The Boredom of George W. Bush

I read a thread here yesterday about a DKos diary in which the poster claimed that seeing Bush sit slouched in the stands at the Olympic opening ceremonies, tapping his little American flag on his knee while clearly bored out of his gourd, had finally convinced him not to vote Republican in 2008. Responses to this fell into two categories: 1) Great! Hope everyone else who saw it feels the same way! and 2) Jesus H. Christ, what a stupid fucking reason not to vote for someone!

I actually disagree with #2. "I'd like to have a beer with the guy" is a stupid fucking reason to vote for a presidential candidate. But that little clip of Bush at the Games actually does tell you a lot about why he has been such a total fucking disaster as a president.

On one of PJ's CDs there's a song called "Let's Think of Something To Do While We're Waiting." It was originally performed by Mr. Rogers on his TV show, and it's a jaunty little tune about all the things you can do to entertain yourself while you wait for whatever it is you're stuck waiting for. It's a good thing to teach young children, because they spend a lot of time waiting on the grown-ups, and they get bored very easily. But obviously, Mr. Rogers believed that with proper encouragement, kids could learn to keep themselves amused even in the absence of, say, video games.

Our president is apparently not developmentally ready to attempt this task. Think about this: he's at the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games, which are being held in Beijing, the heart of what they used to call "Red China," and what we now call "The Land Where Everything We Buy Or Sell Is Manufactured" or perhaps "That Nation-State Which Will Rule The Global Marketplace After Our Economy Finally Implodes For Good." This doesn't interest him? OK, well, let's give it to him that he's probably been to a lot of these ceremonies and maybe the ennui has just become too much. Still. A five year old in this situation might think, "OK, remember your Jedi training: what can I do while I'm waiting?" And that five year old would probably find something interesting in the crowd that he could look at, or see if he could count the number of flashbulbs popping, or try to figure out what some of the Chinese characters on a nearby sign might mean.

OK, Bush is not a five year old. But he is an adult who's president of the frickin' United States already. Since the ceremonies themselves are beneath his notice, well, he's got a little downtime, which must be a rare occurrence when you're holding that job. You would think that maybe there might be some little problem of governance, some foreign policy ponderable, some vital question that came up at the last Cabinet meeting that would be on his mind and that he might want to think over while he was watching. It might be useful, and and the expression of concentration might at least make him look like he was paying attention.

Nope. He's got nothing. There is nothing happening inside that brain. He's just bored, bored, bored, bored, bored at this boring, boring, BO-RINNNNNG ceremony. He's tried whining to people about wanting to go home and it hasn't worked, so he's just going to sit and stare into space and fidget around with whatever object is handy, which unfortunately in this case happens to be an American flag.

He cannot think of something to do while he's waiting. What's more, he doesn't care who knows it.

God I'll be glad when I don't have to see him on TV any more.

The Plaid Adder

I thought it was terrific that there were so many countries competing, and I loved seeing all the native outfits.

Only an asshole would be bored with such a spectacle. :P

anything that hasn't been about him these past 8 yrs. He really hasn't been the center of attention during the Olympics, not like he'd like too be, that is. And that probably causes him to be bored. Also, it is painfully obvious that he has the attention span of a five yr old.

:thumbsup:

All the qualities of a felon.

I want him incarcerated so f'n bad...:mad:

The only time he gets a lift is when he's bombing the life out of some defenseless country, even if it's only his own.

He just needed a few drinks. Looks like he got them later.

It certainly is good for relaxing overworked muscles.

all this, his reckless fiscal policies, unfair tax policies, nonexistent environmental policies, his shredding of the rule of law, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, international law, treaties and organizations, the separation of church and state, the three equal branches of government and his taking this nation to pre-emptive war, torture et al: none of this must mean a tinker's damn to these countless tens of millions whose only concern seems to be that his politics are right. I would say God help us, but then that would be blasphemous. :P

Recommended.

Japan had theirs a few decades ago when they were rolling in dough and it looked like they would buy up every high profile piece of real estate in the U.S.
And they fell on hard times and that passed and eventually collapsed.

