Headlines blare about the Hamas victory - far beyond a mandate - in Palestine. Yet watching President Bush's press conference on Thursday morning we were treated to more of his vague platitudes. He could be responding to a high school vote for head cheerleader just as well as the victory of an organization dedicated to the eradication of Israel.
First he said the election was an illustration of the power of democracy, and that the vote works and that the voting was peaceful.
His second thought was worse than mindless:
"But what was also positive is, is that it's a wake-up call to the leadership. Obviously, people were not happy with the status quo. The people are demanding honest government."
Again there is much to be mined from his empty platitudes. Again another press conference raises questions about who Bush is - as a person and as a president. Here are some of my thoughts:
1. He's detached, disconnected, something psychiatrists call schizoid.
2. He hasn't thought about the election at all (a subcategory of #1).
3. He himself is getting wake-up calls regularly from the press, from critics of his war, of his Abramoff photos, of his domestic spying.
4. He is so preoccupied with investigations into his own Administration that he interprets the vote for Hamas as a vote for "honest" government.
5. But most disturbing, Bush seems to take a fundamentally Darwinian approach to the Middle East. Does he believe in survival of the fittest - a belief that reveals an unconscious wish (expressed through his stunningly bland responses) for the destruction of Israel?
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