Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder

Mea culpa! The Postman works I referred to are Amusing Ourselves to Death (published 1986, NOT 1985) and Building a Bridge to the Eighteenth Century (NOT Nineteenth Century). I regret my previous error and extend my apologies to Mr. Postman.

After reading this book, anyone Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green or Independent will find that NYU Media Studies professor Neil Postman was correct in his assessment that, as Americans, we are 'Amusing Ourselves to Death' (Postman, 1985). For those who are apt to view this book as mere leftist 'bias' regarding Bush's ineptitude, I suggest you read Postman first which may strike you as less 'partisan.' Upon reading the collection of verbal gaffes by our president, I became increasingly perturbed by our diminishing intellectual capital as a nation. As for television? They call it an 'idiot box' for a reason and this book shows what happens to our society when our overall literacy (linguistic, cultural, etc.) diminishes as a result.

With all due respect to Paul Begala and Molly Ivins, Mark Crispin Miller's The Bush Dyslexicon is the most insightful book on the unelected Bush. The title may give the impression that the book is just a collection of malaprops; it is not. Miller explains how RESIDENT Bush and his right-wing cohorts, abetted by the corporate-run media, have undermined and eroded our democracy.

Mark Crispin Miller has taken his microscope and scalpel and slowly dissected W's run for the presidency. By transcribing the debates with Gore you are able to see how sly and slippery Bush can be when cornered. Read to yourself, Bush's words are mixed up and sound like incoherent rants. But said aloud without the ability to rewind and listen again, they actually seem to make sense and flow together into meaningful thoughts (Ah! The Joy of TV). For a culture raised on the belief that looks matter and MTV style news broadcasts. Bush is the right man. But like his father before him (No New Taxes/A New World Order) the facade will wear off and soon the people will see that they have been fooled. They have given the position of Village Chief to the village idiot.

This book should be #1! Simply the most devastating indictment of Bush so far, and it's no wonder that the Right wants us to ignore it. Read it and be prepared to laugh, cry, be angered and frightened.

Miller pans the Bush family, the media and the Democrats. Of course, the main subject is W. The reader is enlightened to how the media and their buddies in the Bush family (or visa versa) created, with the U.S. Supreme Court our current president. We have not had such an illiterate, out-of-it president since Zachary Taylor. A suggestion for readers is to buy two copies, one to read and another to pass along to others. You will see how TV runs our lives including the selection of our president. One can but wonder if 'reality' programs, all the sex and violence on TV is a reflection of our society or if our society a reflection of what we are seeing on the tube. G.W.Shrub is the ideal candidate for people caught up in the boob tube. Think about it...If you are news person...Al Gore is boreing and you need sensationalism to sell papers or get viewers. A buffoon is much more interesting and newsworthy. Duh! It looks like W's your choice. Miller is one who has earned his living as part of the media and so has given an insight into the media's role in electing W. This is well worth reading and passing along. Please do, dear readers.

'What's not fine is, rarely is the question asked, are, is our children learning.' - George W. Bush, Jan. 2000 Media critic Mark Crispin Miller has written a new book titled The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder. Although it brims with outrageous examples of Bush's inability to speak meaningful sentences (e.g., 'Laura and I don't realize how bright our children is sometimes until we get an objective analysis.'), this book is not so much about Bush's illiteracy as it is about how the corporate media cherishes him and his utter lack of ideas. Miller believes that Bush¿s problem is deeper than mere dyslexia, or what he calls Bush¿s ¿West Texas ebonics.¿ It¿s deeper, too, than simple ignorance. Bush¿s problem is that he¿s an ANTI-intellectual, and thus he plays very well on television. Although an excellent advertising medium, television detests reasoned discourse and instead focuses attention on the visual and the trivial, such as Ross Perot¿s big ears, Al Gore¿s robotic gestures, or any woman¿s hair style. Writes Miller: 'The networks' journalistic stars go on and on and on about the politicians' failure or success at pleasing--or at not displeasing--viewers. ¿such interminable yakking tells us nothing, dwelling on details of bearing, posture, voice, and makeup, instead of dealing with what anybody did, said, or failed to say.' Put another way, our TV culture reduces 'all discussion to the level of the taste-test, wherein 'likeability' is all that counts.' Thus, a smirking ignoramus who couldn¿t name any world leaders during his presidential campaign actually became a darling of the media, whose reporters and pundits continue to coddle him like a slow child, virtually never throwing him any curves nor attempting to pin him down with pointed or complex questions. In a typically wry passage, Miller observes: 'Thus, Bush himself is a big-time beneficiary of what he likes to call 'the soft bigotry of low expectations.'' Particularly galling to Miller is the Right's attempt to spin Bush's ignorance as an indication that he's a man of the people, like an Andrew Jackson or an Abraham Lincoln. (Republican Representative J.C. Watts actually introduced Bush at a campaign rally in South Carolina by shouting proudly, 'You don't have to be smart to be president!') Miller reminds us that Bush hardly dragged himself up from common conditions. Rather, he partied his way through school, squandering rich educational opportunities at Andover and Yale, two highly competitive institutions which never would have accepted him--much less graduated him--without his family¿s intercession. Accordingly, Miller dubs Bush the anti-Lincoln, 'one who, instead of learning eagerly in humble circumstances, learned almost nothing at the finest institutions in the land.' ¿And I see Bill Buckley is here tonight, fellow Yale man. We go way back, and we have a lot in common. Bill wrote a book at Yale--I read one.¿ - George W Bush, Oct. 2000 Miller¿s book is nothing short of alarming, cataloguing as it does the anti-democratic collusion between the corporate media and the conservative politicians who support them. But Miller¿s wit is as keen as his powers of observation, so this book is as pleasurable as it is disturbingly informative.

