Uncurious George

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Citations: Dishonorable mentions
Mentions of George Bush as uncurious, without explanation

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Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog: Comment on What we’re creating in Iraq
Posted by Thomas P.M. Barnett on January 30, 2007 9:58 PM

If it was just the American people doubting the surge strategy, that would be one thing.

But it’s all the expert opinion too, plus the regional players (many of whom desperately fear our failure), and our allies (Britain’s basically leaving).

In the normal world, those are all considered big signs that one’s thinking is sort of screwed up, but Bush, who confuses stubbornness and incuriosity with resoluteness and certitude, chooses his own path. To me, that’s a presidency out of control, lost in its own Gap.

Swampland - TIME
January 29, 2007, 11:21 am Posted by Joe Klein

[Sen. Hillary Clinton's] failure to ask General Petraeus a single question was a big mistake--especially given her level of knowledge about military matters and, especially, counterinsurgency. There were some terrific, pointed questions for her to ask, and I'm disappointed she didn't. That she chose to deliver a non-earth-shattering statement, rather than ask questions, had the feel of a strategy that had been game-planned by Hillaryland. In a way, I'm far more interested in the sort of questions she'll ask as president--especially after Incurious George--than in canned statements about the war.

cepx's Place
Saturday, January 27, 2007
I Don't Like The Pledge of Allegiance
posted by Chris @ 2:58 PM

Anyway, this isn't about . . . the constitution and hypocrisy. It's about the pledge. Think about when and where you learned the thing. You were likely five or six years old, and you had to stand there with your hand over your every morning and recite a bunch of words that, to your little kid pea brain, were essentially meaningless. You didn't know what "allegiance" meant, and you likely didn't have a concept of republican (small "r") democracy. Your concepts of liberty and justice (both of which are being mocked on a daily basis by Darth Cheney and Incurious George) were at best unformed and likely malformed. Liberty was a green statue somewhere in New York, and justice was whatever happened to the guys that Sgt. Friday caught on Dragnet.

. . . There's a fine line between love of country and cult-like behavior, and we crossed it long ago. Patriotism frightens the hell out of me. For one thing, "patriotism" is what allows Darth and Incurious to continue fomenting their evil schemes in our names.

Sideways Mencken: It's Our War.
This entry was posted by M. Takhallus., on Saturday, January 27, 2007

George W. Bush is mulish, shallow, close-minded, incurious, incapable of self-examination or self-criticism.

Sleight of Hand
OpEd News
January 26, 2007 at 04:44:56
by Richard Girard

George W. Bush also has an inferiority complex, for which he overcompensates by bullying people to dominate others and get his own way. I suspect that much of his bullying habit came from his domineering (and possibly abusive) mother, absent father, and his severe dyslexia. He is incurious because it is frustrating for him to try and study any subject in depth. . . .

As is the case with too many conservatives, President Bush cannot fully admit personal responsibility for his mistakes. This is because for these conservatives, to admit any error is to admit the possibility of being in error about their entire belief system. This behavior is a common compensatory mechanism for individuals who feel threatened by critical self examination and self awareness.

Letter: Bush's bet hands loss to America
The Daily Reflector (Greenville, NC)
Thursday, January 25, 2007

Evidently America elected someone so non-curious of facts and reality, so dismissive of history and so certain of his God-given mission as to almost live in a state of delusion and denial.

MICHAEL HIGHSMITH
Greenville

CrossAttracted.com: The Presidency: The Only Job Where Experience is NOT Needed?
January 25, 2007

Experience is what separates the men . . . from the boys. . . .

For some reason, that is not the case with regard to being president. A quick review of the Internet shows very amusing rationalizations about why experience is not needed to be a good president. Huh? The last time I heard this conversation, and even participated in it, was with regard to Incurious George.

Blue Bayou: Condi digest
January 24, 2007

The current issue of the Economist's Lexington column has a piece on Condi Rice that's a very succinct summary of the problems with our Secretary of State. Titled "A falling star," it does a good job of identifying where she's gone wrong and why she was probably unsuited for the job:

[article excerpt omitted]

The article also talks about her inabilities as a manager of the State Department, and concludes that Rice is good at currying favor with mentors, but not so good at challenging them - something that's been desperately needed with the uncurious Bush in the Oval Office.

The 16th Minute » Blog Archive » I finally found the way to impeachment!
January 24th, 2007 by Brother Bravado

Uncurious George made several pointed statements in tonight’s State of the Union Address aimed towards both Iran and Syria.

