Hatrack River Forum: An interesting comparison with Pres. Bush I came up with

This is topic An interesting comparison with Pres. Bush I came up with in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :

Watching the Dateline interview with President Bush last Saturday, my family and I had to laugh when we saw the part with Laura Bush. I can't for the life of me quote exactly what she said, but she pretty well alluded to the fact that she knew her husband wasn't the greatest speaker in the world. My dad (who I inherited my sense of humor from) and I just rolled over laughing over it.

I'm not a big fan of George Bush. At all. I don't agree with his policy with Iraq or anywhere else in the world for that matter.

However I do believe that he was a better option than Gore in '00. I applaud his initial reaction to 911 for the first days and weeks afterward, and think it showed some real strength of character. As I was watching this Dateline interview, he said "I'm not trying to be popular, I'm just trying to do what's right". I have no doubt that he believed that.

Well, I saw this interview after seeing the third Harry Potter movie, and the two are melding together in my mind as we speak, believe it or not.

President Bush on Dateline seemed to be on the defensive simply because he was trying to grasp for the right words. I was strongly reminded of how Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix dismissed Hagrid as a complete idiot just because he would get flustered trying to answer leading questions.

Hagrids own friends--harry and the crew--tend to dismiss him rather like Laura Bush did--"well, he's a bit out there, but it just makes me love him all the more". I don't think that's the right attitude to take, because it still seems to be dismissing him as an idiot.

Hagrid knows a whole heck of a lot about animals. George Bush is well-read and educated. Neither of them hold up very well against their personal Umbridges, but that doesn't mean they're hiding something or they don't have a brain.

The moral of this long, overly-winding, not-much-point-having post?

We should all write in Rubeus Hagrid in the November '04 ballot.

No, that wouldn't work--He's British.

PS--I'm neither a Bushite or a Kerryite...I'm a moderate who is trying to see the good in everyone.

[ June 07, 2004, 11:52 PM: Message edited by: sarcasticmuppet ]

Posted by Lalo (Member # 3772) on :

quote:
However I do believe that he was a better option than Gore in '00.

Out of interest, could you list the no doubt many reasons you have for believing this?

quote:
I applaud his initial reaction to 911 for the first days and weeks afterward, and think it showed some real strength of character.

And heh, for this, could you list what he did after 9/11 that "showed some real strength of character"?

Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :

Lalo, be nice.

Posted by Jalapenoman (Member # 6575) on :

Hagrid for President?

Does this mean we get Fluffy for SecDef?

Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :

"George Bush is well-read and educated."

Um. No.
He may in fact be intelligent, but he is NOT particularly well-read and is only barely educated.

Posted by Ayelar (Member # 183) on :

How is that not being nice, mph? I'm also curious to hear why Bush was certainly the better choice in 2000, knowing what we know now about what he would get us into....

Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :

It wasn't nice because sarcasticmuppet was not trying to debate the merits/flaws of Bush. She was just sharing in interesting parallel that she noticed -- flustered Bush and flustered Hagrid.

She only shared her personal views to show that she was neither fanatic for or against Bush.

And what does Lalo do? He ignores what her post was actually about and attacks some minor opinion points of hers.

For example, she said "I...think it showed some real strength of character."

Does she have to document an opinion of hers? No, and it was mean for Lalo to be all snarky and insist that she do so.

And it was snarky.

And that is how Lalo was mean/rude.

[ June 08, 2004, 11:39 AM: Message edited by: mr_porteiro_head ]

Posted by Ayelar (Member # 183) on :

mph, nowhere in her post does sm say that she's not interested in questions or other points of view. She laid out several several opinions regarding American politics, apparently wanting us to discuss them (she did start this thread topic in a discussion forum, after all).

Lalo's response was two simple questions that, while they contained a hint of sarcasm, weren't particularly snarky. Her post seems to invite such questions.

If anything, mph, I think you're the one overreacting by accusing Lalo of "being rude" and "attacking" before he ever actually does anything rude or aggressive.

Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :

Well, I didn't accuse him of "attacking" or being "rude" until you specifically asked me why I gave Lalo a gentle rebuke. I don't think "Lalo, be nice." was over-reacting.

Posted by BrianM (Member # 5918) on :

Bush Jr. achieved mediocre grades in college, flunked his first attempt at a graduate program until the professors felt pressured to literally allow him to pass the second time.

[ June 08, 2004, 12:34 PM: Message edited by: BrianM ]

Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :

I thought doing poorly in school was part of Einstein's greatness. Though a documentary I watched recently seems to imply that that aspect of the myth is rather played up.

Posted by JonnyNotSoBravo (Member # 5715) on :

Argh! Pooka just compared W. to Einstein! Can someone please bring up Hitler so this thread can end?

Edit: okay, she put Einstein and W. in the same category (doing poorly in school) which invites comparison. And that's just WRONG! Like in a horrible baby-eating-perversion-of-nature-put-your-other-hand-in-the-garbage-disposal-after-the-other-one-has-been-cut-off kind of way!

[ June 08, 2004, 04:13 PM: Message edited by: JonnyNotSoBravo ]

Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :

Actually, Pooka did no such thing. You did. [Big Grin]

Posted by Ayelar (Member # 183) on :

Geez, mph! Stop being so Hitler on us!

Posted by Rhaegar The Fool (Member # 5811) on :

I think that if Hagrid ran, Buckbeak would have to be Secretary of Transportation.

Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :

sarcasticmuppet, I think comparisons to Harry Potter can shed light on many things. [Smile]

Thanks for the insight.

Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :

Somewhere during the third movie, Bill declared me to be Hermoine. I think it was when she tried to talk to the transformed Lupin, even though she'd obviously done the research to know that was a bad idea.

When she howled later on, I realized he was right.

Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :

The only problem, sm, with your comparison is that Hagrid is not Minister for Magic or Headmaster at Hogwarts. I don't know whether that changes anything or not, I'd just like to point it out. By the way, I am also a moderate (insufferably so, actually; "Why can't ever take a side, Victoria!").

Can I start a thread about which Harry Potter character people identify with? [Wink]

Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :

[Laugh]

@ celia

knowing steve he'd probably tell me I was Ron.

AJ

Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :

About a year ago, I remembered a quote by Bush comparing our day to Huxley's Brave New World.

I remember him coming to New York as soon as he heard about what happened to the Trade Centers.

I remember the White House condemning actions against Muslims after 911, and G. Bush hosting the first ever Eid-il-Fitr event at the White House.

That may not be enough for a whole lot of people, and it's not enough for me to say "I'll vote for him", but it leads me to believe that he is intelligent and does have certain strengths of character.

and Lalo, my opinions on G. W. had absolutely nothing with what I was actually trying to say. I don't know what you were getting at, but I'm not so jaded as to think that Bush has absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever, and tried (perhaps unsuccessfully) to say so.

mph, thanks for sticking up for me. Maybe I'll cure Mort after all. [Razz]

Teshi, that's a good point. But Hagrid in the position as a teacher (with considerably more power than he had as a gamekeeper) brought so much more hatred from people like Malfoy and the other Slyterins who couldn't get past the fact that he talked funny and got flustered, completely missing his insight on the subject.