New GOP Talking Point: Bush is Actually SMART (Behind Closed Doors) ---->

[Stephanie]

Who you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?

Today on Chris Matthews' show, Bush whorina Elisabeth Bumiller went nuts trying to convince everyone that Bush is actually SMART, he really, really is. He asks questions at meetings that get right to the heart of the problem, just like a CEO! And he DOES SO read the papers. He reads the papers like a smart, busy person does, he reads the headlines and about three paragraphs. No seriously, he is not really that stupid!

And in today's column David Brooks has a whole "smart vs. stupid" theme, leading up to this:

Then, gradually, an internal glasnost evolved. John Negroponte, then our ambassador, forced people in Washington to confront unpleasant truths. But the internal deliberations were not matched by external candor.

There was a vast gap between the eight-grade level of some public statements and the graduate-school level of private White House conversations. It was about this time that a bewildered newcomer to the Bush administration interrupted an interview to ask me why I thought there was such a big difference bewteen the probing and realistic President Bush he would see in the Oval Office, and the pat and repetitive Bush he would see at press conferences and on TV.

Note that not only is Bush smart in private, but the administration was also HONEST IN PRIVATE. They only lied in public, to you.

So you see, just because Bush doesn't ever seem smart when you see him on television, that's just your lying eyes - he's actually sharp as a whip in private. A mental giant. Trust me.

[Maggie_May]

1. OMG

:rofl:

[roguevalley]

21. he can't be retrieved from oblivion. it amuses me that they can't get

that simple concept. perhaps if I went behind closed doors ...

[cantstandbush]

74. Bush::Presidency what Meirs::SCOTUS-- Unqualified!!

Simple as that.

[Metta]

2. They protest too much. What they defend against they are.

Just the way personality works. Truly the emperor's new clothes.

[Dances with Cats]

3. This calls to mind an old, crude saying....

..."you CAN'T polish a turd!"

[kentuck]

4. Yep...he's a fucking genius !

I thought everybody knew ??

[Stephanie]

7. ooooh - you must be an INSIDER

wow, are you a Kool Kid? Gee, can you get me invited to a WH reception?

[triguy46]

67. Yep, ya gotta get behind closed doors...

to see the "genius." Then, the lights come on, his IQ drops 75 points. Must be some kind of photophobia, or light affective disorder.

I'm sorry, but "asking questions" does hardly a CEO make. The kid who makes pizzas at pizza hut knows more about acting like a CEO than bush does, because the kid doesn't have a safety net of daddy's supporters, of Roves, or cheneys to do his dirty work.

Bush is an idiot. Until evidenced further, case closed.

[spinbaby]

5. Yeah sure

And things are going great in Iraq and the economy is booming.

[Dances with Cats]

12. and my ass is

a chinese checkerboard.

[TomInTib]

6. Wouldn't you just love to have people say that about you?

"She (he) is not nearly as stupid as she (he) appears to be."

This is what they are reduced to going into his next three speeches (or whatever you want to call them).

[MADem]

8. Yeah, he's tall, too--pay no attention to the lifts in his shoes

And he is lithe and agile--ignore the fact that he falls off his bike AND a Segway!

And healthy as a horse, so long as he stays away from pretzels....

Hell, he's DETERMINED, too...he STAYS the COURSE...of course, this is the first job (AWOL, Harken, the baseball team, even the governorship) that he hasn't walked away from before it was done--YET, anyway.

Maybe a Democratic House could fix that for him!

[asjr]

15. Oh please God, give us a Democratic House. Turn the

tables and get 13 house "managers" to take turns telling everyone how much this man needs to be impeached. Only this time we have reason!

[Cocoa]

9. Shorter David Brooks

"I was for simplemindedness before I was against it."

http://www.villagesoup.com/commletters/letters.cfm?TopicID=6676

[EVDebs]

103. Self-determination and '14 Enduring Bases' are mutually exclusive

This simple concept is too hard for most conservatives, in media, in government , anywhere really, to grasp. It's pathetic how intensely loyal they are even to their (and the country's) detriment.

Let's hope the long march of the next three years knocks some sense in those thick noggins.

[gristy]

Two examples could be a coincidence.

It there's a third, then I agree it's a Talking Point.

