Well, given the choice...

No, scrap it, this is just to much a waste of time.  My guy's smarter than your guy...

maybe I find this more interesting because being in political science and sociology classes at a university, there is frequent debate about Bush's qualifications.  This article reminds me of how all of the bleeding-heart liberals would argue that Kerry is smarter than Bush only because of Bush's grades in college. 

Meanwhile, Bush did better on his SATs than most of the people who go to college....he got a 1240 I believe. 

OMG!!!! Does anyone even stop to think that they are arguing about how stupid BOTH presidential candidates were? ;D

Heck, there are probably millions of people in your country that have higher SAT scores, that failed fewer classes in college, that are 100 times smarter than ANY presidential candidate could ever dream to be. But does that make them a good leader?

Oh, the whole image of Bush being stupid was just something created by comedians to make fun of. They gotta make a living too, ya know. Of course it isn't entirely true.

It probably stems more from how ignorant he seems on issues and how often he mis-speaks in public(come on, the number of times he's done that has to have made you question his intelligence at least occasionally). And it also probably stems from the fact that before running for the Texas governorship in 1994, he hadn't accomplished anything noteworthy in his professional life that wasn't a result of his family's vast fortune and influence.

I'd say the whole "Bush is stupid" thing started in the 2000 presidential campaign when he couldn't name the president of Pakistan.

But really though, when you listen to dubya read out speeches that others have written for him in his dull monotone drawl, you do get the impression that there isn't anybody home and that he isn't the one in charge of the current administration. It really does leave you with the feeling that it's his advisors behind the scenes who are the ones calling the shots in his presidency, and that he's just their puppet.

Anyone who judged me by my high school grades would conclude I was a blooming idiot.  A lot of my college grades were pretty p*ss poor too.  For one reason or other, some people who are very smart don't perform well academically.  For me, it was clinical depression.  It was always terribly frustrating for me to see dullards make honors wile I struggled just to keep off academic probation.
Then there are people who are adroit at academics who are otherwise terminally dull, imperceptive, and not at all curious about anything unless it has to do with getting a grade.
Even if Dubya made straight A's all the way through, it would make no difference to me if he behaved the same as he does today.  Dubya doesn't care about the world or anybody who lives in it, except himself and his rich pals.

Anyone who judged me by my high school grades would conclude I was a blooming idiot.  A lot of my college grades were pretty p*ss poor too.  For one reason or other, some people who are very smart don't perform well academically.  For me, it was clinical depression.  It was always terribly frustrating for me to see dullards make honors wile I struggled just to keep off academic probation.
Then there are people who are adroit at academics who are otherwise terminally dull, imperceptive, and not at all curious about anything unless it has to do with getting a grade.

I can sort-of relate. I am very capable of getting good grades; lately I've just been taking a lot of very tough classes. I was majoring in Computer Science, but when I reached the upper division courses a year ago, I was struggling in each and every single one of my classes. So the following semester I only took two lecture classes (one of which I struggled in since day 1, mostly due to the professor; thank god that was only an elective class), and the semester after that (which was the most recently concluded semester, Spring '05), I took a physics course which I miraculously passed with a C minus, and an upper division math course which had tough HW assignments. Which gave me second thoughts about wanting to become a math major (which I had considered a year or so ago). So I decided on liberal studies...which I plan to change to within the next couple weeks.

Even if Dubya made straight A's all the way through, it would make no difference to me if he behaved the same as he does today.  Dubya doesn't care about the world or anybody who lives in it, except himself and his rich pals.

I agree. ;) ::)

maybe I find this more interesting because being in political science and sociology classes at a university, there is frequent debate about Bush's qualifications.  This article reminds me of how all of the bleeding-heart liberals would argue that Kerry is smarter than Bush only because of Bush's grades in college. 

Meanwhile, Bush did better on his SATs than most of the people who go to college....he got a 1240 I believe. 


dang... that's what I got.  Boy that doesn't make me feel any brighter!

Notice the part about the Switft Boat Veterans claims were totally refuted by the release of these documents?  I guess that's not as interesting as a bad freshman year at an Ivy League school.  The valedictorian of my graduating class in high school (1590 SATs) went to Yale and had several C's his first semester (so I was told, I lost touch with him after high school).  It's not a surprise anyone does poorly their first semester.  Bush was a legacy though, he'd get a C no matter what his grades.

dang... that's what I got.  Boy that doesn't make me feel any brighter!

Notice the part about the Switft Boat Veterans claims were totally refuted by the release of these documents?  I guess that's not as interesting as a bad freshman year at an Ivy League school.  The valedictorian of my graduating class in high school (1590 SATs) went to Yale and had several C's his first semester (so I was told, I lost touch with him after high school).  It's not a surprise anyone does poorly their first semester.  Bush was a legacy though, he'd get a C no matter what his grades.


