I believe that they are EXACTLY as stupid as they look.

[TheWraith]

I was pondering today a question that sometimes comes up on DU (particularly when someone is debunking conspiracies in the 9/11 forum): whether the Bush administration is really incompetant, or whether they're clever people pretending to be incompetant in order to accomplish perpetual war (or fill in the blank).

The truth is: Yes, I think that they're EXACTLY as stupid as they look. I think that anyone who was cleverly manipulating the entire country and the world in the way that some here give them credit for would do it smarter. I think that the repeated massive disasters aren't a deliberate plan, but the natural result of corrupt, obnoxious stupidity.

I think that the Bushies probably really believe at least most of that crap that they spew--or that what they believe is actually worse, even more out of it, and what they say is the toned-down public version. I think that they're so fundamentally disconnected from reality that they really expected Iraq to be a cakewalk, and for us to have been marching through Iran and Syria by now.

I think that the level of success that they enjoyed for so long is a testimony only to the effectiveness of fearmongering and the degree of cowtowing and plasticity that most people in this country experienced after 9/11.

Thank you, and good night.

[Orsino]

1. They are not stupid.

They are evil enough to pursue stupid policies for their own benefit and that of their cronies.

[jgraz]

2. All of the above

I'm going with evil and stupid.

[Warpy]

4. You're confusing corruption and ruthlessness with intelligence

which is rather the point of the OP, too. There is a huge difference.

Cheaters are wildly successful until they're expected to know or perform something they've cheated their way around. It just doesn't work.

That's what's happening with Iraq. They were corrupt enough to want that war and ruthless enough to get it. Now that they're expected to do something constructive in that part of the world, they're simply not up to the job. Cheaters never are.

As for the kowtowing after 9/11, you bet that occurred. One of the big lessons of history is that people will rally around the worst leaders when they feel under a threat. That's what happened after 9/11. Fortunately for the world, it seems to have worn off most of us.

[Beetwasher]

6. Right, They Are Also LAZY

They are corrrupt, evil, ruthless, but NOT very smart and LAZY.

They will always look for the easiest way to do anything. They will look for the way w/ the least amount of effort. They will always take the shortcut and do something half-assed, incomplete or not at all. Or just try to pass the buck.

Let's face it, for the most part, criminals are criminals because they are too stupid and lazy to actually WORK and follow the rules. Bushco. is not much different, they just have a lot of power.

[Orsino]

7. Or perhaps we're confusing "stupid" and "not very smart."

They are apparently stupid enough to be very short-sighted, or are so well-paid that they have put their intellects on hold. They may expect to be dead for civilization collapses due to their policies.

I won't argue the distinction further.

[baby_mouse]

9. No. They are STUPID enough to follow EVIL policies for their own benefit and that of their cronies.

They are stupid. STUPID. The evil is an incidental side effect, that has grown on their souls exaclty like that kind of cancer always does on stupid, spoiled rich people.

If they were NOT stupid, they would have won the Congress.

[seabeyond]

3. i agree wraith. all the while they believe their lies.

i have an alcoholic brother. oh the stories. and he believes it. it is beyond what i could ever imagine. he also lies. about everything. cannot tell a truth when the truth might even be a better story,.... still he will lie

[TheWraith]

10. That's a very good analogy. Like an addict, they rationalize everything until they believe it.

There's an old truism as well about con artists and shady salesmen: that it's easiest to get someone else to believe something if you can make yourself believe it too, even a little. This gang is a prime example of that.

[applegrove]

5. They are emotionally stupid. Which makes them worship evil plans and

their own dam selves. Ego..Ego..Ego.

[baby_mouse]

8. D'accord, ethereal one.

Exactamundo. I have been saying this very thing for many a year. There is no need for a sinister cabal to explain the idiocy. Politics can easily allow for very stupid people to make very stupid decisions.