October 14, 2009 1:21 PM

Is Twitter on George W. Bush's Horizon?

By
Kevin Hechtkopf
Topics
In The News
(Biz Stone/Yfrog)
A Tweet from Twitter founder Biz Stone has people wondering if Former President George W. Bush will be the next political celebrity to join the popular microblogging service.

Stone met up with the former president at the World Knowledge Forum, an annual conference sponsored by a South Korean business newspaper, in Seoul. He then posted a picture of him with Mr. Bush along with the following tweet: "President Bush told me he just got a new BlackBerry, will tweets be next?"

As the Los Angeles Times notes, Twitter could be an effective medium for Mr. Bush to continue to cultivate a following and to promote his upcoming book or other appearances.

As the Times' Mark Milian reports, Mr. Bush already seems to have a Twitter username ready, @GeorgeWBush, though it's currently protected and not in active use.

5384003As for his keynote speech at the conference, Mr. Bush talked about the situation in North Korea and defended the actions of his administration during last year's economic crisis.

"We intervened early, we intervened aggressively and we intervened together," Mr. Bush said of the financial crisis, the Associated Press reports.

Mr. Bush said coordinated global action saved the world from a global collapse, saying the "interjection of capital into the financial system helped save our economies."

The former president also addressed his critics from the right side of the political spectrum.

"Some of my decisions ran counter to my philosophy that said people ought to bear responsibility for the financial decisions they make," he acknowledged. But, he said, those decisions were necessary due to "lessons from the Great Depression."

As for North Korea, Mr. Bush said six-party talks are the best way to resolve the standoff with the reclusive communist nation over its nuclear program.

"I believe the best way to bring peace to the Korean peninsula is through multilateral diplomacy through the six-party talks," he said, according to the AP.

Mr. Bush's remarks come at crucial time in negotiations over the future of the talks, which were last held in December. North Korea has been angling for direct talks with the U.S., and a top U.S. diplomat said during a visit to China today that the U.S. would only agree to direct talks if they came with a commitment to also restart the six-party talks.

"Diplomacy with North Korea is very challenging and sometimes it's difficult to know exactly what's going to transpire in terms of your interactions with Pyongyang," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told reporters in Beijing.

Mr. Bush had a warning about North Korean leader Kim John Il in his Seoul speech, saying he "will no doubt test the system, no doubt try to find weaknesses."

Add a Comment
by bill0bob October 14, 2009 6:58 PM EDT
"Hmm I doubt what you speak is the truth? First off, have you personally seen him read or write? My guess is no." -- IL-Independent

1. A statement declaring your doubt about my veracity should not end with a question mark. This does not lead me to think you are particularly intelligent, so why should I care about your doubts?

2. I didn't say ANYTHING about GWB's reading skill, or lack thereof. (Though several minutes of George W. slogging through "My Pet Goat" while the country was under attack should give you a clue that he has some kind of serious problem with comprehension!)

3. I didn't say ANYTHING about GWB's writing skill, either! But I have watched him attempt to write, and it is a sad spectacle, indeed.

4. Your "guess" about what I have seen or what I know is incorrect.

5. Here's Bush, attempting to speak:

* "It was just inebriating what Midland was all about then."
* "Gov. Bush will not stand for the subsidation of failure."
* "This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mential losses."
* "I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family."
* "Will the highways on the Internet become more few?"
* "When I'm talking about--when I'm talking about myself, and when he's talking about myself, all of us are talking about me."
* "They have miscalculated me as a leader."
* "It is clear our nation is reliant upon big foreign oil. More and more of our imports come from overseas."
* "Drug therapies are replacing a lot of medicines as we used to know it."
* "They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program."
* "Natural gas is hemispheric. I like to call it hemispheric in nature because it is a product that we can find in our neighborhoods."
* "I am mindful not only of preserving executive powers for myself, but for predecessors as well."
* "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"
* etc, etc, ad nauseum

Face facts: GW Bush is a total moron.

Re: Obama's speaking ability. Again:

1. I said nothing about that, and that is not subject of this story. The topic is whether or not GWB is goint to post drivel on Twitter.

2. I have seen Obama speak without notes of any kind for as long as an hour and a half at a time-- with every word, every sentence, every paragraph clear and precise, rich with meaning, and evidencing his comprehensive grasp of the issues at hand and his clear plan of action. The fact that he has sometimes misread a teleprompter does not justify any comparison to the chimp that previously occupied the office of the president.
Reply to this comment
by manofthehour1 October 15, 2009 1:51 AM EDT
George W. Bush at least had the intellect to stand for the unborn and defend the time-honored and only definition of family. Yes, Obama is miles above Bush in presentation, but his ideas and ideals are corrupt. As Mayor LaGuardia once said, "I'd rather split an infinitive than split an idea". Obama's very abilities are a test to the nation and the real meaning of intellect and critical thinking, which frankly, most are failing at, miserably.
by TyroneHoglegg October 14, 2009 6:08 PM EDT
He can't speak coherently, he can't spell, and he has a very short attention span. Twitter should be perfect for the little twit.


LOL..Hey..thats what I was going to say!
Reply to this comment
by IL-Independent October 14, 2009 2:09 PM EDT
Let's see what kind of rude and mean replies the Democrats say on this subject. I know several monikers I will be watching. These so called patriots yet let's here them bad mouth.
Reply to this comment
by pubsrtoast October 14, 2009 2:20 PM EDT
who? Enquiring minds want to know.
by bill0bob October 14, 2009 5:09 PM EDT
"Let's see what kind of rude and mean replies the Democrats say..." -- IL-Independent


"Is Twitter on George W. Bush's Horizon?"

He can't speak coherently, he can't spell, and he has a very short attention span. Twitter should be perfect for the little twit.

I'm not a Democrat, but was that rude enough for you? I'm simply stating the obvious truth.
.

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