Who is George W. Bush, part 1 - by Politex at Bush Watch

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WHO IS GEORGE W. BUSH, PART ONE.

* Since Bush's war upon Iraq will begin any day now, something both Cheney and Rumsfeld have written they wanted since the Clinton administration,

* and since members of the Bush administration have indicated that they want the war to be seen as a cautionary warning to the world,

* and since similar hawks have pointed to other countries as possibly being next on the Bush preemptive war list,

* and since Pentagon officials plan to meet next August to consider the creation of more sophisticated nuclear weapons that could be used in such battles and the breaking of relevant U.S. treaties to do so,

* observers are growing even more concerned about George W. Bush, the man who would trigger such actions.

Gone are the days in this country when folks could seriously portray Bush as simply an addled preppie whose linguistic pratfalls identify him the way Chevy Chase's Saturday Nite Live pratfalls identified Gerald Ford. Gone are the days in Europe when those folks across the big water simply saw Bush as a screwball John Wayne. While many in Texas identified with Bush's tough rancher persona, a man who believes in an eye for an eye and never apologizes for his actions, and while those same citizens approved of his "just folks" semi-illiteracy, political observers assumed Rove would clean up Bush's act when he hit the big stage. But since those traits are an ingrained part of the Bush character, Rove found it easier to just spin the nation's introduction to those Bush characteristics into something positive with, of course, the help of a cooperative media whose campaign reporters, even in the NYT and the WP, generally enlarged Gore's faults and placed those of Bush below the fold. More important, though, Rove used Bush's charm offense of mumbled machismo to hide the more disturbing aspects of his personality through a kind of political rope-a-dope.

By now, with Bush's own words about himself and his responses to events reported in the media, a more disturbing George W. Bush emerges as we move into a period of major crisis. Bush sees himself as a CEO, a businessman president and a cheerleader, someone on the order of Enron's Ken Lay. He sees himself as an autocratic decision maker, one who will neither explain his decisions nor brook disagreement with them. His highest rewards are given to loyalty and secrecy. He sets out problems on the advice of his political expert, Karl Rove, and expects his trusted lieutenants, people like Cheney and Rumsfeld to come up with plans for his approval.

Apart from the questionable view of the world offered by such key idea men as Rove, Cheney, and Rumsfeld, some observers are seriously concerned about the skills Bush brings to his decision making. After a "c" career at Yale and a rejection for admittance to the University of Texas School of Law, he was accepted by the Harvard School of Business, which stressed family, business, government, and academic ties as a guide to success. As a cheerleader for the ideas of others, Bush sees himself as best at selling rather than creating, best at people skills, a role that he previously played prior to Yale while at a prestigious New England prep school. At Yale he became the frat leader for keg parties as well as a member of Skull and Bones, a secret society of future CEO's, government officials, and spooks. In the real world he later failed numerous times as a Texas oil businessman, but was used by those who saw value in the Bush family name. His greatest success before becoming the Governor of Texas was as front man for the Texas Rangers, using his name and connections to get the city to buy up private land for a stadium, pay for it, then give tax breaks to the team, later attending the games and waving to the crowds.

During his campaign for the presidency, Bush was observed to grow incoherent and sometimes angry at the end of stressful days, and his desire for afternoon naps became a running joke. He does not like to read, shows impatience with complicated discussion, prefers to make decisions quickly, and does not dwell on them afterwards. Dyslexia and Attention Deficit Disorder have been said to run in the Bush family among male members, but when Bush was asked about it on Larry King during the campaign, he answered that such questions were brought up by his opponents to discredit him.

One quality that political analysts have always praised in Bush is his ability to stay on message, no matter what. The man is adept at turning his political message into a mantra. Repeating the same thing over and over and over. Never changing his mind, never indicating a need for reconsideration. Unless Rove turns him off, Bush will become obsessive and unmoving with the message, changing his reasons for his decision rather than changing his decision. As the cheerleader of the message, of course, Bush leaves the content and the creation of the political spin (aka: lies and distortions) to others. However, what he invests in the message, including the spin, aside from his endless repetition of it, is his initial decision to run with it, which is based on three elements: his political ideology, his evangelical Christianity, and his ego.

(to be continued...) --Politex, 02.23.03, updated 03.17.03