RateItAll: The Opinion Network

If he's so classy and well-cultured, why does he like to flip people off so much?

Of the many, many points of reference available for exhibiting dubya's complete lack of class and culture- a real howler was listening to one of the most embarrassing discourse-over-dinner conversations in the history of Western Civ. When dubya's bleeping explicative wasn't enough, he then shamed us with witless exchanges that surely shamed other world leaders present: "Gotta go home. Got something to do tonight. How about you? Where are you going home? This is your neighborhood, doesn't take you long to get home. You eight hours? Me too. Russias a big country and youre a big country. Takes him eight hours to fly home. Russias big and so is China." To Mr. Blair: "Yo, Blair. What are you doing? Are you leaving?" To those of us who have travelled and have conducted business or academic affairs overseas, the lack of class and culture isn't just apparent it hinders American progess and initiatives. If you like dubs becuase of shared opinons, fine. If you like him because of some real or phantom moral stance, fine. But don't defend class and culture- at least not in front of anyone with international experience or a graduate degree because you will induce silent or overt laughter. "Yo, Blair"?. . .kids, can we please ban rednecks from the Oval Office for at least 20 years? Bush's lack of class and culture only encourages our enemies to think we're stupid and easily attacked or fooled. . ."You eight hours"? This was like a SNL skit designed to insult a senile-Regean but it was for real. . .

Let's see now. We have people rooting around on an internet web-site, anonymously pontificating that a person from a distinguished American family, with two Ivy League Degrees, long public service, the Governor of the second largest state in the Union, President of the United States, and who always appears well groomed and well dressed, is not cultured or has no class.

Please, fellow citizens, don't make me laugh so hard.

Got a lot of it but pretends to be a good ole boy chopping wood so you forget he had $16 million and could pay an illegal to clear that brush. Daddy has a billion and Dubya went to Havard and Yale. Since he wants act like he has no class or culture I'll vote that way even though I am sure he knows every fork an spoon in a formal dinner setting.

goes well with berlusconi and putin and maybe some other dictators

I hate to look like a snob, too, but this is an attribute that jr does not actually possess. Hell, I admit to enjoying 'Springer' & fryin' up a good Spam & Bananer sandwich, so who am I to talk? I'll tell you who: An AMERICAN!

I don't want to look like a snob, but this guy simply isn't classy. But then again, not too many politicians are. The ones who take the high road are usually shot down. Bush knows how to play gutter politics pure and simple. He's not afraid to smear his opponents in very demeaning ways. Look at what they did to John McCain in the South Carolina Primary. Bush's surrogates had people call voters telling him that Sen. McCain had a black illegitimate daughter (she's actually a Bangladeshi girl the McCain's adopted). Bush is a disciple of the Lee Atwater, a master political operative who's good at really stretching the truth. It's effective in turning out the base primarily. Today, the Bush campaign is busy portraying John Kerry as a frenchie and an anti-war activist. How mature, but it's effective, people actually buy this crap. Atwater died in 1991, but Karl Rove, Bush's political consiglere, is even more influential and ruthless. Bush isn't all too well read either, which says a lot about his decision making style and how he takes in information. Understanding other people, primarily those who live in other countries, might go a long way, but don't expect him to change. That's how most politicians are.

Always known for finishing at the bottom of his class/culture.

No class and no culture. What do you expect for someone from Crawford?

If you're talking about bloodlines, I guess you could say Dubya has class-he comes from a distinguished family. But if you're talking about the kind of class that results from decency and strong character, sorry, he does not qualify.

Has neither class nor culture, despite his upbringing. One more thing, this idea of him as some southern good ol' boy is a complete myth. The Bushes are Connecticut yankees who relocated to Texas because they had oil interests. They are northern aristocracy, and figured out long ago that a humble Texas drawl is far more appealing to people than a snooty New England drone. Just becomes he comes from the upper class does not mean he is high class. He's a vulgar and incoherent manchild who throws tantrums every time he does not get his way. As for culture, prior to becoming president he spent most of his time drinking until he found Jesus with the southern baptists, so his worldview and sense of culture could not help but be extremely narrow. He's the kind of guy who'd visit a foreign country and get upset at the lack of Taco Bells there. This whole category is a joke.

Bush obviously has some class and culture just from being brought up rich and being president. However, he talks and acts kind of dumb and uneducated sometimes.

He's from the south. He's the usual wealthy, intelligent, educated man from the south. Some of this country's smartest leaders have come from the south.

I like the guy's cowboy hat. As far as class: his predacessor was running around with Monica while Bush was building a little league field on the White House lawn. Need I say more?

I doubt he even knows what those words mean. This is someone whose only written observation while visiting China was "they sure do ride a lot of bikes here" and actually asked a Brazillian official "you have black people too?" what a moron!

I think his record of dealing with other leaders says enough. Most of Europe see him as an uncouth baboon in cowboy boots and can't take him seriously. Along with sincerity, this is not his strong point. I know all presidents read their speeches, but the way he stumbles along makes me wonder if he even read through it once before. Is he dyslexic? I'd like to pop quiz him on world affairs or at least ask him to find Mauritania on a map.

I have to agree with Redoedo: Never in my life have I heard a more inarticulate speaker! As for culture, class-- anyone who thinks this humanoid has either of those, could not begin to understand the meaning of those words.

Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, came of age with a silver coke spoon at his nose, and now linig his own pockets with silver through aggressively regressive tax policies.

He's a scion of America's fabulously wealthy upper class and has his privileged birth to thank for nearly all of his successes--from his admission to Yale over more qualified candidates (affirmative action for rich white males) to his avoidance of combat in Vietnam to securing investors for his dubious business enterprises to avoiding jail time for drunken driving to his visibility as a presidential candidate (and he needed help from his powerful family to prevail in Florida). In office, he has served his own class's interests relentlessly, at the expense of the rest of us. And he sells himself as a man of the people? Sorry, no amount of folksy Texas twang will make that true.