They Still Let George W. Bush Talk?

I was reading the Washington Post this morning, and I found an article about King George's recent speech at a high school in Tipp, Ohio. The article had a link to the White House web site, where you can find a transcript of the speech.

It is breathtaking. I mean, there's the usual garble, a transcription of the king's inarticulate muttering: "Nobody ought to ever hope to be a war President, or a presidency -- a President during war." And there's a moment of unintentional irony during the Q & A when the king was asked about his terrible approval rate in polls: "When it's all said and done, when Laura and I head back home -- which at this moment will be Crawford, Texas -- I will get there and look in the mirror, and I will say, I came with a set of principles and I didn't try to change my principles to make me popular. You can't make good decisions -- (applause.)" But those examples, and all the others like them from this address, weren't the startling ones for me.

Anyone who has listened to the king during his reign so far has noticed his trouble speaking clearly, his malapropisms, his lack of decorum, etc. The new, interesting moment for me came when he said, "And so, if you were to come in the Oval Office, what you would see is this fantastic rug that looks like the sun."

The sun-rug formed a significant, even central role in the speech. He was trying to use the example of the sun-rug to demonstrate his role as the "Commander Guy." (Early in the speech, he gave himself the title "Commander Guy" and attempts to defend that new title with the simile of the sun-rug.)

Um, doesn't that sound, you know, crazy? I mean, inarticulateness is one thing--even incompetency--but I tremble anew to see the leader of the free world tripping among the flowers, lost in the kaleidoscope, tippling with the wee folk, etc. As long as he's dining harmlessly with the queen or something (I mean Elizabeth II, not Laura), I suppose it's ok. (I wonder if he leaned over during dinner and whispered in Elizabeth's ear, "Want to see my fantastic rug? It looks like the sun. It's a model for my decision-making during this war.")

But frankly, they should just not let him speak in public anymore. Not without medication, anyway.