“All cruelty springs from weakness.”
~ Seneca, [Roman Philosopher, Statesman, Dramatist 4BC-AD65]
“The truth is incontrovertible; malice may attack it,
ignorance my deride it, but in the end, there it is.”
~ Winston Churchill [Statesman, Author, Prime Minister 1874-1965]
A glimpse into the younger years of Baby Bush’s life speaks volumes. Without a deep desire, few of us ever change. We may leave old habits behind. Those behaviors take a toll on our physical well-being. our psychological transgressions might also cause us to pause. We may wish to tweak our choices. Nevertheless, the substance of who we are lingers and often looms larger.
There are exceptions. Some totally transform themselves; still these individuals are few and far between. The need must be stark. When a person is born with a silver spoon is his mouth and is handed many more, he can and often does continue to do as he has done. The past is often the present and we see ample evidence of this. Consider this character . . .
He walks in the classroom cool and slow. He scans the room, though his eyes barely move. The students shift in their shoes. They wonder what he will do next. Fellow pupils shuffle about looking for a safe place to stand. Perhaps, they should hide from this threatening figure. They would if they could.
Once students find a comfortable corner, they cower and try to calm their beating hearts. The posture of those in the room is stiff.
Everyone fears this fellow, though he is their classmate. He is a peer; he is one of them. Yet, he is not. Actually, this big man on campus is not with the other pupils. He is above them, at times, below them, or so they fear.
Each of the students’ suspects, given the chance, this young strapping dude will single them out. He will throw them to the ground, punch their stomachs, strike their heads, and slap them silly, though no one has seen him do this.
Those that have encountered this intimidating character choke back tears. They wince as he taunts and teases. They hold their breath as he pounds their tender spirits to a pulp.
This young man believes he has earned the respect of his acquaintances. He has a gang that follows him wherever he goes. They praise him, promote him to the status of “our leader.” However, in their heart of hearts they too fear him. They know he is not a friend. This instigator is not trustworthy, nor is he a true companion.
Those that seemingly admire this fellow, do not. They appreciate his power, his prowess, and the will with which he makes his pronouncements. Nevertheless, his associates tremble at the thought of being close to their ally. Their guide beguiles and is belligerent. Let us not quibble. This chap can control a room, a street, or a neighborhood. He can and does accept a challenge; in truth, he creates them.
He is a rebel [with only a self-proclaimed cause], a rabble-rouser. This youthful testosterone driven male, is a fighter. He flees from no one. It is said that he can win any brawl. Once finished with his opponent he exits gracefully. Yet, he cannot. No one can! The concept of a “graceful exit” is an oxymoron. Nonetheless, morons, such as this bully think the notion is apt. They plot and plan for ways to leave a situation with sophistication. Yet, they have none.
Contemplate the position and posturing of George W. Bush and his desire for a “poised non-pull-out withdraw” from Iraq. The President of the United States bullied his way into battle. He declared, “You are either with us or against us.” Like a cowboy, in a class “B” Western movie, Browbeater Bush exclaimed, I want Osama Bin Laden, “Dead or Alive!” Our fair leader worked to spread democracy by calling for a regime change, by toppling the “tyrant,” his definition of the “evil” Emperor, Saddam Hussein. Big Bad Bush chose to unilaterally attack a nation struggling to survive. Much as classic bullies do, he picked an opponent significantly weaker than he.
President Bush gathered a group of people that said “Yes” to his every whim. Many were provided for him. Daddy too had lived a life of luxury. Like “W,” he never needed to think beyond the opulence that was his world. If he wanted to further his investment in oil fields, he would. He did.
The senior developed an entourage of experts all ready, willing, and waiting to employ or impose their neoconservative values on those that were hoping for freedom. Papa George spoke of the “New World Order” and the Baby planned to take profound actions to ensure it.
Father and son both prefer and preferred bullying patterns of behavior. When, accidentally they appointed individuals that did not side with them, they roughed them up and ultimately eliminated them. The story of Colin Powell is a sad one.
As George Bush’s first term nears its end, Powell’s tenure as top diplomat is approaching its nadir. On the high-profile issues of the day, he seems to have almost no influence within the administration. And his fateful briefing one year ago before the U.N. Security Council–where he attached his personal credibility to claims of Iraqi WMD–has destroyed his once-considerable standing with the Democrats, not to mention our European allies, most of the United Nations, and the media.
At times, Powell has taken his fate with resigned humor. Hendrik Hertzberg wrote in The New Yorker last year of a diplomatic soiree that Powell attended on the eve of war, at which a foreign diplomat recited a news account that Bush was sleeping like a baby. Powell reportedly replied, “I’m sleeping like a baby, too. Every two hours, I wake up, screaming.”
