I Cogitate

What do we generally associate with courage and leadership in our society? Unfortunately, it's too often a blustery and bullying but ultimately empty swagger that strikes a visceral chord for those individuals in need of such shell game drama but does nothing to work towards practical progress. It's pre-selected images and carefully chosen words meant to convey strength while camouflaging shortcomings and insecurities.

Despite what his many fans and supporters say and believe, President George Bush typifies such. And he has done so his entire adult life.

His behavior is too often a compensatory 'act' to both troll for political support and to tamp down the personal devils he assiduously avoids.

And he does all of this out of fear.

I will forego attributing childhood events such as the death of President Bush's sister and the absence of his father to any of his resulting behavior or connecting his actions to anything like a 'dry drunk syndrome' as others have done.

Here's what I will do:

President Bush has his 'Texas walk,' a strut of self-assurance. He proudly states that some may not like his policies but that people will always know where he stands and what he believes. He is a front-and-center Christian who proclaims that Jesus is his favorite philosopher.

The following is evidence that conveys the contrary.

President Bush insists on a rigid White House formality whereby staffers can only wear suits and ties but then he is privately profane in his conversations. Former President Bill Clinton was lambasted for 'compartmentalizing' his behavior. President Bush does the same with his differing public/private persona.

In 1973 and 1974, while President Bush was attending Harvard Business School, he was known for his quirky comments such as twining FDR's New Deal to socialism and labeling the Securities and Exchange Commission as an enemy of capitalism. But worse than that, he wouldn't intellectually defend his strident positions--he would deny making such statements and try to backstab those who challenged him. 

In Bob Woodward's book, "Bush At War," Bush is quoted: "I'm the commander, see I don't need to explain, I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting part of being the president."

While these anecdotes may be attributed to a form of egocentric imperialness, it is also open to an interpretation of his inability to reconcile the inconsistency between his true self and actions versus his public personal and political image.

Also in the 2000 campaign, when asked about marijuana use, he replied: "I'm not going to talk about what I did as a child."

President Bush also provided obstacles to the inquiry of a joint House/Senate committee investigating the 9/11 acts of terrorism. In Time magazine, John McCain stated the White House "slow walked and stonewalled" the committee. In the New York Times, Democrat-turned-Republican Senator Richard Shelby from Alabama offered: "You know we were told that there would be cooperation in the investigation, and I question that. I think that most of the information that our staff has been able to get that is real meaningful has had to be extracted piece by piece."

President Bush also opposed the setting up of the 9/11 Commission because as he stated in a 5/23/02 Associated Press article "the matter should be dealt with by congressional intelligence committees." Yes, he's referring to the same committee he impeded.

He said he feared the 9/11 Commission would hamper the war on terrorism but grudgingly relented when he received approval to appoint the chairman. He then nominated Henry Kissinger. Kissinger declined when he was informed he would have to disclose his financial holdings so former New Jersey Republican Governer Tom Kean was then seated in the top slot.

Kean later complained that "the White House is making it impossible to meet the deadline of 2004."

In the December 15, 2003, edition of Florida Today, it was reported that President Bush informed 75 Senators during a classified briefing held prior to the invasion of Iraq that Saddam Hussein had biological and chemical weapons, plus drones that could reach the eastern coast of the United States. He never followed up and presented any evidence.

This is not cherrypicking--numerous other examples of ambiguous equivocating and outright evasion abound in various periodicals, newspapers, books and web sites.

What is so compelling is the appearance of a striking pattern when the pieces of the puzzle are assembled. An adult history of dissembling, subterfuge, covertness and clandestine stagecraft. All completely at odds with both a self-professed Christ-centered life and a frankness for telling the truth and letting the so-called chips fall where they may.

President Bush's abnegation of living a 'typical' politician's life and exhibiting associated traits is simply another in the long line of his lifetime of charades.

And it is all because of fear. The fear of having to actually take responsibility for some event or occurrence and the fear of being identified such actions. But more importantly, the fear of others reacting negatively when exposed to the real George Bush.

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