I think Bush is not stupid, but is actually a fairly intelligent man, although not, by any means, an intellectual. At least that's what Molly Ivins says, and she knew him personally, although they were not close friends. She says (and I tend to believe what Molly Ivins says) that Bush tries to assume the mantle of the typical Texan (although the Bush family comes originally from Connecticut). The typical Texan, she says, embraces simplistic religious views, is militantly anti-intellectual, and tries to be John Wayne-style macho. Because he was of modest intellect and not a stellar student, he was treated as a bit of a doofus by some of his fellow students at Yale, and ever since he has been resentful of people of obvious intellectual and academic achievement. This may explain why he stubbornly clings to the pronunciation "noo-kya-lur," despite repeated attempts to correct his pronunciation by associates who find his apparent ignorance embarrassing.

I believe that at the very least, it is essential for anyone who aspires to be President of the United States be well educated, have a solid grasp of history, and have a cohesive and consistent philosophy to aid him or her in guiding the country in the direction in which he or she believes it should go. Otherwise, one's attempts to solve the nation's problems may as well be suggested by a "Magic Answer Ball" or picked out of a newspaper's daily horoscope. I believe Bush is moderately well educated, I believe he has, at best, a tenuous grasp of history, and I don't believe he has a cohesive philosophy. I think his philosophy, if it can be called that, is a mixture of hymns and Bible verses, themselves not forming a cohesive picture, excerpts from the Boy Scout manual, and a miscellaneous collection of proverbs and homilies. Not unlike that of a very average guy off the street who has heard of Plato but never read him, and has never heard of Hobbes, Locke, or Kant or Hegel. I believe that Bush has the ability, under normal circumstances, to blunder through life without too many mistakes, just like the average Joe. But even if it does make me an elitist, I wouldn't vote for the Average Joe for President.

I think that anything that seems like a consistent, cohesive philosophy coming from Bush actually comes from Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, and Paul Wolfowitz, mixed with a dash of Pat Robertson, a pinch of Machiavelli, and a hint of Cesare Borgia. He has no real vision for the country.   He likes the spotlight and he likes the power of the office, although if he were on his own, he wouldn't know what to do with it. Definitely not presidential material.

Random mumblings on a slow afternoon.

Don Firth