Uncurious George

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Mentions of George Bush as uncurious, without explanation

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2000

Turkish Daily News
26 December 2000, Copyright © Turkish Daily News
Foreign News
Former President Bush says Clinton been through a lot
Washington - Reuters
Appeared in the Chicago Tribune December 25 as "Ex-President Says He Has No Bad Feelings About Clinton." Here, George Herbert Walker Bush counters the accusation of being incurious.

In an interview on ABC's "This Week," Bush also defended his son's intellect in the face of criticism that President-elect George W. Bush is not smart enough to be chief executive. . . .

Bush, who served from 1989-93, said the president-elect has gotten a "bum rap" over criticism that he is incurious and intellectually detached, and adds that those who say those things do not know him.

TIME Pacific | Bush Speaks | December 25, 2000 | NO. 51

TIME: What about the charge that you're intellectually incurious?

Which Bush Will We Get? (PDF file)
Boston Globe
Dec 19, 2000
Brian McGrory, Globe Staff
The link is to a page in the December 22, 2000, Laredo Morning Herald, but it appeared first in the Boston Globe.

But questions nag mainly, which George Bush will we now get? The confident governor, free of misdoubts and without fear of mistakes, who reached across party lines in Austin? Or the timid, tongue-tied candidate who bantered with reporters in the back of his campaign plane only if it were off the record? Or the shell-shocked, intellectually incurious prince who played with his pets while a nation wondered what came next?

salon :: :: politics :: feature :: Dan Quayle redux, By Lawrence Weschler :: Page 1
December 16, 2000
Underlined are now-dead links on Salon's web page.

With George W. (the pervading vacuousness, the deer-in-the-headlights stare, the cavalcade of late-night TV jokes, the burgeoning compilations of tortured syntax and uproarious gaffes, the nervous edgy glances of the surrounding adult handlers, the defiantly clueless Alfred E. Neuman gaze, the utter lack of curiosity regarding the cluefulness of the world), what we are witnessing isn't so much the return of George the elder as the triumphant apotheosis of Quayle!

President must bring divided nation together (E-mail webmaster for full text.)
The Times (London)
Ben Macintyre in Washington
Dec 14, 2000

While he projects an image of "aw-shucks" simplicity, he is a complex and unpredictable man sunny in disposition but liable to sudden flashes of ill-temper; sharp and sometimes witty but intellectually incurious; energetic when engaged but easily bored and prepared to leave the small print to others; a man who will shortly become the most powerful politician in the world, who has never been particularly interested in the process of government.

Slow Driving with George Dubya (pdf)
November 2000 [Exact date uncertain, but mentions the November 20 issue of Time]
by Jerome Doolittle
Discusses the events of September 4, 1976, in which George W. Bush was arrested for drunk driving, and the implications of the version of events provided by uncurious George H. W. Bush.

“For similar reasons I [an unnamed 'retired deconstructionist from Harvard'] am inclined to give the narrator [George H. W. Bush] the benefit of the doubt when he says, ‘I don’t know what really happened that night.’ Lack of curiosity, as well as memory, was a constant theme of his years in public service. . . .”

CNN.com - How the loser can be a winner
November 27, 2000
Web posted at: 6:14 PM EST (2314 GMT)
By Lance Morrow

The man who loses in 2000 must spend the next four years repairing his greatest weakness. The yammering classes have decided that Gore's problem is a weird, deficient personality, and Bush's is a dull, incurious brain. I have sometimes suspected the reverse: That Gore is a nicer guy than imagined but not as smart as he would like everyone to think; and that Bush is smarter, but a lot less nice, than he seems. The two men even out, in some irritating way.

This is the triumph of the middle man (E-mail webmaster for full text.)
The Times (London)
Andrew Sullivan
Nov 19, 2000

Americans have been granted a blissful, suspended holiday from the reality that either the insufferable Gore or the incurious Bush has won the highest office in the land.

A plague on both their houses (E-mail webmaster for full text.)
Odious preppie or smirking idiot: some choice The Independent (London)
Bill Kauffman
10 November 2000

But whereas Gore early on displayed an odd mixture of arrogance and doggedness - revealingly, he has been disliked by schoolmates, co-workers, and colleagues every step of his swaggering way — George W Bush spent the first two decades of his adulthood drunk and incurious, the sort of irksome clown who grabs centre stage at a party and boozily recreates his favourite Monty Python routines.

