Many men have been motivated by early experiences of humiliation and a sense of inferiority to rise above it in one way or another. Teddy Roosevelt was inspired by his sickly childhood to be a rough rider, big game hunter, soldier, man's man and President of the United States. If we are to believe the ubiquitous comic book advertisement of my youth, the 98 pound weakling Charles Atlas was so humiliated by having sand kicked in his face by a bully who stole his girlfriend that he was inspired to become a body builder and inspiration to all other underdeveloped males.
And then there is George W. Bush, the runt of the family litter, the guy who was a cheerleader not a football player, the guy who got shit faced and smashed up the car, who sent a fortune up his privileged nose; the guy whose dad bailed him out of everything, covered up his AWOL, made records disappear, gave him businesses to ruin. He's been trying to swagger his way back into machismo half of his life; trying to equal his over-achiever father.
While one might question whether Teddy Roosevelt really belongs on Mount Rushmore, I question that George's image wouldn't disgrace a toilet in the Park Service mens' room, but all this is beside the point. George is facing the biggest humiliation of his life, with the country and the Party turning away from him, the military grumbling, respect for America gone, caught in a hundred lies, his dream of power and glory and adulation fading by the hour. You have to ask yourself what this fragile, marginal and nearly pathological personality will do when faced with defeat. Glenn Greenwald says:
"The most dangerous George Bush is one who feels weak, powerless and under attack. Those perceptions are intolerable for him and I doubt there are many limits, if there are any, on what he would be willing to do in order to restore a feeling of power and to rid himself of the sensations of his own weakness and defeat."
History suggests that the faltering tyrant will not give up his lust for power and like the losing gambler, will only increase his bets. Just what might he do to make us all afraid again? Just what power might he arrogate to himself now while he still can? Will 2008 be too late?
3 comments:
That is a question that keeps me awake at night Fogg. I'm beginning tomorrow is too late. We need to stop him now. There's no time to wait.
That of course should have been, beginning to think...
Is there a word that comes to mind for this psychological malady that besets Bush? I'm not a psychologist, but it seems none of the labels that we laymen have within our vocabulary of behaviors captures all the pathologies that afflict this guy. He's socially functional, so that eliminates a lot of the usual suspects. "Sociopath" doesn't capture it all either, though that's clearly part it. I haven't even seen anyone speculate on it, but it is clearly a deseased condition that at some point must have been catagorized. Some may argue that putting a name on it doesn't change anything, so what's the point? And while that may be true, it would be helpful to me to make sense of the world.
And you're right, Bush's likeness doesn't belong on Mt. Rushmore, but his face is deserving of prominent placement on bulletin boards in post offices across the land...
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