Patterico's Pontifications

Can’t say anything more, this says it all.

Milan (0e1894) — 5/16/2013 @ 8:17 pm

Look at Bush, just sticking his umbrella in that guy’s face. What a dick!

Yeah, this is also a stupid post.

Leviticus (17b7a5) — 5/16/2013 @ 8:18 pm

Face it, Leviticus. George W. Bush had an order of magnitude more character than Obama.

SPQR (768505) — 5/16/2013 @ 8:27 pm

You guys probably think that a purple pinstriped white Escalade with gold trim and gold-spoked hubcaps looks ridiculous too.

nk (875f57) — 5/16/2013 @ 8:36 pm

It’s good to be King.

AZ Bob (c11d35) — 5/16/2013 @ 8:36 pm

diamond in de back… sunroof top… diggin’ teh scene wit’ a gangsta lean, woo-hooooooooo…

Colonel Haiku (4f3f6e) — 5/16/2013 @ 8:39 pm

It’s all Bush’s fault — Turkey is supposed to be part of the Caliphate.

htom (412a17) — 5/16/2013 @ 8:40 pm

I don’t think Bush was acting at all here. There were many things I disagreed with him over and even pulled my hair over, but he was a good guy and a classy leader.

How many times did he allow an actual military expert to give the public statement on something, instead of a political professional (who could spin things for politics instead of accuracy)? He let the military have its credit.

Bush also had a major screwup with that carrier landing, but it was meant to show that Bush, too had served. I don’t understand why that’s not important to voters any more. It’s not an absolute requirement to me, but it is important. But hey, Obama described himself as a potential junkie. I don’t think he’s good enough for the uniform, and you can see his values reflected all the time these days.

Dustin (2da3a2) — 5/16/2013 @ 8:41 pm

Bush was a class act. I also disagreed with him a lot but he has dignity. Obama has only arrogance.

Mike K (dc6ffe) — 5/16/2013 @ 8:46 pm

NPD on parade. What a jackass.

Here’s the queen BTW: http://www.celebrityredcarpet.co.uk/article/elizabeth-ii-queen-of-umbrellas_a1547/1

no one of consequence (f14b28) — 5/16/2013 @ 8:48 pm

“Face it, Leviticus. George W. Bush had an order of magnitude more character than Obama.”

– SPQR

I don’t have to “face it.” I agree.

I think he was manipulated by people that were smarter than him, but I still think he had character.

Leviticus (17b7a5) — 5/16/2013 @ 8:48 pm

The flag should not be out in the rain.

nk, former Boy Scout (875f57) — 5/16/2013 @ 8:50 pm

Just curious–When you say “people that were smarter than him” do you mean that he was not smart himself, or do you mean that you think he was gullible or naive, or are you implying something else?

elissa (04d91b) — 5/16/2013 @ 8:53 pm

If Leviticus means Iraq having WMDs, maybe he thinks Clinton, Kerry, and Gore were also manipulated by these smart manipulators.

But I actually liked Leviticus’s comment because it allows for ‘the other side’ to have character and morality. That is rare and getting rarer. Frankly, Obama is making it harder for me to respect his supporters. Those who I know are good people… I begin to wonder if the problem is with comprehension. And then I realize the problem is that they are polarized… like I’m polarized more and more each time a scandal or ugly display happens. This country is in a bad way.

Dustin (2da3a2) — 5/16/2013 @ 8:57 pm

Face it- W was a dummy. That’s why he spends millions to hide his records. Oh wait, wrong guy. Ok, Lurch sKerry was much smarter as was Man/Bear/Pig. oops, W had better grades. But Lurch had those three purple hearts. Wood splinters in the ass are very dangerous wounds. And Laura Bush is no world-class beauty like Mooch either. At least the media insists Mooch is one of most beautiful women in the world. I thought the Clintons were real POS but the Obamas take the cake. Would be funny though if Hill was Prez with Mooch Veep and Urkel and Bill were back in Blair House and WH.

calypso louie Farrakhan (53ccf5) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:02 pm

I think this momentis when Obama stopped carrying his own umbrella. It was nearly a Dukakis moment, and Obama is disciplined enough about his image that he wouldn’t let that happen again.

DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:06 pm

Oops. Wrong link. Here’s what I meant to link.

DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:07 pm

How long did that Marine have to stand like that with his arm out? It’s really hard to do that for long periods — try it and see. Most people can’t do it for even two minutes with nothing in their hand.

Steven Den Beste (99cfa1) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:09 pm

Not a Marine…But doesn’t Obama violate the Marine Uniform Code by making them hold umbrellas?

workingclass artist (ca2306) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:09 pm

Dustin, I was not trying to put Leviticus on the spot and I hope he knows that. But there often seems to be a sense of “it’s common knowledge” that Bush was stupid or at least not very smart. I admit that his hesitant speech pattern and communication style often left me absolutely rolling my eyes and trying to telepathically send him the right word to use– but I always knew what he meant and never felt Bush was being evasive or deceptive when he spoke. Also, his grades in college and grad school and his business successes do not seem to support the notion that he was not smart.

