I can understand why our cowboy in chief doesn't grasp the nuances of middle eastern cultural norms and mores, but you'd think he'd get the hoity-toity groveling expected in the presence of a British monarch. Maybe adhering to the strict rules of royal etiquette threatens his need to feel kingly himself. If British reaction can be judged by two clips shown on BBC television, the Brits are a bit miffed by George W. Bush's not quite getting the rules of engagement when hosting their Queen Elizabeth. The BBC had a go at our George noting his 1776 almost-slip and, in my professional opinion, his Oedipally inspired winking follow-up about the queen giving him a cutting Barbara Bush look. To see video click "Bush winks at the Queen" link in upper right.
. . . "She gave me a look that only a mother could give a child." .
It sounds to me like George was on the receiving end of a number of those withering Babs Bush looks. I wonder how often, growing up, he felt diminished by his mother. The more unguarded comments this man makes the more I think he's less a pathological narcissist than a classic Freudian momma's boy with an unresolved Oedipus Complex (for Freud, the unconscious male's childhood desire to sleep with the mother and to kill the father) who is still trying unsuccessfully to eliminate his castration anxiety and symbolically replace daddy in his mother's affection. In healthy psychological development the boy child realizes he can never replace his father by competing with his father for her sexual interest, so instead he identifies with him and devlops as a secure and confident man. Junior may have never reached that point. This would explain why he surrounds himself with doting women who worship him. Of course he could be a pathological narcissist:
- • Grandiose sense of one's own abilities or achievements • Fantasies about having exceptional power, attractiveness or success • Sense of belonging to an exclusive group of people who truly understand each other • Need for constant praise • Expectations of special treatment • Exploitation of other people • Lack of empathy for other people • Envy of other people or a belief that you are the subject of other people's envy • Haughty or arrogant behaviors Reference
Of course, looking at the criteria for narcissistic personality disorder, above, he could be both. Here's more of what the sober voice on the BBC had to say.
"Then there was the inevitable Bushism when the president tried to recall the date of a previous visit of the queen" and after he made his slip by starting to say 1776 instead of 1976 he winked at the queen." The BBC commentator went on to say "not many people wink at the queen. George Bush is the exception."
Knowing George as we do, we can be thankful he didn't give his trademarked idiot's chuckle, hee hee hee â„¢, and tell Queen Elizabeth how we've come a long way from kicking their sorry Redcoat butts out of our country with our ragtag army. Psychologically that would show this maternal figure who the real manly man was. The BBC commentator made a droll, somewhat superior reference to Bush's white tie attire as he described him entering the state dinner, saying he was
"… still winking, mind, looking like a small boy on his first day at school in an unfamiliar uniform, although at least he'd swapped his cowboy boots for patent evening shoes."
Conveniently, the camera zoomed in on a close-up of his shiny patent leather shoes; but the telling remark is that he looked like a small boy. Perhaps thinking that the United States has a president who is like a small boy with dangerous toys, he noted that our two countries were engaged in a controversial war, the BBC commentator said that "this is a day when the word Iraq is being spoken oh so softly if it's being spoken at all." He went on to say "in such polite society it seems unlikely that issues such as Iraq will take up much time." It's too bad that one of our closest allies is sympathizing with us to the extent that they say:
.. "Tonight they'll be sitting down to what the Americans hope will be a gaff-free state dinner." .
Thanks to reader "By Jove" for this reminder.
For those who forgot: At the G-8 Conference, President Bush grabed German Chancellor Angela Merkel from behind and gave her a quick massage before rushing off. Chancellor Merkel was not amused. Here's the prepubescent moment on You Tube (LINK) We rest our case!
19 thoughts on “George Bush and Queen Elizabeth: What this tells us about the presidential psyche”
I think that there is nothing more outrageous than politics itself am i right ?
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tri-dophilus
Here’s what Judith Warner has to say in today’s New York Times — ” A white-tie kind of guy ” (LINK)
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He didn’t slobber, chug-a-lug from an Evian bottle, spew bits of buttered roll or engage in any impromptu shoulder massages.
Bully for him.
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 Bush talks with his mouth full because he can. He drinks mineral water straight from the bottle at a formal function because he doesn’t have to prove his good breeding to anyone. His “black sheep†exchange with the queen wasn’t a “gaffeâ€; it was a tribal handshake. He has the arrogance of the long-established.
So how about we retire the notion that the president’s comportmental shortcomings – his dubious straight talk and selectively bad table manners – make him “normal†or in any way one of “us� And why don’t we acknowledge instead that he’s much less some kind of phantasmagorical Average Joe than cut from the same cloth as Prince Philip, another naughty and haughty verbal prankster, known throughout the world for his faux pas and bons mots?
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Wasn’t it interesting that George Bush saved the ‘white tie dinner’ at the White House for the Queen of England? Maybe he did that because he believes he’s the King of America and it just made sense to give royalty the attention it deserved…
Spit. DUMBASS is a good summation of who he is.
http://www.whitenoiseinsanity.wordpress.com
Bow and scrape or grovel to “the queen”? Give me a break. Her country can kiss her arse, but I don’t give a rats behind on who she thinks she is. Bush bowed enough as it was to that sow to make me sick, and besides, according to some they are even related. So really,,, who cares.
Well, sure as heck QE is not going Knight Jr. as she did Ronald Reagan.
At least he didn’t fart.
Paul Bedard of U.S. News & World Report has done the world a big favor in publicizing Bush’s farting and his infantile glee in his performance of this simple body function in front of female interns. This snippet of info may explain a great deal
Many, maybe most psychologists will tell you that compulsive farting is an indicator of deep-seated mental illness, a less severe form of the compulsive defecation, anywhere and everywhere, that delights many lunatics.
The behavior is commonly believed to stem from an emotionally deprived childhood.
An emotionally starved child soon learns that he can get attention from his cold, negligent or perhaps cruel parents by filling his diaper. The worse the smell, the sooner and greater the attention.
The resultant attention might include a beating, which often reinforces the aberrant behavior. It might hurt, but it is attention and the child is content to pay the price.
Of course there is a much higher price unknown to the unfortunate infant.
The behavior becomes ingrained, as does the emotional and intellectual confusion. The child fails to develop both emotionally and intellectually and the result is often a drastically immature and stupid adult who will do just about anything for attention and gratification — torture frogs, snort coke, drive drunk, dodge duty, lie, invade non-hostile countries, pose as a “mission accomplished” war hero, torture prisoners.
Joe Scarborough has famously posed the question: “Is Bush an idiot?”
Maybe the real question should be: “Is Bush an idiot lunatic?”
Is it possible that the people really to blame for the multiple disasters of this administration are George H. W. and Barbara?
David Letterman highlighted Bush’s “inapproporiate smile” as Lehrer referred to Iraq as a “broken egg.” Bush continued to smile as he insisted that the egg was only “cracked.”
“Inappropriate smile” is overly polite.
“Idiot Grin” is more accurate.
Cashel Boylo
…since Kkkarl’s hand is usually up his behind –
…protocol? At THIS White House?? Surely you jest!
…his handlers aren’t equipped and sharp enough to deal with this boy puppet on Cheney’s string –
LFTL
O. M. G! What else could our fearless leader do, to embarrass us? Surely, there is someone in charge of protocol at the White House who could take this fool by the hand, and keep him from tripping over his own tongue. I guess we can be grateful that he didn’t moon Her Majesty in an attempt at levity. It probably didn’t occur to him at that moment, thankfully.
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