"You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.''

Is there ANYONE who believes this crock of shit? I hope someone in the press corpse has enough brains to read at least one of these books and attempt to discuss it with Bubble Boy.

President George W. Bush is spending part of his Christmas holiday reading about the post-presidential years of Theodore Roosevelt and the lives of U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Bush was reading "When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt After the White House," by Patricia O'Toole, and "Imperial Grunts: The American Military on the Ground," by Robert Kaplan while on holiday at his Texas ranch, said White House spokesman Trent Duffy.

The book about Teddy Roosevelt is about the former president's African safari and his attempt to re-enter politics after he left the White House in 1909.

"Imperial Grunts" is an account of the daily lives of U.S. elite forces as told by journalist Robert Kaplan, who toured with several of the units in various countries.

Asked whether there was any significance that Bush, who has three years left in office, was reading a book about the post-White House years of a former president, Duffy replied that Bush is a "history buff" and "avid reader."

av·id adj. 1. Having an ardent desire or unbounded craving; greedy. 2. Marked by keen interest and enthusiasm.

Isn't this the guy who bragged that he doesn't read newspapers? Isn't this the guy who didn't read his Presidential Daily Briefs, with tragic results? Does that sound like unbounded craving or keen interest to you? Sidney Blumenthal:

Bush, in fact, does not read his President's Daily Briefs, but has them orally summarised every morning by the CIA director, George Tenet.

[snip]

"I know he doesn't read," one former Bush national security council staffer told me. Several other former NSC staffers corroborated this.

buff n. Informal. One who is enthusiastic and knowledgeable about a subject.

Too easy.

Now it's not news that the administration lies about pretty much everything, even subjects as mundane as how Bush is spending his time on yet another vacation. But it's important to point out when government spokespeople lie, because lying shouldn't be Standard Operating Procedure for the president of the United States and the people who speak for him. And accepting that the Bush administration lies to us constantly shouldn't be S.O.P. for the American public.

It's a sad state of affairs when your government lies to your face and it's no big deal because you've come to expect it. But that's exactly where we are. Just because you expect it doesn't mean you have to accept it.

Don't tell me that this guy is thoughtful and intelligent. I've seen his work. Don't tell me that this guy spends his leisure time in intellectually stimulating pursuits, because I've seen no evidence of that and plenty of evidence that he does nothing more challenging with his leisure time than watching "Bumfights" DVDs.

Maybe I'm making a big deal out of nothing. But I'm fucking tired of being lied to.