What's so astonishing is that it worked.
US Presidential Election: Tuesday November 6th, 2012
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That whole French thing has not come up this time even though Romney is fluent in French, loves dressage (how French-sounding is that?) and declared the US to be a foreign country on his recent tax return.
Funny that.
Funny that.
Lest we forget his missionary period there during Vietnam, as well.
Obvious the guy was joking but the media grabbed his quote to send a message to the voters is an idiot, again the media leaning against a democrat candidate. Anyway, US is fecked and nobody will save now the country (and not Romney for sure) for the new recession coming next year after our debt went to the roof and after all the money they keep printing.
Was Bush obviously joking when he said the problem with the French was they didn't have a word for entrepreneur? Was Palin being deliberately ironic when she couldn't name any of the NATO World leaders? Or are they just dumb? All you really need to run for president is a lot of money, I wouldn't put standard scientific ignorance past a man who thinks the Garden of Eden is in Missouri and he'll get his own special planet when he dies.
Watch the video. He wasn't joking. And if you really want to allow for the possibility that he's just incapable of resembling a human being while joking, then he was joking about his wife's smoke inhalation after her plane was forced into an emergency landing, in which case he is a massive twat.
The greatest trick they've ever pulled is convincing their poor base that Bush was a man of the people. If there's such a thing as the anti-man of the people, it's the spoiled child of a former President.
Mockney, the Bush-enterpeneur thing wasn't true.
I expect him to come out and clarify saying he didn't think they should change the windows so they could wind down, but in cases of fire they should pump more oxygen in so people can breathe. 
If so, then fair enough. I don't have to stumble far to find another "obvious joke" though.
Oh lord no. There's plenty of Bushisms that were absolutely true:
"Rarely is the question asked, 'Is our children learning?'"
"Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream."
"I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family."
"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."
"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."
"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."
"Rarely is the question asked, 'Is our children learning?'"
"Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream."
"I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family."
"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."
"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."
"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."
Incidentally, my ex used to live with Kerry's second cousin. She was way more French than him. She actually had a French name. She wasn't remotely actually French though obviously.
I don't think gaffes really prove that he was stupid. For one, Obama (and everyone else who speaks publicly for years) has made stupid remarks too (57 states comes to mind. Dubya has degrees from Yale and Harvard. Despite his folksy image, he was born as a rich northeastern elite who went to the two best schools in the country. He was a terrible president and a terrible person but I don't think he is stupid.
Excal...do you know why all these repubs have flagpins that have a single gold star on them? I'm sure it's designed to piss on dems who wear a plain flagpin. What's the star signifying?
It's a Man City thing.
He's not stupid, but he wasn't nearly clever enough (and certainly not globally savvy enough) to hold the most powerful position in the World. Call me naive and idealistic, but I go for the Sorkin West Wing model of the smartest man in the room being the most deserving of leading. Bush was at best the 8th smartest in his own Situation Room.
Yeah that's about right. One of the worst things of the Bush years was how they made it a crime to be smart. I want a Ivy league educated president. I don't want my president to be someone that will have a beer with me, I want them to be be smarter than me.
fecking hell! Howard Dean either has the worst syrup in the world or needs to fire his hairdresser for choosing that dye. He's on The Ed Show right now.
I have absolutely no knowledge of flag pins with or without stars. There was some bit of nonsense in 2008 about Obama refusing to wear flag pins because he hates America or whatever, but had no idea they'd made a comeback as a made-up issue.
its called nepotism ffs he was a skull and bone. Dubya was/still is thicker than industrial strength tapioca pudding!
No he wasn't. Nepotism only gets you so far. He's not an idiot.
Nepotism did him a big favour in Florida.
If you google it there's a whole conspiracy surrounding it.
Of course. But the idea that Bush was some 75 IQ moron being led around on a leash is a bit silly.
As US Presidents go though, he's way down on the prospective Mensa list.
His dad, however, was probably the most qualified president ever and yet wasn't very successful.
