Demagogue

Yesterday Frederick noted that Bush's insistence that the American people support his plan to privatize Social Security because he campaigned on the issue and was elected is "laughable."

Nonetheless, Bush is pushing ahead and participated in a "conversation" on Social Security. Kevin Drum noted that, during the event, Bush flat-out lied about the future of Social Security and nobody in the press bothered to call him on it.

Given that it is widely acknowledged that Bush rarely has any idea what he is talking about, one might be tempted to assume that Bush simply doesn't understand the complexities of Social Security or that he merely misspoke.

But since the entire event was scripted, that is rather unlikely. The event featured only carefully screened people chosen specifically for their willingness to spout the administration's talking points in favor of privatization.

And Drew Johnston over at Political Strategy noticed that, despite his handler's tight choreography, Bush couldn't refrain from flubbing his lines

MS. STONE: I would like to introduce my mom. This is my mother, Rhoda Stone. And she is grandmother of three, and originally from Helsinki, Finland, and has been here over 40 years.

THE PRESIDENT: Fantastic. Same age as my mother.

MS. STONE: Just turned 80.

The man must be a mind-reader!