George W. Bush has to be the worst public speaker ever to be president.

[nytemare]

Monotone soundbite.... Long pause. ... monotone soundbite... pause...half of a monotone soundbite....pause....the word "nucular", which was the end of the previous monotone soundbite....pause for what he expects will get applause....more of a pause....smirk....the phrase "stay the course"....pause.....the words "steadfast and resolute"....pause....monotone mumble....pause.....look at camera for emphasis.....pause.....the word "nucular, again....pause....the word "freedom"....pause....monotone soundbite, and half giggle.....pause.....dumb look at camera...the phrase "hard work"....end.

[yvr girl]

1. In the mass communication era

I've heard some early presidents were terrible speakers.

[nytemare]

2. Certainly you are correct.

Perhaps I overestimated Bush's capability as an inept public speaker.

[Starlight]

16. But, like myomy said, they were probably actually speaking their own words

rather than clumsily sounding out the big words while reading from a teleprompter. :eyes:

[Fenris]

3. My favorite Bush speech quirk...

Has to be whenever he makes a statement and then follows up with "In other words..." and then proceeds to say the exact same statement with certain words changed. He does this a lot. I think he's just repeating what his handlers say when they try to explain some policy decision to him and he just looks at them like a confused canine.

[nytemare]

4. I have noticed the jaw twitch a lot, lately.

There are times where he is trying to explain something, and he acts like he is talking to a little kid. Like he is exasperated. Usually, these statements are proceeded, or ended by the word, "see". Not only does that kind of tick me off, but I think it is a great bullshit indicator.

[myomy]

5. Do you mean public speaker or public reader?

..

[nytemare]

7. Either, or both.

He is awful.

[NewJeffCT]

6. but, he's so strong, sure & steadfast, plus honest

:sarcasm:

gag

[nytemare]

8. Steadfast.

He has taken meaning away from that word.

[billyskank]

9. "George W. Bush has to be the worst x ever to be president"

for varying values of x.

[Starlight]

15. That would be funny if it wasn't so despairingly true.

:cry: :cry: :cry:

[Skittles]

10. foreign leaders speak better English

he is much worse than a bad speaker, he embarasses America

[libodem]

11. and the biggest jerk, ever

whata putz....supposedly the people are fooled by his stammering half-witted babble because he seems...get this...'vulnerable' and just like us common folk....what a deceiver, liar, hypocrite, bumbling idiot, piece of crap schmuck

[hobo_baggins]

13. as one of us 'common folk'...

I find it offensive that I'm associated with a person who can't form a proper sentence, because i sure as hell can.

[AVulgarianHue]

12. It's so darn cute

and folksy, your everyday guy made Resident-in-Chief, with nary a connection to the elitist Oligarchy throughout the fiefdom.

[tjwmason]

14. Not wishing to throw anything serious into the discussion

If one looks at the separation of powers, one can see how this arises (not this one specifically, but American politicians tend to be worse public-speakers than many others).

Before going to the White House Bush was a governor, he has risen up the ranks of the executive branch.

Contrast this with the U.K. (for example) where the Prime Minister actually has to be a member of the House of Commons (theoretically they could be in the Lords, but in reality the Commons only), therefore before they get anywhere near No. 10, they have had to prove themselves in one of the best debating chambers in the world. I despise just about everything for which Poodle-boy stands, but his public-speaking is superlative (it generally doesn't say much, but its delivery is marvellous).

The Parliamentary system (in my opinion) has encouraged the British public to see good public-speaking as an essential part of being a good politician. Although old-style hustings have pretty much entirely died out, a chap who can't address a meeting well has pretty much no chance of getting anywhere.

In the U.S. presidents tend to have been governors beforehand (it makes sense if one sees governor as being like the president of a state). If one is electing a person to executive office, how good their oratory is means far less. A person could be utterly hopeless in speaking in front of his own family - but damn near perfect at running a state (or even country)*. Therefore the American public are less attuned to demanding good public-speaking of their executive officers.

Just a few random thoughts on the topic - please feel free to ignore.

*I'm certainly not applying this to Bush - you've got it bad on both counts there.

[nytemare]

17. It is embarrassing to watch Bush talk by Tony Blair

Just, embarrassing.