viragette

I just noticed a link at Kottke to this article at design observer written by George W. Bush. The article is about rugs, and W starts off by claiming that he doesn’t know much about rugs.

I’m going to have to respectfully differ on that. From what I’ve heard, W knows quite a bit about rugs. He seems to have a bit of a rug obsession, in fact, based on two related stories. Several years ago, a friend of a friend won the Noble Prize in a scientific field. When an American scientist wins the Nobel, one of the things that happens is that the scientist is invited for a one on one interview with the President in the Oval Office. According to my friend, the new prize winner told him that he had been concerned about this interview and had sought advice from other recent Nobel laureates about what to expect. Those who he spoke with, who had received the prize during the Clinton administration, told him that the President would be well-briefed on his area of research, and to expect hard questions (especially since the research area of this particular Laureate reasonably could be expected to be of interest to the President). He prepared accordingly, and was somewhat surprised, in the end, to spend an entire hour talking about the rugs in the White House. Evidently W gave him a thorough history of the carpetting. To the point that no other subject was discussed.

What I think makes this story appealing to me is the follow up. A second scientist, also a friend of my friend, received a career award, one of 50 given nationally. She attended a reception at the White House, along with 49 other awardees. W spent his time, again, on the subject of rugs, and evidently gave them, too, a thorough history of the carpets.

Like I said, I think the man knows more about rugs that he’s letting on.