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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (90093)	12/11/2004 5:58:18 PM
From: Grainne	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 108807

"I see no reason to think Bush isn't as well-informed as any President. And I think people who suppose so are making baseless assumptions. This stuff about "reading newspapers" is nonsense. If any President only knows what appears in a couple national papers, he probably doesn't know enough to do the job. The CIA has been preparing daily briefings for the President since 1964. They are top secret and I suspect and hope they contain much material which never sees the light of day." Well, the problem I see with your assertion is twofold. First, Bush just hates intellectualism, which he considers pretentious. Even though he went to Andover and Yale, he felt strange because he was from Texas instead of the East Coast. So he developed a lot of defensive strategies to protect himself. Of course, intellectuals read a lot of newspapers, so Bush reads none. Clinton read five when he was in office, every morning. Not just national papers, either, although the New York Times and the Washington Post are read by most presidents. The International Herald Tribune is excellent also, and the London Times. The whole point of a president reading widely from the world's best newspapers is to see and understand the world in a larger, more objective way than he could being spoon fed news summaries. Of course, Bush has no desire to see or understand the world in a large, objective way. But most presidents felt that it helped them in their jobs. I think you are confused about the CIA daily briefings. Yes, the president reads them. But they were not designed to be read INSTEAD of newspapers. Even Bush reads something else--a news summary that his advisors create for him. The problem is that he receives no criticism or alternate points of view--he is surrounded all the time by people who almost always think alike. This is not a good way to make good decisions. Of course, Bush isn't making good decisions, but I digress . . .