[peekaloo]

10. John Dean said the same thing in 'Worse Than Watergate'.

:shrug:

[PatrioticLeftie]

11. Oh, so we were misunderestimating him all along!

Sarcasm.

[havocmom]

13. So, he's not REALLY an idiot. He just plays one on TV...

Riiiiight :eyes:

[Wickerman]

19. lol

nailed it.

[FormerRepublican]

14. Only a moron needs to have handlers out talking up his intelligence.

After the door debacle in China, is there really any doubt left?

Bush = <70 IQ (if that)

My refrigerator works harder.

End of Story

[spindrifter]

16. Has anyone ever found out

what his performance was like in B-School? Like how did he actually do in accounting? What about finance? We know he has a unique view of personnel/human resources. What about his operations and systems analysis?
Remember how he was going to be such an ace in the presidency because he had an MBA? I want to know where he learned to excell in croneyism and prevarication.

[Gman]

35. Can he work a Lagrangian constraint problem

in graduate economics?

[kskiska]

100. Junior at Harvard studying for his MBA

A picture is worth a thousand words.

[justgamma]

17. He's such a phony!

He's smart so he has to play dumb. Yeah right! Whatever.

[Democrats_win]

18. So we finally have a choice: he's an idiot or a phoney. Great.

[Wordie]

88. Excellent point. If he is smart, the question becomes why has he acted so

dumb? You caught the logical quandry that this approach will create for the Repubs. Good work!

I happen to think he is smart, but intellectually lazy, which is why he has allowed himself to be influenced by his minions to invade Iraq, for instance. And that by a life-time's habit, he uses his smarts for self-promoting activities, rather than for the good of the country. I think the "dumb" act was in many ways a smart ploy to get votes, by making him seem like "one of us" to the lowest common denominator types in the electorate. But if that's the case, then the "dumb guy" act is just further proof of his dishonesty.

[jimshoes]

20. Like this...

[Stephanie]

22. See, if he were on the OTHER side of the door, he would not look so stupid

[SammyWinstonJack]

72. LMAO!

:rofl: We should all be so smart! :rofl:

[tlsmith1963]

23. Oh, Give Me a Break!

The guy (Bush) is stupid, stupid, stupid. Sorry, but no amount of "spin" is going to change that. In all my life, I have never seen a President who was so dumb. People thought that Reagan was a bit light in the head, but he was a *genius* compared to Bush!

Tammy

[donco6]

24. Uh, did anyone actually WATCH the debates?

'Nuff said.

[sellitman]

27. Yeah and * was really "wired" into the debate!!!!

:wow:

[NewJeffCT]

91. I'm a terrible public speaker

I get very flustered in front of audiences and I also do not think well on my feet. While maybe I'm not a Rhodes Scholar like Bill Clinton... I'd like to think I'm smarter than the average person.

There are a thousand things I can criticize * about, but his intelligence is not one of them. Intellectually uncurious, I'd definitely agree. Smart enough to be president? Certainly not.

[sellitman]

25. "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain."

Or:

I could while away the hours/conferrin' with the flowers/consultin' with the rain/And my head I'd be scratchin'/ While my thoughts were busy hatchin'/If I only had a brain.

[rooboy]

26. Let's see... he's been outwitted by a pretzel and a segway... n/t

[nicknameless]

49. And a door ... and his bike... n/t

[Protagoras]

28. He's not an idiot, he just plays one on TV?

I've heard some sad spin before but this is the saddest.

[tridim]

29. Yea, I remember that episode of SNL in the 80's

Where Phil Hartman played his Reagan character as "in charge" and master of several languages. It was an hilarious skit because it was so ironic. Bush isn't a tenth as smart as Reagan with Alzheimer's. If they tried to do the same sketch with Bush it wouldn't be funny at all, it'd just be sad.

[JuniperLea]

83. that was hilarious

i still remember it:)

[Pirate Smile]

30. She was on Tweety's show today. Andrew Sullivan came back and

said that the only paper Bush reads religiously is the sports page - he was told that by a family member of Bush.

[Stephanie]

33. Oh thank you it was Tweety - I hope there's time to edit

I remember that retort. Can you believe how whoriffic she was?

