Stupid or lying?
Today on Stupid or Lying we have the reports of a newly-released video from the Associated Press of George Bush's team in denial preparation for Hurricane Katrina. (You can find coverage all over the place today, I read it here and here.) It appears that when Bush said
didn't understand had forgotten that the director of the National Hurricane Center told him
Why does it always sound like people are talking about a mentally-handicapped kid when they talk about Bush's accomplishments? "And look, he's even stopped licking the windows on the school bus, haven't you George?"
As we all know, when caught, politicians will first plead stupidity ("I don't recall that memo", "I didn't know she was an undercover agent") before being caught in a lie. Very often they will maintain that stupidity plea until the very end (see Reagan and Contra).
So class, is George Bush lying or is he legitimately stupid?
To feed the discussion I leave you this priceless little, unrelated gem:
Absolutely, George. When all of us are dead, there will indeed be peace in the valley.
in the days after the hurricane, heI don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levee
I don't think anyone can tell you with confidence right now whether the levees will be topped or not, but that's obviously a very, very great concernAlso, in the CNN article, there is a lovely quote of Heckuva Job Brownie describing how involved in the process the president is at a FEMA meeting(emphasis mine)
He's obviously watching the television a lot, and he had some questions about the Dome (Superdome), he's asking questions about reports of breaches. He's asking about hospitals. He's very engaged, and he's asking a lot of really good questions I would expect him to ask
Why does it always sound like people are talking about a mentally-handicapped kid when they talk about Bush's accomplishments? "And look, he's even stopped licking the windows on the school bus, haven't you George?"
As we all know, when caught, politicians will first plead stupidity ("I don't recall that memo", "I didn't know she was an undercover agent") before being caught in a lie. Very often they will maintain that stupidity plea until the very end (see Reagan and Contra).
So class, is George Bush lying or is he legitimately stupid?
To feed the discussion I leave you this priceless little, unrelated gem:
He told Vargas he hopes that his presidency, in retrospect, will be viewed as an "agent for peace."
Absolutely, George. When all of us are dead, there will indeed be peace in the valley.
I wouldn't say he's stupid per se, he's just not as brilliant as he thinks he is - I think he's just surrounded himself with lick-spittles like Condi Rice and Harriet Myers and Dick Cheney who basically protect him from hearing contradictory information - which, at the very least, suggests he hasn't bothered to read Machiavelli - "The Prince" has a whole chapter on the dangers of surrounding yourself with Flatterers...
Posted by
Dan |
Thu Mar 02, 10:43:00 AM
George Bush did not "surround himself with the right mix of people", he was recruited to run for president. He then hired Dick Cheney to find a good and guess who was suggested?
No, fellas, Bush is a useless tool. He got to university because he daddy half owned it and got the lowest possible marks they could have given a "legacy" child.
He has not kept himself under the impeachment radar. He marched them into a war on lies, which have been well-exposed. He has admitted to stretching the security laws to spy on whoever he wants to whenever he wants to do it. Either of these are impeachable if pushed. It is only the Republican dominance of both houses makes impeachment essentially impossible. Hell, even if the Dems could grab one of the Houses this fall, they would not have the balls to do anything.
It has nothing, absolutely nothing to with his intelligence.
Posted by
kevvyd |
Thu Mar 02, 01:02:00 PM
Actually, Kev - I think he got a higher average than John Kerry
Posted by
Dan |
Thu Mar 02, 01:34:00 PM