Bush claims to have read 60 books so far this year!

[ProSense]

George W. Bush, reader

Posted 4:22 pm | Printer Friendly

A week ago, we discussed whether the president actually read Camus' "The Stranger," and discussed the origins of existentialism. It turns out, however, there's a little more to Bush's new-found appreciation of the printed word.

Snip...

First, while the reading list has its share of baseball titles, there are some fairly serious books here, including John Barry's "The Great Influenza," Geraldine Brooks' "Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women," Gordon Wood's "Revolutionary Characters," and (I kid you not) "Macbeth" and "Hamlet" by Shakespeare. I don't want to say these books are above the president's reading level, but for a guy who doesn't read newspapers and has never shown a hint of intellectual curiosity, it's a bit of a stretch.

Second, there's the time element. Some of Dan Froomkin's readers started crunching the numbers.

Of the twelve books listed, I come up with a total page count of 5,356 pages, including 1,585 pages not available until at least 4/2006 of this year. That is an average page count of 450 pages per book. Multiply by his 60 books so far this year for a total page count of 27,000. 27,000 pages means the President would have to average a little over 115 pages per day. Reading a quick pace of a little over a minute per page, that is two hours a day of reading, and let's be honest, longer if you want to retain information in these types of books. And this from a man who prides himself in not reading the paper. I don't buy it.

And those are just the 12 books Walsh listed. The White House press office gave C-SPAN a list of 25 books — which were just part of the president's summer reading list. For a guy who likes to get to bed early, who devotes a couple of hours a day to exercise, and who ostensibly oversees the executive branch of government during a war, let's just say this is more than a little "ambitious."

Even if we assume that this is all transparent White House spin, and that the president didn't read "The Stranger" or much else from his reading list, the question then becomes, why bother with this narrative anyway?

more...

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/8271.html

Yet, he's somehow found time to read not one, not five, not 20, but 60 books this year alone (via Crooks & Liars). According to US News & World Report, he's in a competition with Karl Rove to see who can read more books over the course of the year. Rove is trailing by 10 books, until November when Diebold will put him up by three.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20060824/cm_huffpost/0...

Wars, disasters, summits, running a country (if one can call it that) and Bush finds time for 115 pages of casual reading two to three hours per day -- every single day from January 1 to mid August.

[GOPBasher]

1. 60? Wow, he must really like Dr. Seuss. n/t

[FormerDittoHead]

36. Why? Just because he's also developed an appetite for green eggs and ham?

Although I'll bet he hasn't read "Horton Hears a Who"...

[Bjorn Against]

51. No Dr. Seuss is way beyond his level, have you ever read "The Lorax"?

It is obvious that if Bush did read that book, he most certainly did not grasp the message.

[dipsydoodle]

2. He's lying

so what's new ? I have doubts he can read at all - I think they're pictures on the auto-prompts he uses.

[Botany]

3. Just this week he has read War & Peace, by Leo Tolstoy

"Epic historical novel by Leo Tolstoy, originally published as Voyna i mir in 1865-69. This panoramic study of early 19th-century Russian society, noted for its mastery of realistic detail and variety of psychological analysis, is generally regarded as one of the world's greatest novels. War and Peace is primarily concerned with the histories of five aristocratic families--particularly the Bezukhovs, the Bolkonskys, and the Rostovs--the members of which are portrayed against a vivid background of Russian social life during the war against Napoleon (1805-14). The theme of war, however, is subordinate to the story of family existence, which involves Tolstoy's optimistic belief in the life-asserting pattern of human existence. The heroine, Natasha Rostova, for example, reaches her greatest fulfillment through her marriage to Pierre Bezukhov and her motherhood. The novel also sets forth a theory of history, concluding that there is a minimum of free choice; all is ruled by an inexorable historical determinism"