Blue Bayou: Condi Digest
chron.com
News, search, and shopping from the Houston Chronicle
January 24, 2007
Posted by John Whiteside at January 24, 2007 12:23 PM

The current issue of the Economist's Lexington column has a piece on Condi Rice that's a very succinct summary of the problems with our Secretary of State. Titled "A falling star," it does a good job of identifying where she's gone wrong and why she was probably unsuited for the job:

[Excerpt omitted here]

The article also talks about her inabilities as a manager of the State Department, and concludes that Rice is good at currying favor with mentors, but not so good at challenging them - something that's been desperately needed with the uncurious Bush in the Oval Office.

MacYapper: MR. PEDUTO-HEAD THROWS HEAD INTO RING EDITION
Tuesday, January 23, 2007

NOBODY LIKES INCURIOUS GEORGE

Pensito Review » McCain Blames War Failure on Rumsfeld, Cheney
Posted by Jon Ponder | Jan. 23, 2007, 7:12 am

Apparently, the president gets a pass because McCain, like everyone around him, believes George Bush is too guillible to know when he’s being given bad advice, too lazy and incurious to seek counterbalancing views and not smart enough to make up his own mind even if he did. . . .
BLOOMBERG.COM
Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush's approval ratings are now the lowest for any president the day before a State of the Union speech since Richard Nixon in 1974, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Truthdig - Reports - Barack’s Racial Balancing Act
Posted on Jan 22, 2007
By The Rev. Madison Shockley

After all, history is likely to attribute the failed presidency of George W. Bush more to intellectual incuriosity and stubborn dogmatism than lack of experience.

Cold Flute: Joe Biden's Strength: Foreign Policy
Monday, January 22, 2007
posted by Poechewe at 5:13 PM

Whether Biden wins the nomination or not, and whether many of us even agree with some of his positions are not, he is already playing a valuable role by bringing his expertise to a discussion about Iraq, Iran and foreign policy in general. Biden is reminding us that we can't afford another incurious neophyte like George W. Bush, let alone an ideologue who would continue the nonsense and deceptions of the neocons.

“I Don’t Think He Understands The World” « CAFFEINATED POLITICS
Posted by dekerivers on January 21st, 2007

I have been accused of being too rough on President Bush. I admit to having chided him for being uninformed, mentally lazy, and incurious. . . . But now a United States Senator has echoed what so many of us think and feel about our President. . . .

In a front-page article in Saturday’s New York Times the Chairperson of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Rockefeller, commented on the problem that Bush has in understanding the larger issues that confront the Middle East. In doing so the Senator had a few comments on the President.

“I don’t think he understands the world,” Rockefeller said. “I don’t think he’s particularly curious about the world. I don’t think he reads like he says he does. Every time he’s read something he tells you about it, I think.”

Untruth and Consequences
The Atlantic Monthly | January/February 2007
by Carl M. Cannon

There are three popular theories about Bush's behaviour: that the president is an intellectually incurious man who doesn't have or want enough information to make informed decisions; that his late-life embrace of religion has given him inner peace, but also a near-absolute level of certitude; and that his demand for total loyalty discourages the give-and-take a leader needs, because aides who proffer advice or information that doesn't jibe with administration policy are not viewed as team players.

Breaking News: Sen. Rockefeller Fears Iran Is New Iraq - The Post Chronicle
Jan 20, 2007
The Post Chronicle is U.S.-based Internet-only newspaper. Its editorial slant is ultra-conservative; its four columnists are Thomas Sowell, Pat Buchanan, Oliver North, and Linda Chavez. In an episode known as the Iran-Contra Scandal, Oliver North was the chief coordinator of the illegal sale of weapons via intermediaries to Iran, with the profits being channeled to the Contras in Nicaragua. He was responsible for the establishment of a covert network used for the purposes of aiding the Contras, in violation of specific legislation, the Boland Amendment. (Congress passed the Boland Amendment for a reason: The Contras were killing innocent people, including public officials and ordinary citizens. Americas Watch, which was subsequently folded into Human Rights Watch, stated “The Contras systematically engage in violent abuses . . . so prevalent that these may be said to be their principal means of waging war.”) In July 1987, North was summoned to testify before hearings of a joint Congressional committee formed to investigate Iran-Contra. During the hearings, North admitted that he had lied to Congress. On May 4, 1989, he was convicted on three counts: accepting an illegal gratuity, aiding and abetting in the obstruction of a congressional inquiry, and destruction of documents. Although his actual guilt was beyond doubt or dispute, with the assistance of the ACLU, his conviction was overturned because he had been compelled to testify before Congress, which prejudiced his right to a fair trial. Oliver North then ran in 1994 for the U.S. Senate from Virginia, and in the year of the Contract With America, when Republicans swept into power in the House and Senate, Virginia voters rejected the criminal Oliver North in favor of Democrat Charles Robb, even though North outspent Robb four-to-one. While the voters of Virginia rejected Mr. North, sadly, the Post Chronicle publishes this criminal's words.

