Ever since his famous "I'm a uniter, not a divider" statement, President Dubya has used the negative as a means of defining himself as much, if no more than he uses the positive. In other words, he, or his proxy, will say, "The President is not
__", with as much frequency as, "The President is
__". This creates a rather interesting condition for Bush, where the American people have great difficulty pinning down exactly what he is and what he's accomplished in anything more than the most general terms, a la, "The President is a good man", etc.
The Washington Post has catalogued some of the more notable negative definitions.
"I'm not a lawyer." -- Dec. 14, 2000
That would have required, y'know, actually applying himself, scholastically.
"I'm not a member of the legislative branch." -- March, 19, 2001
Glad he understands Civics 101. Otherwise his would have been the most expensive congressional campaign, ever, rather than the most expensive presidential campaign, ever.
"I'm not a numbers cruncher. I'm not one of these bean counters." -- March 25, 2002
Obviously. After all, he's got a difficult time understanding the concept of zero, as in zero Weapons of Mass Destruction found in Iraq.
"I'm not a stockbroker or a stock picker." -- July 29, 2002
Now we understand why his businesses all failed.
"I'm not a very formal guy to begin with." -- June 9, 2003
Remember that, the next time our civilian president dons a military uniform.
"I'm not an Iraqi citizen." -- Dec. 22, 2003
Okay, George. You pass Civics 102.
"The president is not an economist." -- White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, March 13, 2001
Hence the worst. Budget. Ever.
"The president is not a rubber stamp for the Congress." -- Fleischer, July 10, 2002
Congress is a rubber stamp for the president, dammit!
"The president of the United States is not a fact-checker." -- a senior administration official, addressing reporters in the White House briefing room, July 18, 2003
Apparently not, since even he can't get his AWOL story straight.
