The Dumber-than-Dirt President

posted at 5:08 pm on February 3, 2010 by Howard Portnoy
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Remember President Monkeybush (see also “Bush-Monkey”)? He was the 43rd president of the United States. He was a guy liberals didn’t like for lotsa reasons they were always eager to tell you about. One was his “cowboy diplomacy,” which ticked off countless valued allies of the U.S.

But Bush-Monkey’s most egregious offense was stupidity. “The man is dumber than dirt,” more than one learned liberal opined. Bush was so dumb, in fact, that a poster of “Bushisms,” examples of his mangling of the English language, was published.

Why this guy was soooo stupid that not once but twice did he insult the leader of his own party by resorting to the same insulting figure of speech about the state the man hails from to exemplify wanton spending.

Oh, wait a minute. It wasn’t Bush-Monkey who did that. It was Obama. . .  Monkey? Last year, when he was trying to impress upon voters how reckless was the behavior of those money-grubbing, bonus-grabbing fat cats who spend other people’s money like — well, like Obama since taking the oath of office — he said, “You can’t get on corporate jets, you can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer’s dime.”

The dig at Las Vegas was not lost on the Senate Majority Leader, a Nevadan. Nor was it lost on Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman or Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons, both of whom were insulted by Obama’s comment.

Look, the comment was unfortunate. There are a bajillion metaphors in English for spending money recklessly. And not all of them (viz., drunken sailor) need be offensive. For example, “spending like there’s no tomorrow” or “spending like it’s going out of style.”

So which of those alternative locutions did Obama select for a speech last Tuesday in Nashua, N.H., in which he was trying to emphasize the dangers of uncontrolled spending? None. What he said instead was, “You don’t blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you’re trying to save for college.” [Emphasis added]

This time Mayor Oscar Goodman wasn’t merely insulted. He was livid. According to the AP, he said that Obama is no friend to Las Vegas and would not be welcome in the city if he visits. “I’ll do everything I can to give him the boot,” Goodman said. “This president is a real slow learner.”

Slow learner? That’s pretty cruel. Is the mayor sure he wasn’t referring to George W. Bush?

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