Cue the chorus of left-wingers ready to use this as some kind of evidence of Bush's low IQ. Beginning in one, two, three...

Yeah,the Bush's have a normal life because George Dubya is not really the President,his boss Dick Cheney is.

Why is it that Dubya won't fire Donald Rumsfeld??

Answer: It's because Rummey out ranks him in the Whitehouse.

He is nothing more than a talking head for the radical religous right wing Republicans,he's a guy with a famous last name whom Daddy Bush hired Karl Rove to smear,and distort the issues of people he would be campaigning against.

I love it that he is out giving speechs now, trying to save his butt from some well deserved investigations if his Republicans buds in Congress lose their elections.

He has gotten a small bounce from his 9/11 terrorist fear speech,this will soon go away,besides his current poll numbers are still beyond pathetic.

The last great thing about Dubya speaking out so often nowdays is that everytime he speaks,things get worse for him,and his GOP buds.

This really is a silly post by Mark Silva. I remember similar interviews with past White House residents basically saying the same thing.

Is Mark trying to make an "issue" that they somehow try to have a normal life beyond the presidency?

An leave it the military fraud, otherwise known as John E., to be the first leftie to follow Bill's prediction!!

No JohnD..it's more diabolical than that..he's trying to say tv has taken over Mr.Bush's life.
He now only talks in phrases from the brady bunch. Last week didn't you hear Mr. Bush say it's always Marsha,Marsha,Marsha? He also is saying that because he goes to bed a 9:00 he gets a good night sleep. I have noticed lately that he never yawns...I knew it!

I agree with John D. on this one. It's not much of a story.

That said, I think there's another way to look at this whole "normal" bit. W's problems -- and those of this country -- stem primarily from the fact that W really is kind of a normal guy -- not real bright, not real dumb, affable, etc. The average guy is not fit to be President (just like the average, normal good lawyer is not fit to be a Supreme Court Justice). W has always been way over his head, and the world has suffered greatly as a consequence.

Next time, maybe even the John D's of the world can agree that we can do better in a president than a normal guy.

Sniveling Little Johnny D.....or JD,

This is a great post by Mark Silva,it shows what little Geoge W. actually does everyday.

My son is home on leave from Iraq now little Johnny fella,give me your address,and we can all get together for "coffee",I'm sure he will enjoy hearing your "stay the course" garbage as much as I have.
Don't be afraid,maybe you can buy him lunch Johnny.

What say you......JJJJJJJoooohhhhnnnnnnDDDDDD.????
Do we have a date..???? I'm getting excited just thinking about it.....

John E.....If you want the lefties to believe this delusion of your's(military service),get the story straight.Yesterday,your son was still in Iraq and you might be joining him soon....but, now he's home....hmmm,ok.
I'll do the coffee thing,what is the address of the mental institution your at?
Paulo

John D.,
I am a daily swamp reader,and you seem to be the only poster on here who is truly partisan all of the time.
From the past posts I have read,you are the only one who has never sympathised, somewhat, for the other persons party on a given issue,not one time.
I have only been a citizen for a short time,but if all opinions were like yours,I am not suprised that America has been stuck with one party for so long.
Also I have noticed your hatred of Arabs on your past posts.
Do you really believe that Arabs are going to attack America???
If this is true,which it is not,I would head straight for your home as soon as the "attack" began.

John D..It is said "you canot understand others until you can understand yourself."

"The average guy is not fit to be president." This might be the most elitist thing I've ever read on this blog. What qualifications are required for the office? An ability to conjugate the verb phrase "to be" so that it means just about anything? Does that make you above average?

I've said this before and it bears repeating:

A person doesn't have to be "book smart" or an intellectual to be an effective executive. (It's just not the same as being a Supreme Court Justice, a blinkin.)

Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan were all considered intellectual lightweights. Yet they are probably among the most effective Chief executives in the history of the Republic.

Bush's SAT scores are a nonissue.

Normal life. Nice dinners,watch a little b-ball,watch some f-ball,nice normal life.

Bill,Paulo,Little Johnny D,Juanito,live a nice peacefull normal life.

Over in Iraq,another (4)soldiers lose their lives.Just normal.

Just how the R party likes it.Bravo.

Pauloooooooooooooooooo,

Thankyou for your support!!!

Bill,

The current equivicating phrase of the Bush Administration, especially Cheney, is "some say."

Bill:

The U.S. Government is a complex entity. And the American people are important. The President should be someone equal to the task, someone extraordinary.

I don't share your view that it's tolerable to have have a president who's more fit to be a local Rotary Club president than President of a vast, complex organization like the US of A. It's too bad that you're so willing to accept a ordinary guy for what is clearly an extraordinary job. As your hero might stammer, the world is now an enworsened place because he's never been up to the job.

Enworsened isn't a word.

