Can anyone explain why George Bush is considered a strong leader?

[glarius]

A little while ago I heard Bill Schneider say on CNN, that George Bush, because of his handling of Katrina, is losing his image of being "a man of leadership...someone who can take charge"....I ask why does he have such an image in the first place?....Seriously, it is really puzzling to me....We all remember (even without Michael Moore's movie) how he sat in the class room, looking paralysed with panic for 7 minutes, Those taking charge and making decisions were in New York!,
He arrived on the scene days later, with a bull-horn, for his first photo op, and that was the first of his "I will look after you and God bless America" speeches....So far as I can see, those speeches have been his only contribution since day one, and yet somehow his handlers have created this myth of him as the strong, reliable leader....And now a catastrophe has occured which has laid bare the truth about George...He hasn't a clue what to do and is relying again on photo ops....only this time it's not working for him, because there was no one competent to cover for him and do what had to be done....His poll numbers have dropped, but I'm still REALLY puzzled why they're not in the teens!....There...I said what I wanted to say....:hi:
I'm adding this now....At least you all know, due to the response of the world to Katrina, that you are not hated in the world...It's Bush we despise and what he has done to Iraq etc....

[niyad]

1. propoganda worthy of goebbels is why.

[BlueEyedSon]

2. Because although he may often be wrong, he is never uncertain.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Hell no

I can't explain it.

[Imagevision]

27. Those days are long gone, - Bush hopes he can weasel his way out of this

one...!

http://downingstreetmemo.com/

[caligirl]

4. people buy ideology over reality

[Vektor]

5. Faux News lies on his behalf a lot.

That's the only reason. He's weak as weak gets.

[blossomstar]

6. Thanks for your post, go figure! Didn't have a clue then....

and still doesn't! Duh?

[The Magistrate]

7. It Is Beyond Me, Ma'am

One is reminded of the jest, "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on T.V....."

[pinto]

8. No. I don't think he's a leader. An adept poseur perhaps, but, no leader.

[Ravenseye]

9. It's confused me since day one

He never succeeded at anything he ever did, other than fail upward. He got everything he ever had because of connections and who he or his family knew...Never any real leadership.

He was just sold really really really fucking well. Remember how he had so much money before anyone else for the 2000 run? They started early and really sold the guy.

Guess it gets harder to sell it when your incompetence causes people to die.

[BrklynLiberal]

10. It sure is a mystery to me. Stockholm syndrome? Abused wife syndrome?

Whatever it is, I am sure it is a symptom of some sort of psychological problem in those who buy into it.

[ucmike]

11. because of his strong military record.

and string of successful business ventures.

[glarius]

16. That reminds me of that embarrassing scene of him pretending to fly

the plane on the deck of (I forget the name of the ship) and declare "mission accomplished". LOL...How he strutted his stuff there!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

12. HEY you try standing downwind for any time! He IS a strong leader.

What he stepped in is another question. That, or whether his diapers were changed on time.

[BrklynLiberal]

15. Politicians and diapers have to be changed often, and for the same reason.

[CatWoman]

13. He was considered a strong leader

because Schneider and his ilk wanted people to look at him that way.

Bush said himself that he's nothing but a media creation.

Lincoln: A House Divided Cannot Stand.

CatWoman: A phoney-baloney will always be exposed.

They (the media) put more lipstick on that pig than Tammy Faye put on herself.

[glarius]

19. I read about that "media creation" remark he made

The Democrats should have exploited that during the 2000 election by saying....see he knows himself that he's not presidential material...They seem to miss a lot of chances....

[Carolab]

14. Only rich white bastards and stupid white dummies think he is.

But they are starting to wake up. Trouble is, it's hard for the rich white bastards to let go of this lie because they SO like the tax cuts and the business this idiot is throwing their way.

[RallyInDC]

17. Because of karl rove thats what I think....

I think he just dressed him up and made this fake image everyone bought, he's really some coward maniac who didn't help at all after 9/11.....just figured out how to capitalize on it.

[nickyt]

18. nope

[Fridays Child]

20. Smoke, mirrors, sheeple, complicit media.

[glarius]

24. That's right....the media has abdicated their responsibility to report the

truth!...I forgot about that..