At other times, though, Powell must be frustrated beyond measure. One can imagine the scoldings he takes from liberal friends for playing “good soldier” in an administration that’s treated him so shabbily and that’s rejected his advice so brazenly. That senseless dressing-down of the committee staffer–a tantrum that no one with real power would ever indulge in–can best be seen as a rare public venting of Powell’s maddened mood.
The decline of Powell’s fortunes is a tragic tale of politics: so much ambition derailed, so much accomplishment nullified.
Then there is the saga of Former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neal.
Former Fed and Treasury economists Jagadeesh Gokhale and Kent Smetters initially measured the U.S. fiscal gap in a highly detailed 2002 U.S. Treasury study commissioned by then-Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neal and approved by Fed leader Alan Greenspan. The study, which showed a $45 trillion gap, was censored the day O’Neal was fired (actually drop-kicked) by the White House.
The reveries of counter terrorism Coordinator Richard Clarke might come to mind as we muse. The history of Bush bullying is abundant.
“Frankly, I find it outrageous that the president is running for re-election on the grounds that he’s done such great things about terrorism,” Richard Clarke told CBS’ “60 Minutes” in an interview Sunday night. “He ignored it. He ignored terrorism for months, when maybe we could have done something to stop 9/11. Maybe. We’ll never know.”
Clarke said he asked for a Cabinet-level meeting in January 2001, shortly after the president took office, to discuss the threat al Qaeda posed to the United States. “That urgent memo wasn’t acted on,” Clarke told CBS. Instead, he said, administration officials were focused on issues such as missile defense and Iraq.
Bullies often get their way. People fear them and rarely press an issue beyond what they think is personally safe. Sanity, when with a tormenter is tenuous. Who would wish to threaten their own personal sense of stability? Very few stand up to the bully; he counts on that.
Thus, we see a man, a beast that bellows; rarely do people believe he is bluffing. George W. Bush may not physically pulverize a person that sits near him, though he will pound a nation of faceless people back into the Stone Age; however, psychologically, this man murders the minds and spirits of those that he can see. President George W. Bush blatantly defines the word “bully.” Let us look at how a professional characterizes persons that mean to oppress others. Peruse and ponder; does this description depict our man Bush or those he dominated?
I’m Rubber and You’re Glue: Handling Emotional Bullies, By: Edel Jarboe.
What is Emotional Bullying?
Emotional bullying is when someone tries to gain control by making others feel angry or afraid. It is characterized by verbal abuse such as name-calling, sarcasm, incessant teasing, threatening, mocking, putting down, belittling, ignoring, and lying. Also known as adult and workplace bullying, emotional bullying also includes such abuse as exclusion from a group, tormenting, ganging up on others, or humiliation. Moreover, this type of bullying also extends to racially or sexually abusive comments and behavior.
Because emotional bullying can be the most difficult type of bullying to cope with or prove, its effects can be devastating. In a recent study, researchers at the University of South Australia found that for males and females, frequent peer victimization and low social support contributed significantly and independently to relatively poor mental health. Experts say that the victim may be encouraged to feel shame, embarrassment, guilt and fear which can result in depression, low self-esteem, shyness, poor academic or job performance, isolation, or threatened or attempted suicide.
I think the Colin Powell example alone tells the tale. President George W. Bully Bush is the picture of a persecutor. He was in his youth and as he ages he perfects his posture.
One might ask, “What happens to Bullies?”
The life-long outlook for bullies is not good. If bullies don’t learn how to change their behavior, the pattern of bullying behavior often becomes a habit as the bully gets older.
Bullies have average social popularity up to approximately age 14 or 15. In fact, some children even look up to bullies in some ways because they are powerful and do what they want to, or have to, to get their way with their peers. However, by late adolescence, the bully’s popularity begins to wane. By senior high school, if a bully is still attending school, his or her peers group includes other bullies, or more seriously, he or she has developed or is developing gang alliances. By late high school, schoolyard bullying is a rare occurrence, but what takes its place is more serious.
By age 24, up to sixty percent of people who are identified as childhood bullies have at least one criminal conviction. A study spanning 35 years by psychologist E. Eron at the University of Michigan found that children who were named by their school mates, at age eight, as the bullies of the school were often bullies throughout their lives. In this longitudinal study of bullies, many of these children, as adults, required more support from government agencies (Psychology Today, Sept. 1995). For example, these children later had more court convictions, more alcoholism, more antisocial personality disorders and used more of the mental health services than the other children.
