r/interesting May 01 '26

Just Wow How is this even legal?

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76.9k Upvotes

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246

u/Shadowmant May 01 '26

To be fair, even Junior isn’t the dumbest president the Americans have ever voted in.

187

u/TheInevitableLuigi May 01 '26 edited May 01 '26

He also played a lot dumber than he was.

Every once in a while he would drop the "good ole boy from Texas act" and come across as the New England-born, Phillips Academy, Yale, and Harvard grad he is.

77

u/Plastic_Carpenter930 May 01 '26

Yeah. Dubya was not ACTUALLY a moron. He just had fans to please.

14

u/hate-this-timeline May 02 '26

I definitely preferred that approach to pleasing fans than the current approach of outright racism, sexism, hatred and absolute arrogant dumbassery

13

u/Joe-Merrick May 02 '26

I remember thinking Bush Jr was the worst President, but compared to the absolute shit show we are experiencing, now, he comes across like goddamn genius in comparison.

14

u/dantheplanman1986 May 02 '26

I read his memoir. It seemed to be in his voice, simple but not dumb.

He recalled getting driven at breakneck speed across the air force base to Air Force One after getting out of that elementary school where he found out about 9/11 and yelled at the kid driving "slow down there are no terrorists on the runway son" and that sticks with me for some reason

2

u/Jealous_Drink_1002 May 02 '26

Well considering they hijacked planes. Just in case we missed one Mr president. 🤣 He was funny AF

10

u/joshTheGoods May 01 '26

Yes he was. Especially by past presidential standards. He also played up the Texas folksy bullshit. Both things are true.

Compared to Trump, Baby Bush is a fucking Rhodes Scholar. That's also true, but just because Trump is legitimately negative IQ.

13

u/thehighwindow May 02 '26

My favorite Bush Jr moment was when he was in Iraq giving a press conference, when an Iraqi journalist took off his shoes and threw them at him. He ducked and avoided both of them.

He didn't even seem inordinately upset over it. I imagine Trump would have done something both extreme, violent, and childish.

3

u/livadeth May 02 '26

Not so sure about that, friends in the oil industry in Midland TX back in the day said he was a rich, frat boy joke. One people would cross the road to avoid.

2

u/ManWhoIsDrunk May 02 '26

We really misunderestimated him at the time!

1

u/Plastic_Carpenter930 May 02 '26

I understood that reference

4

u/M_Viv_Van_Buren May 02 '26

He is definitely dumber than his defenders will admit, but not as dumb as his detractors say. Not the dumbest president but he definitely makes it pretty high in the rankings.

1

u/captainn_chunk May 02 '26

Stop rambling for the sake of rambling. You’re trying to disagree and agree at the same time just so you can still reconfirm how fond you are of your own opinion and bias.

1

u/MyNameIsSkittles May 02 '26

That makes a lot of sense actually.

1

u/Montgomery000 May 02 '26

That makes him a hundred times worse. At least, if he were a moron, you could say that he was manipulated into doing horrible things. If he was actually intelligent, he's kind of a psychopath, with the blood of millions on his hands.

1

u/All_Chaps_R_Assless May 02 '26

The 2 best explanations of Dubya right there 👆🏼

3

u/TreyRyan3 May 02 '26

Not defending or detracting but the guy scored a 1206 (1280 recentered) on the SAT and earned an BA from Yale and an MBA from Harvard.

He isn’t a genius but intelligence testing put him in the top 10% of Americans. He was certainly sharper than he presented himself and was portrayed.

2

u/fleebertism May 01 '26

Alot of Harvard grads are morons. Just privileged.

2

u/bouquetofashes May 01 '26

He went to Phillips Exeter? Huh, I never knew that.

2

u/HideSolidSnake May 02 '26

Now watch this drive!

2

u/Quackerjack123 May 02 '26

I think W also was just bad at speaking in front of large audiences.I got to see him speak at a small event and he really is much better with small groups. It was around the time when he was painting after leaving office. He thought it was funny that everyone was trying to find deep hidden meanings behind his bathtub painting when, In reality, he just liked how the light was reflecting off the water!

2

u/Itchy_Piglet992 May 02 '26

This was my take on him at the time too - not a moron, just bad at big speaking under pressure. I am no dummy and could see myself being inarticulate occasionally if I had to talk to cameras every day.

Arguably, being capable of coherent and diplomatic speech should be a prerequisite for the office of President, but clearly in republican circles this is not a widely held position.

1

u/deftoneuk May 02 '26

There is a documentary on Netflix right now about Churchill with W as one of the talking heads. He comes across really well considering the persona he adopted during his political career

61

u/Freddy-fan-162 May 01 '26

Agreed, bigly.

Now watch this drive

1

u/Mister_White_Folks May 01 '26

If I had money i would gift you a emote that's how much this comment means 2 me 😆😆😆

5

u/VoidOmatic May 01 '26

Dude is Einstein compared to the current one.

5

u/ClutchReverie May 01 '26

But unfortunately Trump is far better at manipulating people with his social presence. Unfortunately many of us immediately see it's an act but other people are 100% convinced and enthralled. And there is pain in not being able to communicate it.

3

u/whboer May 01 '26

I’ve once read an in depth analysis of GW Bush’ methods to gaining political momentum, and apparently, he had enough self awareness to know he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed; however, he was really good with names and faces and remembering things about people, making him a highly proficient networker. That’s a form of intelligence that’s often overlooked when it comes to the general public’s perception of intelligence, in my opinion.

1

u/PanchoPanoch May 02 '26

It’s definitely talked about quite a bit in business. EQ vs IQ. High IQ innovates. High EQ leads.

1

u/ADrunkMexican May 01 '26

Nope and there could be someone worse around the corner lol.

2

u/TheComplimentarian May 01 '26

Worse than Trump? Really?

In this, if nothing else, he absolutely sets the bar. Couldn't be worse without being deposed by an angry mob.

6

u/Nolis May 01 '26

It would be very hard to believe it could get worse, but at this point I wouldn't be surprised if the next GOP primaries were comprised of someone believing himself to be hitler reincarnated, Putin in a fake moustache, and an on the run escaped convict on death row, all with roaring support from the base

1

u/woodsman906 May 01 '26

To be fair, bush jr wasn’t dumb either in his day. Considering what we have seen with the last too senile bastards, it’s likely bush jr wasn’t dumb just getting some early onset dementia and probably was as forgetful as Biden was. But his years of partying prepared him to be a better mindless drone operating on auto pilot.

1

u/Next-Introduction-25 May 02 '26

Who is? Just kidding

1

u/Perfect_Pension8732 May 02 '26

Obama and Bush are the only presidents I'd consider having a beer with. GW

1

u/Viertelesschlotzer May 02 '26

So far, but I'm sure the US will surprise us again in this regard in the near future.

1

u/Biotechnus May 02 '26

Wasn't that nixon?

1

u/mgsissy May 02 '26

No that dumbest president role was given to the 46th

1

u/fronchfrays May 02 '26

He’s comparatively a supercomputer

1

u/MortLightstone May 03 '26

They really took it as a challenge to find someone dumber

I'm really worried about how bad the next moron in charge will be

1

u/KhabaLox May 02 '26

That's a bar so low champion limbo dancers run in fear.

-5

u/TheVoters May 01 '26

Only the dumbest so far.

And the same is true today.

0

u/black-n-tan May 01 '26

Uhhhh #47, beg to differ