Former President George W. Bush, Live At Facebook HQ [video] | Hacker News Reader

Former President George W. Bush, Live At Facebook HQ [video]

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30 pointsobilgic16 comments

Is it just me, or is the stammering I remember from his presidency entirely gone now? He was perfectly eloquent before becoming President as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvknGT8W5jA&t=0m18s

edit: he did say "colonializer" in this video

That surprised me too. Bush (who I'm typically not a huge fan of) was articulate, funny, and honest. I quite liked the interview.

Being President is a damn tough job. I would stammer and say idiotic things all the time if I had to deal with that stress. Presidents always seem to age twice as fast as normal people.

He's a lot more relaxed--he doesn't have to watch what he says anymore, since pundits aren't analyzing his every word.

Though I didn't like him as a president, Bush always seemed to me like a guy you'd want to hang out with and have a couple of beers.

I never got that analogy considering Bush said he doesn't drink alcohol.

In my head he does. Regardless, the point stands: he seems like a fun guy to hang out with and I think he showed it in this interview.

He is a recovering alcoholic so I'd think it's reasonable to see him as someone you could have a beer with.

A pollster once said you vote for the guy you would want to have a drink at a bar with. Was it Gallup? That's always something GWB had, he was likeable on a personal level.

One thing a lot of people don't realize is that when you're holding an office, everything you say has legal import and consequences. Even Obama stutters and backtracks midsentence these days -- that's because they're filtering on about 12 different levels. It's a lot easier if you didn't spend all day doing things that you're not allowed to speak frankly about.

What of the presidents who were excellent orators?

Not really a useful counterpoint. No one would argue that Obama's a poor speaker, just that more exposed dialogue these days can make even the most eloquent of speakers seem clumsy. Fortunately TR and Honest Abe didn't have to worry about Politico & co.

And they didn't have a live TV press briefing every morning. Or even a non-live press briefing every morning.

On the other hand, they did have to worry about pamphlets asserting various things about the moral standards and marital status of their mothers.

Say what you will about G.W.B. But the man has charisma and he's damn funny.

On Wikileaks: "I think loyalty ... to the greater good, not to a person ... is of utmost important" (my paraphrase of what he said).

Yep, I still don't like him.

Actually, this was really the only part of the interview where I really didn't like him.

http://www.livestream.com/facebookguests/video?clipId=pla_0d...

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