Maybe Leviticus was not even implying that. That’s why I asked him to clarify his point.

elissa (04d91b) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:11 pm

Oops. Wrong link. Here’s what I meant to link.

Comment by DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:07 pm

Oh my gosh I’d forgotten about that. hahahaha

Michelle’s expression is almost the funniest part of that pic — like she knows what to expect next when he gets caught in a situation like that.

no one of consequence (f14b28) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:11 pm

It’s really hard to do that for long periods — try it and see. Most people can’t do it for even two minutes with nothing in their hand.

Comment by Steven Den Beste (99cfa1) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:09 pm

I had the same initial thought. They make troops hold rifles out like that for PT or discipline. I noticed that this Marine looks particularly strong, even for a Marine.

Maybe he was selected because this was a challenge some aren’t up to.

Dustin (2da3a2) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:14 pm

The United States Code, Title 36, Chapter 10 addresses the proper etiquette for treatment of the flag in inclement weather. It states, “The flag should not be displayed on days when the weather is inclement, except when an all weather flag is displayed.”

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:17 pm

But there often seems to be a sense of “it’s common knowledge” that Bush was stupid or at least not very smart. I admit that his hesitant speech pattern and communication style often left me absolutely rolling my eyes and trying to telepathically send him the right word to use– but I always knew what he meant and never felt Bush was being evasive or deceptive when he spoke. Also, his grades in college and grad school and his business successes do not seem to support the notion that he was not smart

Well said. I think that’s a common issue. Bush was not well spoken as president, which is annoying for those who saw him as a bit quicker as governor. Maybe something about the national scene causes some kind of communication malfunction for Texans? The only example that breaks that cycle lately has been Sen Cruz.

Anyway, I too was reading into Leviticus’s comment to think he meant Iraq and wouldn’t mind the clarification you sought.

I think you’re right that the evidence shows Bush is intelligent. Of course, many of the smartest people in the world would not be able to smoothly speak to the nation. And if the media wants to make you look dumb, or smart, they can selectively report and guarantee the image they want for you.

Dustin (2da3a2) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:18 pm

I hope the Marine considered it an honor rather than torture or an insult–and it is entirely possible that he did. In any event it will be a photo to show his children and grandchildren. How one feels about any physical or mental task can make all the difference in the world.

elissa (04d91b) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:20 pm

I hope the Marine considered it an honor rather than torture or an insult

It’s a tremendous honor and I’m sure he appreciates that. That Marine was showing respect to the institution of the presidency, which is showing respect for the American people and civilian rule. It’s what made this country great. It’s too bad the way he was tasked was really shabby in my opinion.

But at least he got a great workout, I guess.

Dustin (2da3a2) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:25 pm

A little fun with Paint.

nk, former Boy Scout (875f57) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:28 pm

I hope the Marine considered it an honor rather than torture or an insult–and it is entirely possible that he did…
Comment by elissa (04d91b) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:20 pm

You are much kinder than I’m feeling today. In my opinion, it’s very possible he considered it an honor. And (in my opinion) Pres Obama’s words sounded like he considered it an honor. And that’s the problem.

Heck, he didn’t even thank them, and a commenter on another blog says he said, “OK, guys” at the end by way of dismissal. Sheesh.

no one of consequence (f14b28) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:30 pm

Apparently the sequester caused the National Weather Service to be on furlough just when they were needed to forecast the possibility of rain showers. Had there not been the sequester, they would have known there was a possibility of showers and they could have made arrangements for the podiums in a covered area. It is obviously all Bush’s fault that the Obama White House can no longer handle this type of contingency operation.

Bill M (c8f413) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:31 pm

There was also a foreign leader in the Rose Garden today. There wasn’t in Bush’s situation. How would Bush have handled that?

Jim (f59ea1) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:36 pm

No one@28–Through friendship with his wife I am acquainted with a Marine who came back from Nam and was selected to serve at the White House as part of the Marine Honor Guard for a while. He has pictures of that time and often talks about it with great pride. That’s why I mentioned it. I agree with you that the President today was not appropriately respectful in the way he handled the umbrella deal and interacted with the Marines.

elissa (04d91b) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:39 pm

There was also a foreign leader in the Rose Garden today. There wasn’t in Bush’s situation. How would Bush have handled that?

Comment by Jim (f59ea1) — 5/16/2013

Probably with an indoor press conference. You see, Bush wasn’t nearly as afraid of those things as Obama has proven to be, and so rain would be seen as a bad thing rather than a good thing (after all, the scandal ridden Obama does not want lengthy press conferences any more than he wants Tea Party advocacy groups or AP stories exposing his administration or rescue operations sent to consulates under fire). To Obama, that rain was like a gun in the hands of a Mexican drug cartel: a blessing in disguise.