Book One: 1805
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XIX
Chapter XX
Chapter XXI
Chapter XXII
Chapter XXIII
Chapter XXIV
Chapter XXV
Chapter XXVI
Chapter XXVII
Chapter XXVIII
Book Two: 1805
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XIX
Chapter XX
Chapter XXI
Book Three: 1805
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XIX
Book Four: 1806
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Book Five: 1806-07
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XIX
Chapter XX
Chapter XXI
Chapter XXII
Book Six: 1808-10
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XIX
Chapter XX
Chapter XXI
Chapter XXII
Chapter XXIII
Chapter XXIV
Chapter XXV
Chapter XXVI
Book Seven: 1810-11
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Book Eight: 1811-12
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XIX
Chapter XX
Chapter XXI
Chapter XXII
Book Nine: 1812
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XIX
Chapter XX
Chapter XXI
Chapter XXII
Chapter XXIII
Book Ten: 1812
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XIX
Chapter XX
Chapter XXI
Chapter XXII
Chapter XXIII
Chapter XXIV
Chapter XXV
Chapter XXVI
Chapter XXVII
Chapter XXVIII
Chapter XXIX
Chapter XXX
Chapter XXXI
Chapter XXXII
Chapter XXXIII
Chapter XXXIV
Chapter XXXV
Chapter XXXVI
Chapter XXXVII
Chapter XXXVIII
Chapter XXXIX
Book Eleven: 1812
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XIX
Chapter XX
Chapter XXI
Chapter XXII
Chapter XXIII
Chapter XXIV
Chapter XXV
Chapter XXVI
Chapter XXVII
Chapter XXVIII
Chapter XXIX
Chapter XXX
Chapter XXXI
Chapter XXXII
Chapter XXXIII
Chapter XXXIV
Book Twelve: 1812
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Book Thirteen: 1812
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XIX
Book Fourteen: 1812
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XIX
Book Fifteen: 1812-13
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XIX
Chapter XX
First Epilogue: 1813-20
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Second Epilogue: 1813-20
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII

[Benhurst]

21. Yes, but he skimmed over the parts on the Masons (didn't we all?),

which gave him enough time to read Gibbons Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire on the side.

[Botany]

22. Not to mention

Winston S Churchill's history series and Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Betya he read C & P in the original Russian to get it's real flavor.

BTW I just was in the shower and started laughing as I thought about this thread ....
why the hell is the press not jumping on this bald faced lie?

[ProSense]

25. LOL!

Really, his summer reading list contains books that aren't being released until fall!

[lpbk2713]

4. As if we can believe anything this lying asshole says.

If anything, he may have read 60 synopses. To a rethuglican, that would be the same as reading a whole book.

[Dogmudgeon]

5. Yes -- the Potter series

Beatrice, not Harry.

--p!
Especially not Sherman -- that's about a war, for cryin' out loud!

[Botany]

9. Mrs. Tiggy Winkle is complex

[Joanne98]

6. The new 9/11 report is in cartoon form. Was that on his list?

[ms liberty]

7. He can read?

Seriously, though...that would be more than one book a week. I don't believe it - he's lying again.

Tsk, tsk, tsk....George, hasn't anyone told you? You're a terrible liar. You really should give it up.

[notadmblnd]

8. My big fat wide ass he has....

unless he read 60 of these




I haven't even read 60 books this year and I spend at least 12 hours a day reading.

[Donna Zen]

10. Golden Books aren't that long

I doubt if he'd "get" Dr. Suess, but the Three Bears might be on the list.

bush reading books is further proof that republicans just make shit up.

[rosesaylavee]

11. Cliff Notes, no doubt.

And he couldn't begin to understand Shakespeare's works even if Olivier were alive to read it aloud to him.

[jobycom]

15. More like "Voices in the earpiece" notes. nt.

[rosesaylavee]

16. Even better...

What was I thinking? Like he would actually look at any text? Need more caffeine this morning.

[kurth]

12. Yeah, "Animal Farm is a book about animals on a farm"

"Tribal sovereignty means that, it's sovereign. You're a--you've been given sovereignty, and you're viewed as a sovereign entity. And, therefore, the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities." - George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Aug. 6, 2004

[iamjoy]

13. Someone Should Tell Him

Cliffs Notes and "graphic novels" don't count.

