...is all like "uhh well to umm save the central countries, we gotta uhhh strength the uhh"

JESUS FUCK MAN, LEARN TO SPEAK.

I'm gonna go drink some more beers, maybe then this will make sense.

It all sounded good to me. I like the idea of voluntary personal savings accounts.. I can't wait to sign up. Of course I will also get the state retirement plan sinse I am a state employee. Excellent news conference.

of course you are just a yes man though to the rnc

Osg, I'm not making a judgment on the content of his speech. I don't care if you like his policies and politics or not, you have to admit he's an awful public speaker.

I believe they call his style "warm and disarming."

I tried to watch it tonight, I really did. Then as I was getting bored I just let it rumble in the background and occassionally look up....after 2min I just said screw it turned it off. He is the worst public speaking president in my lifetime, good gawd I bet the sale of Tylenol PM was low tonight as all you had to do was listen to him talk.

Someone summarize it please.

I am just really fucking pissed that he preempted The O.C.. Why the hell couldn't he be on at 10 and preempt the shitty Simple Life?

Dubya's narrative ability is a testament to the profound effect an ivy league education can have upon a person:rolleyes:

Our pres is just a puppet on strings he isnt a free thinker. Other more powerful people control him.

Our pres is just a puppet on strings he isnt a free thinker. Other more powerful people control him.I'm not saying that what you just claimed isn't true, but if that really is the case, wouldn't it have been smarter to choose someone who can make speeches properly. If he's just supposed to be a puppet I mean.

Ask Karl Rove.

I heard a funny today on my drive in. Three of the networks told him that he better be done with his spiel by 9pmEST b/c they weren't about to let him cut into "reality tv". And though he was done and the political analysis was done, some of them still cut away before 9 to resume programing.

What does this say about the respect for this man when he speaks to nation?

I didn't watch the speech, but no he's not the best public speaker in the world. Eh doesn't bother me. Not like he has that much power anyhow. No President really has that much power. And also, I'd like you to name me a President that wasn't a puppet in some form. =p They are all representing the people and are supposed to have our best interests at heart.

Also, he's the leader of a party technically. The party is the one with the power.

I think the President has much more power than you're willing to grant him, Jaeydee, especially when the majorities of both houses of Congress are of his party. Also, you're equivocating on the word "puppet." No one denies that presidents are influenced by their constituency. The use of "puppet" in regards to Bush, however, has a different connotation; to wit, that his policy decisions are outsourced from a small and select group of influential neocons and big business interests (a far cry from "the people"). He is, in large part, a figurehead for a certain style of movement conservatism.

When the president speaks, thats what cable is for. Change the channel. Do they really ever say anything worth listening too? Taking a wild guess here but I don't think he really cares what people think about his craptastic speaking abilites...after all he did get voted in for a second term so hes done after this. I just love watching people get all worked up over it.

Fildien, the major networks haven't given him respect since they all thought he lost to Gore the first time around. If you've paid attention you'll notice none of the network news programs call him "President Bush" they all refer to him as "Mister Bush". Before him, Clinton was refered to as "President Clinton". All president before that were refered to by their title of president.

I really think it's says alot, that in the US today the media has such a huge impact in politics. They claim to be non-biased but you can see they're not. Much disrespect to the office of president and anyone associated with his cabinet.

I like to read and watch our local news outlets here in the states like, network news, cnn, fox-new etc.. then surf over to the BBC's website and see what the Euros think about the US and their take on what's going on. You cen get a completely different view on the country we live in. Also you get a pretty non-biased opinion on world events. Yes they skew it sometimes but you can normally tell when they've take a side on a situation or story.

I really think it's says alot, that in the US today the media has such a huge impact in politics.
The media should have an impact on politics, in that it should investigate and report the doings and sayings of politicians, for good or ill. But investigative journalism has largely gone by the wayside in favor of:
a) simply reporting what people think of various proposals and policies, rather than reporting on the policies themselves;
b) presenting "faux balanced" stories and debates, where proponents of opposing views speak their minds for 2 minutes followed by a cut to commercial, without any analysis on the part of the "journalists."

It's a complex issue, but I find that the media has -- for a number of years now -- simply not lived up to the standards that make "freedom of the press" such an important facet of a democratic country. Polling reflects this, as media credibility is at an all time low. Political blogging, The Daily Show, online access to newspapers and the like are challenging conventional media, which seems dead set on trying to woo the least common denominator of our attention deficient populace through whiz-bang presentations rather than sober journalism.

Fildien, the major networks haven't given him respect since they all thought he lost to Gore the first time around. If you've paid attention you'll notice none of the network news programs call him "President Bush" they all refer to him as "Mister Bush". Before him, Clinton was refered to as "President Clinton". All president before that were refered to by their title of president.

Okay, this is simply not true.

And if the President isn't very powerful, then no one in our government is. =P

Okay, this is simply not true.

And if the President isn't very powerful, then no one in our government is. =P

Watch one of the networks tonight ABC, NBC or CBS he will be called Mister Bush instead of President Bush.

What does the media's label for him have to do with how powerful he is? Clinton might have been called "President Clinton", but he never at any point had the amount of power on tap that Bush has had during both of his terms in office.

Sanchek it is a respect thing. Something you don't understand. Forget the power he is wielding. It is his title he should be refered to as the President of the United States, not Mister Bush. I'm not arguing about his power I was talking about the media and their blatant lack of respect for the position.

Read what you quoted. You answered a post talking about how powerful he is with a post about what he's called on TV. Which, like I said, really has no bearing on how powerful the man is.

Either way, citing the label that certain media gives him is pointless. He's managed to maintain respectable approval ratings even through all of the turbulent happenings during the past five years. I doubt he'd lose much sleep if CNN wants to call him "mister".

edit: Actually, looking through online videos from the networks, I'm not seeing any of them calling him "mister" on his speech about SS and Energy last night. Got any specific examples?

He's managed to maintain respectable approval ratings even through all of the turbulent happenings during the past five years.
Actually, his approval ratings at present (~%45) are the lowest of any second term President at this point in his term. Too many poor political decisions by the Repubs, problems in Iraq, extremely poor ratings on his Social Security push, and various scandals finally catching up have his ratings heading into the toilet. Laura Bush is doing pretty well, though!

Agreed on the rest.

Actually I know A LOT about how much power the President has. I took a whole class dedicated to that topic. :)

You are right though, I do tend to believe that he has less power than he does. There are just so many factors that influence him. So I tend to lean more to the powerless or little power side.

Twinked,

The traditional title for politicians for journalists is "Mister". This is a tradition that goes back to England.
The NY Times calls ALL politicans, no matter who or what, Mister,(assuming they are male) and has done so since its inception.
Seems like these days conservatives are either crybabies, whining about how unfair the press is, or how liberals are trying to destroy (insert christian holiday here) or Cheerleaders, blindly supporting whatever policy has come down the pipe.

I'm not much of a conservative or liberal.. more Texan.

I did not know this. You got references? I checked a few sources online, but I couldn't cooberate your explanation.

Actually I've only heard the major networks call him "Bush," heh. Heard BBC say "Mister," though.

Actually I've only heard the major networks call him "Bush," heh. Heard BBC say "Mister," though.
When talking about him Dan Rather always said President Bush the first time he was mentioned and used Bush following times in the report, that is just a journalistic choice really.

When addressing him I've never EVER seen him not receive the honorary Mister when people ask questions.

You got references? I checked a few sources online, but I couldn't cooberate your explanation.

NYtimes.com not working? Editorial section. Or ask a journalism major

Really man, own up to the fact that you googled it :(