How did I. Lewis Libby, Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney's Chief of
Staff, get his nickname "Scooter"?

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Clarification of Question by davidnyc-ga on 01 Oct 2003 19:08 PDT

I should also add, in case it's not clear, that I'd like to know what
"Scooter" means or refers to, not just "how" he got it (e.g., a
grade-school friend gave it to him).

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Clarification of Question by davidnyc-ga on 03 Oct 2003 09:49 PDT

Thanks for all your efforts. Since it appears to be difficult to find,
I raised my offer from $5 to $20. Hopefully this will induce someone
to keep searching.

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Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 03 Oct 2003 11:51 PDT

I have found an article in a reputable publication, in which Mr. Libby
himself states how he got his nickname.  His explanation is certainly
something that you can print on a news website.  (He also briefly
describes his feelings about the nickname, and the one time he had a
problem with it.)

I assume that statements to the contrary come from a dislike of Mr.
Libby and the Bush administration.  (I am not condemning dislike of
the administration; I'm just noting that it can stem from or result in
misinformation in some instances.)

I also assume that Mr. Libby's own innocent explanation of the
nickname is trustworthy.  After all, it would be rather strange for a
political person to roam around Washington with the nickname Scooter
if there were a sordid story behind it.

Would Mr. Libby's own explanation be a sufficient answer?

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Clarification of Question by davidnyc-ga on 03 Oct 2003 14:52 PDT

Nice legwork. But I'm skeptical of Libby's own explanation for two
reasons:

1) Why is it so darn hard to find out his nickname online? Most other
people's nicknames tend to be pretty easy to figure out.

2) Why would "Women Against Occupation" (as they call themselves) find
the explanation of his nickname apparently unsuitable for printing in
a news publication?

Your counter-claim is that it would apparently be unlikely for someone
to traipse around D.C. with a "sordid" nickname. But I'm not so sure
about this. It's public knowledge that George Bush refers to Karl Rove
as "Turdblossom", for instance. (I grant that's a bit different than
calling *yourself* "Scooter", but there it is.) Anyhow, I think you're
probably right - if Libby really wanted to shake his nickname, he
could just as well call himself Lewis (or Irving, yikes). (Apologies
to Irvings everywhere.)

So let me ask you this: Would you care to try contacting the above
website which wouldn't print the explanation of his nickname (the
aforementioned "Women Against Occupation") to see if they'll be more
forthcoming? If you get something from them, you can post that along
with the article you found. If not, I'll accept just the article.

Does that seem reasonable? Please let me know. Thanks

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Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 03 Oct 2003 16:35 PDT

Fair enough.  I'll contact Women Against Occupation, and see what they
know.  If they do have a story behind the nickname, I'll post it -- in
as close to the original form as possible -- along with the article I
found.

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Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 03 Oct 2003 16:41 PDT

I just realized that Women Against Occupation got its content from
Aljazeera.  So I will contact them as well.

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Clarification of Question by davidnyc-ga on 04 Oct 2003 18:37 PDT

Okay, Scott, sounds good. I don't know if Google has any content
restrictions on answers, but if the story behind the nickname turns
out to be quite salacious (though somehow I doubt it), and you are
unable to post all or part of it, please let me know that fact as
well. Looking forward to seeing what you find out. Thanks.

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Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 26 Oct 2003 19:04 PST

I have not heard anything from Women Against Occupation or Aljazeera. 
Since Women Against Occupation simply reprinted the information from
Aljazeera, I can't imagine that they have independent confirmation or
further information about the story.  As for Aljazeera, since they
didn't respond by e-mail, it seems my only recourse would be to
contact them in Qatar.  My phone plan does not cover Qatar, and I
don't imagine that a letter would do much better than my electronic
communication.

You can always try to contact Aljazeera, if you think it would be
helpful:

"Contact Us"
Aljazeera.net
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E53A78E4-8F00-4D4C-9B62-DE3D19E5B1AA.htm

In the meantime, would you be interested in my answer, even if it is
printable on a news website?

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Clarification of Question by davidnyc-ga on 27 Oct 2003 10:38 PST

Heheh - I would not expect anyone to call Qatar, and I kinda doubt
you'd be successful even if you did. Anyhow, yes, I'd like to see your
answer. I believe I found an answer on my own in the meantime, but
since you've put in all this effort, I feel it's only fair that you
get paid for your time. Plus, I'd like to see if your answer squares
with mine.

