Is Bush Smart Enough to Be President?
It’s interesting to me to see stories that question Bush’s intellectual qualifications starting to resurface. Like this one, from Andrew Greeley: War is not the smart option. We heard a lot about how unintelligent dubya was during the campaign, and during the first year of his presidency, but after 9/11 people really backed off on that. The country was freaked out, and no one wanted to say, or even think, that the person directing our national response to those events was otnay ootay ightbray. Now, though, people are coming out of that initial shock, and realizing that the 9/11 attacks didn’t make Bush any smarter.
March 14th, 2003 at 7:34 pm
I stuck by my guns the whole time of Bush being the ignorant yahoo he proved himself to be before 9/11. All you regulars are well aware of this.
I’m walking a bit taller tonight at work…
March 15th, 2003 at 9:36 am
until someone kicks that stupid box out from under ya!
March 15th, 2003 at 9:36 am
until someone kicks that stupid box out from under ya!
March 15th, 2003 at 9:36 am
until someone kicks that stupid box out from under ya!
March 18th, 2003 at 9:57 am
Bush isn’t a genious, but not because he’s a bad public speaker as most think. Who would you like to see as our commander and chief…Al Gore? Bush made a 600 some odd number on his SAT’s. That’s horrible, but do you know what Gore made? He also made a 600 something. Bill Bradly, who was the number 2 democrat during their primaries, made a little over a 300. That, my friend, is borderline retarded. So, Bush isn’t smart, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t rational and logical. You’re also not taking into account all his smart advisors. The greatest mind of all time gave us the nuclear bomb (Einstein), so are you saying that to be active against a brutal rogue nation with a dictatorship, a la Germany 1940’s or Iraq last 3 decades, is a stupid choice?
March 18th, 2003 at 3:16 pm
I’m not referring only to Bush’s public speaking, old friend. Although you seem to have your lines crossed a bit. There’s a difference between Germany and Iraq… there’s even a difference between the last war in Iraq and the current proposed war in Iraq.
The first war was us doing a defensive role. Iraq had invaded another country. Germany was invading other countries. Do you see the difference? If countries are able to be attacked because others BELIEVE they’re going to invade other countries, then where will that put the U.S.? We have the largest stockpile of weapons in the world as well as the most mobile armed forces. And, based on our international diplomatic techniques at this point, I believe we pose one hell of a risk to others. The mere fact that we’re considering war on an unassaultive nation is quite a bit of proof.
March 18th, 2003 at 6:33 pm
You flaming liberals. No, your an insult to even the far left. Churchill said when WWII was over that it would be remembered as the unneccessary war, but not because he was a pacifist tard like you. He said that because all of Europe and the rest of the world had ignored the warning signs that Germany would become what they did when Hitler started invading other countries. Germany too started developing their military, getting weapons that they weren’t allowd to have, but the whole world turned their head. Had they took action like we are now, the Third Reich wouldn’t have gotten as far as they did. I think we’re playing it smart by getting them while we can. If we wait a few more years, Iraq would have the military and only need the allies to start World War 3. What would people like you do if we just let Iraq slide, and as a result 5 years down the road, there is a nuclear 9/11? It’s not fun to say I told you so when it comes to fellow innocent civilian Americans dying. That sounds harsh, like an American life is somehow more significant than foreign innocents, but we would gain nothing from a foreign attack while our justification for fighting in Iraq is primarily the attrocities of a dictator against his own people.(ie genocide of the Curds in northern Iraq) The whole Curdish thing was ethnic clensing which some how sounds familiar. Where else have I heard of that?
March 19th, 2003 at 6:53 pm
You’re missing the point entirely. I’m anything BUT a liberal, and anything BUT a concervative. If anything I support either a benevolent dictatorship or a two-year-one-term president, but there’s obviously a shortage of adequate candidates. I’m not pacifistic, but we can’t live in a world where “well, I THOUGHT he was going to make a move, so I killed him” becomes commonplace.
An amassing of weapons and troops WOULD be something that would warrant looking into, but Iraq’s arsenal of weapons and troops isn’t 1/10th of what the U.S. has. I don’t know about your standards, but that’s a hell of a long way away from what I’d consider amassing. Also, what would the U.S. do if another country said, “We want all your resourses at a lower price, but we’ll just say that you’ve got a LOT of weapons. Disarm or we’ll beat you down with propaganda followed by bombs.”