And when did I say the local rotary club guy should be president? A president is, by nature, a politician. And any politician that can organize well and surround himself with the right people will be successful regardless of his level of intellectual curiousity.

The fact of the matter is Bush isn't interested in appearing smart the way that Clinton or John Kerry are. Bush's entire political strategy is instead is based on appearing regular and "folksy." It's this lack of aspiration for their holy grail of intellectual superiority that people like a blinkin abhor and not any measure of Bush's real and actual intelligence. And while it sticks under liberals' skin, voters (as the election results have shown) love Bush's persona.

The most telling part of the 2004 election happened after all the votes were cast. It wasn't anything that had to do with policy or votes, either. Bush willingly released his college transcript from Yale to the media decades ago. It showed he got mostly Cs and Bs and the occasional D. John Kerry fought releasing his Yale transcript throughout the campaign and when the AP finally obtained it (after the election) via FOIA request it showed that this long-winded statesman, so fond of telling others how intelligent he really is got... pause for effect... C and Bs and the occasional D.

Now you tell me, which one of these men is more concerned about putting perception ahead of reality?

Bill:

I know "enworsened" is not a word. That puts me in a different category than your hero, who got a degree from Yale despie thinking "embetter" is a word. http://www.geocities.com/serenadetxwords/quotes/georgewbush.html

Do voters "love" W's regular guy persona? Some portion of the 51% who voted for him surely do. But that's not exactly Elvis stature.

----

Paulo:

Despite my considerable distaste for his politics, I believe that Reagan was extraordinary even accounting for his merely "normal" academic credentials. He truly connected with people, was an "ideas" guy, and a leader. Bush lacks all but the first characteristic I just listed. It's ok to have high expectations when it comes to picking a president.

As for executive skills, you're right, but only to a point. The manager of a Jiffy Lube is an executive, just as the CEO of Exxon is. You wouldn't suggest that this automatically means that the Jiffy Luber is fit to be CEO of Exxon. Or would you?

Bill..I really have to disagree...Bush is not loved for his persona. He was in the right place at the right time(9/11)to transfer peoples anger
and fears into support and votes. Plus as much as I dislike him, Karl Rove is good at what he does(spin)! I have heard many supporters of Bush here on the blog say he's a man's man. We could use a little less testosterone and more statesmanship. The axis of evil was a total mistake..It only alienated them more and has lead to Chavez saying he is the devil. Thats why are politics are so ugly right now. We have "not"
taken a higher road..but have gotten into a bar room brawl!

"I am a daily swamp reader,and you seem to be the only poster on here who is truly partisan all of the time.

John D..It is said "you canot understand others until you can understand yourself."

Posted by: Abdul Akeem | Sep 21, 2006 1:01:27 AM"

AA,
I would point out Bruce.

a blinkin,

I've been around the corporate world long enough to know this: the guy in the spacious corner office -- whose mahogany desk costs almost as much as the car I drive -- isn't a genius.

Yes, it takes a certain type of skill and savvy to be an executive, but not necessarily intellect. The people who can't say anything more than "Bush is dumb" are, well, just dumb.

I know that I can think of a few other more important things to complain about than his supposed lack of smarts, but that isn't even the point. The point is that his C-student, average guyness is wholly irrelevant.

And Bill is right, much of his mangled syntax folksiness is a put-on.

"George W. Bush isn't interested in appearing smart"
Posted by Bill

Bill,
The "Decider" doesn't have to worry about that,he is nothing more than sock puppet for his bosses Dick Cheney,and Donald Rumsfeld.

Bill,I just read a book about Dubya,his Yale cheerleader days were very interesting.
There are some from his Frat house who believe to this day that Dubya had Daddys hired "help" to get him to slide by at Yale,and avoid embarrassing George H.W.Bush.
They believe that it was "decided" not to have him do to well,or professors would become suspicious of the unquilified, legacy admitted young Dubya.

Abdul, if you think I am the most partisan poster, then I guess you have missed John E., raving loon, Jack, C Morris, Bill R and the rest of the haters of anything to the right of left.

As far as being an "arab hater." No, I am not an Arab hater. However, I will fully admit I do hate head-chopping, airplane flying into building pilots. They have attacked America and killed thousands of innocents. I put myself through watching a couple of innocent people plead for their lives, scream in pain and gurgle as their heads were being cut off. If you want to be disgusted at me toward my hatred for someone who would do that, then so be it.

And John E., your post that starts out Sniveling Little Johnny D., well all I can is say is, "Wow." Dude, you really need some help there. You are definitely more whacked out than I thought!!

Keep the slander and attacks up. All you're doing is enhancing Bush's persona. By saying his persona is "loved" I didn't mean to insinuate that everyone loves Bush. And he's not my hero. I voted for McCain. My meaning was that Bush did a better job of connecting with more voters with that persona than the schoolteacher/statesmen personae of Gore and Kerry. Those two largely lost the presidency because they couldn't turn the smug machine off and you seem to not recognize that.