[hardrainfallin]

21. Maybe he has a strong body odor

and everyone who dares to get close to him is afraid to tell him--they might get fired or something.

[LZ1234]

22. I've been asking that question for a long time...

I just don't get it either. I too can't understand why the poll numbers aren't in the teens.

[KC21304]

23. Someone wrote a nice piece comparing his

appearance with the bullhorn to his cheerleading days. I will try to find it. It was great.


From digby, yesterday. Here's the part I was referring to.



http://www.digbysblog.blogspot.com/

His reputation for great leadership and crisis management consists solely of going before the American paople with a bullhorn and saying "... and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear from all of us soon." That's not leadership --- that's cheerleading. Bush and his minions have never understood the difference.

[shireen]

25. Confusion over strong leader vs. stubborn stupid leader n/t

[Technowitch]

26. It's called "Propaganda"

And the GOP is really good at it. Plus they have the media in their pockets for the most part.

[Cassandra]

28. Because he plays one on TV.

And because he has the confidence of the truly clueless. "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" is very seductive for people.

[Imagevision]

29. and this putz calls himself a war president - others call him a traitor

http://downingstreetmemo.com/

[kentuck]

30. Because the press wanted to portray him as a strong leader even though....

they knew he was an embecile. But, they also knew we had three more years to survive under this moron. Better to let the world think we had this strong leader who would protect our nation than let the truth out that we were never more vulnerable with any leader in our history. Unfortunately, Bush started to believe it more than any perceived enemies. His ego led him to believe he was invincible. The press created a monster which they thought would be a good thing- it would protect our nation from any outside aggressors. Little did they know that the enemy was within...

[omega minimo]

31. The same reason Reagan was considered a Great Communicator

[Allenberg]

36. To borrow a quote from The American President:

Lewis Rothschild: You have a deeper love of this country than any man I've ever known. And I want to know what it says to you that in the past seven weeks, 59% of Americans have begun to question your patriotism.

President Andrew Shepherd: Look, if the people want to listen to-...
Lewis Rothschild: They don't have a choice! Bob Rumson is the only one doing the talking! People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they'll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand.

President Andrew Shepherd: Lewis, we've had presidents who were beloved, who couldn't find a coherent sentence with two hands and a flashlight. People don't drink the sand because they're thirsty. They drink the sand because they don't know the difference

[omega minimo]

45. Well....... .......well........... ...well............ ........well.......

there you go again.



If they drink enough sand, do they find oil? :evilgrin:

[TexanDem]

32. It's a case of the emperor has no clothes syndrome!

[LZ1234]

33. I would suggest reading Paul Pearsall's book ...

"The Last Self-Help Book You'll Ever Need" (that's the title) - it talks about this very thing - mob mentality. The book is based on a lot of research and suggests that being unsure about things, or as he terms being "mindful" is actually the preferable and more mature way to look at things. Somehow in this country we have the misconception that being stubborn = being strong.

[yorkiemommie1]

34. in his own words....

""You know I could run for governor but I'm basically a media creation.
I've never done anything. I've worked for my dad. I worked in the oil
business. But that's not the kind of profile you have to have to get
elected to public office.-GWB

[glarius]

37. Why didn't the Democrats take that quote and use it again and again

during the 2000 election...They let so many chances slip by...

[bumblebee1]

53. Image may be everything,

but even Andre Agassi grew out of that one.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

35. Because the Republican talking heads repeated it endlessly on TV,

on the radio, in the newspaper, and with text messages on their cell phones maybe.

Why do you think people believe any of the Republicans' line of bull?

Most people aren't critical enough of what they see and hear in the media.

[zalinda]

38. I was going to say

he looks good in those military costumes he wore. But, there is a more serious answer. He had good PR men to get him in, plus a stolen election. And, then there is 9/11..........we, as a country, wanted to believe that he would be there and take care of us. Most of the country now has come to see that he's never been there. But, there are those who can never admit they are wrong. We all know them, probably there is at least one in every family. Doesn't matter what it is, they are never wrong. It's what they do in secret that will matter. Right now, I don't think he really has even 20% behind him. The other 20% that says they support him is probably trying to save face.

zalinda

[Poiuyt]

39. He has the ability to convey certainty

It doesn't matter if he's right or wrong, he gives the impression that what he says cannot be challenged (the world is a safer place with Saddam Hussein out of power!) I've know other people like that. They make statements with such authority and conviction that you assume they are right. Most people aren't going to question Bush, and until a week or two ago, the press wasn't questioning him either.

