Bush not an idiot; he's just from Texas

Arizona Star ^ | Friday, August 25, 2006 | Kathleen Parker

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Personally, I have observed that some people just have a hard time quickly formulating their thoughts and organizing their thoughts quickly before they start to speak. It is no reflection of their intelligence, just how their brain-to-mouth functions. Anyone who has spent time with brilliant scientists (including medical doctors) can tell you that some of the smartest ones can't string a sentence together to save their lives.

That is often because their brains are working faster than their mouths can keep up and they change thoughts, or expressions, in mid sentence or word even (think "misunderestimated). For the scientists, they are often searching for the right word in everyday language when they normally speak and think in technical terms.

Bush's communications problems are two: Reading a prepared speech, even if he wrote most of it, and not attempting to communicate at all, thinking people can grasp the obvious.

That fails him when the Democrats and media lie about what he said and did. In key speeches Bush said that the war on terror would take a long time, maybe thirty years, and it would not be over during his presidency. Yet, that is ignored and even McCain misquotes him. The problem is he doesn't jump in and correct them.

He also said that Iraq was not an eminent threat but that Saddam's intentions were evident and dangerous so we must take him out before the threat is eminent. The Democrats claim the opposite and he doesn't correct them.

I suppose he may think others will correct the record for him but they rarely do. He also seems content for history to set the record straight. That could take a long time if the Democrats regain power and rewrite history as is their want. The Clintons are wonderful examples.

[srmorton]

You are absolutely right! I do not know what my IQ is, but I did graduate Magna Cum Laude with a 3.87 from the University of NC at Greensboro - not exactly a party school. It takes a 3.9 (with no rounding off) to graduate Summa Cum Laude, so if I had made one less B, I would have received the highest possible honors. I was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, etc. IOW, there is no problem with my intelligence.

I have been teaching for 25 years and I have no difficulty talking to friends or even strangers. Yet, there are many times (more so since I am now 56) when my mind goes completely blank when speaking to a group and I can not think of a word that I want to say. A lot of times it has to do with whether or not I am a little nervous or under stress for some reason, but you would think with 25 years of teaching experience I would not have any problem with nervousness.

I also speak without thinking. One of my former bosses liked to call me "spontaneous" - a nice way of saying that I put my foot in my mouth a lot. If I have something important to say to a supervisor, I will often send them an email because it forces me to organize my thoughts and say what I really want to say, rather than what just happens to come out of my mouth.

Maybe that's why President Bush's lack of skill in oratory is one of his most endearing qualities to me (see my post #39 above).

[hardworking]

I greatly respect your candor (and your credentials). I would guess that you also had a problem that I encountered 'way back when' and that is that I was always about two steps ahead of my parents and teachers when I was a kid - they all hated that! :)
Now for a suggestion for you that, unexpectedly, really helped me when I, for reasons I won't go into, tried something an expert suggested. Namely, every morning I started getting up BEFORE anyone else was awake (yeah, it's still dark) and would sit quietly by myself and really focus on my breathing and my body, mentally calming my mind and everything else. After some months I found that I could 'do that' mentally when I was standing in front of a group, in a circle of strangers, anywhere. It has changed my life because I have used it to 'slow things down' so that I don't outpace everyone around me, or my own ability to form words etc. It changed my life socially and has helped me professionally more than I can say.

[srmorton]

Thanks! I'm not a morning person, but I'll give it a try!

[donmeaker]

No, Linda R. was never married to Jerry Brown. It is my understanding that his interests lie elsewhere. Her role when he was governor was to provide cover for him.

[donmeaker]

I heard once about a Colonel who wanted to be a general. He arranged for a tough assignment, managing Army Computer systems. He knew nothing about computers, so arranged a traffic accident for a computer genius, with a following brain transplant.

The day of the operation, he didn't show up. His doctor, (a West Point classmate) called, to remind him to show up to prepare for surgery.

"Oh, I got my orders for General this morning! I don't need brains any more!"

[RedStateRocker]

At least one, a former boss I had; one dumb S.O.B. An MBA, or any degree, only means that a person had enough discipline to get it

I still think of Ike as the greatest president of the last century; no one ever accused him of being a elite intellectual but he managed the cold war, built an effective military, the interstate highway system, the space program, oversaw domestic prosperity most of the years of his presidency. Forest Gump nailed it - 'stupid is as stupid does' - Jimmy Carter was one of our most highly educated presidents, as was Woodrow Wilson; both of them got us into more trouble than a 'simpler' man with common sense could have ever managed. President Bush is smart enough to know who the enemy is and never take his eye off the Islamofacists.

[donmeaker]

Tell me, aside from the naval academy trade course, what education did Jimmy Carter have? That would put him in the same category as Eisenhower, who graduated from the military academy trade course.

Seeking knowledge on that minor nit, I would agree that there is a big difference between educated and useful. I was at a course provided in association with a major western university, and the primary instructor landed like a ton of bricks on any suggestion from a student during class, but agreed every time I approached him after class to clear up. Just an ego thing this particular 83 year old professor had.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

He didn't live in the past century? What, was he thawed out of suspended animation or something?

As for Bush, he has always been at his best when he's allowed to be himself. He gets into trouble when he has to read from a script or is in a more formal setting where he thinks he has to sound more "Washingtonian."

[RedStateRocker]

"Chosen by Admiral Hyman Rickover for the nuclear submarine program, he was assigned to Schenectady, N.Y., where he took graduate work at Union College in reactor technology and nuclear physics, and served as senior officer of the pre-commissioning crew of the Seawolf."

But still got outsmarted by a bunch of Iranian college students.