[donco6]

36. I'm surprised to hear even that. eom

[Justitia]

86. I could not believe how hard she was pushing that joke!!!

I mean, I always knew she was a Bush media whore, but GOOD LORD! It was as though she had a personal stake in convincing everyone that "really, really, Bush really IS smart! And he really does read newspapers too!" She was pathetic!

She seriously must not have known how ridiculous and biased she appeared trying to prop up the Dolt-In-Chief.

If I was her boss / editor, I would be calling her on the carpet in my office today.

[C_U_L8R]

31. They're trying to make chicken salad...

out of chickenshit.

Sorry but the RW pundits are a little late in the game...
we're all quite aware that Bush is bad for America.
They just look like fools trying to convince the world otherwise.

[Jacobin]

32. Its a carefully hidden secret!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A state secret!!!!!!

Wow.

Amazing stuff we got here.

[Spinzonner]

34. Whatever his intelligence

the problem is his personality and his mental laziness.

[autorank]

37. Pleased to be #5 REC This. THEY ARE DESPERATE!!!

What's the talking point of the week, "Oh, he's really not a total dumb ass. He may talk like one, think like one, and act like one, but no, no, he's no dumb ass."

What next, "Oh yeah, he's really not a sociopath." I can hear it now, he's about about 18% approve 70% exile the motha and Bumiller, Brooks, and Pickler are Guests on Tweetie. The talking point emerges, "Oh, he may have invaded a nation for no reason other than his oil pals, he may have neglected the environment to a perilous state, and he blew our national resources at a time when we had some...but, in private, he's not a sociopath."

He is what he says he hates! It's that simple.

[bleever]

51. Next they'll tell us he has a third testicle.

So desperate.


:boring:

[randomelement]

38. That picture of him is priceless - "Hey look everybody - I'm flying!!"

Yep, the man that gave us:

"Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."

is busy at night getting that pesky cold fusion problem straightened out for us. And that Pulitzer Prize novel? It's only a month or two away from going to print.

Thank God someone has taken the time to explain to all of us just how smart a man he is. I can go to bed tonight knowing that that niggling Iraqi thing will be all resolved by morning, what with Genius George at the controls ......

Geezus - I AM in Bizarro world .....

[Cassandra]

39. How smart would he be if...

we closed the doors, locked them, and threw away the key!

[Olney Blue]

40. Actions speak louder than words (even when spoken in mangled English).

[seabeyond]

41. ok he is smart, then he is REALLY responsible for ALL the fuck ups

the dinner table friday night some i guess bush fans tlaking bush, saying, he we never said he was smart. he doesnt do anything anyway. he hires people to do it. this is from his fuckin supporter

[glitch]

42. Then why the deception? Is he just a big phony? A pathological liar?

Why does he find it necessary to act stupid? Is it for his base?

Does he think his base won't like him if they find out he's really smart?

(Actually, I think he has the low cunning of a vicous street thug, skills he needed to survive growing up in his family, but that's not the same as being "smart".)

[Marr]

43. Bush himself admitted that he does not read the paper. In fact-

he practically *boasted* about it. He once told an audience that he'd been a "C" student.

He's apparently proud of his stupidity. It almost seems like he's saying "fuck you- I don't even have to TRY. I'm a Bush".

[kster]

44. * thinks it's smart to act stupid in front of camera's?????

If he is so smart what would his logic be for doing that?

[philly_bob]

45. Bush is not dumb. Just not curious, not critical, not serious.

He'd be entirely adequate as a baseball team owner.

[NJCher]

95. sorry

Curiosity and intelligence are correlated; there's a substantial amount of research on the topic.

Also, if he couldn't pull off a business, he couldn't pull off management of a baseball team.




Cher

[against all enemies]

46. The Republicans are redefining "smart". Now being really stupid

is SMAET. Bush qualifies. They are right again.

[Swede]

47. Well he sure does play dumb real good.

I would've bet the farm that he was a dolt.

[Divine Discontent]

59. OMG!

oh gosh........

SO FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"he sure plays dumb real good"

[in_cog_ni_to]

48. That's not the impression Paul O'Neil got when sitting in on meetings

with the idiot. Quite the opposite.

[bleever]

50. I BELIEVE

not.


