Bush, Rove, and Books: Who Knew W. Had So Much Time to Read?

[babylonsister]

I seem to detect a bit of disbelief. :evilgrin:

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/john-farrell/2008/12/26/bush-rove-and-books-who-knew-w-had-so-much-time-to-read.html

Bush, Rove, and Books: Who Knew W. Had So Much Time to Read?
December 26, 2008 11:44 AM ET

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog


Karl Rove gives us an interesting column in the Wall Street Journal today, in which he describes a book-reading competition he conducted with President Bush over the past three years.

Their rough goal was to read at better than a book-a-week pace. To make sure that neither cut corners with slim volumes, they would measure a book's physical, as well as intellectual, heft.

snip//

But what's lacking in the presidential reading list, it appears, are contributions from the historians who study us common folks—in all our complexity—and tell stories of our past as cultural history.

Rove names just a few of the books that Bush has read on contemporary events or foreign affairs, so it is not possible to tell much about the president's openness to criticism or his curiosity about new ideas.

snip//

As an historian, it is part of my daily duties to read a lot about the era I plan to chronicle. And I also read for enjoyment, and as a working journalist. But 95 books in a year? While being an engaged spouse and father and homeowner and wage-earner? Where does he get the time?

Granted, Bush has servants and job security, his kids have grown and left home, and he doesn't waste so much of his life in traffic. But he also has wars and recession and natural disasters to contend with—and I spent enough days on White House press pool duty to know that the president makes the necessary investment of time to maintain his proficiency as an off-road bike rider as well.

I guess he really did need Dick Cheney as co-president.