Dustin (2da3a2) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:40 pm

Canopies. For the President and his guest and for all the others present.

nk (875f57) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:40 pm

UPDATE: DRJ in comments reminds us of the moment Obama may have decided he had held his last umbrella on his own.

I forgot about that one. Makes sense!

Patterico (9c670f) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:40 pm

According to Marine Corps regulation MCD P1020.34F Marine Corps Uniform regulations chapter 3, A male Marine is not allowed to carry an umbrella in uniform.

mg (31009b) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:43 pm

I hope the Marine considered it an honor…

If so, then he’d have to be very ignorant of and naive about Obama’s background and history. The person currently in the Oval Office is neither honorable nor mature.

politico.com, June 2008: “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun,” Obama said in Philadelphia last night. “

Mark (9ba6f2) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:49 pm

I don’t think Obama did something terrible by asking the Marines to hold umbrellas, but the problem here is that he’s a leader who relies heavily on image rather than substance. Obama is most successful when he is shown doing things that are smart or cool, and I think that’s because his policies and proposals typically aren’t well received on their merits. Thus, when Obama does something that doesn’t fit the image of a smart, cool President, it hurts his image … and this was one of those times.

DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:56 pm

What interests me is who was off-camera when Obama was asking for umbrellas. Maybe the Marines were the only people there but it seems likely there were other White House staff and Presidential aides available. If so, I think Obama should have called on one of them.

DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/16/2013 @ 10:04 pm

The person currently in the Oval Office is neither honorable nor mature.

There was a recent article which recalls how Bush was thanking a liberal for respecting the office of the Presidency when the journalist stood for the President.

The Marine should respect the office even if the office holder sucks.

Dustin (2da3a2) — 5/16/2013 @ 10:20 pm

no, they should have set the lecterns up on the covered patio in the background, and erected a pop-up tent or two for the MFM.

that’s assuming someone in the White House is smart enough to access the NWS page for DC, of course.

redc1c4 (403dff) — 5/16/2013 @ 10:24 pm

#9 Obama has only arrogance.

i beg to differ: he also possesses incompetence, cowardice, venality, ignorance, stubbornness, and the sort of room temperature IQ that leads the mouth breathers who are blessed with to believe that everything they don’t understand is unimportant and inconsequential, rather than a further demonstration of their personal shortcomings.

other than that, he’s a great man. (for a useless POS, anyway. %-)

redc1c4 (403dff) — 5/16/2013 @ 10:29 pm

elissa/Dustin,

I wasn’t thinking of Iraq, really – I was thinking of the “absolutely [left me] rolling my eyes and trying to telepathically send him the right word to use” thing, mostly. He didn’t strike me as a particularly intelligent man. His grades in college and grad school and his business successes do not seem to support the notion that he was smart, even if they don’t necessarily support the notion that he was “not smart.”

Leviticus (17b7a5) — 5/16/2013 @ 10:36 pm

Bush was a class act. I also disagreed with him a lot but he has dignity. Obama has only arrogance.

Well said, Mike K.

But I also think once the WH blew the presser by having it outside, I don’t know what else O could have done. You would think his youth corps inside there could check their smartphones for the damn weather!

Patricia (be0117) — 5/16/2013 @ 11:00 pm

Leviticus,

I don’t think Bush was academically smart (as Obama seems to be) but there are different kinds of wisdom. Can we agree that both Bush and Obama have a vision of what they think America should be? I think they do, but I also think Bush was more honest about his vision and I also believe that more Americans share Bush’s vision than Obama’s. At least I hope they do, because Obama’s vision is not working.

DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/16/2013 @ 11:00 pm

these are 8 years we really couldn’t afford to waste much less fritter away being luxuriously raped silly by plucky soros-funded grad school fascists

happyfeet (8ce051) — 5/16/2013 @ 11:10 pm

For someone who wanted to change the tone of Washington and embrace bipartisanship, Obama certainly manages to do a lot of things that offend conservatives. You’d think he would try to avoid things that are easy but he repeatedly pushes people’s buttons when it comes to the military, the Israelis, and the Brits. Like the IRS and the Tea Party, the pattern makes it hard to believe claims that any offense is unintentional.

DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/16/2013 @ 11:10 pm

He didn’t strike me as a particularly intelligent man.

If one could be certain that your liberal biases were squeezed out of that observation, and yet you still felt the same way, I’d theorize your impression was influenced by Bush’s southern twang (which evokes the stereotype of a “hillbilly”) and occasions when he did garble certain words or sentences.

But to insert politics back into the way public figures are perceived, I’m always leery of any person’s basic intelligence — in particular, not his or her rote skills as much as his or her basic smarts (ie common sense and logic) — if he’s still of the left well past a certain age—well past his teenage/college/mid-30s years.

usatoday.com, June 2005: While the general impression during the 2004 presidential campaign was that Democrat John Kerry was the intellectual superior to President Bush, it turns out that their grades while undergraduate students at Yale were remarkably similar.

