or hear him on the radio I have to say. "Fuck you, you bastard." I just don't understand how anyone can think anything he does is funny?
Dead guys don't like him. Those alive hate his guts. Hard to imagine an American Prez that was hated by both. Wow. That takes some kind of skill.
"I would also add that Gene Kelly also had a half decent singing voice!"
i hate to tell you Robin, but he HATED his voice. He told me that he thought he sounded like a girl.
I thought Stubby's little dance was the move he perfected while getting out of DUIs on the side of the road...
That woman is so right on. HAHAHAHA
I love her.
chimpy is more like the crazy walk from Monty Python.
BTW -- this is how chimpy looks tap dancing on our soldiers' graves. The idiot.
Blue Taliban Osama Buddha @ 6:
On a funnier note, Stewie of The Family Guy cartoon danced with Gene Kelly. It was cool.
tHeGaMeHusseinOfLiFe @ 53:
That was so cool. They did a really good job on that.
Inhert The Wind; Brigadoon, Singing in the rain & many more. Gene Kelly made
people forget their troubles for a few hours. Bush on the other hand has caused
nothing but trouble. Kelly was terrific. Our president is a wanker.
She was on 'wait wait, don't tell me' and said that she was 'misquoted' and didn't mean to imply that Bush was 'just like' Gene Kelly although even reading the article seems like she was implying, and in not to indirect terms, that Bush WAS BEING EXACTLY LIKE Kelly.
Her article is quoted by me here and you decide if she is 'misquoted'...
How is 'turned into Gene Kelly' not being Gene Kelly?
That's it !!
Just as soon as Earth Hour is over, I'm watching Gene Kelly and "Singin' in the Rain"
Those were the good times.
Now . . . not so much.
a brilliant but painful reminder that we are living under a tyranny of mediocrity . . . our president is a winking, self-satisfied buffoon who presides over a land where the sensational stands in for the substantive and crassness triumphs over soulfulness and beauty . . . george bush isn't fit to clean gum off of gene kelly's dancing shoes
Thank you Patricia Ward Kelly. Thank you.
dude he's drinking. as a drinker i know it when i see it.
mike, i'm glad somebody said that . . . i'm not a drinker, but i spent my formative years around one, and to me, george has seemed awfully "sloppy happy" over the past few months
i'm left wondering: when does the national security argument for impeachment kick in? because, if it's not safe to drive under the influence, i don't think a chronic boozer should have his finger on the button
Got through the first 10 seconds of that post and am I the only one who wanted to just { I will not say it } make him not there? This man is the epitome of evil. He has no idea how the average persons thinks. America - He is all yours! I hope you are all proud. the entire world hope you do not make another mistake. Martial Law coming up? don't be surprised.
mike @ 61:
Of course he's been drinking. The asshole is has been lying through his teeth about everything, he is the walking definition of fraud.
He is a made up fairy tale. And it seems that there are plenty of dumb fucks in this country who bought the whole "I saw the error of my ways, thanks to jesus, praise the lord!"
He has been caught in tape drunk long after he claimed to go "cold turkey" sober. The whole pretzel story at the beginning of his presidency was so fucking pathetic, that I honestly felt embarrassed that it even got traction. I mean, surely he could not have been drunk off his ass and fall flat on his face, noooo siree bob! It was a mischewed pretzel...
The fact that this piece of shit can dance and smile while the country goes down in flames, is just another prize that he is by all intents and purposes a psychopath. And after observing where he comes from, it is clear that his traits are genetic. The whole Bush clan gives me the creeps due to his lack of humanity.
I just want to see where the outrage is over this moron acting so nonchalantly when times are getting so damn serious....
Right Patricia Ward Kelly was. Hell, Bush doesn't even deserve the honor of being compared to Charlie Weaver.
I adore Gene Kelly. Singing in the Rain is my favorite musical of all time. It's a funny, articulate, entertaining, and artful film. An American in Paris is fantastic too. I'm grateful that his widow told us more about him. It makes me love the man even more.
As for Bush, I will quote #13, Lollimom...
BUSH IS A TURD....
We should never forget the catastrophic evening when Bush, shortly after invading Iraq, made jokes about not finding WMD here and there and guess who is seen in the audience laughing heartily at his "joke" along with all the rest of the Third Reich-- Joe Lieberman, the maverick who is foisting Iran on us. It was no joke then and this mass murderer is still trying to deflect his war crimes and genocide and holocaust with his "jokes" and dancing and pitter-patter. Killing millions of people is not funny, Mr President, and please tell your pal Joe Lieberman, the same thing.
Why are they laughing at a murderer? Guess they didn't lose their children because of his lies.
If I could photoshop (until I dropped), I would photoshop into the video of Bush tap dancing while waiting for McCain several weeks ago images of flag-draped coffins containing our fallen soldiers returning from Iraq as the flooring.
Because that is how I picture Bush (and Cheney), dancing on the graves (or coffins) of all the soldiers they've caused to be killed by lying us into war in Iraq.
You mean people still read that POS propaganda sheet, the NYT? Wonders never cease.
He could do choreography for the Teletubbies. Maybe they could give him some pointers.
First Bush tells the guy writing his autobiography that he cries a lot every day. Weeks later he is singing and dancing like WTF, things have never been better. Obviously we have the first Prozac President.. Lord help us. When the guy with his finger on the 'nuklear' button is always thinking ’whatever’ we can be sure our lives mean nothing to him.
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