The president gives a press conference By David North 16 August 2006 Email the author In his book Bush at War , Bob Woodward of the Washington Post reports being told by the president, “I’m the commander—see, I don’t need to explain—I do not need to explain why I say things. That’s the interesting thing about being the president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don’t feel I owe anybody an explanation.” In fact, the president’s audiences may be excused for wondering whether Bush himself really knows why he says most of what comes out of his mouth. There is little evidence of any connection between conscious mental activity and the physical process by which the president produces words. Even when nothing more is required of Bush than that he read from a prepared text, the assignment seems to tax Bush’s intellectual capabilities to their maximum. The president’s Monday press conference was a fairly typical performance. He read the opening state...