You honestly believe we’re avoiding a world war by attacking a country at the objection of the large majority of the world? I also like how you make these wild assumptions that Iraq is well armed, well disciplined, and even CAPABLE of leading an alliance of nations on a war of conquest. You’ve obviously been listening to the political rhetoric too much my friend.
Why do you think the Iraquis are planning to blow up their own oil fields and we’re so against it? It’s because both sides know that oil is what this is all truly about. jbc has a nice little link to the propaganda we’re tossing at them, why not take a look at some of it?
January 23rd, 2004 at 11:10 pm
Hey “Stupid Box”,
I doubt you’ll even see this posting, as I see the forum has dried up quite a bit. I read a bit of what you wrote, and was delighted to see another American that uses his brain. I’m 90% sure by your postings that you’re familiar with Noam Chomsky’s stuff. If not, CHECK IT OUT!! He is pretty much hands down the most important human being on the planet. Few people on this planet have the balls to stand up for truth.
Whoever posted the piece on Churchill and Hitler is a dime a dozen. Another narrow argument by someone who selects his facts in order to perpetuate barbaric, self-preserving belief systems.
When Hitler was re-taking land that was previously owned by Germany prior to the Versailles Treaty many nations, including America, accepted it because it was widely known that the Treaty was too harsh.
It crippled Germany to the point that 1 trillion German Marks were worth 1 US dollar in 1923. They had been through hyperinflation, then the deflation of the Great Depression. Most nations felt Germany deserved to retake the land that they did, as well as re-armament. America isn’t the only nation that deserves to have a military.
No one knew for sure how far Hitler was going to take it. It appeared to many that he was out to restore Germany’s “former glory”. And many felt this was a fair cause, including MANY Americans. Churchill was a warmonger, through and through. He could have just as easily been wrong about Hitler. He just happened to be right.
It is also false that Britain could have stopped Hitler sooner, if they had only stood up to him. Do your research. Hitler was far more advanced than England, and there were no solid alliances in Europe. No one wanted war. Except Hitler. And Churchill. There is much evidence to believe than Hitler was planning on war sooner, rather than later. He apparently HATED Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement.
I heard an interesting statistic on American military spending. If you spent $50 Million a day since the birth of Christ to this day, you still would not have spent as much as America has on weapons. Yes, I said $50 million A DAY.
America has also recently changed their policy from “Control of Space” to “Ownership of Space”. If you had any doubts about whom the biggest threat to world peace is, this should help you figure that one out. America is dead set against being accountable to any or ALL nations on the planet. They have defied the World Court and the United Nations whenever it suited them. Don’t these institutions deserve a public apology for lying to the world about Weapons of Mass destruction? Don’t the American people deserve the same? This war was never about weapons of mass destruction. It was about total control of the oil in the Middle East. Why do you think America hasn’t backed out of there? They’re going to make sure they get their money’s worth. This wasn’t some humanitarian mission. Or as CNN claimed, “The Day Iraqis have been waiting for.”
Also to the idiot before who said, “Flaming liberals”, which I can only guess he meant “bleeding heart liberals”. Unless it was some moronic gay joke. I think this pretty much reveals the level of intelligence we’re dealing with. “Flaming Liberals”, hmmmm, what does that make republicans? I’ll refer to them as the “Fascist Republicans”, only my analogy holds some water.
So what makes a good fascist? A good fascist raises state above the individual. So do republicans. A good fascist glorifies war and conflict. So do republicans. A good fascist is as ignorant as an ape. So is a republican. A good fascist places his race next to god. If we replace race with being American, so do republicans. A good fascist will follow another ape’s orders, and believe what the head ape tells them. So do republicans. A good fascist tries to control the thoughts of the masses through propaganda. Three words, Axis of Evil. A good fascist’s goal is world domination. Guess what, that seems to be the agenda of good republicans too.
Fascism isn’t dead, it just has a new shiny name.
For all the truth you’ll ever need, go onto google.com and look up Noam Chomsky and Michael Parenti. Both true great Americans.
Todd.
“If you repeat a lie long enough, and loud enough, it becomes truth.”
January 23rd, 2004 at 11:38 pm
Forgot one thing,
On the Gas Bombing of the Curds. Secretary of State for War, Winston Churchill, and his British counterparts were the first people to consider the use of Gas Bombs on the Curds. He was all for it. I believe they even did Gas some, but I don’t know that categorically. I know the reason it wasn’t done on any major scale was because the planes of the day were unable to carry such bombs. (1919)
They were also the first to systematically bomb civilians in history.(1921) Also backed by the then Colonial Secretary, you guessed it, Winston Churchill. This was also committed against the Iraqis. To make matters worse, Britain forced the Iraqi people to pay for the cost of bombing their villages through taxation.
