A very good article in the New Yorker about Al Gore. The author spent some time with him, and got his opinion on a variety of subjects. Gore questions Bush's fitness to be president--not because Bush is stupid, but because his is not nuanced and is incurious and a bully:
“I’m not of the school that questions his intelligence,” Gore went on. “There are different kinds of intelligence, and it’s arrogant for a person with one kind of intelligence to question someone with another kind. He certainly is a master at some things, and he has a following. He seeks strength in simplicity. But, in today’s world, that’s often a problem. I don’t think that he’s weak intellectually. I think that he is incurious. It’s astonishing to me that he’d spend an hour with his incoming Secretary of the Treasury and not ask him a single question. But I think his weakness is a moral weakness. I think he is a bully, and, like all bullies, he’s a coward when confronted with a force that he’s fearful of. His reaction to the extravagant and unbelievably selfish wish list of the wealthy interest groups that put him in the White House is obsequious. The degree of obsequiousness that is involved in saying ‘yes, yes, yes, yes, yes’ to whatever these people want, no matter the damage and harm done to the nation as a whole—that can come only from genuine moral cowardice. I don’t see any other explanation for it, because it’s not a question of principle. The only common denominator is each of the groups has a lot of money that they’re willing to put in service to his political fortunes and their ferocious and unyielding pursuit of public policies that benefit them at the expense of the nation.”
Gore also questions Bush's vision for foriegn policy, positing the Iraq war as a dumb war:
“I think Bush put forward a counterfeit large vision,” Gore said. “The war in Iraq was postured as a big idea. Well, it was a big dumb idea. And, again, I don’t think he’s dumb, but I think that idea is dumb.”
I agree completely with Gore's assesment of Bush's intelligence, but I would also add that to those who are used to a different type of intelligence, the President's unnuanced view of the world is particularly grating. I agree that engaging Iraq while we were busy in Afganistan was a dumb idea. We only have so many troops and there have to be a certain number in each kplace for them to be effective at what they do.
I think that is something that really gets on my nerves about Bush. Here he is at the RNC, honoring those in the armed forces, thanking them for their help in the "war" against terror, but he doesn't have enough men on the feild to win. It is like playing 4 on 5 in basketball. Yes, you can win with 4 players, but your opponent has to be particularly inept and unorganized. That may have been true initially in Iraq, but it seems that the insurgents have quite a few players on the bench, and our subs are few and far between. They are finding our weeknesses and planting themselves in the key and keep bothering us with their layups. Meanwhile, we're shooting 3s with tough defence waving their arms in our face. It is going to be a long game.
“I’m not of the school that questions his intelligence,” Gore went on. “There are different kinds of intelligence, and it’s arrogant for a person with one kind of intelligence to question someone with another kind. He certainly is a master at some things, and he has a following. He seeks strength in simplicity. But, in today’s world, that’s often a problem. I don’t think that he’s weak intellectually. I think that he is incurious. It’s astonishing to me that he’d spend an hour with his incoming Secretary of the Treasury and not ask him a single question. But I think his weakness is a moral weakness. I think he is a bully, and, like all bullies, he’s a coward when confronted with a force that he’s fearful of. His reaction to the extravagant and unbelievably selfish wish list of the wealthy interest groups that put him in the White House is obsequious. The degree of obsequiousness that is involved in saying ‘yes, yes, yes, yes, yes’ to whatever these people want, no matter the damage and harm done to the nation as a whole—that can come only from genuine moral cowardice. I don’t see any other explanation for it, because it’s not a question of principle. The only common denominator is each of the groups has a lot of money that they’re willing to put in service to his political fortunes and their ferocious and unyielding pursuit of public policies that benefit them at the expense of the nation.”
Gore also questions Bush's vision for foriegn policy, positing the Iraq war as a dumb war:
“I think Bush put forward a counterfeit large vision,” Gore said. “The war in Iraq was postured as a big idea. Well, it was a big dumb idea. And, again, I don’t think he’s dumb, but I think that idea is dumb.”
I agree completely with Gore's assesment of Bush's intelligence, but I would also add that to those who are used to a different type of intelligence, the President's unnuanced view of the world is particularly grating. I agree that engaging Iraq while we were busy in Afganistan was a dumb idea. We only have so many troops and there have to be a certain number in each kplace for them to be effective at what they do.
I think that is something that really gets on my nerves about Bush. Here he is at the RNC, honoring those in the armed forces, thanking them for their help in the "war" against terror, but he doesn't have enough men on the feild to win. It is like playing 4 on 5 in basketball. Yes, you can win with 4 players, but your opponent has to be particularly inept and unorganized. That may have been true initially in Iraq, but it seems that the insurgents have quite a few players on the bench, and our subs are few and far between. They are finding our weeknesses and planting themselves in the key and keep bothering us with their layups. Meanwhile, we're shooting 3s with tough defence waving their arms in our face. It is going to be a long game.
posted by Amanda at 8:48 AM
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