George Bush settles the score – it was everybody's fault but his own

[steve2470]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2010/nov/09/george-bush-michael-white

Is George W Bush a closet intellectual? I don't ask the question this morning to annoy you or sell another copy of the former president's new memoirs, but because he reveals in an interview that he once competed with Karl Rove, his crafty adviser, to see who could read the most books in a year.

Mostly history books too. Rove, who used to be called "Bush's Brain", won, according to the interview in the Times. He read 110 books totalling 40,347 pages compared with the president's 95 books and 37,343 pages. Pause a moment, make a Bush joke ("How many were picture books?"), then let's move on.

Bush is not stupid, but he is not an intellectual either, as his book is likely to confirm when reviewers have had time to get through it. And there's a downside to being a highbrow in the active world of politics, as Barack Obama is currently demonstrating. All Bush is trying to show is that he is more reflective than his "gut instinct" reputation suggests.

Meanwhile, never trust newspaper excerpts or interviews, which distort for all sorts of reasons, mostly commercial. The publicity machine is doing well, all the same. Bush's memoirs are leading some of the news bulletins today, as well as some newspapers, including the Guardian and Times.

[lunatica]

1. I beg to differ on the opinion that Bush isn't stupid

Would an intelligent man leave the country in the condition he did? Short answer is no. Because stupid is what's killing us.

[babylonsister]

2. No kidding. If that's not reinventing history, I don't know what is. nt

[Crankie Avalon]

3. This "book" is getting publicity for the same reason people watch a dog walking on its hind legs...

...not because it is well done, but simply because we are surprised to see it being done at all (with apologies to Dr. Johnson).

[shraby]

4. What I believe is that the story about Bush and Rove

having a contest about who could read the most books is pure propaganda designed to make Bush look like he's got a brain. Get the hook. He doesn't belong onstage at all and never did.

[worriedshrimp]

5. Dubya's display of his less than $1.50 in late charges worth of learning

http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=638790878#!/note.php?note_id=165467813476387

[InvisibleTouch]

6. Addicts and sociopaths do that.

They have a thousand excuses and a million ways to twist words and blame others, so only they are the blameless victims. It's not just verbal maneuvering, either - they really, completely believe it.

[tanyev]

7. Memo to George: Sitting in a chair and flipping each page individually is not the same as reading.

[Javaman]

8. Okay, so let's believe that it was everyone else's fault but his*...

that means he* surrounded himself* with morons.

Which means he* has very poor decision making skills. And as president, that is one of the main qualities to which you are elected to office. (even though he* was appointed)

So logically, it was his* poor selection of these people that cause all of our current problems.

Therefore he* is responsible.

He* can try and bend it anyway he* wants, but at the end of the day, he* is still responsible for it all.

fucking halfwit*.

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. Someone should ask him to recite the titles of the books he's read.

[niyad]

10. these stories about bush reading books is total BS--he admitted years ago he never read anything.

THAT is why staff memos could only be a page long.

[EFerrari]

11. Right and remember when asked, he said he was reading some "Shakespeares"?

[Overseas]

12. Did they ask-- When you read the August 2001 briefing with the headline

Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S -- President's Daily Brief, Aug. 6, 2001

what did you do?

Or perhaps they should ask-- Did you even read the briefing

Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S -- President's Daily Brief, Aug. 6, 2001 ?

[Blue Owl]

13. The fake cowboy's cleared everything up like so much brush

Thanks for setting the record straight there, Mr. Perfecto. Dear Leader is always correct.

[felix_numinous]

14. Classic textbook sociopath