In fact, Bush’s were a tad higher. His four-year average was 77; Kerry’s 76. Both were C students. Kerry graduated from Yale in 1966; Bush in 1968.

When Bush’s grades were first made public in 1999, he was then the Texas governor and Republican front-runner for the 2000 presidential nomination. Vice President Al Gore was his likely Democratic opponent. Bush’s mediocre college record was trumpeted by Gore backers as proof that the Republican candidate was a dummy. But in the spring of 2000, The Washington Post published Gore’s college grades at Harvard. Like Kerry, he was hardly an honor student, either.

The transcript showed that [Kerry] got four Ds in his freshman year, Bush received one D in his four years, in astronomy. At the time, Yale considered grades between 70 and 79 a C and 60 to 69 a D.

dailymail.co.uk, May 2012: Barack Obama may have got worse high school grades than George W Bush after new evidence showed the current president was among a college class with poor average SAT scores. Doubts about the supposedly superior intellect of Mr Obama were first raised after he refused to release his academic record.

The president, who moved from Occidental Community College in Los Angeles, was among 67 students whose average combined math and verbal score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test is a 1,100, according to a report obtained by Breitbart News.

By comparison, Mr Bush – who earned a history degree from Yale in 1968 – got 1206 out of a possible 1600 points in the same test he took at Andover boarding school in Massachusetts.

^ Another factor that influences my sense of what makes people intelligent or not is that almost every backwards, impoverished, unstable, dysfunctional community or society is, with rare exception, full of people who are devotees of liberalism and who favor liberals in positions of authority.

Mark (9ba6f2) — 5/16/2013 @ 11:18 pm

I don’t think Bush was academically smart (as Obama seems to be)

I’m surprised you buy into the latter notion when it is well known that Obama has peculiarly and strangely bent over backwards to keep his personal records sealed, particularly those that apply to his years in school. As for Bush’s gaffes, or his lack of skills in the extemporaneous department, there is the matter of Obama often needing to be followed around by a teleprompter.

Mark (9ba6f2) — 5/16/2013 @ 11:28 pm

Actually Dubya is not only pretty darned smart but probably a lot smarter than Obama.

http://keithhennessey.com/2013/04/24/smarter/

George W. Bush is smarter than you

…One of my students asked “How involved was President Bush with what was going on?” I smiled and responded, “What you really mean is, ‘Was President Bush smart enough to understand what was going on,’ right?”

The class went dead silent. Everyone knew that this was the true meaning of the question. Kudos to that student for asking the hard question and for framing it so politely. I had stripped away that decorum and exposed the raw nerve.

I looked hard at the 60 MBA students and said “President Bush is smarter than almost every one of you.”

More silence.

I could tell they were waiting for me to break the tension, laugh, and admit I was joking.

I did not…

Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/17/2013 @ 2:34 am

Comment by Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/17/2013 @ 2:34 am

Thank you – had remembered seeing that great article but not where to find it. Thanks for linking.

Every president talks all day long every day and the law of averages plus the stress of the job dictates that occasionally a word or two is going to get mangled. (And Pres. Bush’s talents were many but a silver tongue wasn’t among them; he’s a plain speaker.)

But if the press replayed every gaffe of Pres. Obama’s approx 1 billion times, as they did w/Pres. Bush, your average American would think of him as stupid too. And narcissists can’t bear to be mocked even once. Result: Obama’s famed teleprompter addiction.

no one of consequence (f14b28) — 5/17/2013 @ 3:45 am

Given Teh One’s affinity for spiking the football, Leviticus, do you really think his grades are all that good? It is a virtual certainty that if his grades were impressive, or would substantiate he claims of his brilliance, they would have been leaked, just to tweak someone.

JD (b63a52) — 5/17/2013 @ 4:02 am

Mark and no one of consequence,

I base my opinion that President Bush was not academically smart on the fact he could not get admitted to the University of Texas School of Law, despite his family’s significant political clout in Texas. But that doesn’t mean I think Bush is dumb — far from it. I think he is smart in common sense and from experience.

I said Obama seems to be academically smart because he graduated with honors from Harvard Law School. However, his Presidency convinces me HLS has overrated students and a serious case of grade inflation.

DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/17/2013 @ 5:11 am

I thought that Bush was prone to malapropisms, perhaps like a professor who says the opposite of what he/she meant while writing something on the board,
but in both cases, if you are paying attention you know what the person meant and it makes sense,
and in the case of Bush, I believe it was generally true and intended to be true

I would rather have that anyday than a slick-talking con-man.

MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 5/17/2013 @ 5:28 am

President Drip…

mg (31009b) — 5/17/2013 @ 5:40 am

I think Bush’s best quality was his willingness to surround himself with smart people (of all kinds — academically, common sense, and experience) and consider their advice. That’s a rare quality in Presidents, who are more likely to surround themselves with loyalists and sycophants. It takes a smart person to do that, and it’s one of the reasons I consider Bush a wise President.

DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/17/2013 @ 5:52 am

Dustin wrote:

Bush also had a major screwup with that carrier landing, but it was meant to show that Bush, too had served. I don’t understand why that’s not important to voters any more.

It depends. If the Democratic candidate had served, especially during wartime, his service was of absolute importance, as it was in 2004. If the Democratic candidate had not been in the military, and his Republican opponent had, why past military service was of no importance at all (see 1992, 1996, and 2009)

The Army daddy Dana (3e4784) — 5/17/2013 @ 5:54 am

==he could not get admitted to the University of Texas School of Law, despite his family’s significant political clout in Texas==

I did not know this tidbit, DRJ. But I think that in the end both he, and the country, were far better served that he went to get his MBA rather than become a lawyer. His presidency which focused on personal leadership, and generally (but admittedly not always) surrounding himself with competent advisers in their fields to help him evaluate and negotiate solutions to problems, reflected that CEO-type approach to governing a large enterprise. (An approach and skill which is so obviously absent in the current administration.)

elissa (2fda5f) — 5/17/2013 @ 7:13 am

the fact he could not get admitted to the University of Texas School of Law

DRJ, I don’t know the complete history of Bush’s scholastic record, but I generally give leeway to anyone who managed to get into a school like Yale, etc. Of course, a variety of applicants are accepted to a top school not based on their skills as much as their affiliations with top alumni, particularly a university’s big philanthropists. Students who are known as legacy enrollees.

However, while Bush’s father did have major ties up the food chain, my sense is any questions about Bush Jr’s IQ quotient was greatly swayed by his southern drawl, reputation for being a party-er, and, most crucially, a belief that something which he was not — liberal — meant he couldn’t have been mentally gifted. IOW, that he therefore was unimaginative, boring, close-minded and, most crucially, lacking in sophistication (which is perceived by some as reflecting dullard qualities).

Mark (9ba6f2) — 5/17/2013 @ 7:40 am

I just cant help myself.

Being a dirty minded old war vet,

I would love to see that fine looking Marine neatly fold his umbrella, shake the rain off of it,
and ram the point of it through that lying POS ears.

Sargent Patterson (4d6e94) — 5/17/2013 @ 7:47 am

dustin,

someone a while back , i dont think it was anyone partisan, looked into the carrier landing.

one they asked him to wear the flight suit.

two, the moral officer put up the “mission accomplished” banner

three Bush looked at the banner and find his remarks, he said the job was not done

i’m not ina place to look up that article, maybe someone else recalls it

EPWJ (b3df72) — 5/17/2013 @ 8:02 am

IS Mooch ever happy? Seriously is there a picture with her smiling out there or what?

james (5ffda3) — 5/17/2013 @ 8:09 am

@48 Mark: Why would Obama need to “bend over backwards” to keep his school records sealed? Federal law (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) already provides that they are supposed to be confidential (everyone’s school records, not just the president’s).

The chance that someone working at Occidental, Columbia, or Harvard who had access to Obama’s records would want to discredit Obama seems very slim. Most of the employees there would likely be Obama supporters anyway. And if there were, say, 20 employees with access to the transcript records and 19 of them were Democrats, the other person would be easy to identify as the leaker.

It’s primarily Republicans who would need to be worried about having their school records released. Look at what happened to Rick Perry. His college transcript was released even though you can see the stamp on it that says “To the recipient of this document: This information may not be released or transferred to any other person, agency or party without the student’s consent.”

Joshua (9ede0e) — 5/17/2013 @ 8:18 am

OK, so the optics are bad. I’m not bothered by this beyond that. People above have mentioned issues of substance. This photo may be a telling vignette but in and of itself it is not substantial. I say oppose principle, not optics. Remember the Mission Accomplished banner, and the non-plastic turkey. We need to be a nation that looks beyond optics.

Erdogan was graciously provided with a Marine with an umbrella. It would have been silly for Obama not to have one too. After all, he is their commander. The real question is why they met in the Rose Garden when it was raining.

Amphipolis (d3e04f) — 5/17/2013 @ 8:30 am

OK, so the optics are bad.

That’s all. It’s enough. Who’s outraged? I see amusement. Derision maybe.

Now if it was Ted Rall doing it, we’d be seeing the photo badly redrawn into a fifth-grade-technique cartoon with the caption “The Few, The Proud, The Martines, My A**”.

nk (875f57) — 5/17/2013 @ 8:40 am

heh

Amphipolis (d3e04f) — 5/17/2013 @ 9:03 am

I think the administration’s main concern with the current batch of scandals is optics. They don’t seriously believe anything that was done was wrong per se, nor would they change anything beyond appearances.

And that will probably be sufficient for them to get away with murder, unless the media is serious about getting back on top and showing them who’s the real boss.

I’m tired of optics.