[glarius]

43. He has never come across to me like that....he seems like he's trying

so hard to convince you and I always get the feeling that he's unsure himself of what he's saying....:shrug:

[Old and In the Way]

40. His Incompentency is too painful to watch.

Really, I can't even bear to watch or listen to him. It's almost like this is a bad joke that's grown stale.

[all.of.me]

41. it's an illusion the republicans like to maintain

so they mention it once in a while. too bad they can't walk that talk!

[Erika]

42. Yeah, Bush said "bring them on" like a real tough guy

Now, where is OBL? Why are we in Iraq?

[yorkiemommie1]

44. and they love his reformed, reborn bad boy image

i say IMAGE because it'a all a media creation. but i think it works on lots of levels.

parents say, you know that boy turned himself around and look what a good ( fill in the blanks ) he is.

younger ones say ' he's a turd just like me but he's making it.'

he's like John Wayne to them. Tough on the outside ' heart of gold on the inside'

It's called ACTING.

the sheeple WANT to be deceived. they don't want someone to tell them the truth. the truth is DRY, and full of NUMBERS and dates sometimes and it's BORing. they want swagger and bluster and a twinkle in the eye, and sneaky smirk or two.

[spacelady]

46. Image is All For Bush. Timing is everything for the rest of us.

[mitchum]

47. Because he's Jaysus's workout buddy?

[nadinbrzezinski]

48. bull horrn, 9.11\ made of full cloth wiht the help of the complicit

press, but it is that man standing on the rubble wiht that bull horn

[Imagevision]

49. The Bush image is what's working against him, the mere sight of him

reminds me of nothing but failure and hardship,,,!


http://downingstreetmemo.com/

[trackfan]

50. People were so needy of leadership after 9/11

that despite the fact that he, to any objective observer, appeared very much on the weak side, they projected an image of strength onto him. The media played along with this for "the good of the country", as if to admit the truth - i.e., that this was a really shitty, lousy, weak President to have in that horrible situation - would seem somehow "unpatriotic" to them at the time. Then that phony reality was portrayed as the truth, and now is an accepted myth - at least by those who don't really remember what happened. He ran like a scared bunny rabbit and looked like he was about to shit his pants at that first press conference. Anybody, including me, and, I suspect you, and most of those reading this, could have stood on the pile of rubble and said words which would have inspired the nation. I still can't believe that the bullshit about him being a strong leader after 9/11 is accepted as fact.

[glarius]

51. I think you're right.....It all just sort of snowballed

and he played the part with his "earnest" speeches, grasping the podeum and leaning forward with such intensity!....It's really sickening, isn't it?

[AirAmFan]

52. MEDIA CONCENTRATION allows Ailes, Murdoch, etc to FIRE truth-tellers

Out of well-founded fear for their jobs, big-audience "presstitutes" must go with the Orwellian talking points distributed weekly over Grover Norquist's fax tree. Here's a reference from an article about the mythologizing of 9/11 pResidential "Leadership":

From http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/main/essayaninterestingday.html

"An Interesting Day: President Bush's Movements and Actions on 9/11

By Allan Wood and Paul Thompson

May 9, 2003

... why, at 9:03 a.m. -- fifteen minutes after it was clear the United States was under terrorist attack -- did President Bush sit down with a classroom of second-graders and begin a 20-minute pre-planned photo op? No one knows the answer to that question. In fact, no one has even asked Bush about it....

Details reported that day and in the week after the attacks - both the media reports and accounts given by Bush himself -- ... changed radically .... Culling hundreds of reports from newspapers, magazines, and the internet has only made finding the "truth" of what happened and when it happened more confusing. In the changed political climate after 9/11, few have dared raise challenging questions about Bush's actions. A journalist who said Bush was "flying around the country like a scared child, seeking refuge in his mother's bed after having a nightmare" and another who said Bush "skedaddled" were fired. (Washington Post, 9/29/01)"

For more reminiscences and photos about the truth covered up by post-9/11 spin, see
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4731774