Re: ***GORE IS TRYING TO STEAL THE ELECTION***
From: Jeffrey Davis <jeffkdavis@earthlink.net> Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.college Subject: Re: ***GORE IS TRYING TO STEAL THE ELECTION*** Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2000 03:15:02 GMT

Bush isn't simply hobbled by a lack of mandate. Or by the poisonous atmosphere that surrounds the question of fraud in the election in Florida. Or by his laziness. Or his indifference to issues. Or willingness to play fast-and-loose ethically. Or his dyslexia. Or his lack of curiosity. Or his habit of bringing bad luck for the people near him. Or his past problems like going AWOL, or his DUI, or his potential perjury in the Texas funeral home case.

Whoever claims the supreme prize, there is little mandate for change
The Independent (London)
09 November 2000

The Texas Governor may be intellectually lazy and incurious, his environmental policies leave much to be desired, and he has yet to show his mettle in a genuine crisis.

Twins who have nothing in common (E-mail webmaster for full text.)
The Times (London)
Ben Macintyre in Washington
Nov 7, 2000

The Republican Texan is charming, relaxed, with a chequered personal history and an aversion to profundity and intellectualism; his Democratic rival is almost wholly a product of Washington earnest and awkward, with a squeaky-clean personal record and a taste for minutiae. Mr Gore's claim rests on avoiding mistakes; Mr Bush's on having made mistakes and come to terms with them. One came to a career in politics early and intensely, the other late, lackadaisically and with reservations. Mr Bush often appears strangely incurious; Mr Gore, insatiably meddling.

Slate Magazine
How Slatesters Voted
Posted Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2000, at 3:00 AM ET We asked Slate staffers and contributors to discuss which presidential candidate they're voting for, and why. Here are their responses.

Jacob Weisberg, Chief Political Correspondent: Gore.

. . . As for Bush, Christopher Hitchens summed up my view perfectly when he described him as "unusually incurious, abnormally unintelligent, amazingly inarticulate, fantastically uncultured, extraordinarily uneducated, and apparently quite proud of all these things." A Bush presidency might not be a disaster, but it would surely be an embarrassment.

Marjorie Williams, Contributor: Gore.

. . . It still beats the alternative, in my view, of having as president a man who seems as intellectually incurious as Bush.

Bush's D.W. Lie Jacob Weisberg
Slate
Posted Friday, Nov. 3, 2000

If the girls never ask their dad about his drinking days, they must be as incurious as he is--which I don't believe.

Gore for President . . .
The Washington Post
William Raspberry
Nov 3, 2000

Indeed, until he decided to run for president, he seemed strangely incurious about the affairs of the world.

Independent Online Edition > Leading Articles
The Independent (London)
Mr Bush has won the campaign, but Mr Gore should win the election
Published: 01 November 2000

His short attention span, his pervasive lack of curiosity, his general lightness of being, remain unnerving. He has mastered his lines, but all too often does not seem to understand them.

Re: Could America Survive Bush? (#2 in the 'Step Aside' series)
From: Jeffrey Davis <jeffkdavis@earthlink.net> Newsgroups: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh,alt.politics.bush,alt.society.liberalism,alt.politics.usa.republican,talk.politics.misc,alt.current-events.clinton.whitewater Subject: Re: Could America Survive Bush? (#2 in the 'Step Aside' series) Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2000 14:06:14 -0500

W strength is his alleged charm, but his past is not bereft of skeletons. His financial record is scary. His alcoholism isn't reassuring. His lack of curiosity about issues is legendary even among his inner circle. Almost certainly, his casual performance of his National Guard duties required friends in high places to have him avoid a dishonorable discharge.

The GULLY | U.S. | Election 2000: Why Republicans Need to Lose
by Toby Eglund
October 30, 2000

Even if we believe that Bush's presidential heart is in the right and compassionate place—something no one, including the incurious Bush, may truly know until he gets to the Oval Office—there is the matter of willpower, political skills, and, even more importantly, whether he has maneuvering room left to pull his presidency, and his party, to the center.

