Blooging Past Bush-Bashing

A remarkable feature of the blogging world is the unprecedented (as far as I'm aware) marriage of modern pop psychology to political analysis, particularly as it applies to that singular creature in the White House, George Walker Bush. I don't argue with the trend, and I've done it myself, though I'm careful to cite my betters such as the learned psychoanalyst (and Bush-Basher extraordinaire) Justin Frank, M.D. In essence, these analyses, or diatribes, or screaming rants usually conclude with a summary description of Bush that makes him psychologically indistinguishable from a serial killer. His ascribed attributes almost always include sadism and a more-or-less complete lack of empathy. For recent example, I offer Robert Foster Altschul, an instructor in literature at Stanford, who blogged on the Huffpost under the subtle title, "You're a Monster, Mr. President" (which a lit major would term "foreshadowing"): "[i]t is now undeniable that our country is being led by a soulless, self-adoring crook who cares nothing about average citizens, American history, or the rule of law."

The "soulless" part is the key. Mr. Altschul is a novelist and probably wanted to avoid clunkers like "empathy-deprived," but that's the drift. The idea is that Bush doesn't feel any sympathy whatsoever for the consequences of his actions, including pain and suffering. By now I think everyone but the The Thirty Percent (by the way, I think that's a better name for Pat Robertson's TV show than "The 700 Club," which, while very End-Days and everything, is a little obscure) would agree with that. The Thirty Percent are Bush's hard core, the True Believers, the Evangelicals, who don't care about the consequences of Bush's actions here on Earth because Earth doesn't matter. In fact, many of them probably believe that Bush is empathy-deficient (certainly not "soulless," however; Mr. Altschul, please: everyone has a soul). One of the great ironies is that our soulless leader is empowered here at home by the same kind of religious zealot who straps on C-4 and walks into a Baghdad market and self-detonates. Maybe it's not a giant leap from self-adoration to self-detonation. I'm just boogeying here, while blogging. Maybe that could be called "blooging." I hereby claim copyright, trademark and exclusive use for the term "blooging," although anyone may use it from now on through a free license, granted by me in perpetuity.

Why do bloggers keep hammering away at this? It's the result of complete frustration, I think, but here's the thing: it is in the nature of empathy-deficiency that a psychopath cannot be dissuaded from his sadistic actions, or whatever, through any kind of emotional appeal. La Diva Pelosi keeps talking about extending the "hand of friendship" and cooperation to Bush in defiance of this psychological truth. You are not going to cajole, or shame, L'il Georgie into anything. It doesn't work that way. Tomorrow there will be another meeting in the Oval Office where Bush tells La Diva and Mr. Mumbles the way it's going to be - fund my war or else. And the Dynamic Duo will keep hoping, despite all evidence to the contrary, that Bush will offer them some sort of compromise that will give them a way to escape the awful burden of a difficult decision. He will never, ever do that, because he has the ultimate leverage in negotiations. He just flat-out doesn't give a fuck. That's the big upside of a complete lack of empathy, shame, remorse or ordinary human emotion. La Diva and Mr. Mumbles actually care if the U.S. Army and Marines are placed in yet more jeopardy. Bush doesn't, not at all. If they die, they die. That's how he looks at it. Maybe 650,000 Iraqis have died as a direct result of the invasion (scientifically speaking, that's the probable number). Bush doesn't care enough about them to figure out if it's true.

Interesting, isn't it, in a macabre, blood-curdling way? So you see, it's not that I disagree with the Bush-Bashing Amateur Psychologists. I think they're exactly right. I've just blooged beyond it. If they want to stop some of the worst effects of Bushitis, they can, but it's never going to happen by appeal to a better nature that simply isn't there.