Annals Of Self-Deception

by hilzoy

From the NYT:

"In an interview conducted earlier this month by his sister, Doro Bush Koch, Mr. Bush said he wanted to be remembered "as a person who, first and foremost, did not sell his soul in order to accommodate the political process.""

""I came to Washington with a set of values, and I'm leaving with the same set of values," Mr. Bush said. "And I darn sure wasn’t going to sacrifice those values; that I was a President that had to make tough choices and was willing to make them. I surrounded myself with good people. I carefully considered the advice of smart, capable people and made tough decisions.""

"But he said he wanted to be known "as somebody who liberated 50 million people and helped achieve peace; that focused on individuals rather than process; that rallied people to serve their neighbor; that led an effort to help relieve HIV/AIDS and malaria on places like the continent of Africa; that helped elderly people get prescription drugs and Medicare as a part of the basic package; that came to Washington, D.C., with a set of political statements and worked as hard as I possibly could to do what I told the American people I would do.""

Well, I would like to be remembered as a defensive lineman for the Cincinnati Bengals. Whose wish is more unlikely, I wonder?

Comments

[Mike Schilling]

In an interview conducted earlier this month by his sister, Doro Bush Koch

He must really be having a hard time finding anyone who'll talk to him.

[liberal japonicus]

Cincinnati? Why Cincinnati?

[gwangung]

Cincinnati? Why Cincinnati?

Detroit was getting too much "love"?

[RepubAnon]

Bush had a soul?

[Warren Terra]

""I came to Washington with a set of values, and I'm leaving with the same set of values"

And still in the original packaging, completely unused!

.

Well, I would like to be remembered as a defensive lineman for the Cincinnati Bengals.

The temptation to make this happen via Wikipedia is strong ...

[Hartmut]

With Stalin's canonization pending and an icon of him* with St.Olga being worshipped, Bush can still hope ;-)
My first reaction too was "what soul?" in the "I would sell my soul, if I hadn't already done it") sense.
More seriously, If Bush is indeed true to his values (i.e. has not deliberately sold his soul), then it speaks volumes about either those or his self-delusion. Personally I think GWB has a serious empathy deficit combined with a lack of interest in the real world (as opposed to an imaginary one). I won't go as far (as I would with Chain-eye) to say that he enjoys the evil he causes. I think he really does not grasp it (but that should be no excuse in court).

*IVD aka IVS not GWB

[Redhand]

Personally I think GWB has a serious empathy deficit combined with a lack of interest in the real world (as opposed to an imaginary one).

To his dying day, this clown will live in his own bubble, convinced that he is a heroic President who made "tough choices" and did a lot of "hard work" for the American people. Prophets are always rejected in there own time, and GWB will rest secure in the knowledge that "history" will ultimately vindicate him.

[iain]

To be fair, there is one thing on his list for which he should be remembered positively: the contributions made to fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa.

[novakant]

Do they have some connection to Bengal, India?

[hilzoy]

novakant: I wondered about that, but decided it was probably Bengal tigers (still a connection to India/Bangladesh, but a different one.)

Why Cincinnati? I liked the name.

[Hartmut]

To be fair, there is one thing on his list for which he should be remembered positively: the contributions made to fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa.
Provided that noone mentions abortion* (and condoms only whispering**) or cuts into the profits of big pharma by demanding sell-at-cost for treatments***.
=> effectiveness low or even negative despite claims to the contrary. [snark] Unfortunately tax cuts for the upper class and pious rhetorics did not prove to be the panacea for cancer, Aids asn hunger[/snark]

*afaik GWB revived the global gag rule on his first day in office
**while trumpeting abstincence only
***sanctions were threatened iirc

[russell]

He must really be having a hard time finding anyone who'll talk to him.

Or, anyone who he will submit to talking with.

Thanks -

[John Thullen]

When my sister interviews me about my legacy, there is way too much eye-rolling, gasping, and stunned incredulity.

"What ..... what?" I protest.

[ThatLeftTurnInABQ]

This sounds like one step away from Nixon talking to the paintings in the White House.

One the other hand, if some noted historian were to sneak into the White House and spend the next 2 months monopolizing Bush's time by listening to an endless stream of nonsense about his impending apotheosis at the bestest-President-evah, so that each day Bush is too occupied with telling stories to attend to less urgent matters (like say issuing pardons), then I think that would be a worthwhile enterprise.

Call it Operation Scheherezade.

[xanax]

Well, Cincinnati I can sort of understand. By why in the name of Proud Mary's pain pumping a defensive lineman?

[Jim Parish]

why in the name of Proud Mary's pain pumping a defensive lineman?

And why not? Those are just about the meanest sumbitches on the field! Remember the Purple People Eaters? The Steel Curtain? (On a lower level, as a Chargers fan, the only defensive players I remember from the Coryell era are the front four - Kelcher, Dean, Johnson, Jones, and supersub Wilbur Young.)

[CaseyL]

(Ny apologies: This post is going to look strange, since ny keyboard's nn key - the one next to the n - no longer works. I've used an "n" instead, which necessitates creative word choice on ny part, and creative reading on yours.)

I can't recall where I heard this, but I've heard that the Harvard
Business School has had a lot of influence shaping general business theory and practice over the last 40 (?) years.

If that's true, we need to take an axe to its curriculun, or at least to its influence. What we have is an entire scholia of business nanagenent philosophy that is apparently dedicated entirely to creative data crunching and stockholder placating, and dedicated not at all to understanding, or caring, actual econonics.

