Bush's Arab Dream Palace Is it Narcissism?

[rodeodance]

http://www.juancole.com/2006/08/bushs-arab-dream-palace-is-it.html


Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Bush's Arab Dream Palace
Is it Narcissism?

Bush said again on Monday that he would keep US troops in Iraq until 2009 and argued that for the US to withdraw would send a bad message to reformers in the region. He said he is concerned about that talk of civil war in Iraq and seemed to admit that he isn't very happy most of the time about the way things are going, but added that he doesn't expect to be joyous in wartime. He admitted again that Saddam Hussein did not "order" 9/11, but went on to again link Baathist Iraq to the threat of terrorisma against the US, an unproven charge.
...........

But what strikes me about Bush's Monday appearance is how consistent it is with what I understand of the symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder. Let's look at it this way:


'1. An exaggerated sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements).'



Bush is not content to be the most powerful man in the world. He thinks he is on a mission from God, and has decided that he is going to "reform" the Middle East, and turn Middle Easterners into something else. He is the Great Transformer of these other peoples' lives. The reason he has to stay in Iraq until the end of his presidency (it is all about him) is that he cannot admit that he did not succeed in being the great Transformer of the Middle East, that in fact he screwed up the Middle East royally. Because such an admission of any slightest mistake, much less a major series of failures, would fatally threaten his sense of grandiosity. Thus, he can't pull troops out of Iraq not because of practical military considerations, but because it would send the wrong signal to regional "reformers," i.e. Bush's mini-me's, the people fulfilling his sense of grandiosity.

[AndyA]

1. It's probably a good thing for Bush that he can't see or doesn't

understand the truth. If he took a good hard look at himself in the mirror, he'd see that he has been a major fuck up his entire life, he's done nothing but destroy and kill, and everything he's ever touched has turned to shit, including the United States of America under his control.

Not a record to be proud of.

So it's probably a good thing for him that in whatever little world he lives in, he's a king. And what's good for Bush is bad for the rest of the world.