It's Insulting Bush Couldn't Be Bothered Preparing For The Debate

[KittyWampus]

Just like it's insulting that the Bush Administration doesn't even bother to cover the fact they are war profiteers.

On some basic subconscious level, I think Americans are insulted that Bush was so totally unprepared at the last debate.

If he doesn't want the job bad enough to WORK HARD PREPARING for an appearance.... get the hell out of the race.

How ironic that the Slacker in Chief repeated "hard work" over and over.

[Philostopher]

1. Y'know what?

I've been chasing the question around my head since that night, 'what the hell were they thinking, to push him out on stage like a five-year-old at a church Christmas pageant who hadn't practiced his bible verse?'

I've come to the conclusion that they rely so heavily on an apathetic, uninformed electorate, they actually didn't think anybody would watch the debates. They thought it would be your usual wonks and politics junkies, and then they could control the spin on the backside that the Naked Emperor won.

They were, in retrospect, dreadfully wrong about that. A significant portion of the electorate watched the debates, so they couldn't spin the outcome into anything very positive for Bush*. And now the electorate is just a teeny bit more educated than they were Wednesday.

I love it. I love it when 'we' (not me -- I'm a junkie like most everybody here at DU) surprise them that way.

[Dr Fate]

8. This post sums it up for me.

I'll bet their plan just what you said- and the media would have everyone who did not watch it out there repeating the "Kerry sends mixed messages" talking point.

Kerry beat Bush so soundly, nothing else filtered through!!

Yes- I love it when "we" suprise them!

[doni_georgia]

17. I think all their money was on the little lights and Kerry running over

I think they believe their own caricature of Kerry, and really thought he would flip and flop. They stacked the debate cards in such away to favor the Texas Idiot in chief that they figured they couldn't lose. Their biggest mistake was believing their own lies and distortions.

[Roland99]

20. Have we overestimated the ideologues all along?

All through the last year I've come to realize the neocons are really running the show. I've thought they were trying to gain control of Middle Eastern oil and to use the war on Iraq to protect Israel.

However, it's becoming more and more apparent that these ideologues really have their heads up in the sky and truly believe the rest of world will encompass democracy if we simply remove their countries' leaders, by force if necessary. They truly think that Americans will lap up whatever is placed in front of them, without question.

[belle]

2. A scarier interpretation: for him, that WAS "prepared."

[PurityOfEssence]

5. Oh, so very, very true

Nobody's friend, Howard Fineman, pointed out that he only had 35 minutes of material for a 90-minute debate. That's because that's all that can be programmed into that pathetic sector-damaged hard disc of his.

That's it. That's all he's got.

What's poetic is how their own evil and thuggery worked against him: he was used to his cutesy bon mots getting a laugh, and when they didn't, he was caught off-guard. He hates being criticized, and it showed, oh how it showed. All he could do was go back on talking point, and it all sounded so canned and dreary that one's estimation of the man fell no matter how it stood at the onset.

All he could do was retreat to some kind of personal superiority riff, which was deadly, because he was having circles run around him.

The very idea of saying "I know how the world works" as some kind of dismissal of Kerry as a fool was beyond pompous.

[spooky3]

19. Problem is, "how HIS world works" is not the way the rest of the world

works. Not many of us have been completely shielded by family wealth and power from the consequences of disastrous mistakes most of our lives.

[Jade Fox]

3. They probably tried to prepare him....

and either he wouldn't cooperate, or it just didn't take.

But I think you're right--Americans were insulted by it wether it was
incompetance or laziness, and he made if worse with the "hard work"
mantra.

[missouri dem]

6. Yeah but I bet they break him of using

the "It's hard work" phrase before the next debate.
It must be a real challenge to prep the chimp.

[tblue37]

16. I'm not sure they can, just as I am not sure they can really prepare him.

He has a very limited cognitive capacity. His brain is obviously damaged from years of alcohol and cocaine abuse. Those prefab talking points are probably all they can get stuffed into there.

Also, under pressure, he responds with nervous tics, both physical and verbal. It is common in people with certain kinds of learning disabilities and those with some kinds of neurological damage to engage in what is called perseveration, which is constant pointless repetition that is not really under the individual's control.

Furthermore, the more they pound into him that he must not do this or that, the more likely he is to do it.

If the audience for the "town hall" debate is not actually packed with Bush supporters masquerading as "undecideds" (this has actually been done in the "undecided" focus groups used by the networks, where some self-defined undecideds have turned out to be Republican Party activists!), then he is likely to return to the same few talking points, regardless of what the questions are. But the town hall format will still probably be much more comfortable for him unless someone really zings him with a tough questions.

