With the world turned upside down, it’s not surprising that nothing in MPSIMS is mundane or pointless. So I’m posting this here.
Before Tuesday, I still wasn’t attuned to Bush’s voice. Hearing it so much over the past three days hasn’t made it more familiar to me: I still have to look and be sure it’s him.
Clinton, Bush Sr., Reagan and Carter all had distinctive voices. I’m too young to remember Ford, but I know the voices of Nixon, Johnson and Kennedy through archived recordings.
George W. just doesn’t have the kind of voice that stands out. Now, I am not criticizing him; I’m just making a mundane and pointless observation.
I have to think about anything other than the victims and their families.
I’ve noticed that. I’ve felt that part of the reason he get’s made fun of so much is his way of speaking (not just the mistakes). He’s a pretty calm speaker, and tries not to get real emotional. Other presidents, especially Clinton, gave speeches with lots of emotion, and sounded forceful. I didn’t like Clinton much, in fact not much at all, but even I had to admit that he was an excellent speaker and could really rally a crowd. Bush has a low key, calm voice, and that can be an asset in a situation like what happened on Tuesday. I think we need a calm, reassuring voice right now. (I like to do impressions, and I get frustrated because I can’t do an impression of Bush. After being able to do Clinton’s voice very well, I got good at doing Gore’s voice too. To me, the only good thing about Gore being elected would have been that I can do an impression of him!)
You both make good points. But I still think he sounds ineffectual, like a company president who’s never been in front of a mike before.
However, that doesn’t mean he’ll be ineffectual as a leader. When the chads were finally settled in his favor, I said, “You better be as good as your dad.” Now I’m saying, “You better be better than him.”
I think they should get John McCain to do all the speeches here. Or Tony Blair. That’d get the ol’ American blood going.
Just remember… Bush is from Texas. He may not be the brightest bean in the box, and he may not be the sharpest speaker around… but Texans know how to kick ass. It’s in their genes.
Yeah. And combine it with the fact that he’s actually from Connecticut, has a grandpa named Prescott, and was educated (ahem) at Andover, Yale, and Harvard, and you’ve got an ass-kicker who knows which fork he should use to eat his salad.
Right now I’d prefer a hoopy frood who knows where his towel is.
:::sigh::: I’m starting to think that I should be glad for people who died in recent years, like Douglas Adams, Diana Spencer and Charles Schulz, because they didn’t have to see this.
After hearing Gov Jeb Bush the other night, I thought he was a far better speaker than his brother - in fact, it seemed as if he was speaking rather than reading, and there was no obvious accent. Not that it means anything…
My dad is a lousy public speaker, but he’s one heck of a manager and boss-type. I think I do OK in front of a group, but I don’t fancy myself a leader of men…
So, yeah, he’s kinda nothing in the talking dept - here’s hoping he’s smart enough to listen to those whose experience surpasses his.
First, Doug Adams, and now this. I’m not comparing the two events or anything, as only one paralled can be drawn: both events sucked (just different degrees of “suck”). I’m starting to think 2001 was one of the worst years I’ve ever witnessed.
Can someone please remind me of a really great thing that happened this year, just so I don’t lose hope?
With Clinton, the feeling and the forcefulness seemed put-on, seemed academic, studied. That’s mainly what I like about W. He seems to be trying to remain low-key, but his emotion comes through regardless, as evidenced by the occasions when he choked up during the course of recent addressed he has given. He seems more genuine somehow.
Like it or not bush came into office with serious concerns about his gravitis as they called it at the time. A significant portion of the country continue to have doubts that this man has the capacity to make sound informed decisions in a crisis as complex and important as this. To those with doubts he keeps hopelessly looking out of his depth.
I don’t think this is just partisanship. I keep watching and hoping for better and trying to convince myself that he is growing into the role he must fill. This is not something we can afford to have fucked up.
It isn’t just the voice, the content of his less scripted remarks hits the right tones but doesn’t demonstrate a depth of understanding. This is a huge event yet he is forced to recycle unmemorable lines to have something to say. The smirking when he discusses retaliation doesn’t help much either.
Hopefully his actions over the next weeks and months will be more confidence inspiring than his words.
I’m have not been impressed with the man, for the usual reasons. But I caught live his speech before the rescue workers, and here he was, giving a short talk, his arm casually draped around the guy. Someone yells “I can’t hear you!” and everyone laughs, and he comes back with a pretty good line.
It seemed like I was seeing Bush’s true nature for the first time. He seemed relaxed like a guy you knew in college who went to all the parties.
Now, he’ll never be good at the speechifying like Clinton or Reagan, but I think I’d like him a lot better of he’d just relax and be himself like he was then.