Bush doesn't (can't?) read!

[mainer]

Backing up what Gail Sheehy told us years ago: the man's probably dyslexic:



"Bush, in fact, does not read his President's Daily Briefs, but has them orally summarised every morning by the CIA director, George Tenet. President Clinton, by contrast, read them closely and alone, preventing any aides from interpreting what he wanted to know first-hand. He extensively marked up his PDBs, demanding action on this or that, which is almost certainly the likely reason the Bush administration withheld his memoranda from the 9/11 commission.

"I know he doesn't read," one former Bush national security council staffer told me. Several other former NSC staffers corroborated this. It seems highly unlikely that he read the national intelligence estimate on WMD before the Iraq war that consigned contrary evidence and caveats that undermined the case to footnotes and fine print. Nor is there any evidence that he read the state department's 17-volume report, The Future of Iraq, warning of nearly all the postwar pitfalls, that was shelved by the neocons in the Pentagon and Vice-President Cheney's office."




http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1192218,00.html

[mike_c]

1. "gee, I wish you had submitted that question in writing..."

"...so one of my aides could read it and tell me what to respond...."

[K8-EEE]

2. GAK! ARE OUR PRESIDENT LEARNING?

I kind of suspected this! He never seems to refer to having read ANYTHING...his string pullers just whisper in his ear, that's about the extent of his "briefings."

[TheDebbieDee]

13. LOLOLOlolololol

[HFishbine]

3. He seems to do alright from the promptertele (nt)

[Avalux]

5. He can read

but he chooses not to. Why spend time reading important information when your decisions are all going to be the right ones (God's got his back). Narcissistic, grandiose schmuck!

[nostamj]

4. he's not illiterate

he's LAZY.

John Dean has pointed out that * has no interest in policy. he just likes dressing up and being the most important person on earth.

[bushisanidiot]

6. Pres. Dipshit Is Married To a Librarian and CAN'T READ!

what a freakin' embarrassment this loser is to all americans!!

[TahitiNut]

10. "If I want ____, I'll hire one!"

This is the litany of defensive ignorance among the arrogant "ownership class." These people proclaim themselves free of the personal obligation to possess any skills or knowlege whatsoever. Ownership is their be-all and end-all.

[jobycom]

7. Can't

Bush can form the words, but he can't understand what he's reading as he reads it. This isn't new, it's been talked about before, but the press won't cover it. During the Republican primary debates one questioner raised the issue, asking Bush what he read, and he listed off several newspapers he swore he read daily, and a few books, including one he was reading then about a Truman official.

At a later debate, another questioner asked him what he had learned reading that book. He rambled for a while with platitudes like "I learned that we must be prepared," etc. Nothing at all about the book. Even conservative commentators said he hadn't read the book.

He was given a questionaire about books he enjoyed as a kid. The questionaire was to be used to promote reading for kids, and was given to several political figures. He listed off a series of books he read as a kid, most of which weren't written when he was a kid. Most of them were books he had read to kindergarteners during his campaigning, though.

And despite claiming in debate that he read several newspapers every day, he has since claimed he doesn't read newspapers.

He shows all the classic signs of illiteracy. He asks others to read stuff to him rather than read them himself. His signature is illegible and doesn't really form any distinct letters. When reading a teleprompter or written speech, he does not notice when the text is wrong, or when he has reversed words. His useful vocabulary is miniscule, except when he's talking about killing or death, then he sounds like he's reciting movies he grew up on.

He had a C average in college, and a low C at that. He never scored higher than 88 in any class, and that 88 was only in one class, in history, where a rich kid can have things written for him. He could not get into University of Texas because his grades were too low.

Even Rice, when she was asked a year ago about the PDB, admitted he may not have read it.

He's illiterate. I have no doubt of that. He can sound out words, he can probably handle children's books, but he can't grasp anything high school or above.

On edit: I forgot to mention that he lied about writing a poem to his wife. She lied about it, too. She later admitted he hadn't written it, though it was posted on the White House web page.

[hippiegranny]

17. wow, what an amazing analysis

thank you for that. it sums up in entirety everything i have suspected about him and makes all that we see and hear make so much more sense.

my youngest daughter had this very affliction as a child and attended special needs classes for it. she could "decode" which made it sound like she was actually reading, but she could not comprehend. to this day she is not a strong reader and does not have mature analytical skills. she is all about feelings and emotion. when i say bush reminds me of her, it is not to serve as a put-down to my daughter, but merely to emphasize that i certainly wouldn't want to see my daughter in a position like his.

[eridani]

18. Non-reader not the same as illiterate

A lot of people of otherwise normal intelligence are like that. They can read, but find it painful rather than enjoyable, and so avoid it as much as possible.

[Loonman]

8. Intellectually lazy

But he carried "Bias" around for one photo, and claims he was reading "John Adams" at some point.


He's a dumbass.

[Avalux]

9. Hear he was reading Moby Dick

while on vacation over Easter. :eyes:

[ex_jew]

11. These books are chosen for a reason

Do you think Osama is supposed to be the white whale ?

[GiovanniC]

12. Well, We Know What Happened to Ahab

I'd say Iraq is the white whale.

[jobycom]

14. That's pretty accurate.

Never thought of it that way, but you are right.

[Tracer]

15. Bush can read reasonably well.

As much as I dislike even having to look at his miserable face on TV, I've noticed something about him while he's prattling along while reading.

I've been in the design business a long time and can tell approximately how many words are on a page by the length of time it takes for someone to finish the page and turn it.

I'd be willing to bet that SmirkBoy's speeches are set in 18 point type, double or triple spaced, just by looking at how quickly he goes from one page to the next.

That point size is bigger than most of the books you read to your 3 year old.

[TacticalPeek]

16. 1. He doesn't read. 2. He lies about it. (surprise)

President Bush dismissed the report as a product of the federal ''bureaucracy.'' Bush said
he had read the report, but the White House later said the president was only briefed on
the study.

The report was quietly posted on the Environmental Protection Agency's Web site after it
was sent to the United Nations.


http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0613-03.htm



Two major character traits of the most important asshole on earth.