Father and son find common ground in defeat

[cal04]

Intense rivalry between a father and his wayward son has given way to mutual concern about the Bush family legacy, writes Tom Baldwin in Washington

THE White House was in no mood last week to discuss President George W. Bush's psychological state after an election defeat he described as "a thumping". Tony Snow, Mr Bush's press secretary, said: "The President is not a guy who - he doesn't get on the couch - what he does is (say), 'What it is, is what it is'."

But if the President ever did lie down on a therapist's couch, any psychoanalyst worth the name would begin by asking about his relationship with his father, George HW Bush. The 41st US President is a figure that his son, George W. Bush, the 43rd president, has variously ignored, clung to, sought the approval of and competed with. Some commentators have long described an oedipal struggle between them.

(snip)
When he first ran for Congress (unsuccessfully) he would pull out his birth certificate at campaign appearances to prove his full name was not the same as his dad's. But Bush Sr has always been there in bad times. And the father's inner circle from his White House years now appears to be riding to the rescue of the son. The appointment this week of Robert Gates as defence secretary, together with the looming report from James Baker's commission, are together supposed to be signalling a new direction for the Iraq war.

It was ever thus. When the attempts of Bush Jr to follow his father into the oil business were floundering, it was the friends of Bush Sr who bailed him out. In 1986, Harken Oil & Gas bought out Bush Jr's holding in Spectrum Oil in an over-the-odds deal, an apparent favour to the vice-president's son. "His name was George Bush," said Phil Kendrick, Harken's founder, and "that was worth the money they paid him".

Such kindly interventions must inevitably include a stab of humiliation for his son, not least because Bush Jr, whose fiery impetuosity is thought to come from his mother rather than his father, has tried so hard to beat his father, in politics and in war.



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http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20746748-601,00.html

[Demeter]

1. When Poppy Ran for Pres, the Press Asked Him Why He Wanted Job

and Poppy had no answer. The reason was, Poppy thought the Presidency was his by Divine Right, born to be king, etc. But Poppy had enough sense or sense of humility to know that this was an unacceptable answer. He was not sufficiently creative, or not sufficiently adept at lying, to make up a socially plausible answer. He couldn't tout his policy goals, either, because those were equally unacceptable.

Dubya on the other hand, came right out and said it was his by Divine Appointment, and his sychophantic following believed with religious zeal. They supported every crackpot notion Dubya put out there.

And so they stole the election, Poppy, Jeb, the GOP, and the Supremes, with full support of the MSM.

But the US has no Divine Right of Kings. We have a rule of laws, not of men. And so the whole thing fell apart, again.

[The Truffle]

4. They created a fantasy around Bush 43

He was the decider; the cowboy; the flawless, determined leader; the man who followed God's will. They wanted so badly to believe this fantasy that they didn't realize until it was too late that he was none of these things.

[tularetom]

2. They try so hard to portray this weenie as a "tough guy"

"He doesn't get on the couch - what he does is say what it is is what it is". Just a plain talkin Texas cowboy, y'know. Well I call bullshit on that. He's a seething time bomb of mommy issues, trying to show mommy he has a bigger dick than daddy. He's been sheltered from the reality of his fucked up life since childhood. Right now he's being sheltered from the fact that he's become a laughingstock and his daddy has to pull his chestnuts out of the fire for the umpteenth time. If he ever figures out what a joke he's turned into we can expect a melt down of biblical proportions and I for one await it eagerly.

[The Truffle]

3. And the rest of the country is an audience to his mommy/daddy issues

Look, someone should tell those assholes that if they want to resolve their family issues, the time and place to do it is in a shrink's office. Don't make the rest of the country suffer through their stupid family feud.

Gah. I wish this whole family would just go away.