Dove feathers in the President's mouth etc

[barbara100 at jps.net]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Nightingale" <isread at btopenworld.com>
> Do Bush's language skills have the same meaning, or even something
> remotely similar, for Americans? Undeniably, Bush did choose his parents
> more wisely than Prescott, but does he lose points for his accent? Is Bush
> perceived as something of an outsider?

It can't just be the dumb accent that Bush has his reputation. And parents,
I'm not sure what bearing they have on public opinion. Clinton has a dopey
Southern accent too, and his mother looked like a harlot, but people never
accuse him of being dumb.  I think it's Bush's red-neckedness that gives us
the "dumb" impression. His "round'em up and smoke'em out" ways. Clinton was
a charming Southern gentleman; Bush is a spittin' brawlin' cowboy. He rich,
but he got no class.
But he's not an outsider by any means. It might even be why he's so popular.
Americans love their cowboys.  I mean I hate him politically more than
anybody, and I'm from California, but he does have a certain vulgar
down-home charm. Maybe it's from back in the pioneering days, or from all
the cowboy and indian movies we used to watch: "Save us from those savages
with your BIG gun, George!"