Professor Miller's book at first just looks like another collection of 'bushisms' or cheap political gags. In fact, it's an incisive, masterful interpretation of George Bush's political career to date: a career which the author reveals as cunning, devious, and immensely successful. Along the way, he deflates the myth of the liberal media, Bush's image as a foolish but likeable nullity, his egalitarian airs, and much more besides. Better still, the book is really funny. Miller's acerbic, witty style is a pleasure to read, as funny as it is smart. I laughed out loud again and again, and giggled when I wasn't wimpering with fear at having a man like Bush as President. Anyone that is skeptical about Bush's (dis)qualifications, or is interested in a high flight of political criticism, or who just wants to laugh, ought to buy the Bush Dyslexicon today.

I THOUGHT THAT I WAS TOO SENSITIVE TO WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN THIS COUNTRY. YES, THE MILITARY WAY IS BEING IMPOSED ON US. YES, THE TV TELLS US WHAT IT WANTS, NOT WHAT IS HAPENING. YES, WE ARE BECOMING A PLUTOCRACY. ARE WE GOING TO FOLLOW LIKE SHEEP THESE GREEDY, SELF-SERVING LEADERS. IS THERE NO CONSCIENCE AND GOOD WILL LEFT IN THIS COUNTRY? THIS BOOK IS AN HONEST REPORT OF WHAT IS BEING DONE TO THE MAJORITY OF US. WHERE IS THE OPOSITION, WHERE IS COMON SENSE AND FAIR PLAY? ARE GOOD MAN AND WOMAN GOING TO LET THE BUSHES DO THIS SHAMEFUL AND BLATANT ROBERRY? DONT ALLOW THIS TO CONTINUE. READ THIS BOOK. READ THE AFTERWORD. I HAVE BEEN FEELING IT AND NOW IT IS CONFIRMED. THIS IS NOT HENRYY THE VIII TH IN 1,500. THIS IS 2001. WAKE UP AMERICA BUSH FOOLED EVERYONE, INCLUDING WHO VOTED FOR HIM.

This book is not a humourous collection of Bushisms for entertainment purposes. It's a serious analysis of Politics, Bush style. I can't believe how nervous this book made me while reading it. I couldn't put it down. Having worked in the Washington, DC environment for nearly 20 years I thought I knew what was going on around here. This book chilled me to the very core. I implore every True American to read this book, and to think long and hard about what they do and who they vote for during the next Congressional Election. By True American, I'm saying every person who's ever felt any loyalty to the Stars and Stripes, who've ever shed a single tear for the loss of a single American son or daugher in defense of our shores, and anyone who's EVER believed in the American Dream. This book can change your life, or at least wake you up to the possibilities our last Presidential Election have opened. Mr. Miller's book was so intense, I completed it in a single 24 hour sitting. Now I can't stop thinking about what he's shown me, and every newsclip of Mr. Bush now sends new chills up my spine. Let Mr. Miller help you think and see what's happened to our country by reading this book. Investigate the bibliography. Research the details. Don't take Mark Miller's word, or mine, come to your own conclusions. You'll become shocked and amazed when you start seeing the truth. You'll find yourself agreeing with Miller. You owe it to yourself! You owe it to America.