LA Weekly: Politics: Powerlines: Panic Time
OCTOBER 27 - NOVEMBER 2, 2000
The days, and the electoral votes, dwindle down
by Harold Meyerson

Moreover, the Bush campaign has been airing commercials charging that Gore’s prescription-drug subsidies will force seniors into one “big government” plan. . . . As with so much else in this campaign, however, the media have declined to focus on this new mega-distortion from Incurious George.

Will the 'Slow' Candidate Win the Big Race?
By Howard Kurtz, Washington Post,
Thursday, October 26, 2000

New Yorker Editor David Remnick calls Bush "an incurious governor who disdains the federal government he hopes so desperately to lead."

Dinesh D'Souza
Bush, Gore and the Economy
for The San Diego Union-Tribune (October 1, 2000)
By Dinesh and Dixie D'Souza
Bush’s ‘Prosperity With A Purpose’ Vs. Gore’s ‘Old Democrat’ Populist Themes

Prior to their speeches in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, both Bush and Gore had appeared slightly ridiculous. Bush had sounded both goofy and a little dumb; Gore seemed like a creature from another planet. But the conventions laid these stereotypes—Incurious George and Weird Al—largely to rest. Both men emerged from their speeches looking more serious and more presidential, and the stage was set for a confrontation between them.

Re: BUSH is DYSLEXIC !!!
From: xofpi@my-deja.com Newsgroups: alt.current-events.clinton.whitewater Subject: Re: BUSH is DYSLEXIC !!! Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2000 13:55:52 GMT

Actually, dyslexia alone does not disqualify GW. Many dyslexics are actually above average in intelligence. It's Bush's other mental blocks that disqualify him: his lack of curiosity about the world, his mean-spiritedness as evidenced by a half-witted sense of humor, his failure to grasp basic facts and apply them. If he were running against Dan Quayle, he might have the advantage. But he's running against someone Stephen Hawking has praised as best-equipped to understand the complexities of the dawning century.

Re: Bush is Simply a Dope
Oldest known Usenet "Uncurious George" reference to George W. Bush
From: edmel <edmelgalNOedSPAM@yahoo.com.invalid> Subject: Re: Bush is Simply a Dope Newsgroups: alt.politics.bush Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 08:50:30 -0700

That's Uncurious George

TIME.com: TIME Magazine Archive -- Campaign Pledge Drive: Week Nine -- Aug. 07, 2000
By MELISSA AUGUST, VAL CASTRONOVO, RACHEL DRY, DAREN FONDA
Aug. 7, 2000

CURIOUS, GEORGE So utterly content was Mr. Bush with his choice of Veep this week that he did not see fit to make even one pledge.

Re: #Gore Lies
From: "George Leroy Tyrebiter, Jr." <tyrebiter@workOMITmail.com> Subject: Re: #Gore Lies Date: 2000/08/06 Newsgroups: alt.society.liberalism,talk.politics.misc,alt.politics.usa.republican,alt.politics.usa.congress,alt.politics.bush

IT makes me very nervous to see all the mistakes Bush makes. He is probably too lazy to bother to even check what he says. The guy only will do two events a day. He does not do his homework. He lacks curiosity about most policies. ANd I think he gets big things wrong - like the SS plan and his tax cut.

Clinton Uses Bully Pulpit to Extol Gore at Press Conference
San Francisco Chronicle
Marc Sandalow, Washington Bureau Chief
Thursday, June 29, 2000

Clinton passed on the opportunity to knock Bush, saying: “I don't think it's so much a question of intelligence, generically. . . . I think it's much more a question of curiosity and willingness to learn what you think is important.”

Re: GORE To Rip BUSH's Lungs Out In Debates
From: "idleeric" <stdumbo@mich.com> Subject: Re: GORE To Rip BUSH's Lungs Out In Debates Date: 2000/07/10 Newsgroups: alt.politics.usa.republican,alt.politics.bush,talk.politics.misc,alt.fan.rush-limbaugh

thus the notion that Otterboy's stupidity, lack of curiosity, motivation, & literacy, & demonstrated incompetence as a businessman and serious adult will be Redeemed by a Kitchen Kabinett of Knot-sis recruited by Richard Scarfe's network of fascist Know_Nothing Tanks we are about to witness the American version of the Nurenburg Rallys, as a mob of literalist jurists & fundy biblethumpers stiffarm salute the Ultimate Uber-Boob!

