One perspective......
THE MISUNDERESTIMATED MAN
Date: Wed, 12 May 2004 15:49:50 -0700
DEAR FRIENDS AND FAMILY:
The Misunderestimated Man
How Bush chose stupidity.
By Jacob Weisberg
Posted Friday, May 7, 2004, at 6:54 AM PT
Was he born that way?
Adapted from the introduction to The Deluxe
Election-Edition Bushisms, published by Fireside
Books/Simon & Schuster. Reprinted with permission; )
2004 Jacob Weisberg.
The question I am most frequently asked about Bushisms
is, "Do you really think the president of the United
States is dumb?"
The short answer is yes.
The long answer is yes and no.
Quotations collected over the years in Slate may leave
the impression that George W. Bush is a dimwit. Let's
face it: A man who cannot talk about education without
making a humiliating grammatical mistake ("The
illiteracy level of our children are appalling"); who
cannot keep straight the three branches of government
("It's the executive branch's job to interpret law");
who coins ridiculous words ("Hispanos," "arbolist,"
"subliminable," "resignate," "transformationed"); who
habitually says the opposite of what he intends ("the
death tax is good for people from all walks of life!")
sounds like a grade-A imbecile.
And if you don't care to pursue the matter any
further, that view will suffice. George W. Bush has
governed, for the most part, the way any airhead
might, undermining the fiscal condition of the nation,
squandering the goodwill of the world after Sept. 11,
and allowing huge problems (global warming,
entitlement spending, AIDS) to metastasize toward
catastrophe through a combination of ideology,
incomprehension, and indifference. If Bush isn't
exactly the moron he sounds, his synaptic misfirings
offer a plausible proxy for the idiocy of his
presidency.
In reality, however, there's more to it. Bush's
assorted malapropisms, solecisms, gaffes, spoonerisms,
and truisms tend to imply that his lack of fluency in
English is tantamount to an absence of intelligence.
But as we all know, the inarticulate can be shrewd,
the fluent fatuous. In Bush's case, the symptoms point
to a specific malady-some kind of linguistic deficit
akin to dyslexia-that does not indicate a lack of
mental capacity per se.
Bush also compensates with his non-verbal acumen. As
he notes, "Smart comes in all kinds of different
ways." The president's way is an aptitude for
connecting to people through banter and physicality.
He has a powerful memory for names, details, and
figures that truly matter to him, such as batting
averages from the 1950s. Bush also has a keen
political sense, sharpened under the tutelage of Karl
Rove.
What's more, calling the president a cretin absolves
him of responsibility. Like Reagan, Bush avoids blame
for all manner of contradictions, implausible
assertions, and outright lies by appearing an amiable
dunce. If he knows not what he does, blame goes to the
three puppeteers, Cheney, Rove, and Rumsfeld. It also
breeds sympathy. We wouldn't laugh at FDR because he
couldn't walk. Is it less cruel to laugh at GWB
because he can't talk? The soft bigotry of low
expectations means Bush is seen to outperform by
merely getting by. Finally, elitist condescension,
however merited, helps cement Bush's bond to the
masses.
But if "numskull" is an imprecise description of the
president, it is not altogether inaccurate. Bush may
not have been born stupid, but he has achieved
stupidity, and now he wears it as a badge of honor.
What makes mocking this president fair as well as
funny is that Bush is, or at least once was, capable
of learning, reading, and thinking. We know he has
discipline and can work hard (at least when the goal
is reducing his time for a three-mile run). Instead he
chose to coast, for most of his life, on name, charm,
good looks, and the easy access to capital afforded by
family connections.
The most obvious expression of Bush's choice of
ignorance is that, at the age of 57, he knows nothing
about policy or history. After years of working as his
dad's spear-chucker in Washington, he didn't
understand the difference between Medicare and
Medicaid, the second- and third-largest federal
programs. Well into his plans for invading Iraq, Bush
still couldn't get down the distinction between Sunni
and Shiite Muslims, the key religious divide in a
country he was about to occupy. Though he sometimes
carries books for show, he either does not read them
or doesn't absorb anything from them. Bush's ignorance
is so transparent that many of his intimates do not
bother to dispute it even in public. Consider the
testimony of several who know him well.
Richard Perle, foreign policy adviser: "The first time
I met Bush 43 two things became clear. One, he
didn't know very much. The other was that he had the
confidence to ask questions that revealed he didn't
know very much."
David Frum, former speechwriter: "Bush had a poor
memory for facts and figures. Fire a question at him
about the specifics of his administration's policies,
and he often appeared uncertain. Nobody would ever
enroll him in a quiz show."
Laura Bush, spouse: "George is not an overly
introspective person. He has good instincts, and he
goes with them. He doesn't need to evaluate and
reevaluate a decision. He doesn't try to overthink. He
likes action."
Paul O'Neill, former treasury secretary: "The only way
I can describe it is that, well, the President is like
a blind man in a roomful of deaf people. There is no
discernible connection."
