The Bookworm President

[kskiska]

By ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE
UPI Editor at Large

WASHINGTON, May. 14 (UPI) -- Two of Washington's best-informed men confirmed it so it must be true. President Bush and his consigliere Karl Rove bet on who had read the most books in a year. Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, told friends Rove won with 117 books and Bush was a close second with 104 books.

Unhappy over his loss to his close confidant, Bush asked for a recount -- in words. And the president won by 1.7 percent. The story is not apocryphal. In fact, none other than McConnell's predecessor as the nation's top spymaster, John Negroponte, now deputy secretary of state, confirmed it. The president, he explained, reads two to three books a week and does not watch television. Most of them are history and biographies of famous statesmen (and three stateswomen who took their countries to war, namely Britain's Margaret Thatcher, Israel's Golda Meir and India's Indira Gandhi).

(snip)

When a recent visitor asked him what assurance he could give about his successor in 2009, President Bush replied, "we'll fix it so he'll be locked in." The visitor left perplexed and wondered whether that might mean the United States would be in a wider war in the region by then. In any event, it didn't sound like twilight time for Bush.

A Texan friend of long standing called on him recently and confided to his Washington hosts that Bush had said three times, bringing a clenched fist to his chest, "I'm the president." To remind visiting political opponents, he said, would be normal. But the close friend said he was a little taken aback as he had never seen Bush in this mode before.

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http://www.upi.com/International_Intelligence/Analysis/2007/05/14/commentary_the_bookworm_president/

[YOY]

1. If that's true I'm the king of Mother F***ing Siam

n/t

[Captain Hilts]

2. They don't say what kind of books. And reading is understanding. nt

[eleny]

3. Sounds like more from the myth machine

You would think that the damned thing had already burned out.

[LiberalFighter]

4. Reading 2 to 3 books weekly is far-fetched IMO for someone...

that is President of the United States.

[unpossibles]

5. he probably has lots of time since his buddy Cheney

does the actual work.

[Arkansas Granny]

6. Here we go. I found a picture of some of his titles.

[Virginia Dare]

7. We'll fix it so he'll be locked in?

Dare I ask WTF that means? :scared:

Impeachment really is the only recourse for this asshole.:grr:

[rlpincus]

8. Moon News

UPI--owned by the Unification Church.

ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE--former editor in chief of Washington Times and former editor of Insight Magazine, both owned by the Unification Church. Now Editor of UPI. Fired from former gig at Newsweek for keeping dossiers on his fellow workers.

[3waygeek]

9. Also, De Borchgrave is a frequent guest

on George Putnam's LA-based talk radio show. Putnam is pretty far right, and even more obsessive than Lou Dobbs on the subject of illegal immigration.

[Lisa]

10. why don't liberals understand -- if he looked at a picture of one of those famous folks

... at some time during his life, it's the exact same thing as reading a big heavy biography!

[yurbud]

11. Bush said he spent a month studying New Testament book of Acts, a reporter asked what his favorite

part was, a seemingly easy and softball question (a "book" in the New Testament is a couple of pages).

Bush got mad at the guy and said, "Is that supposed to be some kinda trick question?"

If he couldn't actually read a few pages of the Bible, I doubt that he's nailing two books a week.