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From this morning's New York Times, in "From Books, New President Found Voice."
I cannot imagine (despite the article's assertion that George Bush had "reading races" with Karl Rove to see who could read the most books in a year) a similar article about our soon-to-be-ex-President's reading habits and how they shaped him. And not everyone is a passionate reader, and that doesn't make those people bad or unfit to govern (no, character and worldview and deep, deep self-involvement and lack of imagination would do that). But a president who reads, who uses what he reads to sort out his own ideas and feelings about the world, his place in it, and its needs--damn. Less than 24 hours.
Much has been made of Mr. Obama's eloquence--his ability to use words in his speeches to persuade and uplift and inspire. But his appreciation of the magic of language and his ardent love of reading has not only endowed him with a rare ability to communicate his ideas to millions of Americans while contextualizing complex ideas about race and religion, they have also shaped his sense of who he is and his appreciation of the world.
I cannot imagine (despite the article's assertion that George Bush had "reading races" with Karl Rove to see who could read the most books in a year) a similar article about our soon-to-be-ex-President's reading habits and how they shaped him. And not everyone is a passionate reader, and that doesn't make those people bad or unfit to govern (no, character and worldview and deep, deep self-involvement and lack of imagination would do that). But a president who reads, who uses what he reads to sort out his own ideas and feelings about the world, his place in it, and its needs--damn. Less than 24 hours.