October 17, 2004 pavo news graphic A personal perspective
  Ronald E. Peacock Jr. - Editor
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Ron Peacock
Wooster, OH (PN)

Because this edition of The Pavo News is titled 'Myth Busting' I am going to enter the realm of urban-legends. The fact that I am forced to write this article is proof enough that people will believe any outrageous claim so long as it suits their purpose.

Trudeau falls for hoax.For the past few years I have been constantly confronted by the claim that President Bush has an IQ somewhere in the range of 91 to 96. As unlikely as that might sound for any person who has attained the position of President, the rumor has been accepted as fact by many. The Pavo News decided to turn to our investigative talents and root out the truth; this is what we found:
The story began as an e-mail joke in 2001 and was picked up by a few media publications and ran as a legitimate story (later retracted). The fraudulent facts were also popularized when Gary Trudeau was duped and contrived a 'Doonesbury' comic on the subject. "Jokes on you Gary, you mooreon!"

I must admit, this didn't tax our investigative skills in the least. A simple Google search and a blink-of-the-eye later (on my super-fast broadband connection) and I was pointed to two of the Internet's premiere myth busters. Read the stories and weep, Bush haters: snopes.com and urbanlegends.about.com.


Now, finding the true IQ data for George Bush was a bit more work since there is no public record of President Bush having ever taken an IQ test. Fortunately for us, in November 2000 a group of Yale students 'acquired' Bush's SAT scores from the Yale records database. 'The New Yorker' printed the score of 1206 and it was also published by Time Magazine. Keep in mind that Bush's score is pre-1994, before the test was 're-centered' due to the dumbing down of America.

Are you still with me? OK, now we need to learn if there is a relationship between SAT and IQ. Guess what? There is, for pre-1974 scores. Using the information found on this site, Table 1 clearly indicates the conversion of President Bush's SAT 1206 score results in the equivalent of a 129 IQ.

For the sake of example, I only found IQ data for two recent Presidents: Richard Nixon - 143 and John F Kennedy - 119. I am not verifying these numbers, but they are cited by many 'trustworthy' sources. I've done enough of the work, now you go out and learn something on your own!

In closing, let me inform you that I will no longer value the opinion of anyone who refers to this bogus information as fact, but you can bet I will be silently pondering the idea - "Maybe it's your IQ, Stupid!"

 


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