The day following former First Lady Barbara Bush‘s death, we offer these clips of Chance (“Chauncey”) Gardiner, the gardener of a rich estate whose simple answers are thought to qualify him as the political leader who can fix the world. Barbara Bush had no use for the current occupant of the Oval Office whose world is shaped by television, as was Chance Gardiner’s (Peter Sellers) in Being There (1979). “I like to watch,” said Chance.
In February of 2016 the former First Lady pulled no punches. She said she was “sick of him [i.e. Donald Trump]. He doesn’t give many answers to how he would solve problems. He sort of makes faces and says insulting things. He’s said terrible things about women, terrible things about the military. I don’t understand why people are for him, for that reason.”
First Lady Melania Trump will attend the former First Lady’s funeral. Whether the candidate for whom Barbara Bush had no use will pay his respects is still an open question as of the publication of this post. Maybe he’ll stay home to watch it on Fox.
Thank you, Roger Ebert (RIP) for your review of Being There. Thank you, Chance (Peter Sellers), for your clairvoyance. Thank you, Barbara Bush. RIP.
— Gordon C. Stewart, Chaska, Minnesota, April 19, 2018.
Views from the Edge 
I should mention that we saw “Being There” a few weeks ago. I also recently read (listened to) the book which is narrated by Dustin Hoffman and is VERY good.
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Being There is one of my favorite films of all time. How timely! Didn’t know about the Hoffman book narration.
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Whatever you might have thought of her husband and son’s politics, I never doubted that they were Americans and they cared. Maybe not the way I thought they should, but I never questioned their patriotism.
And Barbara really WAS a power house!
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Agreed, Marilyn. And neither George H.W. nor George W. disparaged a presidential predecessor the way this president does. Not everything was about them.
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Guess I’ll have to see “Being There.”
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It’s a MUST see, Mona. You’ll love it! Guaranteed.
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I’ll have to enlist my son and daughter. They’re the ones who rent the movies.
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Conscript them! You’re the matriarch from your father’s house!
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