Amphipolis (d3e04f) — 5/17/2013 @ 9:08 am

Comment by DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/17/2013 @ 5:52 am

DRJ,

that’s a good point, and thanks for the feedback on Bush’s academic history too – had forgotten about that.

no one of consequence (325a59) — 5/17/2013 @ 9:18 am

Bush-Kerry IQs with more links at the linked site:
http://isteve.blogspot.ca/2005/06/my-article-on-john-f-kerrys-iq.html

And, as mentioned above, only female Marines are allowed to carry umbrellas while in uniform.

andycanuck (b9d338) — 5/17/2013 @ 9:27 am

And re. “Mission Accomplished”: every (capital?) ship that ends its tour displays that banner. It wasn’t ordered by the Bush administration.

andycanuck (b9d338) — 5/17/2013 @ 9:30 am

IS Mooch ever happy? Seriously is there a picture with her smiling out there or what?

Comment by james (5ffda3) — 5/17/2013 @ 8:09 am

Well, she looks pretty pleasant in this pic:

http://s397.photobucket.com/user/annatjom/media/Michelle/carla_bruni_michelle_obama.jpg.html

I find Bruni’s expression the funniest thing in the pic.

no one of consequence (325a59) — 5/17/2013 @ 9:34 am

On Bush’s intelligence:

I believe Bill Whittle has an excellent essay out on just how hard it is to learn how to fly the plane that Bush flew in the Texas Air force – and how dangerous. And how Bush qualified to teach others on it.

If he was stupid, he’d have either not been allowed to fly, or he’d have died doing it if strings were pulled. It was an exceptionally dangerous, powerful plane for its time.

luagha (5cbe06) — 5/17/2013 @ 9:53 am

Marine-held umbrellas don’t add to one’s aura. They make a man look weak and fussy and made of special melty snow.

SarahW (b0e533) — 5/17/2013 @ 10:55 am

Sarah W,

I once had a UPS delivery man warn me as he dropped off packages in my office to “Be careful outside today because everyone knows that sugar melts in the rain”.

Perhaps UPS visited our president, too.

Dana (292dcf) — 5/17/2013 @ 11:08 am

Mark,

This is a website with several people who attended UT Law, including the host and me. I am closer to being a contemporary of George W. Bush so I know the admission requirements and policies during that era. That was before the era of diversity admissions, except arguably for women.

With the exception of people with special legacy or political connections, law students at UT were admitted then based on merit — LSAT scores, undergraduate GPAs, and the strength of the applicant’s undergraduate institution. Since Bush’s undergraduate degree was from Yale, that would have strengthened his admission chances. His family background would have helped his chances, too. He was obviously hurt by the other admission components of LSAT and undergraduate GPA, the latter of which we know was average and the former we can assume were average. (In my experience, SATs and LSATs track fairly well. A 1206 SAT out of 1600 would be low for a UT Law student at that time.)

Like it or not, SAT/LSAT and GPAs were the measure of academic intelligence during those pre-holistic admission times, and they suggest Bush was of average academic intelligence at that time. But there’s a reason many fine leaders in business and politics were average in school and successful in life: Intelligence isn’t just measured by academic intelligence or “book smarts.” It’s also informed by common sense and experience, and George W. has those and put them to good use:

His grandfather, our grandfather used to say that everything in life before the age of 30 was education, and after that you had to sort of figure out what you were going to do. And George sort of pushed that out to 40, I think, and learning an enormous amount, and then took off like a rocket, when he sort of set his course.

So I think he dealt with it very well. I think he just sort of extended that period that my grandfather used to call education. …George sort of took … a lot of right turns, a lot of left turns, maybe some wrong turns, and many detours. And got to some point, after his dad was elected, I guess, this is the point where you would begin to chart the true course, and once on the true course, he really burned up the trail.

The person who said that knows George W. Bush well, and I agree with him.

DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/17/2013 @ 11:33 am

Amphipolis #63:

The real question is why they met in the Rose Garden when it was raining.

I agree. Obama seems to have problems with supervising a staff on a macro and a micro level. Perhaps this is a decision that had been made and should have been changed, but there isn’t a mechanism for that to happen.

In my experience, incidents like this are the signs of a lazy executive or a micromanaging executive. Obama shows signs of both, and they can result in a paralyzed staff afraid to make or change decisions.

DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/17/2013 @ 11:40 am

DRJ and Amph–I think another answer about the rose garden we might also reasonably assume is that probably most in his inner circle and those on his staff this week have been out stomping down brush fires, making emergency phone calls, cleaning up smelly messes, and covering all sorts of tracks.

elissa (2fda5f) — 5/17/2013 @ 11:48 am

Good point, elissa, although the times when the American President and his staff are out of their depth are times that foreign leaders and our enemies use to their advantage and our disadvantage.

DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/17/2013 @ 11:57 am

=times when the American President and his staff are out of their depth are times that foreign leaders and our enemies use to their advantage and our disadvantage.==

In other words pretty much every day of this administration.

elissa (2fda5f) — 5/17/2013 @ 12:04 pm

Things seem to go well on Election Day and Inauguration Day. It’s the other days that are troublesome.

DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/17/2013 @ 12:51 pm

Someone at the White House realized it might rain because there were umbrellas there. Perhaps they had just fetched the umbrellas moments before this happened, or maybe the forecast was for rain and the umbrellas had been placed there hours before. Either way, there was an opportunity for someone on the White House staff to think about who should hold the umbrellas if they were needed.

The Obama Administration has a history of caring about how President Obama is presented, so I suspect someone thought about the umbrellas and decided it would look better to have good-looking, well-dressed young Marines standing there during the press conference. If so, then this decision was about image and not protocol, and that would show a lack of respect for the office of the President. (By the way, would decisions like this be part of the Protocol Office’s responsibility? It has had problems in the past.)

DRJ (a83b8b) — 5/17/2013 @ 1:02 pm

Yes, we all know now exactly how evil President Obama is precisely because someone held his umbrella.

I absolutely know that this freak out is totally different from the left’s freak out every time Bush did something.

Christ, all of you need lives.

JEA (fb1111) — 5/17/2013 @ 4:26 pm

JEA you don’t have much of a sense of irony meter do you? Lighten up. Let people who have been targeted by the FBI, audited and repeatedly lied to since 9/11/12 have a little fun. OK?

elissa (2fda5f) — 5/17/2013 @ 4:44 pm

JEA, a large percentage of the left thinks Bush actually let 9/11 happen and also orchestrated a fiction about WMDs in Iraq. The former is insane, the latter is impossible due to the timeline (Clinton administration’s assertions).

These ‘freakouts’ are a lot different from someone noticing the White House’s tacky treatment of a Marine and saying it’s tacky or a sign of poor management or whatever.

I can certainly understand why you’re so upset, however. It’s been a hard few weeks to be an Obama supporter. That guy really let his fans down with all this corruption. Sorry, man.

Dustin (2da3a2) — 5/17/2013 @ 4:52 pm

JEA, the fact he had someone hold an umbrella for him doesn’t prove he’s evil.

It proves he’s the first President who’s too stupid to get out of rain.

And pointing and laughing at this fool isn’t a “freak out.”

Steve57 (9b1cdb) — 5/17/2013 @ 5:17 pm

I know this is just another stupid addition to an unseemly post:

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/05/beyond-royalty-even-the-queen-holds-her-own-umbrella/

I don’t think the Queen swallows either.

gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 5/17/2013 @ 5:33 pm

It’s also informed by common sense and experience…

DRJ, it’s fascinating to me that just about every major blunder associated with George W Bush and other Republican and/or conservative presidents has been when they allowed their inner-liberalism to get the better of them. So there was Herbert Hoover’s taxing-and-spending during the Great Depression, Richard Nixon’s bureaucracy-building-liberalism mixed with I’m-not-a-crook governance, Ronald Reagan’s Iran-Contra, George Bush Sr’s read-my-lips and David-Souter-ism, and Bush Jr’s “compassionate compassion” (eg, feckless approach to bloated budgets).

In the case of Barack Obama, that ailment is 24/7, meaning his lack of common sense is pernicious and profound.

Mark (9ba6f2) — 5/17/2013 @ 5:35 pm

81. Jug-Eared Alien, here’s a quote from Dog’s bestest butt-buddy Erdogan:

“Democracy is the bus that one gets off on reaching the destination”.

gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 5/17/2013 @ 5:47 pm

Let people who have been targeted by the FBI, audited and repeatedly lied to since 9/11/12 have a little fun. OK?

After ‘True the Vote’ applied for c3 status, founder’s family biz audited by IRS & OSHA, visited by FBI & BATF http://t.co/qlaBzXqqqe

Colonel Haiku (d3b5c4) — 5/17/2013 @ 5:52 pm

and when you’ve lost Chrissie Matthews AND his tingle, look out… http://hotair.com/archives/2013/05/17/miller-was-full-of-it-and-there-was-clearly-targeting-going-on-says-chris-matthews/

Colonel Haiku (d3b5c4) — 5/17/2013 @ 5:54 pm

JEA, I’d wager you don’t even remember COINTELPRO, and certainly were not one of those targeted.

htom (412a17) — 5/17/2013 @ 6:15 pm

What a disgusting site it is to see that Marine holding an umbrella for Obama. Almost makes me ill.

Patsplace (8bf457) — 5/17/2013 @ 10:24 pm

Re: Bush being dumb.

