Bush's Strange Speech Mannerisms - Democratic Underground

JDPriestly

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Wed Mar-22-06 10:29 AM
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Bush's Strange Speech Mannerisms

Since yesterday's press conference, there has been a lot of discussion on DU about Bush's strange speech mannerisms and a lot of speculation about whether he has an earpiece and is being coached when he answers questions. Here is my take on his speech:

By nature, Bush probably thinks in pictures and diagrams, not in language. He is not analytical; he is very impatient; and he lacks intellectual curiosity. He wants action. He wants everything done now. He doesn't want to have to take the time to think through the process, to consider how what he wants done can be accomplished. As a result he speaks and thinks in disjointed fragments not in a linear fashion. He visualizes the end result but not the step by step process needed to get from point A to point B. Therefore he does not think or speak in sentences that flow from idea to idea. Instead, he barks, commands and demands. He hates to have to explain. It is painful to him to have to slowly explain his ideas to the American people. Thus, he always sounds frustrated. He blurts things out as if it is an imposition on him to have to talk coherently.

In addition, Bush never developed much verbal or language ability and has only a limited vocabulary. I don't mean that he is illiterate or that he hasn't heard or "read" a fair amount. I mean that he isn't tuned in to language. He has only a shallow understanding of the nuances and meanings and uses of words. Most guys with his kind of mind end up driving a truck, repairing your plumbing or fixing cars. They are great guys, but they like to do things, to get action, not to plan and go to meetings and write reports and study things. It's not necessarily better to be one way or the other. It's just different. Unfortunately, a president needs to be able to communicate well. Even more unfortunately that's not what guys like Bush do best.

So how are Bush's handlers dealing with the fact that he doesn't have the personality or the communication skills to be a good president? They are coaching him. They talk to him a lot about the language he is supposed to use in his public comments. I'll bet that he uses very different language and has a very different style when he speaks naturally. As a result, Bush's most noticeable speech mannerism is that he sounds phony -- not just in his choice of words, but in his intonation. He sounds a little more genuine now than he did five years ago, but he still sounds like there is no connection whatsoever between what he feels -- his emotions and the words he is pronouncing. In addition, when Bush speaks, he is remembering what he is supposed to say. He is reciting language and phrases he has learned by rote. He does not have a thought and express it from a palette of words. He tries to remember what words his handlers have told him he is supposed to use. We hear the disconnect. His words are not arising from creative or problem-solving thought processes. He is simply recalling them. It's almost as if he were playing Bingo. He hears a question. He searches his mind to see if he recalls the words he is supposed to connect to the key words in the question and he yells out an answer.

The result for him shows in the polls. People were initially impressed by the sound bites he repeated over and over, but as time has passed, more and more of us are hearing the disconnect, the rote repetition, the lack of emotional link between Bush's words and his feelings. First people subconsciously realize that Bush sounds insincere, and then gradually they conclude that he sounds downright dishonest. Bush will never be able to change his speech mannerisms. They grow out of who and what he is. 60 years from now people will look at videos of Bush's press conferences the way we look at Hitler's speeches and ask themselves "How could anyone have supported him or liked him? He sounds wrong. You can just hear it." Folks, we need to listen more carefully to the speech patterns of people who seek to lead us. Speech is the true mirror of the soul.