Anyone else completely unimpressed by this bit of trivia?

[Pacifist Patriot]

"...several times over the past few years the 41st president has mentioned to visitors that the 43rd president has read the Bible in its entirety—not once, the father says, but twice, sticking two fingers in the air."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15674912/site/newsweek/

I don't know about you, but I can think of plenty of things I've read of which I didn't understand a word. 17th and 18th century European philosophers translated into English come readily to mind. I've read Spinoza's Ethics three times and it still makes me want to cry in frustration.

Sorry Poppy, but I have a hard time accepting this as a legitimate source of pride considering your offspring's words and deeds show he didn't understand a darned thing he read. Try again.

[buddysmellgood]

1. I have read The Lord of the Rings trilogy aloud, at least twice to my kids.

[Pacifist Patriot]

7. Okay, now THAT I consider impressive.

Seriously.

[Chorophyll]

8. Me too.

Very impressed. Glass of water for buddysmellgood!

[buddysmellgood]

42. You're too kind.

[lapfog_1]

35. I like to read LOTR (and the Hobbit), every year...

and for kicks, I add the Silmarillion, which is a tougher read.

And when I was a child, I read the Encyclopedia. (yeah, I was a weird kid)

[Andreas Baader]

2. I have a har d time believing...

That he's read it even once.

or that he's read anything beyond "Hop on Pop"

[BattyDem]

3. Reading it is not the same as ...

understanding it and incorporating it into your life.

[babylonsister]

4. Are there Cliff Notes for the Bible? Otherwise, I surely

doubt it. Poppy has so little to be proud of.

[montanto]

36. The Bible for Idiots!!

[Pacifist Patriot]

40. Yep, there sure are.

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/id-85.html

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/id-103.html

Though I suspect he'd still have trouble with reading comprehension. Even Cliff Notes are a few levels above My Pet Goat.

[BOSSHOG]

5. I've read Louisiana plant life several times

[bluerum]

6. For a dimwitted dolt like GW, this quite an accomplishment. nt

[Donnachaidh]

9. who gives a flying f*ck how many times he read it?

I've read War and Peace 12 times. Just made me get glasses faster. :evilgrin:

[grizmaster]

10. reading and comprehension

in the chimp's mind, never the twain shall meet

[Chorophyll]

11. Poppy's probably just flummoxed

because the Bush family has such a long history of not reading...anything.

[ThomCat]

12. Shouldn't he be reading government research reports,

policy papers and stuff that's, you know, related to his job? :eyes:

[FuzzyDicePHL]

39. Maybe if he read

Presidential Daily Briefings instead, our country's history would be different than it is...

[EFerrari]

45. He's yet to read his job description as far as I can tell. nt

[kwassa]

13. like George Bernard Shaw's saying ......

that he once knew a man that spoke fourteen languages, and didn't have a thing worth saying in any one of them.

[niyad]

14. since the chimp has stated openly that he doesn't like to read, I

would find this assertion highly questionable.

my pet goat is beyond him, so I am pretty sure the bible is, as well.

[TahitiNut]

15. Spinoza? Well. gee ... I guess!

D'uh! :crazy: There're several whose works stretch my brain to the point of pain whenever I delve (yet again) into them, only to think I might've gotten some small percentage of comprehension. They're like that Krell machine in 'Forbidden Planet' - I feel good just to survive 'em.

[wicket]

16. Totally unimpressed - especially since he hasn't learned one damn thing from it

n/t

[jhrobbins]

17. I consider myself a fairly devout Christian, and I have tried...

to read the Bible many times, but it is so full of such obscure references and begatting that it loses me. Pick it up and see what I mean, aside from the parts that we all know and that make incredible sense and give a lot of comfort(ie, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, etc)

[Pacifist Patriot]

24. Well another reason I don't believe this...

Is that I have a D.Div and I doubt I've read every last syllable (though some parts I feel like I've read a brazillion times). Those genealogies can be completely mind numbing.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. Oh poppy cry me a river

I've read the bible from cover to cover repeteadly... in ararmaic and hebrew... and trust me yer spawn doesn't understand it. If he did, we would not be in this pickle.

(and I have also read the new testamtnet and your son reminds me of those warnings about them false churches before the arrival of the deceiver)

[SoCalDem]

19. My high school Russian teacher made us read War and Peace IN RUSSIAN

and I was only 16 at the time..

So THERE, George :)

[ScreamingMeemie]

20. I read the Complete Collection of Curious George all the way through

at least twice a year. I read the bible once and I wasn't impressed enough to read it twice. I mean who the heck is Paul to tell us what God wants?