Re: Dubya slaps the NRA
From: mahabarbara@my-deja.com Subject: Re: Dubya slaps the NRA Date: 2000/03/20 Newsgroups: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh,alt.society.liberalism,misc.survivalism,talk.politics.guns

Bush is probably bright enough, but by "intellectually shallow" I mean he exhibits a remarkable lack of curiosity and depth of knowledge about the world outside his limited little niche. I don't think "the media" created this impession. It is obvious. This to me is the biggest difference between Gore and Bush. Gore was also born on the inside, but he seems to have taken a genuine interest in the world at large and made an effort to understand it.

JS Online: Hang in there: It's still a long way to November, folks
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
By Michael Ruby
of the Journal Sentinel
Last Updated: Feb. 12, 2000

"Dubya," as he is affectionately known in the Texas vernacular, seems to be a man of average intelligence - a relatively incurious politician who campaigns well, looks good as he does it and has governed a big state where he was elected twice and demonstrated he can get a few things done.

1999

God and Politics in This Country, All Can Believe as They Wish. There's No Political Litmus Test - Yet.
The Post Standard (Syracuse, NY)
December 21, 1999

In recent days, Republican front-runner George W. Bush answered a question about who he would choose as his hero by naming Jesus. Wags immediately suggested the untutored and intellectually incurious candidate couldn't name any others, not to mention the presidents of Taiwan, Pakistan and so on.

Re: Open Letter to Gov Bush. (part 3 in the 'step-aside' series)
From: "Unabogie" <unabogie@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Open Letter to Gov Bush. (part 3 in the 'step-aside' series) Date: 1999/12/16 Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,alt.society.liberalism,alt.politics.usa.republican,alt.fan.rush-limbaugh,alt.society.conservatism,alt.politics.bush

Then why don't you admit that Dubya is not a bright man? He has shown an utter lack of curiosity in the world, and a surprising lack of life experience. For all you conservatives who rail about Clinton, how can you turn around and support his mirror image, simply because he tests well in Peoria? Where is your integrity? Of all the candidates, I could stomach any of them except Dubya. While I would vote for none of them, I could respect someone who does. But this guy is as empty a vessel as you'll ever see.

The Bush Watch
Quizgate headlines
Gore Lambasts Uncurious George
November 9, 1999
Al Gore mocked Bush's "quizgate" performance on Don Imus' radio show.

1994

Children's Books Satires in Mad
Oldest known Usenet "Uncurious George" reference. Uncurious George is George Herbert Walker Bush. The "Uncurious George" link was, of course, not in the original, but provided here for convenience.
From: pitesky@mira (Jo Pitesky UCLA Astronomy) Newsgroups: misc.kids Subject: Children's Books Satires in Mad Date: 11 Aug 1994 16:35:55 GMT Organization: UCLA Department of Astronomy

This month's MAD magazine (the one with Alfred E. Neuman dressed as a headbanger on the cover) contains some hysterically funny (IMO) political satires of some much-loved children's books (e.g. One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Dead Fish is an environmental sendup, while UnCurious George shows our last president and his predecessor, The Actor In The Big Hat). Worth a look when you're at the market (I confess, I have a subscription: I always wanted one as a kid, and now I can finally afford it ;-) Jo Pitesky

1993

TIME.com: TIME Magazine Archive -- Curious George -- Jan. 11, 1993
George Herbert Walker Bush was curious to see Mogadishu, Somalia.

1992

Uncurious George, Plausible Paul and Slick Willie
Paul Greenberg, © 1992, Los Angeles Times Syndicate
Chicago Tribune
Feb 21, 1992
Uncurious George is George H. W. Bush. Plausible Paul is Sen. Paul Tsongas (D-MA). Slick Willie is Gov. Bill Clinton (D-AR).)

George Bush is not running against Pat Buchanan but against his own impression of distance and indifference.

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