He is known as an execrable communicator, with a crippled syntax, reputed for his multiple blunders which the French media are only too eager to report: At the time of his visit to Europe in June 2001, the press thus awaited Bush resolutely, attentive even to the minutest blunder that the president would commit. The press presented this European tour like a test for Bush. He should have received "an accelerated training and revised his cards of international politics in company of his national adviser for safety Condoleezza Rice". His dad also should have set the record straight on "the European mentality".
His blunders are directly bound to his obvious lack of knowledge with regard to international relations. The press did not fail to report that Bush appeared unable to quote the names of the Heads of State mentioned in the press and, in the "Puppets of Information", Bush is shown not knowing who Jacques Chirac is.
[...] The French people massively disapprove the choice of the American president and in particular his foreign policy. They consider that he is the American president whose comprehension of Europe is the worst, and that he is only worried about the American interests. Among the great decisions and orientations adopted by George W Bush since his arrival at the White House, it is the rejection of Kyoto agreement which is the most highly disputed, followed by the anti-missile shield project. The stand of the American president in favor of the death penalty is also disapproved. [...]
[...] Bush would begin each day with a prayer on his knees and would study a passage of the Bible daily. With him, each meeting of cabinet would begin with a prayer. During the campaign of the primaries, in December 1999, a journalist asked the republican candidates who was "the political philosopher or thinker" to which they identified more with. Without hesitation, Bush answered: "Christ, because he changed my heart." In 1993, he explained to a journalist that only the Christians were likely to reach the paradise, which was reported by the press. [...]
[...] For the media, Bush is not an intellectual; he likes on the contrary the simple ideas and is Manichean. But, L'Express outlines that "his lack of complexity stuck perfectly with the post-11september", and that "in the current situation, it is an asset for him to be simplistic and moralist". The image of Bush was severely tarnished by his unilateral standpoint on the environment and the anti-missile shield. The media have often recalled that the former governor of Texas beat a grim record by signing 152 orders of execution in six years. [...]
[...] Journalists and newspaper editors like Serge July; editor of Liberation, have also often denounced the manipulation of Bush to make the world accept the war in Iraq and the use of fear in order to legitimate it. But, the French media seem to have recourse to the same behavior in order to arouse fear of the policy of Bush and the consequences which Europe and more directly France would undergo. Bush: An American killed per day in Bagdad. Rumsfeld: As there are easily 250 million Americans, at this pace we can hold out at least six hundred thousand years. [...]
[...] "Rather than someone like Gore who is very interested in modern art, America preferred a governor of Texas which summarizes his vision by exhibiting on the wall of his office a painting of cow-boys". From his election onwards, Bush was presented like "springing up out of nowhere" and not having any experience. Whereas Clinton and Gore were distinguished for their talent as conciliators, the press already underlined the disturbing character of Bush: fiery, impulsive, not very attentive to the details of the files and allergic to long meetings, although realizing his reputation as a man of contacts and dialogue in Texas. [...]
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