While he agreed with the Bush administration that Iranian agents are assisting Shiite militia in Iraq, he [Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)] said President George W. Bush may be getting bad advice from those who urge a hard line on Iran. He said the president suffers from a lack of curiosity about the world.

Cracks in the Facade: Old Fogey's Quotes for Saturday
Saturday, January 20, 2007

The Ballad of Bushie and Flashy
[Perhaps we should be giving little gold star stickers for each book read by our president King George the Incurious.]

Daily411: SOTU
Friday, January 19, 2007

At any rate, at least one source indicates that the [State of the Union] address will focus on five areas. Viz., the war on terror, energy, health care, immigration and education.

It's hard to believe how the Bushies could have screwed up these issues any more than they have, but Incurious George is going to keep plugging away at them.

Impolitical: Righties laughably mock Barack Obama's experience
Wednesday, January 17, 2007

A serious country would not have taken George W. Bush's candidacy seriously. An incurious, untravelled, unsuccessful aristocrat.

The History Boys
camp — Kansas City’s Voice for the LGBT and Allied Communities
January 16, 2007
by Steve Walker

Despite the fact that the morbidly incurious George W. Bush is a graduate of Yale, that college still shares with Harvard the status of being one of America’s premier institutions of higher learning.

alt.politics - Bush Cheney gang lie to their ignorant base!
From: Randy Cox
Date: Mon, Jan 15 2007 5:40 am
Group: alt.politics
Subject: Bush Cheney gang lie to their ignorant base!

Even if the Bush vision for America could secure us from terrorists....it would destroy our future because he leads people to stop thinking for themselves. This is just one of the reasons he is currently the most dangerous man in the world. Non-curious George leads the way for a non-curious America! Randy R. Cox

ohiomj: "I USED TO BE THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES."
OHIOMJ IS MINIMAL JOE (ohiomj) wrote, @ 2007-01-15 18:56:00

Even more stark is the contrast between a literate, curious politician like Al Gore and Dubya Bush who is infamous for being incredibly incurious and lacking even the desire to know more about what we don't know.

Civil war in Iraq might suit the West's interests - Sunday Times - Times Online
Andrew Sullivan
January 14, 2007

I'm not saying that leaving a civil war in Iraq is not dangerous. But so is staying. And the upsides of leaving haven't been fully thought through yet, so let's think them through. My fear is Bush has not thought this through. There is no plan B because his rigid, incurious mind doesn't have the dexterity to entertain it.

socratic: Child Knowing vs. Adult Knowing
(socratic) wrote, @ 2007-01-14 22:12:00

Either Bush is a brilliant chameleon, who uses his aww-shucks appearance of being a dim-bulb to hide his machiavelian scheming, or he is the intellectually incurious man he appears to be and when he speaks he is mostly parroting things he's been told by the people around him.

"It's not personal. It's strictly business." - Wizbang
Posted by: Steve Crickmore at January 14, 2007 02:06 PM

Now Bush,9(ike much of his team) without having any such experience compounded by his habitiual incurious outlook to ask questions (unlike Jay who can make up for any lack of experience by attentive reading) the president is unwilling to compensate or couldn't up until now when things didn't go according to plan.

Notes of Sarcasm From the Forum: Nightmare in the State Department
posted by Tigris Lily @ Saturday, January 13, 2007

It seems that no one in the Bush Administration has advanced beyond the concrete stage of cognitive thinking. This doesn't surprise me about George W. After all he is noted for a lack of curiosity.

CRIMES AND CORRUPTION OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER NEWS: Less Than Zero
Friday, January 12, 2007
By William S. Lind

No, Incurious George has offered no new strategy, nor new course, nor even a plateau on the downward course of our two lost wars and failed grand strategy.

The Fog of War « Theology in the Vineyard
posted on Friday, January 12th, 2007 at 5:06

One worries that if a bright guy like McNamara knew little of Vietnamese history, what a stunningly incurious man like George Bush knows about Iraqis and their history. How can one trust a man who had never travelled outside the U.S. before he became president, or a Congress where fewer than 40 per cent of members had passports before they were elected. . . .

Availale in video stores, the Fog of War is a valuable primer on imperial arrogance, stunning hubris and the wisdom of Santayana’s prescient dictum that those who do not read history will be condemned to repeat the mistakes of the past.Fog bound incurious George is the classic example.

Bob Kerr | Rhode Island news | projo.com | The Providence Journal
01:00 AM EST on Friday, January 12, 2007

We were coming off the latest painful appearance by Incurious George, our president.

What Happened to My Country?: Olbermann: "Mr. Bush, this is madness."
Friday, January 12, 2007

The tragedy of Iraq is what results when messianic ideology and unbridled ambition meet in an incurious, limited and stubborn personality.... The Decider.

