Re: White House spins "The Commander Guy"

"Jack Hollis" <xsleeper@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:mc8q335tluvhbgg8h0036lulvlqu8loi1h@xxxxxxxxxx
On Sat, 5 May 2007 19:10:16 -0400, "\"R&B\""
<noneofyourbusiness@xxxxxxx> wrote:

But just to enlighten you -- the subject was whether an inability to
master
the language sufficiently to display an ability to be articulate is an
indication of intelligence, or lack thereof. I've found that there's a
correlation. In general, I've found that people who lack the ability to
string words together to form cogent thoughts are, in almost all cases,
less
intelligent than those who can.


It's a complex issue. It's very easy to seem smarter than you are if
you're both a good speaker and well prepared. Then it's a matter of
good delivery rather than sharp wit. Politicians may not be reading
from a TelePrompTer, but they're often reading a script from memory.


I'm not talking about when the president is reading from a script. Anyone
can seem intelligent when they're reading from a script. Even some
bubble-headed anchor or reporter, as many have pointed out here.

But when the president goes out on his own, without a script, even his
handlers cringe over justifiable concerns about what might spill out of his
mouth.

If this were a once-in-a-blue-moon occurance, I'd be the first to give him a
pass. Heck, anybody -- even the most intelligent person in the world (which
he clearly is not) can misspeak occasionally. But this president is an
embarrassment to the education system in our country. It seems that every
time he opens his mouth without a script, he mangles the language and makes
some boneheaded remark that ends up on comedy shows. Letterman's producers
find a new example for the show's "Great Moments in Presidential Speeches"
feature every weeknight. And You Tube is full of example of this guy's
consistent mistakes that just make him look like the moron he is.

He makes Dan Quayle seem like a freakin' Rhode's Scholar by comparison.


Conversely, it's possible to be very bright and not be able to speak
well. You have to remember that speech is both a motor and an
intellectual activity and in some cases a persons mouth can't keep up
with their brain. Difficulties with the motor aspects of speech range
from minor problems, that are hardly noticeable, to severe deficits.


Nice thesis. But I would challenge you to point to any people known to us
all who are universally acknowledged as "smart" who mangle the language the
way this president does on an almost every day basis. I doubt if you'll be
able to name a single one.

Moreover, if an ability to communicate with clarity isn't a central
requirement for the leader of the free world, what the hell is?


For some people, public seeking is an anxiety provoking event. Richard
Nixon comes to mind.


Richard Nixon, for all his faults, was never a bumbling fool when speaking
publically. He may have made a lot of bad decisions, but no one in their
right mind would ever call him an idiot.


It's hard to be eloquent when your anxious.


You mean, when YOU'RE anxious.


Nixon was about as smart as they come, but he never came off well as a
speaker.


He never came off as a bumbling idiot who was incapable of forming complete
sentences either. Bush is.


LBJ also wasn't much of a public speaker and no one doubts
LBJ's intelligence.


LBJ was a lot of things, and many of them not good. But no one ever saw him
make some of the ridiculous comments and mangling the language the way Bush
does.


One of the reasons that LBD didn't seem so bright
is because he spoke painfully slow when he delivered speeches and that
thick Texas accent didn't help.


Only people north of the Mason-Dixon line would associate a southern (or
Texas) twang with a lack of intelligence. LBJ never embarrassed himself by
talking like an uneducated fool the way Bush does.


Randy


.

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