Joe And Eileen Meet Curious Chuck
He was a good little Senator and was always very curious.
Today, he was very curious about eight words.
This morning Chuck and the man with the yellow hat were at the zoo.
There Chuck met his old, imaginary friends Joe and Eileen.
Now, Joe and Eileen don't actually exist. And they never have. But Chuck talks to them all the time. (We're beginning to think Chuck may be a bit more than half a bubble off level.)
But today, Joe and Eileen told Chuck to publish a book. In the book, they said, Chuck must tell the world he talks to imaginary friends. That way, people will be able to understand Chuck better. And they will know not to look to him for any real advice. Because people who talk to imaginary friends are a wee bit suspect to the people who realize that it is a bit abnormal to talk to people who don't actually exist and ask them for advice.
And Joe and Eileen told Chuck the eight words he was curious about, "You're completely out of your freaking mind, Chuck." And Chuck was happy at last and went to look at something else he was curious about. The fuse box.
By Quilly Mammoth, Sunday, 21 January , 2007 @ 8:55 pm
Except there really was a Joe Bailey. Immortilized in the book “Joe Bailey, the Last Democrat” first published in 1932 and republished by NYU in 1970 it tells the story of a Texas Congressman and later Senator who helped push anti-trust olegislation and the first tax on corporations in 1909. He was also very anti-expansionism…which played well to young New York college students in the early 70’s.
Of course, his career would later be tarnished by the revalation that he did like _some_ big companies. such as those paid him or his family large honorariums and legal retainers.
The more things change the more they stay the same.
By Quilly Mammoth, Sunday, 21 January , 2007 @ 8:59 pm
Oh, and I forgot to mention…Sen. Joe Bailey’s wife was named Ellen.
By Gaius, Sunday, 21 January , 2007 @ 9:23 pm
Watch this one on the Google searches. It should be informative.
By Ian, Monday, 22 January , 2007 @ 10:33 am
“Because people who talk to imaginary friends are a wee bit suspect to the people who realize that it is a bit abnormal to talk to people who don’t actually exist and ask them for advice.”
Must…resist….making joke about….George Bush….getting advice from God. Must….fight it!
Ah hell with it. So how does that square with GWB claiming God told him to invade Afghanistan and Iraq, and why should we not therefore consider him totally nuts?
By jay k., Monday, 22 January , 2007 @ 10:47 am
except that it’s ok when incurious george hears god speaking to him? wtf?
By Gaius, Monday, 22 January , 2007 @ 10:51 am
I see we have the approved talking point in place. Took a little longer than usual to get it coordinated.
By Marc Thomson, Monday, 22 January , 2007 @ 11:34 am
Imaginary advice:
I’m so encouraged that others have noted Bush’s “God told me to invade Iraq” quote. Now, there are only three explanations: either God punked W — lied to him making a fool — or George lied — or George DID talk to God but was delusional about answer. PICK YOUR ANSWER — in any of these cases, George should be removed from the White House in a white straightjacket.
OR — does this site’s criticism about delusional thinking only apply to it’s precieved opponents?
By Ian, Monday, 22 January , 2007 @ 11:40 am
C’mon, Gaius, that’s not a talking point, it’s a natural reaction to a seemingly hypocritical statement. If Schumer is nuts for talking to an imaginary couple and getting advice from them, how does that same logic not apply to GWB? In fairness, it does depend on your belief in God. I was baptized and raised Catholic, but I’m no longer with the church.
Prior to his presidency, general society considered someone claiming to receive explicit messages from God to be a sign of mental illness, not moral clarity.
By Gaius, Monday, 22 January , 2007 @ 11:46 am
It does depend on whether you believe in God or not, doesn’t it? Futhermore, it is in no way, shape or form equivalent: Bush did not make up God as a couple of pals to ask for political advice.
By Roondog, Monday, 22 January , 2007 @ 11:58 am
“people who talk to imaginary friends are a wee bit suspect to the people who realize that it is a bit abnormal to talk to people who don’t actually exist and ask them for advice”
Prayer, by any other name…
Depends on whether you believe? Really? Then you might want to wipe out this post because there is much more a case to be made against all believers in what you have written than anything to be made against Schumer since he admits they don’t actually exist. That’s more than most religionists can say about their imaginary friends…
Oh, again, I forgot. It depends. Belief needs some proof lest all believers fall into the derided category above.
By Quilly Mammoth, Monday, 22 January , 2007 @ 12:01 pm
Moreover, the actual comment is that Dubya talks to God, not the other way around. Some of us call that prayer.
To amplify Gaius, not only did Schmucky make up imaginary friends, he isn’t clever enough to have actually made them up himself.
By Ian, Monday, 22 January , 2007 @ 12:21 pm
Nice try, Quilly. The actual quote was:
“Nabil Shaath, who was Palestinian foreign minister at the time, said: “President Bush said to all of us: ‘I am driven with a mission from God’. God would tell me, ‘George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan’. And I did. And then God would tell me ‘George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq’. And I did.”
Mr Bush went on: “And now, again, I feel God’s words coming to me, ‘Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East’.
Talking to God is prayer. While I no longer share the faith, that is not reason for concern. Bush claiming that God talked back is what concerns me.
By TW, Monday, 22 January , 2007 @ 3:03 pm
“Because people who talk to imaginary friends are a wee bit suspect to the people who realize that it is a bit abnormal to talk to people who don’t actually exist and ask them for advice.”
now you know how all us atheists feel!
By Quilly Mammoth, Monday, 22 January , 2007 @ 4:20 pm
Ian, Bush denied this and you left out a significant part of the quote…I’m _sure_ by accident…where Shaath qualifies his statement that he thought Bush was speaking figuratively.
Heres a good article on the event:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/10/EDG4PDMU7H1.DTL
By Randy, Tuesday, 23 January , 2007 @ 12:03 am
Right, Bush denied it, and we all know how much credibility Bush and his freinds have. Why just today I heard Alberto Conzalez claim that Ashcroft had strict assurances from the Syrians that they wouldn’t torture that poor innocent Canadian fellow the CIA snatched from an airplane. Why of course we believe you Mr. Gonzalez when you say that we sent that guy to Syria for some other reason than to be brutally tortured, and we believe you Mr. Bush when you deny you said what you said, BECAUSE WE’RE IDIOTS.
By High Plains Joker, Tuesday, 23 January , 2007 @ 3:53 am
Ya’ll:
Whoever seriously talks to a god, imaginary people, or a totem, actually expects some response. It may be in form of a sign, a mental epiphany, a bird crapping on their head or a black cat crossing their path. In any case, its not real. So its all in the mind, and interpreted as the mind is so inclined. We don’t want this kind of person running our country. Period. Lets get some reality back in the US.
By John Ryan, Tuesday, 23 January , 2007 @ 3:17 pm
Chuck is Jewish. 87% of the Jews voted for the Democrats in the last Federal election.