The President: On Soma--or in a Coma?

[Mass]

I thought this posed the problem very well (Though Bush fits well in the aristocracy part himself, he ran as if he was an ordinary man).

http://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=161

The President: On Soma--or in a Coma?
BY RUSS WELLEN
12.02.2005 08:07 | DISPATCHES

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell's chief of staff Lawrence Wilkerson, who's set a new benchmark for administration turncoats, says President Bush was "too aloof, too distant from the details" of post-war planning.

...
After Bush's speech at the Naval Academy Wednesday the New York Times commented, in an editorial no less:

"A president who seems less in touch with reality than Richard Nixon needs to get out more."
...

At first, the one positive that could be drawn from his "election" in 2000 was that the US, once and for all, had finally outgrown its infatuation with royalty and aristocracy.

Patrician types like John Kerry start out with two strikes against them. Franklin Roosevelt, not to mention Washington or Jefferson, might not even make it out of the electoral starting gate today. Also lost in the wash, however, is intellect. Not only do we shy away from those of a higher station, but those of greater intelligence.

The times are way too challenging for the US to do the Ronald Reagan-figurehead thing anymore. We need a president who's engaged, like even Richard Nixon (if a little too invested, as they say, per recently released White House tapes)....

[ProSense]

1. True,

but there are stiill who value intelligence. I think a big chunk of them, including some among the 59 million who were just against Bush, voted for Kerry.

[BlueIris]

2. Nice catch, Mass. Although, "Patrician"? Oh, for fuck's sake.

Could people please GIVE THAT UP ALREADY?

Sorry. I just think we should really be past trying to find not-so-clever ways to insinuate that Kerry is a snob. Jesus.

[whometense]

3. Sometimes I think

people confuse simple dignity with a patrician attitude. There's nothing patrician about Kerry at all. He's just slightly reserved (and I'm not even sure that's true any more - he used to be slightly reserved) and carries himself with dignity.

Personally, I'll vote for a person of dignity to be president any day over a "just like the slob next door" type. Every time I see Kerry on tv I think to myself that he has the stature (and not just physically) to represent our country in the world.

*??? Not in a million years.

[LittleClarkie]

4. They lost me with that "outgrown its infatuation" thing

Bush is of a higher station. He does have a pedigree. His father used to talk about getting a "splash" of coffee. He grew up more in the lap of luxury than Kerry.

He only pretends to be a common man. So "royalty" can still make it if it pretends it's something it's not. And someone with the appearance of "royalty" if not the actual wealth or station (like Kerry's having the Forbes name and the manners of someone who was raised to be a gentleman) will be flushed, apparently.

Superficiality above all.

[jenndar]

5. This is what most drives me nuts about Bush. n/t

[Mass]

6. he is, but he tried to hide it as much as he could, so the point is not

that bad.

Bush was elected partly because people bought in the myth of him being an average fellow (I mean not from a wealthy and old family. Obviously, he is a less than average fellow when it comes to IQ).

I would agree with the fact that nobody should be elected because of his name or his birth. This is why I am so bothered by the fact that people want to run Hillary because she is a Clinton or that some people are talking of Robert Kennedy Jr running because of his father. It is plain wrong.

This said, this should not disqualify somebody who is the best qualified to be president to win, and unfortunately, this is what is happening because of a fake populism that exists in the same way in the left and in the right:

- Some people wanted to run Edwards ONLY because he was not born rich (the same way some people want to run Warner ONLY because he is a southern Governor). They dont care whether they are competent or not.

- On the right, they created this fake impression that Bush was the ordinary fellow you want to drink a beer with.

If anything, the thing we must run on for our next nominee is that he is COMPETENT to be president. Let's just hope we select somebody who is because clearly some people on our side do not think it is important.