Ok - Serious Question about Bush's Speaking Ability

[PopSixSquish]

or inablility. I have a friend who lived in Texas when W was governor. He says that while W wasn't the world's greatest public speaker, he certainly didn't sound like the complete moron he does these days.

While watching F911 last night, I was struck by the clip of W being interviewed in 1992 regarding being the President's son and "access is power". He actually sounded articulate and intelligent.

What gives? Was he on something then or on something now? Has the stress of being President brought out his stupidity. I said this on a thread yesterday, he never even stands up straight. He's either slouched down or leaning on a podium.

In fact, the only time, the fella ever seems comfortable is on the ranch by himself.

BTW - very early in F911, there is a scene of Barney or Spot or whatever the hell the dog's name is running away from W. I said "Dammit, his dog doesn't even like him" a little too loudly. Everybody around me cracked up laughing....I'm soo evil:evilgrin:

[Longhorn]

1. I live in Texas

and I have to agree that he didn't come across as quite the bumbling fool that he does now. I didn't agree with him but I didn't cringe to hear him speak as I do now. I think he is just in way over his head and lacks the knowledge and confidence to speak clearly -- and is not a good enough speaker to fake it.

[PopSixSquish]

4. You Could Be Right

I read the link about Rep. Rose. He sounds like a very bright up and commer. Hope he wins and goes on to help restore the Texas Democtatic party.

[Longhorn]

15. Yes, Patrick Rose is an amazing young man.

The main reason he won two years ago is that the Republican incumbent was such a sleaze that he was being investigated by his own party. Patrick has had to move to the middle quite a bit in order to not alienate this mostly Republican district and it didn't help him to be one of the state reps who fled to Oklahoma City to try to avoid Tom Delay's redistricting, though I thought that was a courageous thing for him to do. We'll do everything we can to get him re-elected.

By the way, Patrick went to Boys Nation when he was in high school and was photographed shaking President Clinton's hand just like Clinton was photographed shaking President Kennedy's hand when Clinton went to Boys Nation!

[PopSixSquish]

19. Good Luck and Godspeed!

and how exciting it must have been to meet President Clinton like that.

[XNASA]

2. It's the meds. And the booze.

And the fact that he's in way over his head.

[IconoclastIlene]

6. Yes indeed.........post alcohol syndrome, post drug syndrome

Drink or abuse whatever long enough and by gosh, you could wind up like say, JIM MORRISON or GEORGE BUSH.

:toast:

[Snoggera]

12. Crap

what a choice to have to make! A bumbling bumblehead or the other.

[TrustingDog]

17. wasn't Barbara Bush an alcoholic in her younger days?

sorry if I'm just rumouring here - but I swear that was in the news years ago...

anyone know more about this?
Maybe George is a fetal alcohol syndrome kid?

[hrhdeb]

3. He's dumbing it down to reach the people

Meeting us on his own level, so to speak.

deb

http://www.votewhileyoustillcan.com

[Stew225]

5. I think he's been mainling

the Purple Pill.

[IconoclastIlene]

10. One pill makes your larger and one pill makes you small.....

and the ones that mother gives you;
don't do anything at all
go ask Alice
when she's 10 feet tall.

[BrotherBuzz]

13. and Bush* is still smoking caterpillars

When logic and proportion
Have fallen sloppy dead
And the White Knight is talking backwards
And the Red Queen's off with her head
Remember what the dormouse said
Feed your head, feed your head

[Bucky]

33. Is Alice really 10 feet tall?

Or did mom just give you the pill that makes you small?

Ugh, just had a Steve Martin flashback...

[Disturbed]

9. Brain damged.

There was a long discussion about this here awhile back.

[Cocoa]

7. here's a good article that notices the same thing

an excellent article comparing Bush and Kerry on their debating styles, notices the same thing about Bush...

http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2004/07/press-preview/fallows.htm

<snip>

This spring I watched dozens of hours' worth of old videos of John Kerry and George W. Bush in action. But it was the hour in which Bush faced Ann Richards that I had to watch several times. The Bush on this tape was almost unrecognizable—and not just because he looked different from the figure we are accustomed to in the White House. He was younger, thinner, with much darker hair and a more eager yet less swaggering carriage than he has now. But the real difference was the way he sounded.

This Bush was eloquent. He spoke quickly and easily. He rattled off complicated sentences and brought them to the right grammatical conclusions. He mishandled a word or two ("million" when he clearly meant "billion"; "stole" when he meant "sold"), but fewer than most people would in an hour's debate. More striking, he did not pause before forcing out big words, as he so often does now, or invent mangled new ones. "To lay out my juvenile-justice plan in a minute and a half is a hard task, but I will try to do so," he said fluidly and with a smile midway through the debate, before beginning to list his principles.

more...

[SoCalDem]

11. I think he has Rove or Karen "in his ear", telling him in 4 word chunks,

what to say.. The cadence of his speech sounds like it to me..and the way he mis-speaks, it's almost like he did not hear exactly what they said...

