BUSHY BARNEY

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In The News
(May 2002)

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Backup Barney: "(First Lady) Laura Bush headlined an Austin fund-raiser for Texas funnyman and mystery writer Kinky Friedman's Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch... She even had intended to bring Barney... but he got a presidential reprieve. A well-dressed terrier mixed breed named Hank (he wore a red bow tie) was Barney's stand-in. 'Barney was coming until the very last minute,' Bush said. 'Actually, the president had to almost write an executive order. When he got home from Europe last night, he wanted Barney to be there instead of here. The president got his way.'...Shortbread cookies decorated with a picture of Barney wearing a crown were at each place setting. "--Cox News Service, 5/30/02

Slide Dogs: Though Barney didn't show up for the Kinky Friedman fund-raiser, "Mrs. Bush did bring a slide show of the family pets at the White House. Well, actually, India the cat declined to be pictured. 'President Bush and I love that the dogs are a part of our everyday life, and it's nice to have them at work with us,' she said. 'They give us a sense of purpose and they give us a sense of peace.'"--Dallas Morning News, 5/30/02

Happy Homecoming: Returning from his trip to Europe, President Bush "arrived at the White House on Tuesday evening and appeared happy to be home, scratching his two dogs, Spot and Barney, when they ran outside to greet him."--AP, 5/28/02

World Famous: "First Lady Laura Bush won giggles and shy smiles from Russian school children Friday as she read a popular American story and distributed pictures of one of her dogs, Barney. 'Would you like a Barney card?' Mrs. Bush asked, as about 10 children swarmed around her in the Russia State Children's Library to receive a postcard featuring the Scottish terrier."--AP, 5/24/02

Keeping up with Barney: First Lady Laura Bush's phone call from Europe to her husband "came as the latest damage control crisis was heating up. 'Anything interesting you'd want to share about your conversation?' asks a reporter, and everybody laughs. She mimics their call: 'Hey. How are you? How's Barney?' What she really means, of course, is: Like I'd tell you. She goes on: 'Barney's great, the kitty is great, and Spot is great.' The president 'was in the middle of a policy briefing; there were other people in the room,' she explained."--Washington Post and AP, 5/17/02

Low-Brow Humor: "I tell him with eyebrows like that, he ought to be a senator..."--President Bush remarks about Barney at the White House Correspondents Dinner, 5/4/02

Always to Blame: "In one slide, (President Bush) showed presidential dog Barney beating hasty retreat from behind the president's desk. 'You can tell Barney is in some trouble here. This is the day he chewed up the list of undisclosed locations and we couldn't find Dick (Vice President Cheney),' the president laughed."--Reuters, reporting on Bush's remarks at the White House Correspondents Dinner, 5/4/02

Same Old Routine: "My job is to take the dogs downstairs first thing in the morning. We've got kind of an early morning White House. I try to show up right before 7:00 a.m. every morning. And so Spot, who is -- not a very imaginative name, I admit it, but nevertheless -- (laughter) -- was born in the White House, by the way. She's 13 years old. She's quite familiar with the grounds. She walks out, as does Barney. Barney's the one-and-a-half-year-old terrier. Now, Barney, he doesn't get to go in the Oval Office first thing in the morning, because the rug is new. (Laughter.) But Spot and I walk in. Barney goes off with the gardeners, chasing squirrels or something."--President Bush at Simon for Governor Luncheon, Santa Clara, Calif., 5/1/02