Comments on: Debate Over “Is Bush An Idiot?”

By: Kim Ritter

Kim Ritter — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 00:19:25 +0000

Somehow, I highly doubt that Dubya read Camus on his vacation. This sounds like a little PR ploy to counteract his image as a bumbler-especially at the G-8 summit. Most accounts I’ve read about him say that he isn’t really a reader. He may, however, really be an idiot -but one with tremendous political skill and the genius of Karl Rove (Bush’s Brain) behind his successful campaigns. I honestly think he is a poor speaker and seems to just shoot from the hip when he doesn’t have a prepared statement in front of him. He lacks sophistication and has to rely on his wife in social situations-who seems like a lovely person.

By: Nancy Naive

Nancy Naive — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 20:24:23 +0000

While I don’t think Joe Scarborough drew the correct conclusion… he did ask the right question.

By: Don in Canada

Don in Canada — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 17:26:55 +0000

Rudi:

Now Quayle was an idiot, does anybody hear his name brought up as an elder statesman. Sh** I doubt if he could build a dog house for the less fortunate at the Indianna county clubs.

Back in ’94, a friend of mine was telling about reading Quayle’s autobio, in which Quayle made the not-unbelievable assertion that many of his public gaffes were deliberate, playing the comic relief/distraction to Bush41, so to speak. The other thing that stood out from the conversation was my friend describing what a devious, shifty, conservative hardline [expletive] Quayle was (i.e. not a fool, he only played one on TV).

For a while I’ve wondered if W was playing his own ‘clown’ to Cheney’s straight man (a la Reagan v. Bush41) but that vid JP linked to is (as he said) breathtaking. Something is really not right there, and (again like Ronnie) for the man with his finger on the button, that’s downright frightening.

By: john doe

john doe — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 15:47:04 +0000

“In reality, all the talk about people being unfair to Bush and Republicans is so much piffle. If you go back in history you’ll see that many Presidents and politicos have been lampooned and lambasted as being more evil than they are, dumber than they are, more political than they are (although in those instances it’s usually understatement”

cite examples

By: Rudi

Rudi — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 14:30:34 +0000

MichaelF,
Bush does not have a history of intellectyual curiousity, I will believe this story when someone questions him on the book and he talks about the use of an anti-hero, atheism and ….

I am guessing he will talk about a talking killer whale in some Disney movie. I enjoyed “The Plague” more, a more favorable hero as opposed to “The Stranger”. More to the view of Chimp World.

By: MichaelF

MichaelF — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 14:19:55 +0000

Rudi said:

Doesn’t anyone get the satire or absurdity of Bush reading Camus. Atheist, existentialist and worse of all French. I could buy into Ayn Rand, but not Camus.

No. It is neither an example of satire nor is it absurd. Please note that Ayn Rand’s favorite author was Victor Hugo

Would you find it absurd for an Atheist to study religion? How about Ayn Rand reading Karl Marx? You don’t have to agree with a perspective to value understanding it. Give it a shot.

By: Rudi

Rudi — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 12:22:38 +0000

Doesn’t anyone get the satire or absurdity of Bush reading Camus. Atheist, existentialist and worse of all French. I could buy into Ayn Rand, but not Camus. Now Quayle was an idiot, does anybody hear his name brought up as an elder statesman. Sh** I doubt if he could build a dog house for the less fortunate at tje Indianna county clubs.

By: C.Prez

C.Prez — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 11:42:14 +0000

All I know is the man sniff(s/ed) coke. Enough said.

By: BrianOfAtlanta

BrianOfAtlanta — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 11:13:37 +0000

Camu used to come in big olive green lipstick tubes, like a crayon with sand in it. Now he’s writing books. Who’d a thunk it?

By: JP

JP — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 10:59:45 +0000

If you haven't seen this comparison on Youtube, it's breathaking.

By: Clint

Clint — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 08:32:52 +0000

Have to be pretty smart to:

- Get elected twice
- Convince a whole country we need to invade Afghanistan to find Bin Laden
- Convince a whole country that Iraq has WMDs and we should invade
- Convince a whole country that you invaded Iraq to spread democracy, not because we thought they had WMDs
- Make a whole country forget about being in Afghanistan

By: gattsuru

gattsuru — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 06:36:43 +0000

Still gets old. Can you remember another joke that gets told six years later without complaints? Most people get upset after the first two. Not to mention the leftover and misattributed “Quaylisms” from a Seattle humor spot are just pathetic.

As to History, let’s see… Gore. Too ‘smart’ for the common man (because, as we all know, not being able to carry a normal conversation is smart). Hell, we’re still hearing about this with that stupid movie he ran. Clinton. Argued to be a liar and a loser, as well as married to pure concentrated evil… but not stupid. Dukakis? Cold, unemotional, a “clerk”, but not stupid. Too ‘smart’ for the common man.

Mondale? Probably was an idiot (I pledge to raise taxes?! wtf?), but, no, the memorable comments on that election were the “Bear in the Woods”. Mondale was a dove, and that was pointed out.

Carter? Was a dove and an economic bungler in 1980, amd in 1976, it was Ford that was the fool (No, the Poles aren’t being opressed by the Soviet Union).

McGovern? Radical and a welfare fanatic (something that not all Democratic heads were a fan of back then)

So, when’s the last time “Stupid” was a big description for a Republican? I can remember Reagan being portrayed as a foolish cowboy from Hollywood. Ford, as I already mentioned, probably was an idiot, and was certainly discussed as one.

Now, this still leaves the possibility that Democrats never elect complete idiots, but I think in between Clinton lying about sex on national TV (jeez, man, most straight males of his age woulda been proud of it, and the looney left offered to take Monica’s place!), Mondale, and Carter… I think we can discourage that possibility.