Bush: Needs a Reading Buddy

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

This dimwit-as-leader thing has now sunk to a new, unforeseen low. I'm trying to laugh, because it's kind of funny, but really, it's just painfully, horribly, tragically, inexcusably sad.

Bush' UN Speech Full of Fone-eh-tick Pronunciations for World Leaders

ABC News' Ann Compton and Jennifer Duck report: Never before has the White House released a draft version of the President's speech to the annual United Nations General Assembly.

But this year, a glimpse of how the President sees his speeches was accidentally placed on the UN website along with the speechwriters' cell phone numbers.

Pronunciations for President Bush's friend French President Sarkozy "[sar-KOzee]" appeared in draft #20 on the UN website. Other pronunciations included the Mugabe "[moo-GAHbee] regime" and pronunciations for countries "Kyrgyzstan [KEYRgeez-stan]" and "Mauritania [moor-EH-tain-ee-a]."

Most leaders submit a text in advance, especially to help the many translators who simultaneously turn the speeches into more than half a dozen languages. The teleprompter also needs to be loaded with a copy of the President's words so it will appear on glass screens in front of the lectern.

The Bush White House is unaccustomed to providing advanced texts suitable for reporters to publish before he actually speaks.

During an afternoon briefing, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said, "there was an error made in trying to make sure that interpreters had what they needed. I don't know how the draft of the speech -- it was not final -- was posted, but it was, and it was taken down."

Perino said it was "not unusual" to include phonetic spellings for various countries in the speech though when asked if the president had a hard time pronouncing some of those country names Perino declined comment saying, "I think that's an offensive question."

The White House also added that no one has called the speech writers' cell phones.

[AD]

I don't see the bad side to this. Either he pronounces it wrong and everyone makes fun, or he tries to pronounce things right and everyone makes fun.

I'd rather he do things right, wouldn't you?

[Birdy]

it's just painfully, horribly, tragically, inexcusably sad.

Really?

I think publication of this article is painfully, horribly, tragically and inexcusably sad.

Looks like ABC may have been short on content today.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

I'd rather he'd spent a little more time in school learning about the world before taking the reins of the world's biggest superpower.

[Birdy]

I really don't think this is anything out of the ordinary. If anything the speech writers did a good and thorough job.

[ollie]

I'd rather he'd spent a little more time in school learning about the world before taking the reins of the world's biggest superpower.

Yes, I believe that's the point of the outrage.

[AD]

Yale History degree, MBA from Harvard. I bet he's more educated than anyone reading this.

I hate defending him, but I think you're being too hard on the guy here.

[phishtaper]

Yale History degree, MBA from Harvard. I bet he's more educated than anyone reading this.

Please AD, you've been suckered. Bush barely had a C+ GPA at Yale, and his admission to Harvard was to avoid real military service and was entirely facilitated by his father's influence. And no, he's not 'more educated' than several people reading this.

[Blane]

It's funny that there are minimum requirements in terms of strategic thinking and general knowledge to enter even the lowest echelons of public service here, yet the president can get away with openly flouting his ignorance of both international and current affairs (see his comment from a few years back on "relying on others around him for the news").

As for it being part of a speech-writer's "thorough" work, I can assure you that this is not standard operating procedure.

[Birdy]

That doesn't discredit its thoroughness.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

But we don't vote for speechwriters (I dunno, like, say, David Frum, who came up with that "axis of evil" thing way back when) to run our democracies.

You know, it's funny, but as a teacher in a classroom, if someone came up to me and gave me a script for what I should have to say to my classes, I'd go tell them to fuck themselves. I wonder, then, why should any president do less than that, if they really believe they're up to the real task? I'm no fan of Clinton, e.g., but at least he was no slouch (Rhodes Scholar, and all that), and knew what he was saying when he was saying it.

Sorry, but Bush is just hopelessly, sadly, pathetically, tragically, discouragingly embarrassing. I accept Gandhi's argument that there is no such thing as evil people, only people in situations where they're doing evil things, but this man is playing the role of a dummy, to the service of people who do do really evil things.

I've been reading hundreds of pages of Molly Ivins pieces on Dubya as well, and yes, this is very, very much an established pattern.

[AD]

Why do you spend so much of your time reading hundreds of pages about someone you find hopelessly, sadly, pathetically, tragically, discouragingly embarrassing?

As far as the education thing - he's held the highest position in the land for 7 years, he's learned more about more variety of things than most people can fathom. You'll just deny that out of hand though, right?

As a teacher, you follow the curriculum (hopefully), right? Would you not consider that a loose script? Or do you tell the people who write the curriculum to fuck off too? Or, perhaps you take a look time to time to know when the Plains of Abraham were attacked or something mundane like that. Now pretend you have the ear of the whole world, in a time of war in many places, when the slightest verbal miscue can have huge implications. Would you want to be a bit careful? As a handler of a politician who is more prone to miscues than others would you not do everything to minimize the chances of that happening?

I'm no Bush lackey, but c'mon.

[d_rawk]

To me the story here seems to be that his handlers made a big mistake by allowing the version released to be released. Phonetic spelling is probably not altogether uncommon, and given Bush's difficulty with language (that isn't a dig .. we all have difficulties with various things .. he is very possibly dyslexic, which, if the case, is not at all his fault). But the text version should not have been released in that form, opening him up extra criticism given the already widespread belief that he is incompetent and/or an idiot.

I don't think that there is anything wrong with having speechwriters, particularly for a head of state who is simply never going to have the time to sit down and pen a good one, even if they were particularly gifted in that regard. (And a shame, that, too .. because we've inherited some great political speeches by high profile individuals who once did have the time and inclination to take responsibility for their construction).

It's a minor story. Interesting in the way of 'someone fucked up' .. gotta agree though that I don't think that the fuck-up was Bush's fault, in this case.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Shit - I just lost about an hour's bit of time because of a stupid click on a button on this new laptop.

Anyway....

Why do you spend so much of your time reading hundreds of pages about someone you find hopelessly, sadly, pathetically, tragically, discouragingly embarrassing?

... because Ivins is smarter and more insightful and compassionate than Bush, and I'd hope to learn from her (and not him).

As far as the education thing - he's held the highest position in the land for 7 years, he's learned more about more variety of things than most people can fathom. You'll just deny that out of hand though, right?

No, I won't - I'll take the evidence and saying that he didn't actually learn anything from all of that in any deep or meaningful way, but remained stuck with inflexible presuppositions.

As a teacher, you follow the curriculum (hopefully), right? Would you not consider that a loose script? Or do you tell the people who write the curriculum to fuck off too?

No, I wouldn't - I'd do what I could with it, knowing that people who run schools are typically chosen as administrators, rather than educators. There's a lot you can do with any given curriculum to make it meaningful.

Or, perhaps you take a look time to time to know when the Plains of Abraham were attacked or something mundane like that.

Are you kidding? That's one of my favourite Band tunes - I'm not going to screw up on something like that .

Now pretend you have the ear of the whole world, in a time of war in many places, when the slightest verbal miscue can have huge implications. Would you want to be a bit careful? As a handler of a politician who is more prone to miscues than others would you not do everything to minimize the chances of that happening?

Again - no. But why should so much interference have to be run for this guy?

Really! It's not just embarrassing, it's fucking tragic.

[The Chameleon]

Yale History degree, MBA from Harvard. I bet he's more educated than anyone reading this.

I hate defending him, but I think you're being too hard on the guy here.

I doubt he earned any of those degrees. Rather I bet his daddy made sure he was "given" those degrees after he probably almost flunked.

And who said bush could read in the first place? This truly shocks me.

haahaha.