He has had an aura of failure surrounding his persona these past weeks especially when he almost broke down
( see this video :
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x37148 )
plus his relationship with his father has never been good. He has been worrying about his fate as his father's son quite a lot.
For a psychotherapist it's impossible to believe that GWB's private mind doesn't sting with a emotional awareness we might imagine as follows:
My father's "aid" has repeatedly turned my failures into apparent success. He has repeatedly indicated that he has little faith in me. In my secret heart I know that I have had no success on my own. I am not capable of it. Yet I must never let on that I feel this way. In fact, I must refuse even to allow myself to feel this way. I must show my father and the world that I am own man though I am not." That is the inner conflict.
April 2004. Bush refuses to testify under oath before the 9/11 Commission on his most decisive issue, and refuses to face the commission alone. He says he needs Vice-President Cheney to come with him. Psychiatrist Justin A. Frank calls this "his ultimate expression of dependency " and says it seems impossible to justify. Bush claims he needs Cheney there is so that commission members can "see our body language… how we work together." Can we detect the feelings of inadequacy working here?
Early 2006. Reports say that behind the scenes the President's father has been trying to remove Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and find a replacement. Rumsfeld had interfered with the career path of the elder Bush and was the father's bitter enemy, so there are multiple motives here. The president apparently rejects his father's efforts and when seven retired generals demand Rumsfeld's resignation, the younger Bush reacts by declaring, "I'm the decider and I decide what's best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain." Hard not to hear the echoes of a father and his teenage son arguing over who knows best, a father worrying that his son isn't up to the job and enacting an "I told you so" for taking Rumsfeld in the first place; a son insisting he's his own man. The sound of old buttons getting pushed. A few months later, after his party's stunning election defeat, the son takes on his father's new Rumsfeld replacement, his father's crony Robert Gates, all the while insisting that dad has nothing to do with the decision. When asked by Fox reporter Britt Hume about his father's influence on decisions, Bush replies with fist clenched and smile crooked, "I'm the Commander-in-Chief."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2006/12/05/BL2006120500720_pf.htmlAn emotional bully gains control using sarcasm, teasing, mocking, name calling, threatening, ignoring, lying, or angering the other and forcing him to back down or give way. Bush administration insider accounts describe this sort of behavior from the president. He's well known for his dismissive remarks. His boyish penchant for giving nicknames to everyone has its dark, bully's side. Naming people is a way to control them, particularly if the name diminishes them, reduces them to one quality or characteristic. Most nicknames, except in bullying situations, arise as a kind of mutual naming. The name is suggested; the recipient accepts it as a sign of affection. It's not clear the people the president gives nicknames to feel they have that choice.
He probably got this from his bullying Mother.
I suspect that his mother and father will play their perspective developmental and family roles at the summit
with Lil bush playing his.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