:)

[progressoid]

52. Ya, just ask Harriet Meyers.

But she's hard to find because sometimes she is mistaken for a credenza.

[Virginian]

53. Sometimes he reminds me of Tommy Smothers

of the Smothers Brothers. I wonder if he's doing a comedy routine or if he is serious.
I wish it were just a comedy routine. It would have been nice if he hadn't been given THE button. Some day I'm afraid he'll push it just for the amusement of watching the fireworks.

[FreedomAngel82]

54. Oh I'm sure

So why did he not get into Yale without daddy's help like Kerry did??

[Triana]

55. Uh-huh...and pigs...

[Festivito]

56. I think his IQ is about 105, but says nothing about knowledge&wisdom.

ASIDE: I have no right to assess IQ's. Don't even know my own. But, I do have this mental determination that seems correct to me when I encounter other people.

I think he is slightly above average, still putting him as the dumbest president in history. But, horrible is his lack of work, lack of learned information, wasted time spent indulging himself and not absorbing any knowledge.

Like a reasonable computer with a rotten internet connection and no useful programs.

Smart they say. Smart alec is more like it.

[LunaC]

57. And I've got prime real estate in New Orleans to sell 'ya...

Whether his IQ is 80 or 180, the man has no soul!

[Divine Discontent]

58. now now, he has a soul BUT.............

I feel someone has dibs on it that would shock the RW'ers.

[Swamp Rat]

60. HAHAHAHA!!!!!

:rofl:

[AgadorSparticus]

61. ROFL!! they have to TELL you he's smart...but he can never PROVE it

to anyone. :rofl::rofl::rofl:

[CJCRANE]

62. Repubs need Peter Jackson

to do a CGI Bush that's smart and quick-witted in public and knows where the exit is (shouldn't be that hard, Jackson did a good job on Gollum and King Kong).

[NoPasaran]

63. In private, the Iraq War was a huge success and Katrina was

scattered showers.

[chefgirl]

64. Yep, sharp as a marble, that one

Must be hard work being so smart and pretending to be so fucking stooopit. :eyes:

-chef-

[Liberal In Texas]

65. I'm surprised they didn't add the Dems aren't as SMART in private as they

are in public!

[leesa]

66. Good. This is fine. Then when he is on trial, he can't use the Reagan

"I'm too stupid defense". Go with it.

[Einstein99]

68. Smart or not, Bush is a sociopath.

Like everyone else on this list, I find the notion that Bush is smart laughable. Of course, IQ is only one measure of intelligence, and I don't see much intelligence of any type in Bush. The biggest problem with Bush, though, is not his level of intelligence, but his view of reality. The man honestly believes that he was chosen by God to be president, and he believes that he is on a holy crusade. He sees everything in black and white, and he's always the one in white! If he has any intelligence, that only makes him more dangerous. Sociopaths are bad. Smart sociopaths are really bad. And if you have a dumb sociopath, well, just surround him with smart sociopaths such as Cheney, Rove, Rumsfield, Rice, Bolton, etc., and the world goes to hell in a handbasket.

[etherealtruth]

92. Touche` (n/t)

[chat_noir]

69. anybody remember the sovereignity video?

A replay at this site: (video titled "idiot"

http://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=AVOwnrGJKgU&search=bush

Hear the audience laughing in the background?

[Boredtodeath]

70. Aha! The result of "Mommy to the Rescue"

This is the new strategy as laid out by none other than Babs. "We only have to convice the world that he's really SMART! Then they'll all stop pickin' on him."

Yep, a PR moment only a mother could design. And the hacks who work in the White House are unwilling to tell the witch how stupid it is. She would tear their heads off and throw them to the wolves.

[Patiod]

71. A long time ago, I dated a guy who golfed with Dan Quayle

The guy was a rich Republican, and he said "Quayle's not stupid at all, he's smart enough to be CEO of a small company; he's just not smart enough to be President."

I think Bush does play dumber than he actually is -- I think it's a sort of "good-old-boy" fraternity prankster thing. But just because he plays dumber than he is doesn't mean he's, to quote my friend, "smart enough to be President".

And, as noted above, he's clearly way too incurious, indifferent and intellectually lazy to be President.