[calico1]

14. I think you've got something there

That would explain the sometimes long pauses between words. They are so afraid of letting him speak on his own. Plus, as others have said he is way in over his head. I hadn't known until reading on this board that the Governorhsip in TX is not like it is in other States and that it is mostly ceremonial. Cheney is really the President but they need to make Bush look like he is in charge. They are not doing a very good job.

[Lisa]

24. excellent read!

Bush played that "misunderestimating" game quite cunningly -- back in 2000 he even bragged that if he remembered his name and didn't throw up onstage during the debates, the press would give him points.


Regarding Kerry's ability to describe the nuances of an issue (mentioned later in that article), vs. Bush's much-vaunted focus on a small number of things -- this cartoon posted by RobertSeattle in another thread brilliantly sums up how it might be spun by Bush's people.





http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x61503

[Solly Mack]

8. It's his insulting persona to appeal to the "have-not" wing of his base

It also shows just what he really thinks of them to be so insulting of them.

I've heard Shrub speak prior to being selected and his "speech" has changed.

[jokerman93]

16. Psychological Dissociation?

Just imagine what it must be like for him. Everything he's told the public about who and what he is, is a premeditated lie. Everything he has done, he has lied about. All of his motives are cultivated behind a smokescreen of lies. Everything he says he believes in is blatantly belied by his actions and policies.

His identity has become a seething mass of lies, boiling in drugs and booze.

He has no idea who he is anymore. How can a person form a sentence when it's almost impossible to identify a cogent point of view?

There's no one home.

[Tosca]

18. He's dyslexic...never reads newspapers....

Like his Dad, who used to stumble over his written scripts, also.

Hence, Bab's reading crusade.

[TrogL]

20. Alcoholism

He's either drunk most of the time or decades of past drinking have caught up with him.

[Brian Morans]

21. I believe he does it deliberately..

It is a tremendously powerful device for misdirecting people's attention. He particularly likes to do it when playing to the braindead section of his base.

[HallowsEve]

22. Bush has brain damage...

If you have never seen the capitol hill blue reports about Bush actually having a small seizure which was disguised as "the Pretzel Incident", it is worth checking into. Typically it is hailed as conspiracy fodder. Anyhow, I wrote something after his Army College speech in June...here it is...

There is something wrong with George W. Bush. It was clearly and undeniably exhibited last night. I felt so bad for the man I nearly shed a tear. I could hardly sit down. The man is definitely affected somehow. If the pretzel incident was actually a seizure, then the bicycle event may have been also. I see no way that he can go into debate season in his current condition. I fully expect him to be deposed someway or another. There are many theories about the Dem¡¦s possibly switching to Hillary on short notice; The Repub¡¦s may do the same.

I have a lot of negative opinions about this man and his administration. My mind is now in a state of flux. Last night¡¦s speech finally fully convinced me that King George is indeed losing his mind. He was completely unable to convey any meaning or emotion in his ¡§speech¡¨. Eyes ALWAYS on the teleprompter screens, he stumbled along as a 4th grader reading from a textbook. He seemed to have had little to no understanding of the subject matter as he read along. Here are some things I noticed:

ƒ÷ He had to wait for the teleprompter several times during the speech.
He literally seemed to not know even a single word prior to reading it. When one gives a speech about a subject, one¡¦s inherent knowledge of the subject is reflected in the smoothness of the delivery. For instance, if I were speaking about astrology and had a prepared speech, I would not need to read it verbatim because I have an understanding of the topic.

Now, I realize EVERY word is dissected regarding pres. speeches which requires sticking to the script, but this was pathetic. George¡¦s delivery was so absent that it was clear that he has even less input and interaction with ¡§Administration Decisions¡¨ than has previously been accused. The ¡§seizure theory¡¨ or something similar is the only explanation that seems feasible to me. There was no smoothness of the delivery, just a monotonous, child-like reading. He mispronounced ¡§Abu Ghraib¡¨ 2 times in 2 different ways which is strange considering how many times the words should have already passed his lips in the course of analyzing this situation with his team.

ƒ÷ He was able to be passionate with his standard catch-phrases such as ¡§We will not relent¡¨ and ¡§The killers expect America to retreat¡¨, but when it came to the informational parts he was completely incapable of anything more than straight reading.

ƒ÷ There are 3 teleprompters typically, one in the center and one on either side. Teleprompters are semi-transparent screens that, as inconspicuously as possible, scroll the text of a speech for it¡¦s reader. Every president has used them. George was incapable of looking at anything but the prompters. He would turn his head, but his eyes lingered until a moment where he could finally shift them to the next screen.