Martini Republic » “Way forward” Iraq strategy: a new tragedy, not an old one
Posted by Alex on Friday, January 12th, 2007 at 10:18 am

And since it has finally dawned on our incurious Decider that the current force is not accomplishing its “mission” — however difficult that term may be to define — the only possibility left to President Dumbass is escalation.

The Blog | Gabriel Rotello: Bush's Legacy: Dashing Democracy in the Arab World | The Huffington Post
01.12.2007

The very idea that an entire civilization might have been raised with a very different viewpoint is almost impossible to conceive for someone as densely incurious as Bush.

The Barometer
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Katrina Speech # 2

Last night, when listening to the President, I couldn't help but feel as though I were listening to the same speech he gave at Jackson Square in New Orleans, after hurricane Katrina.

A similar pattern where apathy, denial, lack of curiosity, and the inability to deal with reality, finally result in having to admit publicly, "I screwed up".

Deus Ex Malcontent: Comfortably Dumb
Posted by Chez at 6:33 PM

And the man leading our charge into this dangerous labyrinth -- one of the only men who still believes in the cause -- is quite possibly the most intellectually incurious President this country has ever seen; he's a man who once arrogantly joked that he was proof one could slack off in college -- maintaining that unremarkable C-average -- and still become the leader of the free world.

spooncat:: Faulty Premises and Simple Constructs™ 1.11.2007

Here's why it isn't normal times, and here's why our situation is probably much more dire than simply having an uncurious hack president who is convinced is terrible decisions are actually wise and his infantile instincts are actually profound: we are now led by a guy who is mixing the worst elements of his "I'm the decider" foreign policy with the worst elements of the "everything-is-politics" methods that Karl Rove and his party have been using for years.

PSoTD This Guy Is Not Presidentin'
Posted by PSoTD on Wednesday January 10, 2007 at 12:30pm

He's just glommed onto new experts, but I believe it's the same old tale of the incurious president, the passive decider. . . .

But this should not be about what Bush deserves, not at this point, because a President who got us into this position by his own incuriousity and laxness doesn't deserve such a chance.

The Omnipotent Poobah Speaks!: Can Nancy Wrangle the Cat Herd?
Truth Told by Omnipotent Poobah, Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Incurious George will make sure the Dems continue holding the bag until he can turn the White House keys, and his problems, over to the next occupant.

Bush Caught in Lie Over Tax Cuts (Common Sense and Sensibility)
posted 01-08-07

Either Bush does lie or he is sufficiently incurious about real fact [sic] that do not advance his political agenda that the effect is the same.

Prior to 2000 W proved he was a stone-cold killer.
January 5, 2007 at 11:33:39
by winston winston

Frankly it doesn't matter if the "intellectually incurious" W fully understands that he'll be gaining nothing by pushing egomaniacally for this surge.

Octogenarian: Let the Iraqis decide our "exit strategy"
Thursday, January 04, 2007
posted by Mortart at 2:53 PM

George W. Bush, on the other hand [in contrast to President Gerald Ford], is a stubborn, arrogant and intellectually incurious man who is in over his head as President.

Think Progress » “No back rubs.”
Comment by Mr. Todd — January 5, 2007 @ 2:11 am

always nice to revisit this episode. we’re all used to ‘Bush the Moron’, ‘Bush the Uncurious’, ‘Bush the Condescending’, ‘Bush the Ignorant’, and ‘Bush the Public Speaking Wizard’…but its hard to top ‘Bush the Old Creepy Touchy-Feeling Guy’

tingilinde: bush related bumper stickers
January 04, 2007
This post is more interesting for its list of Bush-related bumper stickers than for the use of our favorite adjective.

. . . he is not a dumb as he likes to project (a useful tool in his case), but is is far more incompetent, arrogant, incurious, dishonest, and petty than I could have imagined.

Gahzette: Please Don't Kill Me!
Thursday, January 04, 2007

The Saddam hanging is all over the internet. What a truly disgusting scenario. The whole world is revolted. But not uncurious George who allegedly hasn't seen the video...it's not his "focus".

Independent Weekly: News: Features: 3,003 ... and counting
JANUARY 3, 2007
BY HAL CROWTHER

On the morning of Nov. 30, there was no rational creature on this tortured planet who could soberly doubt that the jig was up for Incurious George.

Incurious George blames Gen. Casey fo... - ! * POLITICS * ! - tribe.net
Posted January 2, 2007, 11:05 AM by Jimi
No excerpt, just the title.

a_gamradt - Ed Koch loves Nascar

Curious about understanding the world around him, he is not. Lack of curiosity is a fatal flaw for any high level leader, much less a President. . . .

[Bush] may be a courageous man, but courage without understanding, without curiosity, is not a virtue.

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Uncurious George

Citations: Dishonorable mentions Mentions of George Bush as uncurious, without explanation

Citations: Dishonorable mentions
Mentions of George Bush as uncurious, without explanation