Okay, I think Bush sometimes comes off as a buffoon. But he’s getting a bum rap on this one. Folks seem to think this is proof positive that the President is “unliterate.”
Okay, I don’t get it. Granted, he doesn’t seem to have learned to read upside down or sideways (obviously, he was never a teacher), but so what. And he’s reading a heavily-illustrated and glossy-paged book to a bunch of kids, with the bright lights and the microphones running.
Frankly, as glib a public speaker as I am, I tend to read every word as I say it under those kind of circumstances, because I know if I try to do it half by memory, I’m going to screw it up. If I were reading “A Visit from St. Nick” at a photo op, I’d be reading it line by line, probably not making much eye contact — even though, if I had to, I could probably quote it from memory. Laura does much the same, later on.
I didn’t hear him say anything wrong. I just heard him pause and not read the third line (which Laura did by memory, but she’s allowed to). Indeed, he seemed to be pausing because the kids were chiming in on the line.
Then he hands off the book to Laura, saying he can’t see it. Bad angle? (Laura holds it in her lap, instead of trying to show the pics to the kid like George.) Or — gasp — does Bush require reading glasses?
Bush is clearly not a comfortable reading-from-a-script or -book speaker, but I know a number of people, one of them quite well, who aren’t either, and it doesn’t bear at all on their intelligence.
Critique Bush for actual missteps and dunderheaded actions, fine. But this hardly qualifies.
(via Random Ravings)
I think I mis-spoke when I said illiterate on my site — dyslexic comes to mind, and there have been comments for years about that when it comes to him. There were rumors when poppy was president about him, because his mother was such a strong advocate for literacy (The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy). Folks knew Jeb and Neil could speak and read well, but never Dubya.
To the film: He skips the third line, and then improvises over it, after reading the fourth line, as though he suddenly remembers the gist of it, but not the actual words.
Bush does well with a script – that’s the only way he CAN speak. He cannot improvise, and frankly, he IS an idiot, Dave. 🙂
I was just having a fun little jab at the prez. If you watch it, it’s kinda obvious that he is not having trouble with illiteracy so much as just seeing the type. It was still fun, though. In a slightly mean-spirited way. The silly season brings out the worst in me sometimes. Especially against celebrity types who never will read my little slice of the blogiverse.
He skips the third line — whether he does so because of problems reading it, or because both Laura and the kids in the audience are chiming in, or a bit of both, is open to interpretation. Then he summarizes it.
But if you listen to what Laura does when reading it, she does the same sort of breaks-and-recaps. Heck, I do that when I read to Katherine. “‘I do not like it, Sam I Am!’ Look, Kitten, he’s trying to get away from Sam.”
As to his being dyslexic, that’s also possible, though not proven by this tape, nor, of course, does that mean anything about his intelligence.
I don’t think Bush does well with a script. He reads very slowly and deliberately, but flatly — in fact, I don’t think Bush does well speaking in public at all, whether reading from a teleprompter or off the cuff (which, again, is not an indictment against his intelligence). I have heard that he speaks much better — more naturally, and more coherently — in smaller groups (which may be one reason why he keeps inviting folks down to the ranch).
As to his being an idiot … well, that’s another debate. 🙂
Well, it could be, I suppose, a side-effect of reducing everything down to soundbites and charicatures. Clinton couldn’t keep his fly closed. Bush is a dim-bulb. It saves us having to spend time thinking new or complete thoughts. After all, if we think too long or too hard about something we may find out we are wrong, and changing ones perspective is a painful thing. No, its much more comfortable to never confront our biases and simply believe everything we’re told by the people we like to listen to.
But as one who’s spent plenty of time on the stage–and reading books to my daughter–LIGHTEN UP, PEOPLE! For all you really know he’d never had a chance to even rehearse, was suffering from the flu (presidents don’t get the luxury of being sick), and had some stupid cameraman shining a klieg light right in his eyes (under orders from his producer, hoping to create an embarassing situation such as that)! Never mind all the other IMPORTANT stuff that’s probably running through his head at the time, like the economy, Iraq, that doofus Lott, etc… All I can say is that I would never want to be president. Movie stars have it easy by comparison.
I’m not sure who I fear more… a dim President or the people who constantly look for the smallest things to criticize him about…. incessantly.
I fear the negative people, they always have an agenda. They criticize to reach an end.