Saturday, December 24, 2005
Goddamned Piece of Paper
I previously reported on the doubtful claim from a single source that George W. Bush said "Stop throwing the Constitution in my face - It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!"
I suggested it had "all the markings of a myth that will never die" and advised readers to "watch and see how this dubious quote spreads with all the agility and grace of a plastic turkey..."
Well It has.
A Google Search for "Bush" "It's just a goddamned piece of paper" shows over 300,000 sites are now discussing it.
Update: Check comments. Whilst it's clear the quote is being discussed widely, due to Google voodoo, the exact figure I quoted is being debated.
I suggested it had "all the markings of a myth that will never die" and advised readers to "watch and see how this dubious quote spreads with all the agility and grace of a plastic turkey..."
Well It has.
A Google Search for "Bush" "It's just a goddamned piece of paper" shows over 300,000 sites are now discussing it.
Update: Check comments. Whilst it's clear the quote is being discussed widely, due to Google voodoo, the exact figure I quoted is being debated.
Comments:
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You're actually way off, it's 496. Google's estimate is probably high because of the way it searches phrases.
http://www.google.com/search?q=Bush+%22It%E2%80%99s+just+a+goddamned+piece+of+paper%22&num=100&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&safe=off&start=900&sa=N
http://www.google.com/search?q=Bush+%22It%E2%80%99s+just+a+goddamned+piece+of+paper%22&num=100&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&safe=off&start=900&sa=N
Comment Permalink # posted by 
: 12/25/2005 06:54:00 AM
: 12/25/2005 06:54:00 AM
Even 496 sites in less than a month is significant, so I am happy to stand corrected. However, I don't really understand what's going on and hope you can explain.
When I use my search query, which is for [Bush "It’s just a goddamned piece of paper"] it says it is showing "Results 1 - 100 of about 304,000". When I go to the last page and ask Google to "repeat the search with the omitted results included." the search without it gets up to 901 - 992 of about 304,000.
I'm not entirely familiar with what's going on at Google. Certainly the results might be skewed as a hundred comments on a single discussion forum, all with the same subject title may skew figures.
Regardless, my original point is still valid but if anyone can accurately determine the figure, and explain their logic I'll be more than happy to revise the entry accordingly.
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When I use my search query, which is for [Bush "It’s just a goddamned piece of paper"] it says it is showing "Results 1 - 100 of about 304,000". When I go to the last page and ask Google to "repeat the search with the omitted results included." the search without it gets up to 901 - 992 of about 304,000.
I'm not entirely familiar with what's going on at Google. Certainly the results might be skewed as a hundred comments on a single discussion forum, all with the same subject title may skew figures.
Regardless, my original point is still valid but if anyone can accurately determine the figure, and explain their logic I'll be more than happy to revise the entry accordingly.
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