The Abdication of the Presidency

What to make of George W Bush? This latest bit with al Maliki reveals much about the man, his psychology if you will, the pathetic and abysmal failure that he has once again become. While we may not know what he's thinking, (go ahead, laugh!) we don't know what was swirling about his brain on that fateful day, we can make some judgements based on his behavior.

You could use Maslow's somewhat simplistic pyramid to place Bush somewhere between 1, the Safety level and 2, the lower rung of the Esteem level.

1 A properly-functioning society tends [to] provide [a] degree [of] security to its members. Sometimes the desire for safety outweighs the requirement to satisfy physiological needs completely.

2 The lower level is ... dependent upon other people, or someone who needs to be reassured because of lower esteem. People with low esteem need respect from others. They may seek fame or glory, which again are dependent on others.

Or we could delve a little more deeply, here, (well worth the read-DGR) to discuss the boy kings faults.

If we translate these qualities into the terminology of the five-factor model, a mature person from the observer’s viewpoint would be agreeable (supportive and warm), emotionally stable (consistent and positive), and conscientious (honoring commitments and
playing by the rules).

That sorta leaves George out in the cold, doesn't it? Because his behavior since the election especially, is anything but mature, not that it was before mind you, but it seems clear to me that he's lost interest since his job no longer can feed his need for recognition and accolades and approval.

And brings me to the title of this post. He's abdicated his duties as President. He's proving himself, yet again, unfit for the job in a myriad of ways. that incident with Senator elect Webb? He wasn't asking about his kid, he was reminding the Senator that the kids fate rests in George's hands. No wonder he wanted to slug him.

This meeting with al Maliki, his trip to Riga for the NATO summit, his empty rhetoric to stay the course with adjustments demonstrate his irrelevence. Even as his people tried to prop him up, events pass him by.

We have 2 courses we can take in Iraq. Leave and let the Iraqi's and the region sort it out, or lead with a diplomatic effort that includes all of the parties in the region, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Turkey, Israel, Palastine, Sunni, Shia, Kurd, all of the outside parties, USA, UK, France, NATO, Russia, China, Japan, some less interested states like Sweden and Brazil, and others.

And led by someone with gravitas, with some understanding of the region, and some chutzpah, such a conference, if you will, would have to focus on getting the Iraqi's to recognize that their current path is a road to failure for all sides, something Yitzhak Rabin came to realize, at great cost. A real American President like they show in the movies and teevee could maybe pull it off, Clinton maybe, but Bush? Not a chance. Too immature, ignorant, selfish, weak, unprepared, manipulated by Cheney and Rove, he instead seems to be moving in an opposite course altogether, towards more death and destruction, like some tinpot dicatator sending out urgent orders to an army no longer in existence.

For that, the Congress needs to watch him very carefully. Impeachment may come not for all the countless valid and serious reasons we already know about, but because of his abdication of his responsibilities, of his duty, of his office. Like I said earlier, he's broken the compact between the People and the State, it's up to our Representatives to make sure that's all he breaks.