I know it's anethema to you guys to give Bush any credit, but you should just admit it. You got beat by a better campaigner.

I know it's anethema to you guys to give Bush any credit, but you should just admit it. You got beat by a better campaigner.

Posted by: Bill | Sep 21, 2006 3:17:57 PM

Agreed. Bush was definitely a better campaigner than both Gore and Kerry and he deserves credit for that. But that's really damning him with faint praise, because even combined, those two have less charisma than a chunk of navel lint.

This one's for you, Bill R.

"We could use a little less testosterone and a little more statesmanship. The axis of evil was a total mistake..It only alienated them more and has lead to Chavez saying he is the devil."

I don't need to rebut your argument because you know who will do it for me? Nancy Pelosi!

"Hugo Chavez fancies himself a modern day Simon Bolivar but all he is an everyday thug," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said at a news conference, referring to Chavez' comments in a U.N. General Assembly speech on Wednesday.

"Hugo Chavez abused the privilege that he had, speaking at the United Nations," said Pelosi, a frequent Bush critic. "He demeaned himself and he demeaned Venezuela."

Thanks, Nance! Seems to me like you don't have to be a rightist to understand how obvious it is that Hugo Chavez is a power-hungry thug. The only people blind to this fact are far-left voters. Me and Nancy will call him what he is until he's mercifully run out of office.

It was right for Reagan to call the Soviet Union an Evil Empire. It was right for Reagan to demand they tear down the Berlin Wall and today it's right for Bush to call Iran and Korea what they are, evil. The U.S. has played lapdog to the Union for too long. Never again will we be attacked by terrorists and offer no response. From now on the US will call an evil an evil and carry a big stick.

First off, I agree that Bush is not interested in demonstrating superior intellect. Personally, I believe the President is a lot smarter than the general perception. Bush has proven quite often that you underestimate him at your own peril. Second, arguing that Kerry is a moron too just proves they're both idiots.

Bill said,

"I know it's anethema to you guys to give Bush any credit, but you should just admit it. You got beat by a better campaigner.

Posted by: Bill | Sep 21, 2006 3:17:57 PM"

Bill, John D, everyone,

I have posted many times a critique of the Kerry campaign. Here it is again.

Kerry campaign mistakes:

1. Swiftboat non response:
Kerry sould have IMMEDIATELY responded with a challenge of some sort. Perhaps a public face to face with one of these moral cowards. Hell, challenge one of them to a fist fight. Anything but silence for weeks! By the time he responded a critical few percentage points regarded Kerry as the coward and Bush as the war hero.

2. Beer with Bush or Kerry:
This 'poll' result was repeated over and over as proof that Bush was likable and Kerry unlikable. Never once did anyone point out that Bush can't have a beer and in fact, can't hold his likker. Kerry was the only candidate you could have had a beer with. Kerry should have challenged Bush to beer drinking contest.

3. Kerry,Flip Flopper:
Anyone could see 'talking point' written all over this one, yet like the Swiftboating, no response at all. Nobody on his staff could come up with the idea of having a 'Bush Flip Flop' of the week event?

4. McCaulif fired off all ammo on Bush's military record in like February! Even Kerry seemed to realize the stupidity of this move and tried to stay silent on it. Every one had to know an attack was coming on Kerry's military record, didn't they? But when the inevitable attack came, McCaulif, or whatever his name is, had already fired off all the ammo. It was all old news, used way too early to be effective. Stupid.

5. "I'm looking forward to the debate."
As soon as I heard Kerry utter these words, I knew he had learned nothing from the Gore or McCain debacles.

6. Last two weeks didn't even sound like he wanted it:
He was droopy and tired looking. Sounded apathetic and stunned. Even his already weak 'air punch' had devolved to the point he could barely make a fist. Hey, if you're going to punch the air, I say go with the full metal black power salute.

7. When Kerry was softballed a question on the Iraq war resolution, 'knowing what you know today would you still vote for the resolution', he said yes! You could even see on his face barely concealed disbelief at his very own words. The flip flop label that he had not effectively countered, had frozen him.

8. There's more, but my hands are tired.

PS re. Kerry campaign mistakes

8. There was some Democratic Party operative on all the talk shows prior to the first debate between Kerry and Bush, bragging about what a great debater Kerry was, and how he was going kick Bush in the debates!!??

Do I even have to explain that one!

So the Bushie's enjoy normal lives like the rest of us. I'm glad they behave like normal folks. The good folks to enjoy dinner with or enjoy movies with. Wow, I'm glad the Bushies don't consider themselves so highly than other folks: just a pair of good Ö'le country folks. Enjoy normal lives like the rest of us: GOD bless President George W.Bush and First Lady Laura W. Bush. GOD BLESS YOU TWO!hooah.............