Bush: out of touch, a liar, and a failed leader

[Sauron]

That's not merely my isolated opinion - it's the majority opinion of Americans.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Opposition among Americans to the war in Iraq has reached a new high, with only about a third of respondents saying they favor it, according to a poll released Monday.

Just 35 percent of 1,033 adults polled say they favor the war in Iraq; 61 percent say they oppose it -- the highest opposition noted in any CNN poll since the conflict began more than three years ago.
[...]
A bare majority (51 percent) say they see Bush as a strong leader, but on most other attributes he gets negative marks.

Most Americans (54 percent) don't consider him honest, most (54 percent) don't think he shares their values and most (58 percent) say he does not inspire confidence.

[RareBear]

The man is a bufoon who should never made it out of the primaries. Astounds me daily how something like this could happen.

[Kyuss Apollo]

And an insensitive ass to boot. "Bush to dead soldier's mom: "How do you know his life would have been good?"

[BDS]

There's an interesting article about Bush in the current Vanity Fair (of all places). It's about the relationships in the Bush family -- and how the amateur psychologists get them wrong (according to the author).

Here's one story (from memory, since the article is not available on line as far as I can tell):

W. was attending his Yale reunion. He was talking to a woman who said, "You may not recognize me, because when I was Yale I was still living as Bill Smith, a man."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet the real you," the President responded immediately.

Of course this has nothing to do with whether Bush is running the country properly, but it seems to contradict the notion of Bush as a fumbling, religious fanatic hick, unable to open his mouth without putting his foot into it.

(Of course I have no way of knowing if the story is accurate or not. It could simply be a charming myth, spread by sympathizers.)

[Leesifer]

If that's true, BDS, I'd be very surprised.

[wei yau]

I don't know if I ever saw him as a fumbling, religious fanataic hick. Well, maybe fumbling. I do acknowledge that he's a very confident and charming person. There are plenty of stories of just how charming he could be on the campaign trail. If that anecdotal story is true, it fits right in with this image I have of him.

[Freddy]

Wow 61% of Americans are against the Iraq War, that is as high as the Anti-Vietnam War movement. He does get high marks for persistence or better still, stubborness. What was the poll's margin of error? (+ or- 3%)

[Clutch Munny]

If anything, the impression of GWB as a fumbling hick was a creation of his campaign team. That he is something of a dullard is something they had to play out somehow. It's far more forgivable (indeed highly endearing) to much of the American public if it's seen as a manifestation of tongue-tied honest cowboy simplicity. The spoiled, hyper-rich fratboy dullard from an Eastern seaboard Washington-insider dynasty doesn't play well in the least.

[Leesifer]

So true, Clutch.

We have the "sincere" smile of Tony Blair while you have the "endearing" cowboy.

Nobody wins.

[Dragar]

I'm sure he's often charming. He's a charming idiot, like Woody from Cheers. Only I think I'd rather see Woody rule America.

[Johnny Pneumatic]

Originally Posted by Kyuss Apollo

And an insensitive ass to boot. "Bush to dead soldier's mom: "How do you know his life would have been good?"

Goddamn! Ugh, I hate him all the more.

[Godwhacker]

Originally Posted by Clutch Munny

If anything, the impression of GWB as a fumbling hick was a creation of his campaign team. That he is something of a dullard is something they had to play out somehow. It's far more forgivable (indeed highly endearing) to much of the American public if it's seen as a manifestation of tongue-tied honest cowboy simplicity. The spoiled, hyper-rich fratboy dullard from an Eastern seaboard Washington-insider dynasty doesn't play well in the least.

I agree with you clutch. I lived in Texas for some time, and there is an aspect to American rural and Southern culture that tends to glorify the dullard who beats the system, or succeeds somehow. A quick scan of culture will show you examples. Barney Fife, Hank Hill ("King of the Hill" was always the number one show in its time slot in Texas when I lived there), Forrest Gump, etc.

[BDS]

One of the points of the Vanity Fair article (which I I read quickly on a plane) was that W.'s religiosity is not so different from his father's and grandfather's as some may suppose. According to the article, the Bush family was quite religious.

In addition, the infamous Bush self confidence (reiterated in today's paper as W. promised to stay the course in Iraq) is examined as a sort of family trait -- a sense of noblesse oblige shared by all the Bushes.