I Think We Make a Real Sharp Couple of Coconuts

Liberal Philadelphia blogger Will Bunch does a modicum of legwork and discovers that Rockey Vaccarella, the Katrina survivor who travelled to DC to thank the president is - quelle surprise! - a devoted Republican.

Turns out that the earthy Vaccarella -- a highly successful businessman
in the fast-food industry -- is indeed a Republican pol, having run
unsuccessfully under the GOP banner for a seat on the St. Bernard
Parish commission back in 1999… and in fact, Vaccarella seemed very confident that he would be meeting with Bush when he left home, to the point where he had a date scheduled and everything.

Even if this deep, dark secret never matriculates outside the blogs, I'm wracking my brains to understand the point of this "PR coup." Is a cheerful white guy really the mascot who can erase Bush's Katrina problem? Is his sing-song praise of federal spending going to motivate the GOP base? More evidence that Rove's touch has lost any of its Midas-like qualities.

Via Matthew "Award" Yglesias.

Comments

[The Wine Commonsewer]

Good point, this is really not a BFD. Nor is it a coup.

[aspendougy]

A PR coup?? It's pretty pathetic. Kind of like an Iraqi who had an extented family of 100:

30 were killed in SHOCK & AWE
35 were killed by the insurgency
22 were killed by criminal gangs
10 died of disease due to the breakdown of the infrastructure

So there's only three left, but he goes to Washington DC to thank Bush for trying to "Unify his Country."

Maybe you can find one guy like that who just doesn't like his family.

[hoshiko]

When my father saw this guy on CNN he proclaimed him ? phony as a Lebanese bologna? He has used this phrase for years and I still have know idea what it means, but in this context it seems to work.

[Tom]

Though on the flip side, if someone went and bashed President Bush, and they were Democrats, would we be so quick to point out a Dem pol?

Everything is scewed. It would look better, though, if it were a former Democrat going to thank President Bush.

[KidCarnivore]

hoshiko, Lebanon balogna is mildly famous in southeastern Pennsylvania. It's great balogna and all, but I haven't heard of it referred to as "Lebanese".

[joe]

I'm thinking its a Corporal Klinger reference.

[MUTT]

I think Ayn Randian would want you to post credible evidence forthis......

[jf]

Tom,

Actually, Matt Welch (may his soul rest in peace) did have a post linking to a story from a Superdome refugee that did nothing but kvetch about how FEMA and Bush had failed them. By pointing out this guys obvious political bias (obvious liberal, not likely to be a Bush-supporter), I got to take a bunch of shit from both regular commenters and the occasional gang of fly-by-nighters.

Oh yeah, and Bush is still an idiot, worst president in over 20 years, blah blah blah, just so I can head off the idiots who are going to say I'm some type of neo-con.

[wingnutx]

If you don't have 3 days of food, water, and TP in your residence then a Mr. Darwin would like to have a word with you.

[matthew hogan]

" 'phony as a Lebanese bologna' He has used this phrase for years and I still have know idea what it means "

It refers to bologna set up as decoy cold-cut shields to protect Hizbollah rocket launchers.

[pitbull]

Rocky, with his four more years comment, is obviously not the brightest bulb on the xmas tree. I wonder if he was held and tortured in the lincoln bedroom to get him to say that?

[lambert strether]

Speaking of Rockey not being the sharpest knife in the drawer, here's my best guess as to what Bush and Vaccarella bonded over (besides their joint memberhsip in the Republican party):

Fart jokes.

One must admit that after this administration, Democrats will be a breath of fresh air.

[R C Dean]

One must admit that after this administration, Democrats will be a breath of fresh air.

I agree, lambert. Groping the interns is definitely preferable to swapping fart jokes.