Ny own ex-enployer certainly subscribed to creative data-crunching and stockholder placation over everything else. Every year, at the all-hands neetings, the CEO and CFO would talk about how the previous year's revenues and profits were calculated; every year, they seened to use a different fornula, to arrive at better results. In fact, at one such all-hands, I asked if there was any continuity between the revenue/profit nodels used, so that the analyses were consistent and neaningful. The executives assured ne -and all of us - that there were consistent benchnarks, but didn't say what they were, or how they were arrived at.

I would love to see a revolt against the Harvard Way, if that's what's resulted in such short-sighted, self-serving, utterly shaneful decision naking.

[ThatLeftTurnInABQ]

I would love to see a revolt against the Harvard Way, if that's what's resulted in such short-sighted, self-serving, utterly shaneful decision naking.

It isn't just Hahhvaad. All the major business schools are sausage factories for cranking out ignorant dolts who will fit well into middle management by not asking too many inconvenient questions which might cause problems for their C-level superiors.

Unfortunately all too many of them succeed in climbing the career ladder to the point where they are the C-level superior, without learning much about anything other than how to climb the greasy pole and cover their asses while doing it.

[jim filyaw]

"you have sat here far too long for any good you have done. it is time your place was given to better men. depart i say and let us have done with you. in the name of god, go!"

[JeffB]

Things look very different from the center of the cocoon, particularly if you find it hard to see past your nose in the first place.

[hilzoy]

xanax: because of the sheer improbability of it.

[Mike Schilling]

The real question, hilzoy, is whether you would like to be thought of as an end or a tackle.

[Mike Schilling]

Casey, here's an "m" for you. Copy it now, and paste it as required.

[CaseyL]

Thanks, mike! I will cherish it always :)

[Phil]

Along the same lines, from Firedoglake via Digby:

The Bush family have recorded a Story Corps interview about George W. Bush's presidential legacy, and what they're most proud of. This is what Mrs. Bush had to say:

Well, it’s certainly been very rewarding to look at Afghanistan and both know that the president and the United States military liberated women there; that women and girls can be in school now; that women can walk outside their doors without a male escort.

Well, then. I would have been more charitable, but since Mrs. Bush has chosen this as her legacy, allow me to introduce you to Mrs. Bush's legacy:

Afghan police have arrested 10 Taliban militants involved in an acid attack against 15 girls and teachers walking to school in southern Afghanistan, a provincial governor said Tuesday. "Several" of the arrested militants have confessed to taking part in the attack earlier this month, said Kandahar Gov. Rahmatullah Raufi. He declined to say exactly how many confessed.

High-ranking Taliban fighters paid the militants a total of $2,000 to carry out the attack, Raufi said. The attackers came from Pakistan but were Afghan nationals, said Doud Doud, an Interior Ministry official.

The attackers squirted acid from water bottles onto three groups of students and teachers walking to school in Kandahar city on Nov. 12. Several girls suffered burns to the face and were hospitalized. One teenager couldn't open her eyes days after the attack, which sparked condemnation from around the world...

Kandahar province's schools serve 110,000 students at 232 schools, Raufi said. But only 10 of the 232 are for girls. Some 26,000 girls go to school, he said.

Arsonists have repeatedly attacked girls' schools and gunmen killed two students walking outside a girls' school in central Logar province last year. UNICEF says there were 236 school-related attacks in Afghanistan in 2007.

[Slartibartfast]

You're setting your aspirations too low, hilzoy. The Bungles? I'd shoot for the Steelers, maybe.

[cw]

Why Cincinnati? I liked the name.

Plus, given their record, there's some hope there.

[Slartibartfast]

Ah. Room for improvement. It's a Ron Zook world out there.

[Rune]

Bush can turn over the keys to the White House with an untroubled conscience (if such a thing can be said to exist in the man), having already declared: "You can't possibly figure out the history of the Bush presidency - until I'm dead."

[Hartmut]

For some inexplainable* reason I have a vision of Bush packing all Nero cliches (plus a bit of Wagner) into one final stunt, burning the WH down with all incriminating papers in it and sitting on the roof playing the guitar (and an ominous voice calling "The world will hear from me again" from Fu Man Cheney in an undisclosed location).

*since it would go completely against character. Bush is a dodger not a stander.

[Francis D]

"I came to Washington with a set of values, and I'm leaving with the same set of values," Mr. Bush said.

Colbert nailed this one years ago. In Mr. Bush's case there's no functional difference between that and "Events can change; this man's beliefs never will. He believes the same thing Wednesday as he did Monday. No matter what happened Tuesday."

[glblank]

I'm not sure if it is self deception or that ignorance is truly bliss. On the face of it the Shrub is correct. His values as a self-serving, self-denying recovering alcoholic, drug addict will leave Washington firmly intact. That being the case, I'd rather play for the Lie Downs in Detroit.

[glblank]

I'm not sure if it is self deception or that ignorance is truly bliss. On the face of it the Shrub is correct. His values as a self-serving, self-denying recovering alcoholic, drug addict will leave Washington firmly intact. That being the case, I'd rather play for the Lie Downs in Detroit.

[Scott]

When ever something is written negatively of corporate take over for NWO, they just print more money and buy out anyone that stands in there way.

[Rune]

I'm not sure if it is self deception or that ignorance is truly bliss.

The apparent "bliss," and Dubya's denial of what happened on Tuesday, may come with a price. Dubya's certainty, as with all forms of fanaticism, is really just a form of overcompensated doubt.

[File under: Pop Psychology Hypothesis of the Day.]

[Personal Failure]

Another of W's "successes": the mortality rate for pregnancy in Afghanistan is 1 in 7. For ever pregnancy in Afghanistan, 1 in 7 will end in death for either the mother or the child. That's W, saving women-- unless they have sex.

[Personal Failure]

sorry, for every 7 pregnancies. W just makes me rabid.