[jobycom]

14. Remember when he was asked about reading during the 2000 debates?

It was during the Republican primary debates. One reporter asked him if he liked to read. He said he read all the time, and listed four newspapers he claimed he read every morning (contrary to his later claims to not read newspapers), then mentioned a biography of someone I've forgotten. Even the questioner looked skeptical. Next week in the next debate he was asked what he learned from the book he mentioned he was reading. He looked like he'd been punched, then he started saying stuff like "I learned we have to be vigilant. I learned we can't take our safety for granted. I learned that the moon is round. (Insert bullshit platitude.)

I am completely serious on this, I do not believe Bush can read. I think he can sound out words, and may even be able to read the words on the teleprompter, but I do not believe he can understand them as he reads them. (And I'm not even convinced he can read them). But he fits the classic profile of an adult illiterate trying to cover it up. He is always "too busy" to read memoes himself, we are told, he instead has them read to him and then asks questions about them. Rememeber the Karen Hughes comment about him learning better in an interactive, verbal situation than by reading?

Bush is functionally illiterate. Until he sits down with me or someone I know to be trustworthy, has them choose a book he hasn't been exposed to before, and has him read it and discuss it on camera without an earpiece or bulge in his shirt, I won't believe it. The burden of proof is on him.

60 books my ass. Just that lie there proves he hasn't read a single one, or he would have given us the real number. No way he's reading obscure books on Muslim women. He's not even a good liar.

[neilepi]

17. Bush always comes to mind whenever I hear that commercial on Bloomberg

the one that starts with "Bad vocabulary can sink you socially quicker than bad breath". Certainly doesn't seem to be a disqualifier in terms of leading the world's greatest Superpower.

http://www.cafepress.com/heavenlybody.32275829

[Lost4words]

18. the idiot thinks a baseball card is a book!

[C_U_L8R]

19. Bush panicked....

when he pondered his legacy
and realized that he doesn't have
ANY books for his presidential library.

As usual.. it's all PR puffery
to create a big fat cover story.

Bush read????
hahaha
Bush read Camus???
hahahahahahahahhahahahahaha

[acmejack]

20. He hired someone smart to read them for him.

Just like he did in College, except he didn't have to pay them to write a paper too.

[rock]

23. OK, what he actually said was

"Here's the titles of the 60 books that I have read during the last year."

Yep, that's right he's read 60 book titles. Sometimes he works on more than one at a time.

[sknabt]

32. With Cheney running the country...

... Bush has plenty of time to read books. Though I suspect he's reading the Cliffs Notes version (coloring book edition?)

[niyad]

24. WHEN did this illiterate start reading? didn't he admit years ago that

he couldn't be bothered reading anything, including newspapers? and we are supposed to believe that he is now reading heavy-weight tomes?

if anyone believes THAT, I have some great oceanfront property in new mexico to talk to you about.

[alvarezadams]

26. Books of matches?

Or Cliff Notes?

[ClintonTyree]

27. He reads the titles of the books.........

and in his sick, scrambled mind that counts for reading the entire book. Using the bush* system, I've read over 1,000 books already this summer!

This sudden propaganda push to convince Americans that bush* is a literate, well read man of the times is WAY over the top. People may have been stupid enough to believe there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and they were behind the 9/11 attacks, but they're not so stupid that they'd believe bush* has an inquisitive mind and actually read all of those books.

The man is barely more intelligent than plant life. He fell out of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down. That's our pretzelenit!

[Totally Committed]

28. I'd like to see him take a comprehension test...

essays only, no multiple choice. The grade would indicate whether he "read" them or "read and understood" them.

He can barely speak English... so, Shakespeare must have been like a foreign language to him.

Personally, I think he's fibbing... but, like I said, there's reading, and there's reading and understanding.

TC

[louis-t]

29. Nah, he jes' looked at the pitchures.

[globalvillage]

30. There's a big difference between putting something on your list

and actually doing it. I've had 'clean the gutters' on my list for two years now.
It's just below writing a novel and above the trip to Spain.
My gutters will be clean before bush* finishes a book that doesn't have "illustrated by" on the cover.

