Bush on the Couch, Part ?

Psychoanalyzing Bush is a bit of a cottage industry. We can certainly expect. This excerpt is especially interesting: (Bob Cesca at HuffPo)

 

". . .A truly tough human being, in my view, is measured by his or her ability to approach his or her station in life with honesty, moxy, sympathy, common sense and a touch of humble grace. But our president possesses none of these traits. Rather than owning up to his six year litany of mistakes and shortcomings and taking on his occupation with a kind of work ethic common in all nations and all walks of life, the president, appearing increasingly battered and bruised, is engaged in a sad and embarrassing attempt to attain the nation's sympathy. Listen carefully to his words and watch closely his body language. He's doing it. And it's a posture that's been snowballing for several years now.

During his re-election campaign, he famously enjoyed reminding us how his job is "hard work." He's always condescended to you and me about the superficial aspects of his job description, as if we're all inexplicably unfamiliar with our own expectations of the chief executive. Does he really believe that we'll listen to his whining from atop his charmed perch, a perch that comes complete with record-long vacations and ample free time, and suddenly we'll all feel bad for him?

Why should we? At every turn, he's condescended to us. He's lied to us. He's bullied us into believing that if we question him and his policies we're not real Americans. His gestures suggest that if he could personally scold each and every one of us who dares question him, he would. Instead, by proxy, when Brian Williams (the most recent reporter in the queue) challenged him on his policies, the president puffed his chest out -- his arms hovering a good foot away from his hips, reaching for invisible six-shooters. As he raised his voice beyond a conversational volume, he began to push forward towards Williams until he, what's the phrase? Got all up in Williams' shit, as if to intimidate the anchor. It was subtle but noticeable. And it's not the first time. To a much broader and more visible degree, he pulled the same stunt on Charlie Gibson in the second 2004 debate with Senator Kerry (the "rumors on the internets" debate) when he disregarded the rules and practically charged the moderator desk demanding to be heard. Of course, his outburst was of little substantive consequence -- something about Alexander Kwasniewski -- but it was the same brand of entitled bullying he's exhibited far too frequently with almost everyone who he considers to be an unfriendly. . ."