President Genius enrages Poland

[Whag]

I don't consider Romney to be literally evil, it was an expression. With politicians you are always going to have them have a few areas where you disagree on policy, and I disagree with Romney far less than Obama. Plus don't most people think of politicians as "evil"()? In all seriousness, Obama's policies are the opposite of what this country needs(IMO), and Romney is much closer to my values, but neither is that great.

I know you didn't mean Romney and Obama are literally evil. I just want to know what you think Romney's big problem is. Why is he such a bad public servant, though slightly less bad than Obama?

[Cerebrum123]

I know you didn't mean Romney and Obama are literally evil. I just want to know what you think Romney's big problem is. Why is he such a bad public servant, though slightly less bad than Obama?

I would need to take a closer look at all of his policies before I could name a single "big issue", but for the present, I'm just not very trusting of any politicians of either side. I haven't been following too much on the political stuff lately, and I need to get back to doing that. So, how about I get back to you with an answer on this one later, ok?

[One Bad Pig]

Funny how the left had no trouble nominating an effete mega-millionaire to run against Bush. At least Romney worked for his money donating any inheritance to charity. Kerry, OTOH, was rich solely through inheritance and marriage.

Funny how the left spends so much effort castigating Bush as stupid when Kerry got worse grades in college (alGore was no intellectual giant either) - and that's no right-wing rag I'm linking to.

[Nathan Poe]

Too busy giving cheap, tacky gifts to the Queen of England and bowing to every world leader But hey both are better than George H.W. Bush who so infamously threw up at a banquet hosted by the Prime Minister of Japan

Sushi has the same effect on me.

[Cerebrum123]

Funny how the left spends so much effort castigating Bush as stupid when Kerry got worse grades in college (alGore was no intellectual giant either) - and that's no right-wing rag I'm linking to.

Actually, didn't Bush do better than Obama in college as well? I'm not 100% on that one, and it could have been propaganda, but I seem to remember that it was either Bush did better, or Obama didn't do much better.

[Nathan Poe]

Actually, didn't Bush do better than Obama in college as well? I'm not 100% on that one, and it could have been propaganda, but I seem to remember that it was either Bush did better, or Obama didn't do much better.

Funny, I thought college was one of those things that only librul eleets cared about -- funny how it's suddenly a yardstick for greatness.

Actually, it wouldn't surprise me. David Brooks described Dubya as being "about 60 IQ points smarter in private than he was in public." [insert obligatory "that just brings him up to 120!" joke here].

According to Brooks, Bush plays stupid because he "doesn't want anybody to think he's smarter than they are." [insert obligatory "mission accomplished!" joke here]

let's assume that this is truth, and not spin -- why do you suppose it was so important for the leader of the free world that people not see him as "smarter than they are"?

[Cerebrum123]

Funny, I thought college was one of those things that only librul eleets cared about -- funny how it's suddenly a yardstick for greatness.

Actually, it wouldn't surprise me. David Brooks described Dubya as being "about 60 IQ points smarter in private than he was in public." [insert obligatory "that just brings him up to 120!" joke here].

According to Brooks, Bush plays stupid because he "doesn't want anybody to think he's smarter than they are." [insert obligatory "mission accomplished!" joke here]

let's assume that this is truth, and not spin -- why do you suppose it was so important for the leader of the free world that people not see him as "smarter than they are"?

That's actually an interesting question. Maybe he has a problem with making people who aren't as intelligent as he is feel uncomfortable? Or maybe if people around the world thought of him as dumb, then they would be truly underestimating him if there ever was some kind of conflict? Unless he gave an answer, it would still all be speculation though.

[rogue06]

Funny how the left spends so much effort castigating Bush as stupid when Kerry got worse grades in college (alGore was no intellectual giant either) - and that's no right-wing rag I'm linking to.