[gulliver]

31. Someone should ask him about Macbeth.

Q: Mr. Bush...
A: Who you talkin' to?

Q: Excuse me, Mr. President Bush, what did you learn from Macbeth?
A: What's this, fifty questions?

Press corps: (Laughter)

Q: Well sir...
A: Who you talkin't to?

Q: Excuse me, Mr. President Bush Sir...
A: That's better, Macaca. Where'd you get that haircut?

Press corps: (Laughter)

Q: Mr. President Bush Sir, do you think Macbeth has anything to teach us in today's world?
A: Why yes it does. Um, er... If that ghost hadn't killed Macbeth's daddy, then Macbeth wouldn't have had to go to war to fight for freedom. It taught me a lot about freedom. Some say Macbeth is about giving in to terrorists. I disagree.

[BeachBuckeye]

33. I'd wager he hasn't read 60 books in his lifetime n/t

[MasonJar]

34. I think he should take a test to prove it or shut up. Who cares?

The man is an idiot even if he does actually know how to read. What is the purpose of this sudden influx of Bush reading material? I think we all know the answer to that! Fool me once...fool me uh, uh. The old saying in Texas, remember?

[civildisoBDence]

49. Remember the deer-in-the-headlights look when he was asked in 2000

to name a series of world leaders?

Can't wait to see his look when someone asks him about a few characters from these books.

Example from War and Peace: "Uh, yeah. That Russian general. No, French or German or something. Neopolitan I think, had the ice cream named after him."

News and commentary, left to right

[zann725]

35. Right! And he's still "dry" from 'substance' abuse.

No...unless Chimpy's books were 60 copies of "My Pet Goat" (most in Audio version), I do seriously doubt his new-found "curiousity" and voracious reading habits.

Does he even read the Daily Briefing reports? Those are read TO him, right?

[tsuki]

37. Classics Illustrated? nt

[July]

38. Is this the guy for whom they had to reduce the length of PDBs?

The guy who needs a short summary with bullet points when he's being briefed on issues of national significance?

Uh-huh, he's reading 60 meaty books. I would love to hear his deep thoughts on any one of them.

[madmunchie]

39. Books on tape while he sleeps

OR, those books that are condensed to several pages of the most pertinent info.

[Ferret Mike]

40. sixty books, wow

this means he has read almost the entire collection.



Franklin W. Dixon sure would be proud.

[rzemanfl]

41. I have had sex with sixty Playboy centerfold models in the last

60 days, with only a few threesomes. So there.

[Ferret Mike]

42. How about the world of fine motor control?

How many coloring books has he finished, and did he stay in the lines?

[PresidentWar]

43. Sure, but 58 of them were coloring books.

Anybody know where the orange crayon went?

[Auntie Bush]

44. Does reading "My Pet Goat" count?

[Auntie Bush]

45. Does reading "My Pet Goat" count?

[lpbk2713]

46. And he also claimed "Mission Accomplished" over three years ago ....

And now the whole ME region is worse off than it ever was and there's no sign of the alleged WMD's (as if there ever was) or OBL.



Link to M/A: http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/05/01/bush.carrier.... /

[WCGreen]

47. Classic Comic editions.....

Or Cliff's notes

[spanone]

48. Maybe 60 comic books. MAYBE. I say Bullshit.

[opihimoimoi]

50. The Pretentious President pretends again: he don read shit.

Most of the GOP Sheep don't read either....the Bush guys know that so they exploitate with the List hoping to impress. Its all BS SPIN CRAP

[tinfoilinfor2005]

52. I'm sure this information won't impress his "fundy moran" base who

"don't much trust book larnin'"...and Cheney's base doesn't care one way or the other, as long as they can continue to pull his strings. So he must be saying this to impress US, which he obviously has, proving that his deceipt knows no boundaries.

[Rainscents]

53. Bush just look at the pictures

That count for reading 60 books.