Our President, he doth disappoint. A gentle non-rant rant.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

This ain’t a pitting, or I’d put it there. In case it’s never been obvious from other posts, I am not a huge fan of President Bush. I do have an enormous amount of respect for him, and the difficult job he tries to do every day.

Yesterday I listened on CNN on the radio as President Bush fielded questions- hard ones, not planted / scripted ones. Thank god at least he’s doing that now.

It is… embarassing? I think that’s an accurate word to use. In the space of 5 minutes, the leader of my country informed a questioner from Iraq that she was " batting cleanup ", and joked about how he wouldn’t be wearing a Speedo bathing suit, saying, " Thank goodness, huh? " ( The pretty clear implication for those who were listening is that nobody would want to see a clearly outlined view of his private parts, and the idea of this was supposed to be hilarious. ) His smart-alec comments of course elicited laughter from the gathered audience of reporters- he’s the President, for god’s sake.

I’ve been less than 10 feet from a President on 3 different ocassions and I can tell you, the adrenaline is rushing. So yes, much laughter. It’s as much real nervous tension as it is appreciative laughter at an appropriate joke well delivered.

At some point in the last few months, his Handlers have decided to let him do more press conferences ( a very good and healthy thing ), and at the same time he has somehow decided either on his own, or by committee, that the best way to get through them is to crack a joke, kid around with reporters and get a few laughs, then slide sideways into a pre-packaged series of sentences and statements.

It is disheartening in the extreme. Is it worse than years of no press access? Nope, not at all. It’s better, because at least he stands in the light of day, facing a free press. Would it be better if he took his job so seriously that he was able to deliver cogent, articulate and comedy-free answers? Yes, in my opinion it would be.

Anyone else feeling like the Lame Duck has suddenly become the Vegas Comedian ?

Cartooniverse

2

So you’ve elected the class clown as student body president.

Well done.
I do agree that it’s high time he’s appeared unscripted. It hasn’t happened often enough. I suspect more hillarity will ensue in a relatively short period of time if he’s permitted to continue these kinds of appearances.

Perhaps it’s a question of having little to lose given that he’s already lost so much support from his own ranks. If he appears likeable to the unwashed masses, perhaps he can salvage his image a bit. I always suspected that the last couple of years of a two term presidency is more of a publicity tour to cement a more favourable image in the minds of the people, some of whom will write history books.

3

I agree that Prez Unscripted is a breath of fresher air. And I agree that the result is sad. I’d say “embarassing” if I ever thought him as president was a good idea and so had some ownership in him.

To me it’s kinda like watching Andy Kauffman in his last days. Maybe someone close to him can make out the form of misunderstood genius, but to me it’s more like watching someone who’s gone off the deep end in public. I just keep wanting to wrap a shaul around his shoulders and escort him off the stage and back to his padded cell while whispering, “Yes, Mr. President, you owned that audience. You were brilliant…”

4

I wouldn’t mind the inarticulateness if it were his only flaw.