His dad was ironically (although not considering his background) a hugely knowledgeable foreign policy President, but a terrible Domestic one. He also had the charisma of an ill snake.
Bush was pretty stupid...not even an argument.
But the people around him were brilliant to get him elected.
tbf Gore and Kerry were very weak candidates...other than just bloody boring.
But the people around him were brilliant to get him elected.
tbf Gore and Kerry were very weak candidates...other than just bloody boring.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/judge-suggests-pennsylvania-voter-id-law-could-be
looks like the partisan hack Simpson is trying to find a way to save his face...that got bitch slapped by the PA Supreme Court.
Sorry Willard....try another trick.
looks like the partisan hack Simpson is trying to find a way to save his face...that got bitch slapped by the PA Supreme Court.
Sorry Willard....try another trick.
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/
Nate has Obama at 312 Electoral Votes.
Importantly he says Obama has a 79% chance to win Ohio.
Nate has Obama at 312 Electoral Votes.
Importantly he says Obama has a 79% chance to win Ohio.
Romney down to a 3.6% chance of victory on the 'now-cast' vote.
Barring any sudden shifts I see Obama winning 332 - 206. NC and Indiana remaining with Romney, and all key swings (CO, NV, NM, WI, OH, VA, FL IA, NH) going to Obama. Romney basically needs to hit a home run in the debates, which given his past performances and who he's going up against, isn't likely.
Edit. Obama seems to have edged ahead in North Carolina again.
Edit. Obama seems to have edged ahead in North Carolina again.
I never got that. Honestly Gore for me seemed very electable. Seemed very smart. Really felt duty bound to understand the intricacies of the issues. I do remember hearing how he was considered "boring" and it annoyed me.
All this seriously focused discussion amongst you about the minutiae of the polls and the swing states. If there was any doubt about how worthless the electoral system was...
I heard a report about how saturated the "swing" states are with ads now and how that's translated into a farcical inflation in cost of air time. Glad to see my political donation will buy a couple of milliseconds to air in state already fed up with them. Grand.
We're right to focus on it, as it is that way it is. I do hope we all see the absurdity in it though.
I heard a report about how saturated the "swing" states are with ads now and how that's translated into a farcical inflation in cost of air time. Glad to see my political donation will buy a couple of milliseconds to air in state already fed up with them. Grand.
We're right to focus on it, as it is that way it is. I do hope we all see the absurdity in it though.
I'm perfectly aware of the absurdity of the electoral college, but a lot of low-population states where the ag industry is crucial are afraid they would lose power under a popular vote system, with candidates focusing solely on high-population cities, (there's several reasons that I think this is wrong, but they're all far more complicated then "we'll keep our power if we keep the status quo",) so there's zero chance those states will ratify the constitutional amendment it would take to change the system.
Yes he is an idiot, not only that he was just the figurehead for what was essentially a Cheney/Rumsfeld/Rove presidency by committee.
I think you have to be seriously deluded to think that Bush was an idiot.
He has two very good degrees. He was a popular governor in Texas, beat a very good candidate, and then gained popularity. Back in the early 2000's, he was able to debate very well, fairly articulate and well-educated. He won 2 general elections, one against a very good candidate.
Yes, there were serious mistakes as President, but to be honest, he did cope (to some extent) with 2 of the biggest crises in the USA post-WW2, 9/11 and the financial crisis in 2007-8. The wars did not go well, and Katrina was the main reason he become unpopular.
He coped with 9/11 and the financial crisis? What?
The Afghanistan war was well supported at the time. There have been no major US terrorist attacks since on US soil. There was a massive revamp in homeland security and intelligence. It's true that the Afgan war and later the Iraq war turned into stalemates. In terms of the post 9/11 aftermatch, almost all of NATO supported the USA for action in Afghanistan.
He dealt with the bailouts of the financial crisis well. The conservative position at the time was to let all banks and others (insurance like AIG) to fail, which would have been absolutely catastrophic.
That all sounds sorta reasonable Jaz. Unfortunately, there are about 200 Bush quotes that make Dan Quayle look intelligent.
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