Still think Churchill was a saint?
Still wondering why there is a lack of trust in that region toward Western Empires? And anyone who clams America isn’t an Empire needs to take a closer look.
Todd.
“If you repeat a lie long enough, and loud enough, it becomes truth.”
February 10th, 2004 at 11:57 pm
If you have hit this site, and want to read more pertinent stuff on this issue, there is a more active discussion @ http://www.nathanjones.com/counterfactual/archives/000141.html
Or, make a new post here.
August 26th, 2004 at 6:20 pm
Let me change the subject for a sec.
Do the liberal-hating die-hard republicans of our country know what they are voting for? THey are voting for a party that has single-handedly divided the country like no other before it. They have helped to brand this country as either liberal or Republican. NOt conservative Republican. THey are using religion as a wedge to divide the country and you know what they don’t even meet their own standards. We can tell Pres. Bsh is against gay rights, but guess who is all for it? That’s right folks, Dick CHeney is all for gay rights, not to mention his daughter is also gay.How can people even think of voting for such a divided party to lead an already divided nation? You BUsh supporters, you realize that if anything happened to Bush, CHENEY WOULD BE PRESIDENT. A “conservative” republican who is for gay rights leading our country sounds a bit wrong doesn’t it. Remember a vote for BUsh is also a vote for Cheney :=)
January 25th, 2005 at 4:32 pm
Who Said Bush is Like Hitler – ha ha ha
Please America don’t look at the parallels between Hitler & Me – Remember you voted me in – or did you?
–lack of real political opposition (weak Weimar government–weak Democratic Party)
–consolidation of massive amounts of power without a clear mandate from the people (1932 election–2000 election)
–usurpation of leftist terminology to further a RW agenda (national socialism–compassionate conservatism)
–the use of propaganda (Goebbels–Rove, O’Reilly, Limbaugh, FoxNews, CNN)
–hatred of the French
–an appeasing British Prime Minister (Chamberlain–Blair)
–contempt for the international community (Hitler ignores the Treaty of Versailles–Bush ignores the ABM treaty and U.N. treaties on global warming, the international criminal court, landmines, chemical and biological weapons)
–hatred directed at leftists and other groups in opposition to the government (communists– war protesters)
–hatred directed at minority groups (Jews–Arabs)
–weapons of mass destruction cited as a reason to invade other countries (Hitler claims that Poland could use poison gas against Germany–Bush claims Saddam Hussein could use poison gas against the U.S.)
–a terrorist attack on the country as the final catalyst for fascism (Reichstag fire — 9/11 attacks)
–the merging of big business with government (Krupps — Halliburton)
–extreme nationalism (Nazi flags everywhere–American flags everywhere)
–a culture that emphasizes the physical over the intellectual (Aryan *supermen*–American redneckism)
–leader worship (Hitler as Der Fuhrer–Bush as God’s child)
–the creation of an internal security department (Gestapo–Department of Homeland Security)
–massive build-up of military and police forces (paramilitary SS dressed in black–paramilitary cops dressed in black)
–the use *lightning* warfare (blitzkrieg–shock and awe)
–easy military victories setting the stage for other conquests (Sudentenland–Poland and France, Iraq–Syria and Iran)
–eventual disastrous conflict with the Russians
November 1st, 2006 at 7:26 am
How come is it that the smart thing is to be liberal? To be against our own government and for the very dictaroships and evils that our country has always fought against? Yes how very intelligent to be so against our government that you would stoop to so low to compare our President to Hitler (and I’m sorry but Hitler’s first name was Adolf, so If Bush was Hitler I believe that his first name would reflect Hitler’s first name not his last- nice try though). I want to hear facts not babbling about how stupid all republicans and conservatives are! Give me facts! I’m tired of hearing that there is only the Liberals “facts” and all facts we recieve that are in any opposition to Liberal “facts” are then propaganda? This reminds me of another country. . .hmm. See anyone can be compared to the world’s evils if one puts the right spin on it. How about we stop this immature war of words calling each side ignorant and such and unite as one. We shouldn’t be conservatives vs. liberals but instead Americans. I know this probably won’t affect many, if any, but hey I’ve said what has had to be said and for that I have no apologies.