73. You can't hide being smart, and he can't hide being dumb n/t

[terrya]

75. You mean...like that "SNL skit with Phil Hartman as Reagan?

The brilliant skit where Reagan (Hartman) is the doddering idiot in public...but behind closed doors, he turns into a smart, dynamic, take charge guy?

Is that what Bush is supposed to be about?

Yeah, right....

[ComerPerro]

76. I've heard that Bush is smart, but acts dumb to appeal to the common man

If that's the case, then its incredibly patronizing and horribly offensive.

And, if its all an act to reach the common man, then Bush is showing us how much he loathes the common man...

My first reaction to that, first time I heard it, was "Wow, Bush must think average people are really fucking stupid"

[long_green]

77. Smart people show off

if Bush were really smart he'd let us know about it. There's no way you can be highly intelligent AND such an egomaniac (as all powerful people in DC are) without trying to demonstrate it to everyone.

[NJCher]

97. exactly

There are so many moments crying out for intelligence and yet he blows every one of them.

If there were a scintilla of intelligence there, it would have come through sometime in the last five years. But wait! Maybe what they are saying is that bush has fooled all of the people all of the time and .....

ta da....drum roll....

...that makes him smart!




Cher

[newportdadde]

78. Its hard not to judge him by how he speaks in public.

He sounds/acts like a complete dolt, see the debates for a good example. But I do know people who are poor speakers and are actually very intelligent. One guy in particular is quite good but has a stuttering problem.

I'm not sure how much raw intelligence the man has, I do know that if you take his debates when he ran for Gov its compared to 2004 or even 2000 the guy is like a different person. I think it brings up the possibility he is suffering from some type of mental illness, demensia etc that has started to come on as he has aged.

[Bridget Burke]

81. When he was running for governor, I thought he was a half-bright frat boy

I wouldn't have used the word "intelligent." But he was able to string a few words together when needed.

I agree that his mental status has gone downhill since then. Old physicial problems? New ones? Effects of medication?

[Ganja Ninja]

79. Ladies and Gentlemen:

Exhibit A:

If he's not dumb as a post he sure puts up a good front.

[Malikshah]

80. Like the old SNL skit of Reagan being Mr. Johnny on the Spot??

Please.

Anyone who says that-- laugh, then pillory them until they cry and repent.

[yellowcanine]

82. Yeah well my DOG demonstrates a lot of political savvy in private as well

but I am quite sure that David Brooks is not going to write about it in a column.

[Marr]

84. I am smart! I am smart! S-M-R-T! I mean S-M-A- *R*- T!

[Einstein99]

85. Bush is about as smart as a dildo with...

a dead battery. He makes Dan Quayle look like a genius. I can't help but think of him every time I see that Fed Ex ad on TV--you know, the one where one guy says to the other, "Ned, you're always wrong!" and then he goes on to list "Steely Dan is not one person, we don't get French benefits, and it's not the leaning tower of Pizza." He might add, "And there are no nook-ya-lur weapons in Iraq!"

[ProfessorGAC]

87. Only Idiots Like David Brooks Would Think Silverspoon Was Smart

Hey Davey-boy,
That doesn't mean Li'l Georgie is smart. It just means you're even stupider than he is. (If that's true, i'm surprised his autonomic functions work!)
The Professor

[hfojvt]

89. well, there is a perfectly valid reason for that

it lies behind this quote:

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
George W Bush, accidentally telling the truth

See, in private he can ask probing questions "Isn't there some way we can hurt the working class more?" or "Are you sure this is going to maximize Haliburton's profits?" Things like that when they talk about what they really are doing or planning.

But in public he has to remember all the lies and play the game of real-politic as coached by Rove. The lies are harder to remember or something. Plus, if reporters ask snarky questions it makes him mad and throws him off his game because he cannot honestly talk about how he is going to ruin their lives for attacking him.

But I think that explanation fails the test of Occam's Razor.

[MsAnthropy]

90. Those pukes are SUCH comedians!

:rofl:

Yes, it's all just part of the plan--to have a retard represent America to the entire world

[sojourner]

93. the results of perpetual spin -- eventually you get so dizzy you can't see

straight...:crazy:

Transparent bullshit being spun by dizzy spinners will not fool anyone except the most ignorant (in other words the pResident's base).