Hi davidnyc,

I searched in the New York Times archive (
http://query.nytimes.com/search/advanced/ ) for:

scooter and libby and nickname

One of the articles that appeared was:

"White House Letter; Novelist in Chief of Staff's Clothing", by
Elisabeth Bumiller (February 18, 2002)
The New York Times
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40A1EFF355B0C7B8DDDAB0894DA404482

While it didn't make economic sense to spring for a call to Qatar, I
figured that purchasing a copy of the article was a reasonable thing
to do.  As it turned it, the article contained the following
information, after noting that Mr. Libby would not discuss the subject
of Iraq:

"Mr. Libby will at least talk about his nickname, which he got the day
his father watched him crawling across his crib and joked, 'He's a
Scooter!'

'I love it,' said Mr. Libby, 51, of his nickname.  'There is a
tendency in Washington for people to take themselves a little too
seriously, and it's pretty hard to take yourself seriously when your
name is Scooter.'"

Scooter Libby then indicated that the name "has stood in his way only
once."  He talked of the "'girl in the bar'", as quoted by amalik-ga.

It's not a thrilling story, I suppose, but it all sounds plausible to
me.  (If he had said that his nickname came from his experience of
"scooting" around Iraq finding WMDs, then I would be suspicious.  ;-)
)

- justaskscott

[Incidentally, my own nickname is not "Scooter".  I wonder why the
most famous Scooters are named Phil and Lewis, rather than Scott?]

Thanks for your work. I only wish the answer had been juicier!

I haven't learned the origins of the nickname, but I did find this
interesting tidbit:

" Commonly known by the nickname 'Scooter' for reasons that cannot be
explained on a news website, Libby is to Cheney as Wolfowitz is to
Rumsfeld. "

http://nonprofitnet.ca/wao/wao.php?show&753

The 'I' in 'I. Lewis Libby" apparently stands for 'Irving':

" Garment's law firm protégé, Irving Lewis Libby, is now Dick Cheney's
chief of staff and chief national security deputy. "

http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2003/3025lar_v_cheney.html

" 'He's Dick Cheney's Dick Cheney.' Vice presidential advisor Mary
Matalin on vice presidential aide Irv 'Scooter' Lewis Libby. Via the
inestimable World New York. "

http://www.randomwalks.com/archive/2001/04/hes_dick_cheneys_dick_cheneyvice.php

Thanks for the tidbits. Do you plan on looking into this any further?

David,

I'm pretty much tapped out on this, but your question is fully open
for other Researchers. I hope someone can turn up the answer, because
I'd like to know, too!

~Pink

It seems like Scooter dodged the question on the Larry King show.  Too
bad that Larry is not a more agressive interviewer.  Here's the
complete exchange:

"KING: Where did "Scooter" come from?
LIBBY: Oh, it goes way back to when I was a kid. Some people ask me if
...
(CROSSTALK)
LIBBY: ... as you did earlier, if it's related to Phil Rizzuto. I had
the range but not the arm."



http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:btMa7gZLwS4J:www.proxyone.com/cgi-bin/nph-srch.cgi/000000A/687474702f7777772e636e6e2e636f6d2f5452414e534352495054532f303230322f31362f6c6b6c772e30302e68746d6c+%22libby%22+%22scooter+come+from%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

(This is a cached copy of a transcript of the Larry King Show.  The
original is not available.  Thus the long Web address.)

markj-ga

Sorry about the typo.  I meant "aggressive," of course.

Thanks for all your efforts. Since it appears to be difficult to find,
I raised my offer from $5 to $20. Hopefully this will induce someone
to keep searching.

The key to this might be to ask the question, "what would someone not
familiar with english slang who tried to research the meaning of the
nickname "scooter" discover if they used the Internet?"

Now, obviously Libby's nickname Scooter has nothing to do with the
following links, but to someone who wanted to defame him, it might
prove irresistable to literally, but incorrectly,  put together the
following links and then tell the objective aljazeera reporter this
information and the reporter would, innocently and without any intent
to defame, print the following:

* Commonly known by the nickname "Scooter" for reasons that cannot be
explained on a news website, Libby is to Cheney as Wolfowitz is to
Rumsfeld.


Scooter my daisy heads! 
        Well, I'll be.        From a car commercial aired in 2002. 
Didly day! 
        Oh, well!             Response to From a car commercial. 
                              Response to Scooter my daisy heads!

http://faculty.winthrop.edu/kosterj/WRIT102/spring02slang.htm

Daisy
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=daisy

Head
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=head


----------
But it's really about sex and booze. About his nickname, Lewis says,
"There was this girl in a bar in Philadelphia who was not willing to
go out with a guy named Scooter. At least that's how I attribute my
failure."


I won't give the link to the actual newspaper article with the
interview as I think justaskscott really did discover the official
"correct explanation".

Personally, when I hear scooter, I think of scooter from the song
lyric "10th Avenue Freeze-Out" by Bruce Springstein, but if "Scooter"
Libby has a different explanation, I'll go with it.

"Tear drops on the city
Bad Scooter searching for his groove"