# Bush the Gesture Thief! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 12, 2001, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-the-gesture-thief/86950 "2001-10-12T01:21:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kaje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f04885/32.png) [@Kaje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaje)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-the-gesture-thief/86950/1 "2001-10-12T01:21:32Z")
If this has already been brought up… my bad… When watching Bush’s first speech after the attack, my roommate and I noticed he very methodically employed the famous Clinton “magic button” gesture… You know… where he sticks out his fist so that it looks like he’s pushing a button whenever he wants to drive a point home… We both laughed and thought that was weird… Now I open up [cnn.com](http://cnn.com) and the picture for the main story ([this one](http://www.cnn.com/2001/images/10/11/top.bush.6.hand.jpg) if it hasn’t changed yet), and what do you know… he’s at it again. Did anybody use this before Clinton? Or is Bush’s P.R. team just out of original ideas and decided to try a move that seemed to work for another president? At the very least he looks like a buffoon. ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-the-gesture-thief/86950/2 "2001-10-12T06:25:27Z")
Would have to review old SNL skits on the prezzes. ---
**Author:** ![Zoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/6de8d8/32.png) [@Zoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoff)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-the-gesture-thief/86950/3 "2001-10-12T11:58:28Z")
This was sort of discussed in a GQ recently. Basically, the “button push” move is used by a lot of politicians, but is associated with Clinton because presidents get a lot of exposure. Somewhere, some image guru found out that the button push is a way of looking emphatic without looking confrontational or threatening. Pointing a finger tends to look more confrontational, so they developed the button push to get the “emphatic but nice” message across. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-the-gesture-thief/86950/4 "2001-10-12T12:28:48Z")
I thought for sure you were going to say he robbed the “Stay the course” line from his daddy. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-the-gesture-thief/86950/5 "2001-10-12T12:43:01Z")
I thought for sure you were going to say he robbed the “Banging the shoe on the desktop” thing from Nikita Khruschev. (Okay, I didn’t see the speech last night, I was working a shift at the Food Coop, okay?) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-the-gesture-thief/86950/6 "2001-10-12T12:49:49Z")
I wonder if Bush has a speech impediment? Maybe a stutter? He speaks rather slowly, stumbles on words, and draws out his esses. Could the slow pace and drawn esses be a tool to avoid becoming “tongue-tied”? Maybe his thoughts are trying to get out faster than his mouth can move, so he slows down deliberately? I remember from my Speech class that there are gestures that are commonly used as visual clues to what’s being said. For example, pounding the fist on the table is for driving the words home. Holding up a finger is used to focus the audience on the point being made. Spreading the hands means “I know you may not agree with me, but this is the truth.” A flat hand moving down toward the table is signalling that something is being, well, “laid on the table” so the audience can “see and evaluate” it. Holding the thumb and forefinger an inch apart is saying, “Here, look at (hear) this particular small bit of information.” ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-the-gesture-thief/86950/7 "2001-10-12T12:53:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \* > Maybe his thoughts are trying to get out faster than his mouth can move, so he slows down deliberately? I admire your optimism. ---
**Author:** ![sidle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@sidle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidle)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-the-gesture-thief/86950/8 "2001-10-12T13:08:50Z")
How did this gesture work for Clinton? Remember all the SNL skits that parodied his use of this move, coupled with the impertinent-grin-to-serious-caring-face quick change, and the tongue poking out of the mouth, indicating the concentration it must have required to convince anyone that he actually gave a shit what he was talking about? Those Darryl Hammond bits were priceless! Bush’s strong suit is not public speaking. He doesnt have the insincere finesse, the fine acting skills of Bill Clinton-for those of you who actually bought that guy. But he seems to be getting a little better. Trial by fire- I guess-this event has been a crash course. It seems to me that he does much better when he speaks from his mind. He flubs up when he follows speeches. At any rate, I thought for the most part it was a damn good speech. Oh-Kaje-one more thing… I really doubt Bush’s PR team would try to nab ANYTHING from Clinton’s m.o.! Unless their objective was to make Bush look like a buffoon, as you said. Clinton was always first-rate at doing that! 🙂 Oh-was it just me, or was anyone else envisioning some crooked DC postal worker out there getting excited about how much cash he could skim, after Bush told American kids to send their dollar bills to the White House? DOH! Dont know if that was completely thought out. Of course, NO OFFENSE to postal workers, I’m kinda just joking, but still-asking people on national TV to send cash thru the mail, to a specific address? Hmmmmmmm… !!! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-the-gesture-thief/86950/9 "2001-10-12T13:08:51Z")
> [@](#): > > I admire your optimism. He does give every indication of being a fool. “I am not as great a fool as you think.” “You _couldn’t_ be.” Personally, I’d rather have his father in the Oval Office. Having worked in secure environments, I have some respect for people who have worked in the Intelligence community. I’m curious about the “leak” he was so upset about the other day. I didn’t catch what was leaked, but I know that secret data is _secret_. I understand that Congress need to know certain things, but if they can’t keep it to themselves then they should not be given the information. On the other hand, leaks are a way of letting out information that you want the opposition to know. Or mis-information. Could have been a strategic move. “If more than one person knows it, it isn’t a secret.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-the-gesture-thief/86950/10 "2001-10-12T13:10:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Bush told American kids to send their dollar bills to the White House Say, didn’t Soupy Sales get in trouble for doing the same thing? ---
**Author:** ![sidle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@sidle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidle)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-the-gesture-thief/86950/11 "2001-10-12T13:11:32Z")
Whoops… preview.preview.preview. Meant to say that Clinton was always good at looking like a buffoon. Not that he was good at making Bush look like a buffoon! Although it’s an amusing mistake… 😉 again, DOH! ---
**Author:** ![sidle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@sidle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidle)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-the-gesture-thief/86950/12 "2001-10-12T13:19:01Z")
Yep! Bush’s team is obviously not learning from history! Maybe Bush will get suspended from TV for a week too? I know it can’t be true, but I really wondered for a few seconds if he just threw that in. It didnt sound very “planned” --was kinda random…