And the high cost of fuel will effectively de-globalize world economies.
And we'll get back to local production/consumption.
The pendulum swingeth, and then it swingeth back.
Blessed be the name of the pendulum.
:-)

Going to adopt it for a while. Thanks!

<Full Disclosure>
Not original with me.
I read it somewhere recently.
But it sure as hell makes a lot of sense.
'Unintended consequences' and all that.
:-)

My ex-FiL was one of the architects of JIT inventory and logistics.

He realized that JIT was highly sensitive to transport costs, but did not think (I believe) that peak oil would occur in his lifetime.

He was wrong.

Information technology products would not be suceptible to such price constraints, but are sensitive to cultural/legal differences between customer and supplier in ways that we see daily in the wild world of outsourcing.

So I agree with you, that global capitalism is doomed to fail under higher fixed costs for transport. Now, if we were smart, we'd be doing franchise manufacturing for, where only specialized fabrication was done remotely, and assembly etc was local.

But I think things are going to be let to crash, while the so called captains of capitalism flee with their gettings while the getting is still, if not good, then at least profitable.

I think Murica is going to fall apart under the weight of economic collapse. Sharecropping is going to be the 21st centure growth industry.

& tapping the American flag on his knee like it was nothing more than a rolled-up event program that's already served its purpose is all about attitude. I can certainly base my vote on that, along with everything else I've learned about the pompousness of this pathetic man.

(I can't believe there were comments like, "what a stupid fucking reason not to vote for someone!" Short, short memories.

Bush had talked briefly to his "soul mate" Putin. He was abruptly cut short. ( Did Putin say "Go f--k yourself?", or So?.....)
He was simmering under that bored facade.
I compare the flag flapping against his knee to a cat switching it's tail just before it launches.
I saw Bush's body language as he turned away from Putin.

Body language is so revealing, isn't it?

and had the same interpretation. Putin's assertive body language clearly said, "You and whose Army?' Bush reacted as if he'd been slapped. So much for Dub's Soviet soul brother. That flag flapping was anger.

he's a child. he doesn't think america has any problems. he's sick. someone who never grew up and had the presidency of the united states given to him by his fucked up crime family. you put it so well. there's nothing there. it's a fucking tragedy for millions of people, but for him it's just boring. and i am dying to know: did he get drunk for real?

as were most people. There's plenty of shit to rag on Dubya for; I don't think this is a valid one.

You really summed it up well.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I'm with you. I will be sooo happy when I NEVER have to see that face again...

I've so closely associated him with a chimpanzee that whenever I see an old Tarzan movie or watch a nature show on primates, I'll have to deal with the trauma over and over again

oh, my eyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeessssss.......!!!!!!!!

:cry:

Dubya forms a baseball team of knuckleheaded players, who are so awful the only way they can win is by cheating.



("Oh no, not this shit again.")

Think of all the cocaine he has snorted, all the benders he's been on. I won't claim to be a prude about alcohol (although I drink very little) but when you do that many narcotics plus booze, you're bound to be missing a lot of brain cells.

It's also possible, according to some biographies of Bush, that his mother Granny Goodness (which will have great significance to DC Comics readers) psychologically abused the crap out of him. The one thing we know for sure is that he boozed and snorted a hell of a lot. And the effects of drug abuse include dull senses, impaired cognitive ability and blunted perception. Maybe he can't pay attention to anything when he's bored, unless it's shoved up his nose.

that "boredom" is the most common word from clients I heard in my 15 years as a drug and alcohol counselor.
There was no internal mechanism for self stimulation, it all had to come from outside, in addictive substances or addictive behaviors.
And low or high IQ had zip to do with addiction.
In fact, the hardest to treat were the "smart" ones.

Bush is not sober, with or without booze.

when and if he gets tried for his crimes

and I'd tape it and watch it over and over again

and laugh myself silly


And when new history books are printed with faces of presidents and the years they served, there should be a huge notation between 2000 and 2008 with the words, "Tried and convicted for war crimes" under his name.

.

God I'll be glad when I don't have to see him on TV any more.

I hope to see him on TV everyday for a long time in a prison jumpsuit as he stands trial for his crimes.