Unless new behaviors are learned and adopted, bullies continue to bully throughout their lifetime. They bully their mates, their children, and possibly their underlings in their place of business. Bullying gets them what they want, and although some bullies learn to refine the art of bullying in their professional lives and use it in situations where there is a power imbalance, it creates less than harmonious relations in the workplace.
Yes, initially, power pulls people in. We witnessed this immediately following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City. In the September 14, 2001ceremony, the President offered his response. He stated with pride, “I can hear you. I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.” As he bellowed, the crowd roared. America had their leader and he was strong [or so the people thought.]
As Mr. Bush spoke, the public, his peers were mesmerized, just as schoolyard children are when they first encounter a big, bad, bully. Power exudes from every orifice when bullies speak. As President Bush beamed, the public felt protected, assured, and safe. They, as innocent youth, never imagined that this brute would harm them or their families. Yet, as time marches on, so too does the ogre. His oppressive ways meander; they twist and turn. Much is revealed. Ultimately everyone realizes, as long as the thug roams, no one is truly able to relax.
Yet, before the reality is evident many admire the charisma and sway of a swagger. Many of us did post-September 11, 2001. Those that wish to be popular think that the browbeater has power. Consider other world leaders, their comments, and initial support.
Bullies as Bush seem capable of parting the seas. That is impressive. However, as time passes, even those once enamored realize that absolute power corrupts absolutely. When ultimatums are delivered and diplomacy is not considered, even the most enamored begin to question the veracity of the bully. It happened to Bush.
In Britain, Prime Minister Tony Blair is asking lawmakers to support his decision to join the United States in a war against Iraq, although he does not need parliamentary approval to send into battle the 45,000 troops he has already committed.
“Back away from this confrontation now and future conflicts will be infinitely worse and more devastating in their effects,” Blair said during a debate Tuesday in the House of Commons.
He is expected to win a House of Commons vote later Tuesday, but many disaffected members of his Labour Party were expected ignore party discipline and vote against his handling of the crisis. Senior Cabinet minister Robin Cook and two junior ministers have quit over the prime minister’s stand on Iraq.
In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi described the Iraq ultimatum as “a very difficult decision” for President Bush and reiterated his government’s position that a new U.N. resolution authorizing an attack was not needed for the U.S. and its allies to enter Iraq.
Japan’s constitution bars its armed forces from fighting in foreign wars, but Koizumi’s government reportedly was considering humanitarian missions.
Leaders of nations opposed to military action in Iraq were critical of President Bush’s 48-hour deadline.
Hesitant as many might be, most follow a leader, even if he is a hooligan. However, once people acknowledge promises made by a tormentor are empty. The situation is not as it seems, they begin to lose hope.
George W. Bush guaranteed victory; bullies do. He assured Americans, we are spreading democracy. Ruffians believe they rule; they are righteous. Yet, there was no triumph. A tough guy never truly wins. Democratic systems are not found in war, civil or otherwise. Massive military might does not promote freedom and justice. Brawn cannot and does not dominate. Brains are the authentic force. In a True World Order, only nations united can create calm.
As we reflect on bullies and their ability to retreat we must accept, a tyrant cannot “gracefully exit” from combat. Much as they might try not to, a teaser will continually criticize in their attempt to control. After a destroying a person, place, or peace, no one can egress elegantly. A bull in a china shop is unable to repair the havoc his entrance created. A punitive person cannot pretend to polish what s/he has tarnished. Panache is not possible when your modus operandi is punishing. Onlookers will not trust a man, [woman, or child] who leaves them devastated.
George W. Bush is a bully, a brute, a hooligan, and a boor. He reaps what he sowed. Sadly, his cohorts and the American citizens are in tow.
Innocent Iraqis also suffer. There is no winner in war. Thus, the United States led by a bullying regime will not be poised in our pullout. We were not attractive in our entrance. Now, we can only exit with our tails between our legs. That is what a badly bruised bully does. At least, some us are still able to stand and petition for rational peaceful change.
We must remind those that forgot as they followed our fair leader, often when you ask for a fight, you get more than a battle. Once angered, your opponent may righteously do you more harm than you ever imagined. Perchance, the “enemy” the people Bush defined as terrorists hurt him more than he pained them. The man that does not “pay attention to polls” might evaluate his numbers; better still, he may wish to assess his life! The ways of a bully are anything but beautiful.
Brood over Bully Bush and the Bunch . . .
Please view the video Bush Rejects ‘Graceful Exit’ CBS News. November 30, 2006
Betsy L. Angert
BeThink.org or Be-Think