Watch the video. Watch his eyes and listen to his complete lack of delivery. Listen to him stumble on the words ¡§completed¡¨ and ¡§detainees¡¨. I felt like I was watching a poor, tired old man who is well past his mental prime. I now understand why he could not testify alone in front of the 9-11 whitewash committee. I now understand why this man can not be president a second time. He is damaged goods and my heart, finally, goes out to him. 10~31 ~O~

[Brian Morans]

23. Could be brain damage, but

Quoting you here:

"ƒ÷ He was able to be passionate with his standard catch-phrases such as ¡§We will not relent¡¨ and ¡§The killers expect America to retreat¡¨, but when it came to the informational parts he was completely incapable of anything more than straight reading. "

Maybe he's only truly alive in his messiancic, delusional fear-brain. If he's not rallying the christian soldiers he's not interested; he's empty-headed; and his lack of enthusiasm means people won't bother listening to him. There's nothing worse than hearing someone read aloud a speech, the vocabulary and syntax of which they cannot grasp, and the content of which they care nothing about.

[HallowsEve]

25. O yeah...anything is possible

I have not even interacted with too many stroke or brain damaged persons. I just think we (he) is dealing with something recent, even if it is a degenerative condition from drugs and alcohol. I used to laugh and mock and on and on, now I feel COMPASSION. That is the big change for me. He seems like a man who sold his soul and is closing in on the End. 10~31 ~O~

[newyawker99]

34. Hi HallowsEve!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[alarcojon]

32. Crispin Miller suggests

that he is a sociopath. When he is discussing war or death or retribution, his grammar and syntax are fine. It is only when he discusses stuff that he doesn't give a shit about that he can't get the words out properly. He can't say "I care about poor families" comfortably, so it comes out something like "putting food on your family."

[Redleg]

41. I read that too. Miller may be on to something there.

Kerry is going to wipe the floor with that mushmouth during the debates!

[Tosca]

26. Yes, dyslexic.

" Eyes ALWAYS on the teleprompter screens, he stumbled along as a 4th grader reading from a textbook."

[donhakman]

27. illustrated versions of above posts

[Brian Morans]

28. Where'd you get these hilarious pics?

[donhakman]

29. I make 5 or 6 every day

Pen and ink since the 80's
digital since 2001

with 1000s of them know I can usually respond with a picture for almost any discussion.

[Brian Morans]

30. good pics. informative and funny.

[JayS]

31. He was a fairly good speaker and was pretty funny in person but...

...he did talk different then. He now sounds either lost in thought or like he is trying to sound tough. Whatever the reason, it is annoying to listen to.

[Victimerican]

35. It's easy to be confident and smooth...

after a line of coke.

[Skittles]

36. I have lived in Texas a long time

I don't remember Dubya ever not being a moron.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

37. What prescription medication is he on?

I think Bob Woodward mentioned in his last book that Bush was given a prescription pill several times a day. Anyone know what it is?

[donhakman]

40. He takes 3 different medications

but they keep changing

[qanda]

38. There was a thread about this a couple of weeks ago

And someone posted a link to something about pyscholinguistics

Mark Crispin Miller (NYU) attempted to catalogue GW's verbal gaffes. Some favorites: ?The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country." "If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure."
"The future will be better tomorrow."

"He meant it for a laugh," wrote the Star. "Not now."

The author of Boxed In: The Culture of TV believes "Bush is not an imbecile. He's not a puppet. I think that Bush is a sociopathic personality. I think he's incapable of empathy. He has an inordinate sense of his own entitlement, and he's a very skilled manipulator. And in all the snickering about his alleged idiocy, this is what a lot of people miss."

Miller's judgment ? that an unelected president might suffer from a clinical personality disorder ? is much heavier than being called the global village idiot. "He has no trouble speaking off the cuff when he's speaking punitively, when he's talking about violence, when he's talking about revenge. When he struts and thumps his chest, his syntax and grammar are fine," Miller mentions. "It's only when he leaps into the wild blue yonder of compassion, or idealism, or altruism, that he makes these hilarious mistakes."

Bush even has trouble repeating comforting clichés. "Fool me once, shame ... shame on ... you," Long, uncomfortable pause. "Fool me - can't get fooled again!"

While the world was laughing, Miller saw something darker. "What's revealing about this is that Bush could not say, `Shame on me' to save his life. That's a completely alien idea to him. This is a guy who is absolutely proud of his own inflexibility and rectitude," wrote Miller.

Miller says that Bush saying, "I know how hard it is to put food on your family" is not 'cause he's stupid, but "because he doesn't care about people who can't put food on the table."

When Bush is envisioning "a foreign-handed foreign policy," Miller contends it's because he can't keep his focus on things that mean nothing to him. "When he tries to talk about what this country stands for, or about democracy, he can't do it," Miller observes.

(more)


http://www.ludd.net/retort/msg00157.html

[Hell Hath No Fury]

39. The 9/11 footage of him prior...

to being in the WH convinced me he is indeed on some sort of "medication" now. His eyes when he was Gov. were clear, now they are ALWAYS glassy.

When I went on Celexa for perimenopuase my eyes got a glassy look to them, so did another friend who takes it for OCD.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

42. Tertiary syphilis?

It causes brain damage and a variety of neurological symptoms. It also lies dormant for decades after the symptoms of early stage syphilis have disappeared.