Stupid, Arrogant ... and Creepy
by digby
He added, "I've never run a race where I thought I wouldn't win. I thought we were gonna hold the House and the Senate in '06. I thought we'd lose nine or ten seats, and I thought we'd be one or two up in the Senate."
Bush had held that view, almost manic in its optimism, all the way up to election day, in defiance of all available polling data. At the very mention of such data, his face began to curdle. "I understand you can't let polls tell you what to think," he declared
Huh? So they aren't even useful to tell you what the public is thinking? (This piece, by Sidney Blumenthal says it all.) He believes that you can't let evidence inform you. He really is faith based. Je suis la vérité.
"I understand you can't let polls tell you what to think," he declared—one of his most frequently expressed sentiments, but now he went further: "And part of being a leader is: people watch you. I walk in that hall, I say to those commanders—well, guess what would happen if I walk in and say, 'Well, maybe it's not worth it.' When I'm out in the public"—and now he was fully animated, yanked out of his slouch and his eyes clenched like little blue fists—"I fully understand that the enemy watches me, the Iraqis are watching me, the troops watch me, and the people watch me.
Yes and they are watching a man so far out of his depth that it's frightening the hell out of everybody. Apparently, he also "thinks" that his job requires him to stubbornly cling to every decision that's made no matter what, because "everybody in the world is watching" and they might sense weakness if he even asks for another opinion. He's a mental midget.
I do realize that I loathe Bush on a visceral level and always have, so I can't say that my impressions of him as person are particularly objective. He is a personality type I can't stand --- his privileged, macho arrogance and nasty, sophomoric social game of primitive dominance are about the least appealing characteristics I can think of in a man. Even if he weren't a complete idiot, which he is, he'd still be an asshole.
But I've always wondered if the (dwindling) Bush cult really believed what they were saying when they said this man was brilliant and brave or if they were just caught up in the moment. I don't suppose we'll ever know. But whenever I read these "intimate" portraits of him, I'm always struck by the fact that he comes off even worse than I, who already loathe him, expect him to. These are ostensibly fair observers who were chosen by him and who were granted access because they weren't hostile. Yet, the portrait they paint is of a shockingly stupid, shallow conceited man who may even be delusional. What do you suppose someone who wasn't friendly would write?
(And needless to say, all these recent portraits show a man who is unrecognizable as the hero of Bob Woodward's "Bush At War." That hasn't yet been adequately explained by him or anyone else.)
And, by the way, Barbara Bush raised a spoiled, disgusting pig:
George W. Bush slipped a piece of cheese into his mouth. "Let's order first." He took a quick glance at the day's menu prepared for him and his guest, saw nothing on it he cared for, and announced to the steward, "I'll have a hot dog. Low fat hot dog."
[...]
His hot dog arrived. Bush ate rapidly, with a sort of voracious disinterest. He was a man who required comfort and routine. Food, for him, was fuel and familiarity. It was not a thing to reflect on.
"The job of the president," he continued, through an ample wad of bread and sausage, "is to think strategically so that you can accomplish big objectives. As opposed to playing mini-ball. You can't play mini-ball with the influence we have and expect there to be peace. You've gotta think, think BIG. The Iranian issue," he said as bread crumbs tumbled out of his mouth and onto his chin,
That moment with Tony Blair and the dinner roll wasn't unusual. That's how he always eats. Ugh.
Update: His comments certainly don't do anything to calm the Iran talk, do they? It's clear he'll do it if Uncle Dick decides it's time to go. I think the only thing stopping them is the military. (And that's what Seymour Hersh has been reporting for almost two years.) The thought actually occurred to me today that maybe the generals are bogging the military down in Iraq on purpose. In this administration anything is possible.
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