I believe Bush was as prepared as he could be. He has studied Kerry's debate tapes. He has practiced with surrogates. Ironically, he really did work hard to prepare for these debates He is just a very limited man.

[durablend]

4. Hey, cut him a little slack...

Clearing brush and handing out bags of ice is HARD WORK.

Georgie was probably pooped from five minutes of that.

[patricia92243]

7. He has all the answers - so he does need to prepare -or so he thinks

[progressivebydesign]

9. He DID prepare.. that's the scary part!!!

Remember? He had someone there with him, playing the part of Kerry? He prepared. He absolutely prepared, and that was the best they could hope for.

We forget that what we all saw was Bush's TRUE nature! That is who he is... and that's why they keep him out of sight. IF we had a REAL media, they would report the fact that Bush has avoided press conferences, etc., any chance to HAVE TO SPEAK UNSCRIPTED!

We saw George Bush, the one they've been hiding. America saw the REAL president, not the packaged, sound-bite, quipping actor they all think they support.

YOu think there was no reason for the intense negotiations for the debate?? The Bush camp KNEW that he was toast when the people finally saw him, unplugged, as they say.

[KittyWampus]

12. Yeah, But The Spin Is He Didn't... And That's What Joe Blow Believes

that's all Joe Blow can handle at this point.

:)

[pacalo]

14. Yes, he did.

"Aware of the debates' importance, Bush started preparing over the summer and has even had full-length dress rehearsals, with Senator Judd Gregg, who played Al Gore in the 2000 debate preparations, standing in for Kerry, according to Time Magazine."

(Edited to add link): http://international.news.designerz.com/bush-kerry-prepare-for-first-debate.html

The problem is that the coWard's brain is fried -- he's not capable of memorization or in articulating his thoughts coherently. He was selected by the GOP to run in 2000 as a figurehead because of his name only. And 9/11 is the only reason he has a support base.

[nikatnyte]

10. It's in keeping with the contempt he always shows to Americans

Bush & Co. have such a low opinion of the American electorate that they figure the "let's throw the fools a few simplistic sound bytes" approach will always work. After all, they know they have the media on their side to tell people that what they see with their own eyes is wrong.

[Hamlette]

21. Bush has nothing but contempt for us

It is the one thing that bugs me about him the most. He doesn't give a crap about me as evidenced by the facts:
1. he won't talk to any of us, won't let us attend rallies, won't give press conferences;
2. he lies to us sending the clear signal either we're too dumb to understand/handle the truth or we're too dumb to catch him lying;
3. not preparing for the debate or anything else in his stupid little life. Like: running an oil company or invading a foreign country.

I have this great Onion clipping from early on in George's reign with a pic of George looking shocked with the caption: "What? They only pay me $400,000 a year for this job!" To him it's not a service to the public, he's provding a service to us and we should kiss his ass for it.

Arrogant small man.

[Tracer]

11. Well, we all know that preparing for a debate is ...

... HARD WORK!

And since SmirkyBoy wouldn't know hard work if it jumped up and bit him in the ass, I guess his preparation falls into the category of "no work".

[wishlist]

13. I heard in media he prepared for 6 months and memorized Kerry's record

I heard over and over how hard he was supposedly preparing. What a joke.

The President's job is to be 'Presidential', represent America at its best and speak confidently in front of millions of people around the world. He failed dismally in this test. If he can't handle a friendly confrontation with Kerry, he certainly can't handle dealing with foreign leaders.

[milkyway]

15. Excellent point. Some say debates are not reflective of how a person

would perform as President. I have always thought otherwise. They show a candidate's abilities to prepare beforehand, to think quickly on their feet, to clearly state their policies and connect with and persuade the voters, it shows their intelligence, and it shows their ability to maintain their composure under extreme pressure. They are a good preview of how a person would perform as President.

bush's lazy, condescending attitude toward the American people was clear the other night. This debate may well have been the death knell of his presidency. Many Americans must have watched in horror as the realization dawned on them that the President of the United States is simply unfit for command. bush thought he could just repeat the same few dumbed-down slogans for an hour and a half and the American people would fall for it. He was wrong, and I don't think it has yet sunk in how wrong he was. He'll find out on November 2nd.

[KittyWampus]

18. Seems The GOP Is Still Trying To Use Unprepared As An Excuse

it just doesn't work.