[woo me with science]

94. This is just funny.

Let them put it out. This is hysterical.

[WI_DEM]

96. I'd believe it about Reagan before I would Bush

That Reagan actually was a mastermind behind closed doors and an amiable grandfather type before the cameras. As for Bush--I think he's what we see--an uncouth idiot.

[npincus]

98. well, a chicken can learn to play tic-tac-toe

so I guess a Chimp reads speeches off of cue cards and TelePrompters can be trained to ask questions.

[Stephanie]

99. TRANSCRIPT OF BUMILLER's REMARKS >

MATTHEWS: You know how guys won't ask directions when they drive somewhere? You know, "Don't tell me where to go I'll get there." Right? Is he like that?

KAY: The telling moment for me in his presidency was when he came out and said, "I feel that it's better --

MATTHEWS: Are you laughing about this, Elisabeth? Cause it's true of a lot of us but I meant him.

KAY: -- "that I get, I prefer to get my news and my information from objective sources, and those are the people around me," rather than from anything external.

BUMILLER: Katty -- he reads the papers. Please, you know, I -- this is crazy. Whenever I say this people don't believe me. He reads the newspapers. I am here to tell you he reads the newspapers.

MATTHEWS: He reads you?

BUMILLER: I can tell he reads the papers from the complaints that I get.

MATTHEWS: So can you tell his mood based upon his reaction to the things that you've written, other people have written?

BUMILLER: Well I mean, he reads the papers like a very busy person reads the papers -- you read the headlines, you read the first three graphs. He reads the papers like a well-informed person, and I can tell you what he complains about and what his staff complains about and his -- or, his wife reads the papers -- that I can tell you.

MATTHEWS: So the lights are on, and somebody's home. That's your message.

BUMILLER: Yes.

MATTHEWS: Your message is --

KAY: Reading the papers is different from deciding, "I am going to look at all the information available and then make my conclusions." He seems to have a conclusion and then choose the facts which fit that conclusion.

SULLIVAN: The only pages in the newspapers that he reads religiously are the sports pages.

MATTHEWS: How do you know that?

SULLIVAN: I've actually been told that by a member of his own family.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200512050006

[kskiska]

101. Paul O'Neill begged to differ

O'Neill said that * asked NO questions when he was interviewed and persuaded to accept Sec. of Treasury, and he never seemed to ask any questions at any meetings thereafter, either.

[Stephanie]

102. LINK to DAVID BROOKS column - worth reading for the spin >

http://www.villagesoup.com/commletters/letters.cfm?TopicID=6676

Multiple Reality Syndrome
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12/04/05 - 12:23 PM Top of Page Reply

By DAVID BROOKS

Published: December 4, 2005

Most serious people who spend time in Iraq report that reality there is contradictory and kaleidoscopic. The Sunnis are participating in the democratic process; the Sunnis are supporting the insurgents. The Shiites are building a national government; the Shiites are creating death squads. The Americans are securing neighborhoods; the Americans are inciting violence.

A Times correspondent, John F. Burns, has written about the rumors, half-truths, obscurities and shadowlands that envelope Iraqi society. In his book "The Assassins' Gate," George Packer contrasts the contradictory reality in Iraq with the simple-minded debate at home, with liberals spewing anti-Bush slogans and conservatives fixating on every piece of good news. "There were not many people in America who could stand the cognitive dissonance with which Iraqis live every day," Packer writes.

It's been interesting to watch the Bush administration grapple with these ambiguities, contradictions and dissonances. When the war first began to deteriorate, the Bushies exuded what Packer calls a "theology of confidence." The president felt he had to display resolve or his team's morale would suffer. Public speeches were relentlessly positive, even to the point of fantasy.

Administration officials felt compelled to assert a mastery of events they plainly did not possess. Sometimes I'd come away from off-the-record conversations and background briefings feeling my intelligence had been insulted, because even in private, officials would ignore realities that were on newspaper front pages.

<more>

[craychek]

104. Wow

I've been hearing this for over a year now from one of my friends who actually worked with bush for a little while =P

[Cha]

105. They didn't have to say

that about Clinton..everyone knew he was intelligent and articulate.

Poor corporate media and repbublican aids..they're always so busy trying to make a coherent man out of a babbling bush brother.