August 29, 2006
The Crafty Patriot
Just when you thought the rats were about to go down with the ship, Rumsfeld and Rove have resurfaced, and seem to be in the swim again with renewed vigor..
They're revamping the Bush android facade into that of an intellectual bookworm. No project is too monumental for these guys.
Driving the public-relations offensive is a newfound desire to boost perceptions of the president's intellectual prowess. U.S. News’ Walsh wrote that “portraying Bush as a voracious reader is part of an ongoing White House campaign to restore what a senior adviser calls ‘gravitas’ to the Bush persona.” It's not an unreasonable goal. When MSNBC's Joe Scarborough did a 10-minute segment on the president’s dimwittedness two weeks ago, with an all-caps “Is Bush An ‘Idiot’?” caption along the bottom of the screen, it reinforced the fact that the president's lack of intellectual depth undermines his credibility.intellectual bookworm
And what have his advisors chosen for him. A little existential novel that's right up his alley, "The Stranger" by Albert Camus. Two of the central themes in "The Stranger" are the meaninglessness of human life , and the importance of the physical world . ("The Stranger shows Meursault to be interested far more in the physical aspects of the world around him than in its social or emotional aspects. This focus on the sensate world results from the novel’s assertion that there exists no higher meaning or order to human life. Throughout The Stranger, Meursault’s attention centers on his own body, on his physical relationship with Marie, on the weather, and on other physical elements of his surroundings. ")
Wonder if he's reading any Noam Chomsky?
But enough of this political commentary, wouldn't we all rather watch watch the JonBenet case.
Photo note: An antenna cozy. For those of you who would like to undertake such a project, the pattern can be found here in the patriotic crochet pattern section, along with patriotic toaster and can opener covers.
Synchronicity watch: Look what I ran across googling Bush + intellectual -- and just when I have resigned from the Sprinkle Brigade too.
Posted by Dakota at August 29, 2006 01:17 PM