THE MISUNDERESTIMATED MAN
Date: Wed, 12 May 2004 15:49:50 -0700
DEAR FRIENDS AND FAMILY:
The Misunderestimated Man
How Bush chose stupidity.
By Jacob Weisberg
Posted Friday, May 7, 2004, at 6:54 AM PT
Was he born that way?
Adapted from the introduction to The Deluxe
Election-Edition Bushisms, published by Fireside
Books/Simon & Schuster. Reprinted with permission; )
2004 Jacob Weisberg.
The question I am most frequently asked about Bushisms
is, "Do you really think the president of the United
States is dumb?"
The short answer is yes.
The long answer is yes and no.
Quotations collected over the years in Slate may leave
the impression that George W. Bush is a dimwit. Let's
face it: A man who cannot talk about education without
making a humiliating grammatical mistake ("The
illiteracy level of our children are appalling"); who
cannot keep straight the three branches of government
("It's the executive branch's job to interpret law");
who coins ridiculous words ("Hispanos," "arbolist,"
"subliminable," "resignate," "transformationed"); who
habitually says the opposite of what he intends ("the
death tax is good for people from all walks of life!")
sounds like a grade-A imbecile.
And if you don't care to pursue the matter any
further, that view will suffice. George W. Bush has
governed, for the most part, the way any airhead
might, undermining the fiscal condition of the nation,
squandering the goodwill of the world after Sept. 11,
and allowing huge problems (global warming,
entitlement spending, AIDS) to metastasize toward
catastrophe through a combination of ideology,
incomprehension, and indifference. If Bush isn't
exactly the moron he sounds, his synaptic misfirings
offer a plausible proxy for the idiocy of his
presidency.
In reality, however, there's more to it. Bush's
assorted malapropisms, solecisms, gaffes, spoonerisms,
and truisms tend to imply that his lack of fluency in
English is tantamount to an absence of intelligence.
But as we all know, the inarticulate can be shrewd,
the fluent fatuous. In Bush's case, the symptoms point
to a specific malady-some kind of linguistic deficit
akin to dyslexia-that does not indicate a lack of
mental capacity per se.
Bush also compensates with his non-verbal acumen. As
he notes, "Smart comes in all kinds of different
ways." The president's way is an aptitude for
connecting to people through banter and physicality.
He has a powerful memory for names, details, and
figures that truly matter to him, such as batting
averages from the 1950s. Bush also has a keen
political sense, sharpened under the tutelage of Karl
Rove.
What's more, calling the president a cretin absolves
him of responsibility. Like Reagan, Bush avoids blame
for all manner of contradictions, implausible
assertions, and outright lies by appearing an amiable
dunce. If he knows not what he does, blame goes to the
three puppeteers, Cheney, Rove, and Rumsfeld. It also
breeds sympathy. We wouldn't laugh at FDR because he
couldn't walk. Is it less cruel to laugh at GWB
because he can't talk? The soft bigotry of low
expectations means Bush is seen to outperform by
merely getting by. Finally, elitist condescension,
however merited, helps cement Bush's bond to the
masses.
But if "numskull" is an imprecise description of the
president, it is not altogether inaccurate. Bush may
not have been born stupid, but he has achieved
stupidity, and now he wears it as a badge of honor.
What makes mocking this president fair as well as
funny is that Bush is, or at least once was, capable
of learning, reading, and thinking. We know he has
discipline and can work hard (at least when the goal
is reducing his time for a three-mile run). Instead he
chose to coast, for most of his life, on name, charm,
good looks, and the easy access to capital afforded by
family connections.
The most obvious expression of Bush's choice of
ignorance is that, at the age of 57, he knows nothing
about policy or history. After years of working as his
dad's spear-chucker in Washington, he didn't
understand the difference between Medicare and
Medicaid, the second- and third-largest federal
programs. Well into his plans for invading Iraq, Bush
still couldn't get down the distinction between Sunni
and Shiite Muslims, the key religious divide in a
country he was about to occupy. Though he sometimes
carries books for show, he either does not read them
or doesn't absorb anything from them. Bush's ignorance
is so transparent that many of his intimates do not
bother to dispute it even in public. Consider the
testimony of several who know him well.
Richard Perle, foreign policy adviser: "The first time
I met Bush 43 two things became clear. One, he
didn't know very much. The other was that he had the
confidence to ask questions that revealed he didn't
know very much."
David Frum, former speechwriter: "Bush had a poor
memory for facts and figures. Fire a question at him
about the specifics of his administration's policies,
and he often appeared uncertain. Nobody would ever
enroll him in a quiz show."
Laura Bush, spouse: "George is not an overly
introspective person. He has good instincts, and he
goes with them. He doesn't need to evaluate and
reevaluate a decision. He doesn't try to overthink. He
likes action."
Paul O'Neill, former treasury secretary: "The only way
I can describe it is that, well, the President is like
a blind man in a roomful of deaf people. There is no
discernible connection."
RS