"Bush should read this book"

February 24, 2006 9:54 AM

Have you ever thought "Bush should read this book". Anatomy of a meme.
posted by stbalbach (32 comments total)

No. But I HAD wished some words had NEVER been created.
posted by HTuttle at 9:56 AM on February 24, 2006

What I have thought is that one-letter links are off-putting.

I have also thought that Bush should read a book. Any book.
posted by beagle at 9:58 AM on February 24, 2006

I'd prefer he read a goddamn newspaper, personally.
posted by banished at 10:01 AM on February 24, 2006

yes I concur. . .
one-letter-links are like getting peppered with birdshot. . . not lethal, but definately awkward.
posted by isopraxis at 10:02 AM on February 24, 2006

the second 'o' in 'book' leads back to metafilter.
posted by delmoi at 10:03 AM on February 24, 2006

Can someone click all those links and tell us whether any of them are worth looking at?
posted by cillit bang at 10:06 AM on February 24, 2006

Bush should read Metafilter.
posted by cairnish at 10:06 AM on February 24, 2006

This is a list of links to Google caches of book review pages each of which have the phrase "bush should read this book" highlighted thanks to the nature of how Google cache works. I was mystified by it, but mathowie assures me it is a popular phrase among the kids these days.
posted by jessamyn at 10:08 AM on February 24, 2006

A great public service could be performed by a MeFiIte with enough time to click on some of those birdshot letters and tell the rest of us what the main thrust of this FPP is. Thank you.
posted by kozad at 10:11 AM on February 24, 2006

Well, that helps, Jessamyn, thanks. Interestingly, Google has no results for "Bush should not read this book."
posted by beagle at 10:12 AM on February 24, 2006

Sweet, now I understand how a meme works. Thanks!
posted by thirteenkiller at 10:14 AM on February 24, 2006

Apparently I'm old and a luddite, but can someone please explain to me the significance of this? Yes, we know, Bush doesn't read the news, magazines, quite possibly much of anything. Isn't this post just infecting MeFi with said "meme"?

And speak up please, my ear trumpet's in the shop.
posted by mkultra at 10:23 AM on February 24, 2006

Bush can't read.
posted by brain_drain at 10:25 AM on February 24, 2006

Moot point... Bush can't read....

AND m.u.l.t.i.p.l.e.o.n.e.l.e.t.t.e.r.l.i.n.k.s.s.u.c.k. !
posted by HuronBob at 10:28 AM on February 24, 2006

crap.. brain_drain... couldn't you type a bit slower!
posted by HuronBob at 10:28 AM on February 24, 2006

I hear he likes Micheal Crichton.
posted by youarenothere at 10:39 AM on February 24, 2006

the second 'o' in 'book' leads back to metafilter.

I think it was supposed to link to MetaFilter, the Book.
posted by Pollomacho at 10:39 AM on February 24, 2006

"Bush should not read this book."

posted by squalor at 10:45 AM on February 24, 2006

posted by iamck at 10:48 AM on February 24, 2006

I'd prefer he read a goddamn newspaper, personally.
posted by banished at 1:01 PM EST on February 24 [!]

according to his press secretary, a newspaper is exactly how Bush found out about the whole port security debate. i guess he figures if the terrorist get their info off CNN, then he should too.
posted by Like the Reef at 10:48 AM on February 24, 2006

CNN doesn't publish a newspaper.

And there's no way Bush got the info from a newspaper. It's a point of pride for him that he doesn't read them. I'm sure McClellan just misunderstood what he heard...or something. yeah.
posted by graventy at 10:59 AM on February 24, 2006

What HuronBob said.
posted by elderling at 11:04 AM on February 24, 2006

B·u·s·h   s·h·o·u·l·d   r·e·a·d   t·h·i·s   b·o·o·k
posted by Kickstart70 at 11:08 AM on February 24, 2006

I'd settle for him reading the presidential daily briefings.
posted by eustacescrubb at 11:42 AM on February 24, 2006

This is as good a time as any to recommend the Firefox extension Linky. It lets you just highlight links and open them all at once... so I just dragged over the phrase, clicked Open Links in Tabs, and voila, I only lost ten seconds of my time figuring out what this post was about.

Although I probably wouldn't have bothered if the second 'o' didn't go back to Metafilter... the already-visited color was my only clue that this was a linkletter post.
posted by cacophony at 11:58 AM on February 24, 2006

Have you ever thought, "I should end this question with a question mark."
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:44 PM on February 24, 2006

Have I.
posted by TwelveTwo at 4:04 PM on February 24, 2006

I don't care if Bush can read, I just wish somebody would read this to him and makes sure he understands it.


posted by Mijo Bijo at 7:16 PM on February 24, 2006

Stop waving that goddamned piece of paper in his face
posted by hortense at 8:18 PM on February 24, 2006

yeah, I never bother with multiple letter links - internet age! click click click! want it now! etc. sorry dude.
posted by 6am at 1:44 AM on February 25, 2006

Like the Reef, my comment was referring to this article, which revealed "What struck me and a lot of other folks about the interview was Bush's revelation that he does not read newspapers."

But I have also read Bush was so ignorant about what was going on with Katrina because he never reads the newspapers that his aides had to assemble a DVD for him with clips of news coverage so he could understand the severity of what was going on. Unbelievable.
posted by banished at 1:00 PM on February 25, 2006

fixed link, sorry
posted by banished at 1:05 PM on February 25, 2006