Photo by Hamish Grant.
Billboards like the one shown above have appeared downtown. It’s generated amusement and derision from the usual sources, with BlogTO giving it the thumbs-up and Kathy over at Relapsed Catholic giving it the opposite in her entry Why I really need a Green Card, part XVII:
Do you ignoramuses realize that, every morning when you’re still asleep, George Bush reads a daily briefing book that’s the size of the GTA phone directory?
Counterpoint: remember the exchange between Kevin Kline and Jamie Lee Curtis in A Fish Called Wanda, in which dumb old Otto is trying to show how smart he is when Wnda calls him an ape:
Otto (Kevin Kline): Apes don’t read philosophy.
Wanda (Jamie Lee Curtis): Yes they do, Otto, they just don’t understand it!
Here’s the audio of that exchange [210K WAV file].
14 replies on “The George Bush Audiobook Store Billboards”
On Slate, from 2003:
“I glance at the headlines, just to get kind of a flavor,” he told Brit Hume of Fox News last month. But, “I rarely read the stories” because “a lot of times there’s opinions mixed in with news.” Instead, “I get briefed by [White House Chief of Staff] Andy Card and Condi [Rice, the national security adviser] in the morning.”
Hey Joey – aww, you didn’t hafta give me a photo credit! Cool that you posted my pic regardless! Agreed with JOhnnyb’s comment, btw. I don’t think ANY president, sitting or otherwise (with the exception of maybe Nixon, who was an information nut) actually reads the briefing papers given them each morning. They have staffs to topline stuff for them. But in Dubya’s case one does get the impression that he needs help with the material if he reads it or not!
A quote from the “Relapsed Catholic” article:
Last time I looked, Bush got his undergraduate degree from Yale. Either way, that’s nothing to crow about.
Actually, he got his MBA from Harvard.
Nothing to crow about, I guess. How many Harvard degrees do you have, Martey?
Only one. How many do you have?
Well, that’s wonderful, Martey. Was it a walkover – could you have done it with one hand tied behind your back? Is it a completely valueless piece of paper? I hope not.
Or was the crack about a Yale undergraduate degree just a bit of Ivy League rivalry? I’d hate to think it was a knee-jerk crack at a president who rubs you the wrong way, contradicting everything you personally know about high-priced degrees.
I wish I had a Harvard degree, Martey. I’d settle for one from Yale. Alas, I’m one of those poor unpapered unfortunates who’ve had to get by without academic credentials. I do, on the other hand, have some respect for the work required to get one, which for some reason you seem happy to pretend you don’t, personal experience notwithstanding.
Oh, you crazy kids! I hope you didn’t waste your entire long weekend fighting over the internet. Now go outside and get some fresh air, both of you, and we’ll continue this on Tuesday.
Today is my Tuesday, Joey – my long weekend was over yesterday. I work for a newspaper, after all.
A lightweight “newspaper”.
Ahh – an expert opinion!
It was just a jab at Yale. Harvard and Yale have a rivalry akin to Auburn-Alabama. Martey is well aware that G.W. has degrees from both Harvard and Yale. He didn’t mention it so that his little joke would work.
And how did an unpapered person like yourself become such an expert on Bush’s academic career? You are simply the best, better than all the rest!
Hi, just seeing what this site is about. What is this
accordian guy thing?
George Kordonis
Locksmith Works
Nashville, Tn
I live here in Toronto, the stores are an audiobook rental in the Business District.
I bloody LOVE these ads. In fact, I was looking for a photo like this to share with my Gringo friends online… I was irritated today that my cellcamera choked on me before I could cop a snap…
I wonder if this campaign was what generated the, “Bush is reading Camus” propaganda…
I heard about it & laughed myself sick…
BlueBerry Pick’n
can be found @
ThisCanadian.com
“Silent Freedom is Freedom Silenced”