A Dim Bulb in the Oval Office?

By Herbert E. Meyer

During his eight years in the White House, President George W. Bush was often described by liberals as being about halfway between an idiot and an imbecile. They told us he was so inarticulate -- so unable to express himself clearly -- that his very presence in the Oval Office was an embarrassment for the United States. Members of the White House press corps, spoofing a popular movie, called him the English Patient.

Yet no one, anywhere in the world, ever had trouble understanding what President Bush was saying.

President Obama, on the other hand, is invariably described by these same people as brilliant -- indeed, the most articulate carbon-based life form ever to have walked the Earth.

So how come every time President Obama opens his mouth to state his position on some issue -- as he did this weekend, speaking about his support for that mosque near Ground Zero -- the White House scrambles to issue a "clarification" -- followed less than a day later by an "elaboration" of the clarification?

Come to think of it, President Bush speaks twice as many languages as President Obama. (To be precise, two.) Oh, and in eight years President Bush never said anything even remotely as stupid as President Obama's comment that people in Austria speak Austrian.

Perhaps we should put less effort into forcing the release of President Obama's original long-form birth certificate, and more effort into forcing release of his IQ. Anyone want to take my bet that it'll be lower than George W. Bush's?