Thursday, August 17, 2006

Is Bush an Idiot?: TV discussion

An interesting discussion as to whether or not George Bush is an idiot. It is sort of like debating whether the Pope is Catholic -- though not in Mel Gibson's church. Now John Fund, who for reasons known to himself, defends Bush. I've known John for many years and am a bit surprised. Perhaps he took the position as that was what was expected of him. Now he makes good points. It is true that one can be inarticulate without being stupid. Of course one often is both. And if it were just the famous Bushisms I would say that John could have a point. But add on top of that the fact that he seems way over his head in the job. He seems to have no grasp of economics, no grasp of the conservative principles he claims to uphold, no grasp of the problems of his foreign policy and an inability to handle problems. Everything about Bush, not just his absurd comments, implies that he is a man who can't cope because the lacks the ability. And I suspect John would not willingly inflict Bush on the American people if he had the choice.

It is true, as John notes, that the "dumb" label was inflicted in the past quite unfairly. Reagan was one such individual. There was never any indication of a lack of mental ability. And Reagan was probably better read than most his opponents and I suspect smarter than them. But George Bush is no Ronald Reagan. He's far more like a Lyndon Johnson. Here is the discussion.