MSNBC's Bush worship piece: "He's a fast-moving Texan who stays upbeat even when his country is not"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Analysis: Bush's personality shapes his legacy
He's a fast-moving Texan who stays upbeat even when his country is not



A combo photo shows President George W. Bush dancing around in front of the press as he awaits the arrival of the Republican party presidential nominee John McCain on the North Portico of the White House in Washington on March 5.

By BEN FELLER
Associated Press Writer
updated 2:43 p.m. PT, Sat., Jan. 3, 2009

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28482517/

EDITOR'S NOTE: Ben Feller covers the White House for The Associated Press.

WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush will be judged on what he did. He will also be remembered for what he's like: a fast-moving, phrase-mangling Texan who stays upbeat even though his country is not.

For eight years, the nation has been led by a guy who relaxes by clearing brush in scorching heat and taking breakneck bike rides through the woods. He dishes out nicknames to world leaders, and even gave the German chancellor an impromptu, perhaps unwelcome, neck rub. He's annoyed when kept waiting and sticks relentlessly to routine. He stays optimistic in even the most dire circumstances, but readily tears up in public. He has little use for looking within himself, and only lately has done much looking back.

Bush's style and temperament are as much his legacy as his decisions. Policy shapes lives, but personality creates indelible memories — positive and negative.
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Call it distinctly Bush.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Is the writer's name Ben Feller or Ben Fellate?

[azmouse]

2. And the media spin begins...

Til they're done rehabilitating the idiot's reputation he'll be the greatest thing since sliced bread... :puke:

[Captain Hilts]

3. I'm so happy for him. nt

[Vickers]

4. Some people see upbeat, some people see oblivious.

:eyes:

[Fire Walk With Me]

25. He's not oblivious. A blivet, but not obvlivious.

[sakabatou]

5. "Yipee -kai-yay, I fucked America! WOO-HOO!"

"And since I'm going to be outta here, all my problems are on... are on... you, that guy."

[jobycom]

6. MSNBC: Adolf Hitler will be remembered for his love of animals and his devotion to his wife.

Winston Churchill will always be known primarily as a drunk, and that lobster bisque served on the maiden Titanic voyage will forever define the ship's legacy.

[Skidmore]

7. Oh, gag me with a silver spoon...

what a vile pile of hooey.

[Scurrilous]

8. Upbeat = Medicated n/t

[YOY]

9. Yeah Ben...nothing like his administration wasn't the cause of the misery.

Or that making at least a tad of effort to alleviate the situation might actually show that he gives a damn.

I realize making that connection that might involve critical thought. Obviously Mr. Feller is not capable of that.

[Botany]

10. he has done so much

[Amerigo Vespucci]

12. He stayed upbeat even when the Katrina victims were not

[Botany]

16. WTF?

Former White House executive chef Walter Scheib learned from Bush never to serve a grilled cheese
sandwich unless it came with a side of French's yellow mustard.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

18. Presidentin' requires attention to many, may details...

...and that was just one of them.

:rofl:

[Botany]

19. So that whole going to Iraq on bad intel wasn't true?

In sessions with policy experts, Bush tends to ask questions that get right to the nub of a sticky issue. His top aides speak regretfully about how the country never got to see that side of him, even after all this time. They describe a man who is deeply inquisitive, not blithely incurious as much of the world thinks.

When Bush wants answers, guessing isn't advised.

[11 Bravo]

11. Or: He's a tweaked-out, inarticulate, jackass who is totally divorced from reality.

Guess it's all a matter of perspective. (Feller's perspective is apparently obtained by gazing upward as Bush's nutsack slaps against his chin.)

[Warpy]

14. I couldn't have said it better myself. Really.

I was struggling to find the words to describe someone who is so totally divorced from reality that he's upbeat about the country he's leaving on the brink of a second Great Depression.

He's only slightly nuttier than Feller.

[Botany]

15. What planet is the writer from?

Invariably, though, people who talk to him privately — historians, journalists, dissidents —
come away with a very different impression of a meticulous thinker.

100% planted propaganda

[lib2DaBone]

22. LOL... quick..concise summary....

[Fire Walk With Me]

23. He's a tweaked-out, inarticulate, jackass who gave the US Treasury to his friends.

Of course he's dancing. All the way to the bank.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

13. "I will leave the presidency with my head held high," * says.

With any justice, detached and held high.



Edit for *

[Ilsa]

17. "I do a lot of crying in this job," Bush once acknowledged.

Yeah, the rest of us have done a whole lot of crying since January 2001.

more horsehit:
Bush is not much for the social scene. He and his wife will go to friends' homes but stay away from restaurants and Washington's other delights. His aides say he doesn't like to cause a security hassle for the public.

That's also why they say he speeds through his foreign travel. Even in the world's more magnificent sites, Bush often skips touristy stuff to stick to business, contributing to that incurious reputation.

"I'm a nester," Bush said.

What a pantload. He's always been this way, security detail or not. He's never given a damn about what others think of him.

[Berry Cool]

20. My jaw just dropped reading this article.

I mean, a real KLUNKKKKKK. If it broke, I'd have to send the medical bill to Ben Feller.

Now I know there are two blithely ignorant and clueless people in the world.

[Botany]

26. To avoid such problems keep a Bay Air around at all times

[opihimoimoi]

21. Bush is a self centered Asshole....an NPD Abuser...he fucks with people's bald heads

while calling them nicknames...a sign of a CHEERS GUY....

we see them in bars alot....

Bush has fucked America...plain and simple...the world too...

[Amerigo Vespucci]

27. On my short list of things I will appreciate most about President Obama...

NO MORE NICKNAMES.

I've read a few articles about Bush and the nickname thing. Most armchair shrinks see it as one manifestation of his bullying tendencies. I tend to agree with them. It's one more thing he does simply because he can get away with it.

[opihimoimoi]

29. President Bush is AbiNormal...PE Obama is KOOL....and can speak clearly now the rain has gone

:toast:

No mo Nicks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkwJ-g0iJ6w

[Nay]

24. He stays upbeat cuz he's a fuckin' SOCIOPATH. They never care

about anyone but themselves. Jesus, please, get this fuckwad out of my sight. It can't happen soon enough. I have given up on seeing this fuck jailed for his crimes, but please, please, send him away.

[spanone]

28. yep he tap dances while kids are dying in his illegal war and people are being tortured in his name

if he walks free we will be a lesser nation

[MisterP]

30. on a side note, will DU have to face a "Feller for Senate" campaign on it?

and as for *, he's a pustule on humanity who makes Mengistu look like a piker: proportionately, he's one-seventh as bad as Pol Pot, but he's being sent off with warm wishes by a pile of useless Congressional Quislings and self-congratulating media lickspittles
it's a stomach-turning spectacle, but a perfect end to the 8 years of steaming feces he's treated the world to (neoliberal leaders however, opening their mouths for the shower and applauding afterward)