In the Land of Morons, a man with half a brain could be King... or President
Documented cases of GW Bush's "foot in mouth" disease.
"At any rate, we look forward to working with you. Let me put it another way: We look forward to hearing your vision, so we can more better do our job. That's what I'm telling you."
— (The White House, "President's Remarks at Governor's Commission Briefing in Mississippi," Sept. 20, 2005.)
"The other thing, it turns out, in this job you've got a lot on your plate on a regular basis, you don't have much time to sit around and wander, lonely, in the Oval Office, kind of asking different portraits, how do you think my standing will be?
—Bush pondering how history may view him. (White House "President's Press Conference", March 16, 2005)
"Well, I quit drinking in '86."
—Bush, when asked whether, as he embarked on his second four-year term, he saw ghosts of past presidents. (C-SPAN interview, Jan. 30, 2005)
"We will stand up for terror. We will stand up for freedom."
—Bush, speaking on the campaign trail, Oct. 18, 2004, in Marlton, N.J.
"The truth of that matter is, if you listen carefully, Saddam would still be in power if he were president of the United States, and we’d be a lot better off."
—Bush at the second presidential debate in St. Louis, Oct. 8, 2004.
"A new Iraq will also need a humane, well-supervised prison system."
—Bush, speaking at Carlisle, Virginia, May 24, 2004
"What is your ambitions?"
—Bush, speaking at the Parkview Arts and Science Magnet School
Source: Federal News Service, "Remarks by President George W. Bush at a Back-to-School Event," Aug. 29, 2002
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
—Bush addressing a group of witnesses at the signing of the Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2005 in Washington, DC on Aug. 4.
"I'm honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein."
—Bush, meeting with Iraqi citizens who received medical care in the U.S., May 25, 2004
"I was proud the other day when both Republicans and Democrats stood with me in the Rose Garden to announce their support for a clear statement of purpose, "You disarm, or we will.'"
—Bush, speaking about Saddam Hussein
Source: FDCH Political Transcripts, "George W. Bush Delivers Remarks at a Sununu for Senate Fundraiser," Oct. 5, 2002
"There's an old saying in Tennessee—I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee—that says: Fool me once, shame on [pause] shame on you. [Pause] Fool me [long, uncomfortable, agonizing pause] you can't get fooled again."
Source: The Washington Post, "The Reliable Source," Lloyd Grove, Sept. 18, 2002
And the winner is:
"We've got an issue in America ... too many good docs are getting out of business. Too many OB/GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country."
—Bush, telling a crowd assembled in Poplar Bluff, Mo., about a previously underappreciated domestic problem, Sept. 6.
Source: The Washington Post, "A New Problem, or the Wrong Word?" Dana Milbank, Sept. 7, 2004
Source: Truth About George
But, don't let the numerous Bush verbal gaffes fool you, says Mark Crispin Miller , an American author and a professor of culture and communication at New York University.
"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", said Miller. And "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 said. "It's only when he leaps into the wild blue yonder of compassion, or idealism, or altruism, that he makes these hilarious mistakes. I call him the feel bad president, because he's all about punishment and death," he said. "It would be a grave mistake to just play him for laughs."
And there you have it. And also a choice: Is Bush just a clueless idiot or is he a deranged psychopath who gets his kicks feeding off the misery, death and destruction he visits upon others?