A friend of mine worked as a Senate staffer for both Democrats and Republicans from the south (back when it was hard to tell them apart). He had a very low opinion of Kerry saying he was like that one dumb kid in the class who after everyone else comprehended what was going on would ask the teacher to go over the subject again because he still didn't get it. He said being on a committee that Kerry was also on was excruciating as he insisted on everything being explained to him over and over again.

[rogue06]

Actually, it wouldn't surprise me. David Brooks described Dubya as being "about 60 IQ points smarter in private than he was in public." [insert obligatory "that just brings him up to 120!" joke here].

According to Brooks, Bush plays stupid because he "doesn't want anybody to think he's smarter than they are."

I've heard that he deliberately mispronounced "nuclear" so as to sound more like one of the guys and not too intellectual but don't know if that was true or not

[Nathan Poe]

That's actually an interesting question. Maybe he has a problem with making people who aren't as intelligent as he is feel uncomfortable?

I think it's more or less a given that being around the President of the United States is going to make a person feel more than a little self-conscious. I would think if he really were an idiot, that wouldn't be very reassuring. So there is, I suppose, a sort of logic in the "I'm not a moron, but I play one on TV, approach."

Or maybe if people around the world thought of him as dumb, then they would be truly underestimating him if there ever was some kind of conflict?

The problem there is that it encourages conflict -- feign weakness, and you will be attacked. Go the other way -- make people think you're stronger and smarter than you are -- and people are less likely to mess with you in the first place.

Unless he gave an answer, it would still all be speculation though.

Nothing wrong with a little good-natured speculation.

[Whag]

I've heard that he deliberately mispronounced "nuclear" so as to sound more like one of the guys and not too intellectual but don't know if that was true or not

Great tactic. Deliberately sound like a dope so as not to be confused with non dopes.

[rogue06]

Great tactic. Deliberately sound like a dope so as not to be confused with non dopes.

He wouldn't have been the first politician to dumb things down and do things solely to sound/act like an average Joe that you can relate to.

[Cerebrum123]

I think it's more or less a given that being around the President of the United States is going to make a person feel more than a little self-conscious. I would think if he really were an idiot, that wouldn't be very reassuring. So there is, I suppose, a sort of logic in the "I'm not a moron, but I play one on TV, approach."

rogue's post seems to lean in the direction of this one.

The problem there is that it encourages conflict -- feign weakness, and you will be attacked. Go the other way -- make people think you're stronger and smarter than you are -- and people are less likely to mess with you in the first place.

Not always, it could just make the other person think that they would be wasting their time with you, and I give my example here.

Psalm 34:1
[ Psalm 34 ] Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left. I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.

David pretended to be insane in front of one of his enemies, and they considered it to just not be worth it to kill him. I can't seem to find the other passage that talks about this, but I will keep looking for it if you want me to.

Nothing wrong with a little good-natured speculation.

No, but if you start making decisions based purely on speculation, with no supporting evidence, well, then things get tricky.

[Nathan Poe]

He wouldn't have been the first politician to dumb things down and do things solely to sound/act like an average Joe that you can relate to.

Would he be the first to be a little too good at it, coming off more like a subaverage Joe?

[Nathan Poe]

rogue's post seems to lean in the direction of this one.

I'll go with that for now.

Not always, it could just make the other person think that they would be wasting their time with you, and I give my example here.

Psalm 34:1
[ Psalm 34 ] Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left. I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.

David pretended to be insane in front of one of his enemies, and they considered it to just not be worth it to kill him. I can't seem to find the other passage that talks about this, but I will keep looking for it if you want me to.

I'm just curious as to which of the US's enemies would consider us to be "not worth their time."

I suppose in the sense of "ah, just leave them alone; they'll fall apart on their own soon enough," it makes for an interesting strategy -- but again, there is such a thing as being a little too good at it -- as our economic freefall shows.

No, but if you start making decisions based purely on speculation, with no supporting evidence, well, then things get tricky.

Ah, but neither of us are making any particularly earth-shaking decisions, are we?