Do you think Bush is stupid or does he know what he's doing ?

Question

When Bush was first elected, everyone joked about how dumb and stupid he was, everyone made fun of him, dolls were made, even books with "bushisms" about his silly made up words. Ok, NOW everyone has changed their story to the fact that he FOOLED america into voting for him the first time, FOOLED america,along with everyone else in the world into thinking there were WMD, and the he CONNED america into voting for him a second time, etc. So my question is which do you think it is? If he actually fooled us so many times, the guy has got to be pretty smart. So is he smart or stupid?

BTW, I am a republican and may or may not disagree with our president. This question is aimed at all the anti-bush people who one day claimed he was stupid and then another day claimed he was smart enough to pull the wool over our eyes. I just wanted to know what the true feelings were. And I'm not being self righteous at all. I think he has made his mistakesand will probably go down in history for being the worst president ever. But I just wanted to know why everyone feels this way.

Answer 1

As an independent who tend to lean left on economic issues and more centrist on social issues (which means I would never in a million years vote for someone like Bush!), I've never thought that Bush was the sharpest knife in the set. To be honest, though, he seems mostly very sincere and straightforward in his convictions. Although I do not believe he is above telling the occasional lie to persuade people of his intended course of action (but what politician is?!), I do believe that at least *most* of the statements he's made about WMD, Iraq, the war on terror, etc. have been genuine, at least in his own eyes.

I'd be rather inclined to think of Bush not so much as the con artist, but more as one of the conned, with folks like Rove, Cheney, Ashcroft, etc. doing most of the conning. As much as I hate to say it, I'm not even sure if "stupid" is the right word for Bush -- although he does clearly have an EXTREMELY naive/simplistic view of the way the world works ("us vs. them", "black vs. white", "good vs. evil", etc.) and an inability to see many of the moral questions of our time as they are, in all of their splendid shades of gray. I believe it's that tendency, coupled with his stubborn refusal to listen to and dialogue with his opponents on even terms, that have caused the Bush presidency to become a tragic failure of historic proportions.

So, smart or stupid? I honestly have no idea -- sometimes the smart and idealistic (and Bush definitely is the latter!) can be conned and manipulated by folks smarter than themselves who are realists with definite and clear-cut agendas (which definitely fits Rove, Cheney, etc.), even more easily than can those who are just out-and-out foolish. I do agree with you that voices from the left have been somewhat guilty of talking out of both sides of their mouths on this topic. The truth, as is usually the case, is probably somewhere in between. :P

Answer 2

Question isn't loaded but "the asker" may well be!
The question is framed so as not to allow a differing opinion or give views other than the one questor states.
Bush is smart enough to have those not as smart try to prove how smart he is.
Those smarter than Bush are smarting under a ruling "coup" group who were smarter than they and more boodthirsty in the games of politics.
Bush is just luckier than the people who support him, as he will walk away with power prestige and glory while they play mindgames and think they matter in the scheme of things.

Answer 3

President Bush graduated from two top Universities, he was the governor of Texas and twice voted in as President of the United States. He is friendly, likes to joke and gives people nicknames. He seems to be very comfortable with himself and sticks to his convictions. On the other hand, there was Slick Willy who was immoral, a liar, demonstrated against the US, even tried to steal things out of the White House on his way out the door. He had information about terrorists (UBL) and even after several attacks on American citizens, (the USS Cole, the American embassy and the first attack on the World Trade Center) he did nothing concerning the safety of American citizens or America! and the list goes on and on and on!!! He "FOOLED" America into voting for him twice. What makes you so sure there were no WMD's? Because you didn't see them? Did you honestly think they would be sitting in a big pile in the middle of the dessert with WMD stamped on the sides of barrels full of poisons? Jim Jones killed almost 1,000 people with little viles of cianide poured into kool-aid. Kind of like the way floride is put in our drinking water. And what are the terrorists using for arms and explosives over there? One man with 1,000 bullets can be a WMD if each bullet finds it's mark. No, we weren't "CONNED" into voting for him. It is called "making an intellegent decision" and luckily, we made it twice. You are right about one thing though---he is pretty smart!!!

Answer 4

Mr. bush has every single idea how his men and his
puppet-government does..the word politics has been dismantled by this maniac...long ago his father tried to do that..and now the remaining is completed by him..
well not to forget that US is one of the powerful country on this earth and MR.BUSH has done a lot... in fact he took a step ahead to combat terrorism....which was later supposed to be something else...we all know it.
so answering thw Q..the guy is a smart fool....he claimed that any smart person can be fool....

Answer 5

Even if people do not view him as a man of wisdom, they are nevertheless aware that he has access to information that the rest of us are just not in a position to have.
He also has a bevy of advisors and can get advice from think tanks at home, as well as information from allies abroad.
The critics say he and his inner circle failed to take many diverging viewpoints into consideration.

Answer 6

The guy has made some mistakes along the way. He admitted to them. With a two party system there are going to be people who disagree with him and people who do. He might have made some blunders on his speeches because he wanted to be more like president Ronald Regan in his presentation after all president Regan was like by people in both parties (not all)!! That wasn't who he was and you could see it because of his blunders. However his last two speeches you seen him be himself and the results little to no blunders.
Making mistakes doesn't make him stupid it makes him human.

Answer 7

When u say 'fooled america along with evryone else in the world' tht absolutely crap! They did nt all fool Russia, China, france, Germany........ Maybe u dont remember tht thy went in without he support of the UN. .....and the answer to ur question: Yes he is stupid.

Answer 8

Bush is not as dumb as he likes people to think he is. I reckon he had his initial plan for Iraq before he was even elected. I agree that sodom insane had to go, but he should stop taking such a soft approach to insurgents. Casualties happen in war, it still beats living under saddam. I think Bush is smart, but if he is dumb, what does that say for the country that elected him

Answer 9

He claims that God tells him what to do, wait, no, he does what his generals tell him to do...wait, then he fires them if they dont agree with him and then hires ones that do, he cant speak a full sentence without creating some type of "Bushism"...Nah, he's not Dumb, he is DUBYA!!!! God, thank you for telling me to vote against him both times!!!

Answer 10

I don't think that anybody ascends to the office of president by being stupid. Fooled, conned? Active imaginations run wild. And they say he is a poor loser.