<p>Do you think Bush was fiddling down there on the ranch in Crawford? Or just listening to some good old country music? (and I KNOW the fiddling referred to is not literal. I’m sure that in fact Bush was diligently clearing brush at the time)</p>
<p>Okay, I’ve heard alot of things. But comparing Bush to Nero is unique. Well, as I think about it, Bush does seem to be the “Nero” of this century.</p>
<p>Oh mini, he was working on his public speaking skills! After all, he had to make all of those speeches the following days to sell the war in Iraq, while Gulf Coast sodiers watched helplessly and their terrorist adversaries took notes on just where we were the weakest. Oh where to start!</p>
<p>Why does Bush sound like a Texan? He went to school in the NE, grew up there, and didn’t go to Texas until he was an adult.</p>
<p>My H grew up in Ireland, came here 20 years ago and still sounds Irish</p>
<p>Did he have voice coaching to sound southern, because most adults don’t change their accents unless they make a big effort, or do they chnage the tone, speed, timber, etc of their voice by moving</p>
<p>LOL…btw, note that the headline says “WHITE HOUSE knew of levee’s failure”. Of course, it is not fair to conclude that Bush knew, since he only visits there occasionally.</p>
<p>People here in Texas aren’t necessarily impressed with his “affectation”, if it is one. His lisping slurr isn’t something we want folks to think we all sound like. Maybe it’s a Kinnebunkport thing.</p>
<p>“LOL…btw, note that the headline says “WHITE HOUSE knew of levee’s failure”. Of course, it is not fair to conclude that Bush knew, since he only visits there occasionally.”</p>
<p>Are you suggesting, per chance, that the President is less aware than an inanimate object? :o</p>
<p>“Why does Bush sound like a Texan? He went to school in the NE, grew up there, and didn’t go to Texas until he was an adult.”</p>
<p>CGM, in our Texan neck of the woods, we do have a lot of pure unadulterated horse manure. I mentioned it because we develop a keen sense to help us recognize it from a safe distance. Well, your post, as customary, is just full of it. You just grab some facts and hope there will be something to build another round of hollow criticism. </p>
<p>First, you ought to do a minimum of research about how accents and speech patterns develop. The term “formative years” and “adult life” obviously must not mean much to you. Further, you may want to research the life of the Bush family after WW2 before displaying your typical reluctance to state facts correctly. FYI, Odessa, Midland, and Houston are not bucolic suburbs in NE. </p>
<p>Education: Attended Phillips Academy prep school at Andover, then Yale from 1964 until 1968 and graduated with a major in history; played baseball during freshman year and rugby during junior and senior years; became a member of the super-secret Skull and Bones society, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather; later attended Harvard and earned a Masters of Business Administration in 1975. Bush was such a mediocre student that the dean of students at Andover was pessimistic about his chances of getting into Yale. The suggested that he have a backup option. Harvard Business school was a backup option that he had to take advantage of after the University of Texas law school turned him down. Harvard alums say the admissions process was somewhat mysterious. One of Bush’s Harvard classmates was a circus barker."</p>
<p>Ah well, its a good thing that Yale education gave him such a stellar vocabulary, now if HE had to take the college exit exam</p>
<p>He sounds like a Texan because he grew up in Texas, obviously. He went to grade school and junior high there. In fact, he and Laura went to the same junior high in Midland. He went to boarding school in New England for high school.</p>
<p>CGM, George Bush’s educational background is what it is. People have scrutinized it and dissected it to find faults. For fun, they have compared it with John Kerry’s stellar results at Yale. George Bush is not a brilliant orator, but very few people excel at public speaking. </p>
<p>Have you ever thought that some of his shortcomings are what makes him appealing to common folks? The fact that he was turned down by St John’s in Houston -ya missed that one- or the Texas Law School makes him a bit more like us, with our checkerboard of successess and failures. The words may not flow out of his mouth in the manner of a Greek Orator or Tony Blair in England, but people around here do not have much problem understanding the contents of his message. Even staunch Democrats such at Lt. Governor Bullock learned to value the meaning of George Bush’s words over the haphazard delivery. Would it really make any difference if Dubya had the same oratory skills or sense of repartee as Al Sharpton or thousands of pulpit tycoons? </p>
<p>Hate him if you wish, but hate him for the right reasons.</p>
<p>It is not just that he is not a stellar speaker, it that he can’t do anything well without notes, pre planned questions, and a pre approved crowd, and if his DADDY has to defend him because somke people said some things that were critical, well, just shows you he can’t take it</p>