BS: Moron or homicidal maniac?

Subject: BS: Moron or homicidal maniac?
From: dianavan
Date: 25 Feb 04 - 06:13 PM

Through all of this discussion I realize that Bush is not a moron. He's probably quite intelligent but obviously not a great statesman.

If he's a Methodist, he's probably not even a right wing fundamentalist. Measured and calculating probably, but not really a wing nut.

He's obviously not qualified to be leading the armed forces based on his own record of service but who's going to fault him when it was the VietNam era.

Its because he's smug, maybe. No, Clinton was smug, too. So are alot politicians.

Its because he doesn't give a rat's ass about peace and prosperity. He doesn't care about the unity of his nation. He certainly does not believe in the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happines for all. He wants to make history and he loves fame.

I'm really afraid that if liberals do continue to make him look silly, he may have the last laugh.

d

Subject: RE: BS: Moron or homicidal maniac?
From: michaelr
Date: 25 Feb 04 - 06:56 PM

Calling Bush a moron (not that I haven't done so myself) is a copout, like calling Saddam a madman.

People who are ruthless enough to become major leaders know exactly what they're doing. Which makes them so dangerous.

Cheers,
Michael

Subject: RE: BS: Moron or homicidal maniac?
From: Don Firth
Date: 25 Feb 04 - 08:38 PM

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

Subject: RE: BS: Moron or homicidal maniac?
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 26 Feb 04 - 12:26 AM

The two conditions are not mutually exclusive.