I believe the article states that both Bush and Kerrys grades went up after their freshman year. 

Remember, Cheney flunked out of Yale, but he wasn't a legacy case like Georgie Boy, he was just a bumpkin from Wyoming.  I would never say Cheney's stupid, Cheney is brilliant....and eeeeevilllll!

"That's why I went to Congress last September and propsed fundamental, supplemental funding which is money for armor and body parts."--George W. Bush, September 4, 2004


Yeah, sure the Chimp is smarter than Kerry.

"That's why I went to Congress last September and propsed fundamental, supplemental funding which is money for armor and body parts."--George W. Bush, September 4, 2004


Yeah, sure the Chimp is smarter than Kerry.


Too bad he never carried through on the parts of that statement that he didn't flub.  Body parts?  I'm sure there's plenty of GI's coming home who wouldn't mind a few replacements of those, maybe Bush made a Fruedian slip there.

Too bad he never carried through on the parts of that statement that he didn't flub.  Body parts?  I'm sure there's plenty of GI's coming home who wouldn't mind a few replacements of those, maybe Bush made a Fruedian slip there.


Yes, sometimes slips of the tongue, or in Lil' Georgie's case trips over the tongue, reveal the truth.

But all this talk about grades is just silly.  In my 26+ years of college teaching, and my own and peers' experiences, freshman year can be a bit**, especially if you live on campus, or get into the frat/sor crowd, or think you know it all (as I did).  Beyond that, I have know many very bright students, well read and thoughful, who had trouble applying themselves, or had trouble with specific subjects (math for me - if the bank tells me I have more money in my checking account than I think I have, I call my account balanced).  I'm not into "learning theory" but it is very clear that grades are no reflection of intelligance.

That said, Lil' Georgie has got to be the least intrelligent president we have ever had.  Not because he is "retarded" (I hate that word) but because (I suspect) he is just plain lazy.  Presidents going back as far as I can remember (and I vaguely remember Eisenhower) were avid readers, and some were writers.  Meanwhile, Lil' Georgie reads no newspapers, AND BRAGS ABOUT IT.  IQ tests, SAT's, ACT's do not measure intelligence (even though the IQ test claims to).  All, in 1 way or another, measure what people know, not their ABILITY to know (including curiosity).  In that contest I could name at least 10 dem leaders who stand head and shoulders above our anti-intellectual (but very cunning) president.  But then, this has always been one of the most anti-intellectual of the supposed "enlightened" nations.

dang... that's what I got.  Boy that doesn't make me feel any brighter!


Bush is currently 58, so he took the SAT's probably before you did, when they were harder.

On top of that, Bush was drunk when he took his SAT's.

On top of that, Bush was drunk when he took his SAT's.

Kerry helped Jane Fonda prep for her SAT's!
:D

I shall reiterate something to which I alluded previously.  Dubya's problem is NOT mental dullness of the Dan Quayle variety.  Bush CAN be smart if he wants to.  The problem is he doesn't want to.  He is self-satisfied, narrow-minded, and loutish.  He is a frat boy-type, willfully ignorant and not curious about the world around him.  Like Ronald Reagan, his ego is grandiose.  He wants to bask in glory rather than plug away at dry policy matters.  Like the Gipper, he prefers religious zealotry because it provides simplistic answers to complex questions.  A reasonable person would conclude a man of this character is a terrible choice to lead the world's most powerful country.  However, the corporate bosses delight at what makes a thinking man recoil in horror.

The wisenheimers at the National Review picked on Kerry's ponderous demeanor.  Right-wing pundits compared Kerry to a French philosopher and to Hamlet.  Don't you notice a commonality among Democratic presidential candidates?  Jimmy Carter,* Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis, and John Kerry all had the furrowed brow of an intellectual wonk.  Clinton was the only one who had the angst-free charisma Americans have come to require of presidents, and he was the only one to take the oath of office, not once but twice.  The Right has exploited the American love for the football hero and the Lone Ranger.  Both archetypes give the illusion of rectitude and security, but neither is qualified to manage national affairs.  But the Right intends corporate bosses to manage national affairs behind the scenes and the president to give the illusion.  It all works out.  Dubya is great at being the football hero and the Lone Ranger, but his obtuse personality requires much more struggle on the part of the truth-makers to keep him in national favor.  Ronald Reagan was a natural with the gift of the gab, Bush is not!

*Carter beat Ford in '76 because Ford was tainted with the fall-out of Watergate and his pardoning of Nixon.  Ford was only president for about fourteen months before the campaigns heat up and never got a chance to really establish himself.  The funny thing is, Ford really was a great football hero in his college days.  However, he was tarred with the image of the bumbling fool.