by

Michael J. Luyckx

The Bush Dyslexicon

by

Mark Crispin Miller

While researching "The Bush Dyslexicon," I found it listed on the whitehouse.org's inventory of terrorist reading material. Even though it's true that special agents of the FBI are visiting local libraries, checking reading logs to discover subversive elements in our society, under authorization from the Patriot Act, whitehouse.org is an initiative of Chickenhead productions and a parody on the real whitehouse.gov website. Nevertheless, it demonstrates the fame and impact of "The Bush Dyslexicon."

Knowing the reputation and hype surrounding "The Bush Dyslexicon, Observations on a National Disorder" by Mark Crispin Miller, I looked forward to working my way through the book and form my own opinion. Mr. Miller, a professor of media studies at New York University, has published numerous noteworthy writings, including in The Nation and in the New York Times and his previous book, "Boxed in: The culture of TV" is definitely worthwhile several afternoons of your time.

According to the prologue "Look who's talking", the writer admits this book is clearly "anti-Bush" (p.2) but more importantly it "is meant to shed some light on propaganda in our time. The Dyslexicon attempts to give the light to that enormous wave of propaganda - a joint production of the GOP and major media- whereby George W. Bush was forced on us as president". Mr. Miller is trying to demonstrate how the current president of the United States was not only not elected, but put in the oval office by a machinery of extreme rightist coalitions, who blatantly disregard any respect for democratic values.

The author sets out by elaborating on the Bush clan affiliations with the Nixon, and more importantly, with the Reagan administration. He demonstrates how the GOP desperately tries to copy the "hypnotic savoir-faire" of the late J.F.K. He points out that it is already apparent at that time that none of the republican candidates have the same "televisual charm" so often displayed by their counterparts from the democratic front. He describes that Nixon "looked like a neglected mental patient next to Kennedy, who seemed as hale and masterful as his opponent looked awestruck and underfed". Still according to the author, by 1988 the Bush campaign machine had finally managed to democratize his image just enough to get him into office. In addition, he points out that Bush junior, learning from his elder's mistakes, knows how to "charm a lot of voters in the Sun Belt, the farm states, the Rocky Mountain states and other strongholds of far-right Republican emotion."

Mr. Miller then elaborates on George W. Bush's education, and how he worked his way through Andover, Yale and Harvard. He extensively covers Bush's attitude of disinterest in both homeland or foreign policy and his general illiteracy. The author claims that Bush junior is more than just not good at this disinterest: when Tucker Carlson asked Bush to name something he isn't good at, Bush replied, "'Sitting down and reading a 500-page book on public policy or philosophy or something." The writer tries to demonstrate George W.'s seeming pride in not being very literate at all: "And I see Bill Buckley is here tonight, fellow Yale man. We go way back, and we have a lot in common. Bill wrote a book at Yale- I read one."

The author exposes how George W. Bush continuously shows very limited knowledge on fundamental topics or desperately tries to avoid giving direct answers when asked about Religion, Freedom of Speech, Abortion or Gay Rights. Cunningly, Bush avoids these direct answers knowing that his ideas and opinions were inspired by his elitist education and the rightist influences that have been loosely associated with the GOP since the early 70's.

We learn from the book that when asked about the Rocker incident and his opinion on the Braves' decision of getting the player counseling, Bush answered that "in America we can say what we want to say, but that doesn't mean that if the man needs help, he shouldn't' get it". Not exactly a Bushism and not exactly what one would expect from a republican who generally "deplore(s) the tendency to treat hate speech as a crime." On military and foreign policy issues, Bush shows a deplorable lack of knowledge not only of global history but also of the geo-political reality of the 21st century, calling Greeks Grecians, Timorese Timorians and mistaking Slovenia for Slovakia.

Mark Miller provides accurate documentation on those subjects the president desperately tried to evade during the campaign: his affiliations with the oil industry in Texas, his record settings in the Texan judicial system or his lack of concern for the environment. When questioned about global warming Bush replied that he doesn't "think we know the solution to global warming yet, and I don't think we've got all the facts before we make decisions". It should come to no surprise to us then that as soon as Bush was firmly seated in the oval office, the United States withdrew from the Kyoto agreement. Miller documents very well how Texas is one of the nation's biggest producers of greenhouse gasses and how the main parties responsible are those companies that have heavily sponsored the current president's campaign. Obviously Bush therefore is "trying to protect my invest- my contributors from unscrupulous practices," as he stated when asked about campaign finance reform.

It becomes apparent during the book that the reporters of all big networks failed to notice the artistic tap-dancing George W. displayed in trying to evade these questions. Using techniques previously used by his father and his mentor Nixon, he displayed an incredible aptness at passing "the message" and turning the tables on the media.

What the book fails to demonstrate is why the reporters don't, or at least pretend not to, notice this strategy. With every example of how the TV coverage lacks the investigative nature one would expect from objective newsgathering, the author misses an opportunity of exposing the ties between the GOP and the five major networks. One would expect this scrutiny from a professor in media and unfortunately this book only skims the surface of the intricacies of this alleged influence. There must be some profound reasons why the coverage of the electoral campaign was so slanted in Bush' advantage as Miller so clearly demonstrates. To my disappointment, I could not find the answer to that question in this book, and hope it is an area that Mark Miller will further examine in future publications.

The book is a very good demonstration why there should be numerous questions about how George W. Bush became the 43rd president of the United States. As the author sets forth to demonstrate that this is largely due to the propaganda machine in this time of quick indulgence and instantaneous gratification of personal desires and wants, he falls short of this noble goal: he exposes the machine, but not the inner workings of its engine. As an overview of Bush's background, education (or lack thereof), ties and influences and who the actual powers behind the throne might be, this book is excellent in its endeavors. It definitely lives up to the "Anti-Bush" image the author warned us for in the beginning and as such is food for thought and deserves it's place on the bookshelf of everyone who feigns any interest in the political landscape of the most powerful nation in the 21st century. However on the same note, I would like to advise the politically interested to read books like "Eyewitness To Power, the essence of LeaderShip Nixon to Clinton" by David Gergen or "The Presidential difference, Leadership style from Roosevelt to Clinton" by Fred I. Greenstein in order to understand and appreciate Mark Miller's book in a broader political context.

For further reading on presidential propaganda machines, I highly recommend "Spin Cycle, Inside the Clinton Propaganda Machine" by Howard Kurtz; and for a more detailed look at the role of the media in our current political climate and how much power they actually wield, "Governing With the News: The News Media As a Political Institution (Studies in Communication, Media and Public Opinion)" by Timothy E.Cook also makes excellent additional reading.

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Michael J. Luyckx is a graduate of the University of Leuven's Rega School in Belgium and an avid amateur of modern history and politics, washed ashore in Texas where he tries to provide for a family of wayward children and other people usually found under bridges and overpasses.

In his spare time he loves to monopolize the kitchen (his food concoctions are often referred to as Belgilicious), tries to enjoy theatre and read as much as he can. Only when completely exhausted by children, neighbours or any other household pests, will he absorb the relentless images of consumer society as they ooze out the television set.

You can reach him at: mluyckx@hotmail.com

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