09 January 2006

Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President


If any of you have an interest in fascinating psycho-analyses, please read Dr. Justin A. Frank (Politico's 2006, London) "Bush on the Couch, Inside the mind of the US President".

Dr. Frank opens the first chapter with a crisp summary of his own, of what he meticulously documents in the 219 pages of text that follow: "If one of my patients frequently said one thing and did another, I would want to know why. If I found that he often used words that hid their true meaning and affected a persona that obscured the nature of his actions, I would grow more concerned. If he presented an inflexible worldview characterized by an oversimplified distinction between right and wrong, good and evil, allies and enemies, I would question his ability to grasp reality. And if his actions revealed an unacknowledged—even sadistic—indifference to human suffering, wrapped in pious claims of compassion, I would worry about the safety of the people whose lives he touched.
"For the past three years, I have observed with increasing alarm the inconsistencies and denials of such an individual. But he is not one of my patients. He is our president."

“Three new psychological portraits of George W. Bush paint him as a control freak driven by rage, fear and an almost murderous Oedipal competition with his father. And that's before we get to Mom.” Laura Miller

“George W. got poor grades at daddy's schools, failed in daddy's industry, was a cheerleader when daddy was a star athlete”