[Ganja Ninja]

21. And he was oblivious both times.

It's a pity none of it sank in.

[dkofos]

22. He tried to read MY PET GOAT and didn't understand that.

What makes anyone think he understands the bible??

Certainly not his christ like actions.

[Gregorian]

25. Haha. That's probably the best answer yet.

Why did I even waste my time trying to be serious on this subject!

[Gregorian]

23. The Bible is not really a book.

That ought to get a few replies right there.

Here's another statement that should cause a stir- Very very very few people understand the bible. And what it says and means.

It's written, and it's on paper. That does qualify it as a book. But the book is not sufficient in itself. It's full of seeming contradictions. Some parts are later essentially rescinded.

Bush embodies the antithesis of what the bible stands for.

Anyways, I only mean to get myself in trouble by posting this. That is because I also do not fully understand the bible. I grew up around a very rare man who does understand it. He spent his entire life working and studying the words and their meanings.

Humility, forgiveness, love. Those are important basics of the bible. Bush hasn't any of those. And very few humans do. In fact, society frowns upon people who do practice the ultimate lessons that are preached in the bible. Namely forgiveness.

No, Bush's eyes moved on pages. It takes maturity, patience, and digesting complex intertwined histories in order to come to a basic understanding of the bible. And even after a lifetime of trying, I cannot claim anything but a weak understanding, myself. Bush certain has no concept of even the basics.

[Pacifist Patriot]

27. You won't get any arguments from me.

I've flat out said it at DU before. The Bible is a library. An ancient one that encompasses the historical and sociological circumstances of at least a millenia. Too much has been lost to the sands of time for any of us to place 100% of it within understandable context.

[Gregorian]

32. Phew. I was just rushing back to change my subject line.

Too late for that!

DU is a dangerous place for people like us. Even Bartcop had his "cloud being" comments. Hey, I may be wrong. But there are too many weird predictions and coincidences in the stories of the bible for me to discount it. It was not just written in one fell swoop. And that makes it a little more difficult to discount.

I feel that our actions are superseded by our intentions. If Bush did understand the bible, and he accidentally got us into Iraq, he would have found a way to extract us and repair the damage. He has done neither. It was his interest to have a "W"ar. That alone shows us he does not follow the teachings in the bible.

[niyad]

26. on second thought, since the bible is basically the first piece of political propoganda, it wouldn't

be completely surprising that somebody might have read it to der chimpenfuhrer, although I doubt he would understand any of it.

[damntexdem]

28. Oh, I'm totally impressed, if this is true.

But I do find it hard to believe that 43 had the ability to read through ANY book even once, much less twice. ;-)

[Lex]

29. Bullshit. His attention span isn't that long.

IMHO.

[Goblinmonger]

30. I've read Ulysses. Three times.

I do it every summer now. Of course I'm a geeky English teacher.

[Benhurst]

31. I'll bet he played with himself while reading the begats. NT

[Jacobin]

33. Poppy is desperate to find something to be proud of about Smirk

Keep trying Poppy.....having your eyes glide over a bunch of words translated five times from different languages, edited by kings over the years, containing some nice poetry, some lunatic ravings and some old testament Talibanesque discipline techniques, is a big fucking 'so what?"

[niyad]

34. so, I've read, "mein kampf" in german, and LOTR 3 times, and the harry potter

series three times. hell, I read more books my fresher year in high school than incurious george has read in his entire misbegotten, illiterate life.

[Hugin]

37. Meh, what takes real skill is reading a comic book out loud over the phone... nt

[Kazak]

38. He apparently needs a lot of work on comprehension then...

:eyes:

[montanto]

41. Hell, I've read the whole "Master and Commander" series

by Patrick O'Brian (20 volumes) 5 times, Moby Dick at least as many, once out loud. I've read Of Mice and Men out loud once a year for 10 years. I don't know if you know the story: It's about a big dumb guy who has too much strength but is also deeply stupid. He makes a deadly mistake and ends up getting shot in the head. Unfortunately the guy who shoots hims name is George. Oh, yeah, I've read The Bible a couple times too. And maybe a few thousand other books.

[LSK]

43. has he ever read the Constitution?

:shrug:

[sinkingfeeling]

44. So what? He didn't get anything from it those two times...maybe he should

try reading it again.

[Pyrzqxgl]

46. I've read all the OZ books, The Hardy Boys, Gene Autry Little Golden Books,

SpiderMan Comic Books, a Mandrake the Magician Big Little Book, all the Tarzan & John Carter of Mars books & a lot of other fantasy (including the Bible).