Understanding President Bush

President Bush boasts that he reads people rather than books or newspapers. It seems inconsistent that many experience much frustration when he seems to not hear or heed criticisms and concerns expressed by many loyal Americans and allies over many of his policies, especially his invasion of Iraq. We would better understand him, however, if we consider that he does indeed hear and distill the essence of our criticisms, but deals with them in a typically dysfunctional way. Instead of analyzing these criticisms and learning from what merits they might have, consider that he internalizes them wholesale, and then rejects them all, projecting them back onto his critics. No less than five times in one day, for example, he recently asserted how "irresponsible" his critics were in criticizing his policy in Iraq. But what was the essence of their criticism? Precisely that he had been irresponsible in leading us into a war that was not necessary, that was ill-advised, that was poorly planned, that has led to many unnecessary deaths and expenditures, that is now leading to civil war and an increase in terrorist attacks around the globe. Was this not indeed "irresponsible" of him?

But, does he now do the responsible thing and accept responsibility for his errors and mistakes? No. That would be to act responsibly.

The irresponsible thing for him to do would be to deny the merits of all of these criticisms and instead just throw the blame on others. And that's precisely what he does. It's as if, having internalized their criticism, he now just acts it out, and thus acts irresponsibly once more. And what he says of others could be but his self-reproach in disguise, now denied and projected onto others.

This approach to understanding President Bush can be tested over time. Try applying it to Bush's most emphatic statements about others. From what he says most emphatically about others, see if that doesn't make more sense as a deflected self-reproach that more properly concerns himself. You may find him doing in spades precisely what he is, at the same time, accusing others of doing.