New York Times | Bush Speaks to the Calvin College commencement

"Mr. Bush added: 'Someday you will appreciate the grammar and verbal skills you learned here. And if any of you wonder how far a mastery of the English language can take you, just look what it did for me.'"

Just what is Bubba Shrub making fun of: academia, his own poor level of self-expression, the common belief that he is technically illiterate (i.e. he doesn't read any reports, everything is verbal)? Curious way of getting a laugh.