I assume everyone’s seen this?
http://keithhennessey.com/2013/04/24/smarter/

scrubone (36ee20) — 5/18/2013 @ 3:18 am

@Leviticus – Bush is several feel BESIDE the man. It’s called perspective. Suffice it to say you Obama voters are safe in the event of a zombie apocalypse.

cake_crumb (0ac017) — 5/18/2013 @ 6:15 am

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elegant bridesmaid dresses (219594) — 5/21/2013 @ 3:28 am

2. Oh, Sprout, I think we’ve identified Schtoopid.

http://www.gloria-center.org/2013/05/turkish-prime-minister-erdogan-praised-at-white-house-as-he-puts-knife-in-u-s-s-back/

Definitively you.

gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 5/21/2013 @ 6:43 am

The January/February 2007 Atlantic Monthly had a cover article: Why President’s Lie / And Why Their Worse Lies Are To Themselves by Carl
M. Cannon.

There is a picture of George W. Bush on the cover.

I don’t think we’ll see this so easily with Obama.

And Bush did not deserve that.

I wasn’t able to find this online quickly, but here’s a blog post about it:

http://alohadump.blogspot.com/2007/07/why-presidents-lie.html

The article runs from page 56 to page 67 with two pages (61 and 63) being taken up by ads.

The article doesn’t start off with Bush. It starts off with an anecdote about how Senator Owen Brewster asked Senator Harry S Truman in 1944
when he was running for Vice President with FDR, what Franklin Roosevelt was really like and Truman replied “He lies.” (the author of the article thinks that is about his health, but that was probably everything.)

It takes pages to get to Bush but then it cites a bunch of half truths, like:

Touting Iraq and Afghanistan in his State of the Union message in 2006 as examples of the “great story of our time” – the advance of
freedom – but the organization whose statstics he was touting didn’t list either of them as “free.”

Or another – Bush noted a gain in jobs in the previous 2 1/2 years, but failed to note that jobs had been lost in the first 2 1/2 years of his term.

Or that he had more nations in the alliance against Iraq in 2003 than his father did in 1991 – the supposed unfact is that many of these nations
were reluctant.

Or he had said he barely knew Ahmed Chalabi, but he was a special guest of Laura Bush at the 2004 State of the Union message. (that’s supposed to
disprove it?)

Or this one: Claiming after the 2006 elections that Democrats would support our troops just like Republicans had – but that had not been his
campaign rhetoric. With that, he was suggesting his campaign talk that was disingenuous, but, writes the author of the article, maybe it was the
other way around, and Bush was only being politic in the East Room!

(I think it can be said that “support our troops” is a very limited thing, and Bush did believe in this minimum, while thinking the Democrats could
very undermine his war policy, and I think that’s the way to take it.)

There’s a big excerpt in large letters on page 60:

“Even giving him the benefit of the doubt on honesty, one might ask: Why doesn’t the nation’s first-ever M.B.A. president demonstrate a better
command of the facts?”

You could slightly rewrite some of this stuff, and it would apply much, much better to Obama.

David Corn, author of the book “The Lies of George W. Bush” conceded that Bush might have believed what he said. But then he said:

“So your question is, is it still lying anyway? What Bush does is he displays a kind of willful disregard for the truth, which is the moral equivalent of lying. he doesn’t do due diligence with the facts. Even if you believed something was true [at] the time you said it, it becomes a lie when you don’t act on new information–or correct yourself when you’ve been proven wrong.”

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 5/21/2013 @ 10:10 am

David Corn lied about Plame, released edited tapes of Romney’s speech, also that misleading McConnell tape, he’s a fine one to talk.

narciso (3fec35) — 5/21/2013 @ 10:17 am

Smarts: Bush v. Obama

How do we know how these two compare?
Has anyone ever seen any record of O’s academic accomplishments?
If there’s nothing to hide, they would be plastered all over the front page of the NYT.

askeptic (b8ab92) — 5/21/2013 @ 10:23 am

I think Bush’s academic accoimplishments were leaked. Obama didn’t flunk out, we know that.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 5/21/2013 @ 10:24 am

97. Of course. David Corn is a big liar.

But what he said about Bush looks close to the truth about Obama.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 5/21/2013 @ 10:25 am

Sharyl Attkisson will soon release opening report on government compromise of her computer.

And Gateway reporting on CIA leaks of DOJ spying on FOX News. “4th shoe to drop”.

gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 5/21/2013 @ 10:29 am

First off I would like to say excellent blog! I had a quick question which I’d like to ask if you don’t mind. I was curious to find out how you center yourself and clear your mind before writing. I have had a tough time clearing my mind in getting my thoughts out. I truly do enjoy writing however it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are usually lost simply just trying to figure out how to begin. Any recommendations or tips? Thank you!

outlet mulberry (c4cf1b) — 6/9/2013 @ 11:08 am

Yes, outlet mulberry, bourbon.

Hoagie (3259ab) — 6/9/2013 @ 11:24 am

I always had respect for Bush number 2. Politics aside. I think he had a soul. Something that has become so scarce among politicians of today.

The Emperor (15596f) — 6/9/2013 @ 11:47 am

5/16/2013

Compare and Contrast

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