Other than that, right on, dude!

After all the lying (and forging) about Iraq, the invasion, the clusterfuck there afterwards, the torture, the illegal wiretapping, the Patriot Act and trashing of human rights, the handling of Katrina, the plunging of the US government into a debt it may never get out of, and so on, picking up on a sign he has zero curiosity in other people, 8 years too late, seems a little strange as the reason not to vote for his party.

Also, he's not up for election in 2008. Yeah, it says something about the Republicans that they put up such an ignorant bastard in the first place, but they got away with it twice. That says a lot about the electorate too:

http://www.command-post.org.nyud.net:8080/2004/2_archives/dailymirrordumb.jpg

The puling, vapid Bu$hboy's unbearable ennui: may it define the rest of his living days. I can think of no worse hell on earth.

for someone, I think what got people in a huff was that it was a pretty stupid reason to change one's mind 180 degrees.

I'm actually in agreement with both sides here

I do think it's absolutely great that someone would find something so disgusting about Bush (or his behavior) that s/he would be sorry for ever supporting him.

OTOH, I also find it somewhat disturbing that, over 4000 American troop deaths, and countless physical and emotional injuries later, all it took was some disrespect to a piece of cloth (albeit our National symbol) to make this person see him through a veil of disgust. Where was that disgust four years....eight years...ago?

If all it took to wash the gilt off the image was some American flag tapping and autographing, then I lament the fact that he didn't do it way before now and spare us all a whole lot of misery.

ceremonies puts the underline, metaphorically, to his 8 years of fronting for big corporate America and the military industrial complex. He's ruined the country, maybe for good, moved massive amount of money from the taxpayers into the hands of the few, his real "mission accomplished." Holding the U.S. flag wrong side out wrote an appropriate 'finis' to his 8 sorry years in the WH.

My 8 year old boy is so well behaved, and is able to wait on things quite well. Maybe he is a bit unusual, but I guarantee you, there are probably a helluva lot of 8 year old boys who are better behaved than the Boy King. He is a frickin' moron.

waiting for the "grown ups" to finish their BO-RING display of national pride.


Surely, they could have fit him with one of those famous earbuds and played him the audiobook if The Very Hungry Caterpillar, or perhaps My Pet Goat, to keep Boy George from squirming in his seat?


I'll bet he makes his Secret Service agents play "I Spy" with him in the limo as they drive around Beijing...

"I spy a pointy building, I spy a slanty-eyed guy, I spy.... Hey, when's lunch? I'm HUNGRY!!"

"Yes, Mr. President. Here are some Cheerios and we're having Sloppy Joes and Jello when we get back to the hotel!"

"Goody."


:crazy:

there were several things going through dubya's mind as he allowed his body to relax into that humiliating slouch...

1) oh look a shiny thing
2) was it wave the flag and beat the drums, or beat the flag and wave the drums... fucking flag is broken it wont beat
3) if you tap the flag real fast and relax your eyes it looks purple
4) oh a wish i were an oscar meyer weiner...
5) look how they store their children laborers in those cute colored boxes, wonder if they fit in overhead luggage, i could take one home
6) shouldn't all these people be making shoes or shirts
7) if i want to go out for chinese tonight, do i say chinese, or do i just say food?
8) this presidenting sure is hard, its not all just fun and bombs
9) this place looks like a Moe convention, look colored ribbons, where are the balloons
10) what to do about Georgia? if the russians take over Georgia, the entire south could fall...better tell Jeb to get out of Florida

Doodling, knitting, actually watching it and enjoying it.

exactly....he never was mentally capable to assume the office of president.

he acts like of several of the mentally retarded/intellectually disabled "clients" my wife takes care of.

crisis rapidly developing, one which, if not averted, could cause a major war in the world.

This man is bored with the trinket he bought--you know, the one we call the presidency. He lied, cheated, and stole to get it and it wasn't as much fun as he thought it would be.

stayed on vacation his entire first term, which is what he was trying to do, than have him try to act like he gives a damn about anything but himself. Gaud, the sight of that man makes me want to puke.