I mean in the clinical sense. I'm no expert, but there was something about his demeanor in that shot of him wading through photographers to shake hands with his tormentors on the Senate Committee before the last hearing -- it set off a little bell in my mind. There was something about the slope of his shoulders, the inclination of his head, the steadiness with which he approached them. He looked as if he were offering himself up to them. Willingly.
Then there was the way he took the abuse. The way he crossed his arms and let his hands hang over his wrists as he listened to the Senators insult him -- so bluntly that I also began to wonder about some of them. Had he managed to tempt the schoolyard bully in their heart of hearts to give him more of what he seemed to be inviting? If so, that would be his triumph -- to elicit actual cruelty, by way of provocatively bogus answers.
In any case, you can sense it hovering over this story, at the edges of so many of the Senatorial questions and so much of the media commentary -- a whiff of disgust.
And if in fact he is putting up with this and not resigning because Bush wants him to stick it out, for whatever reason -- stubborn loyalty, not wanting to deal with a new nominee -- that wouldn't change the psychology at all. It would just clarify the focus of his submission.
I wonder what a qualified professional would make of this spectacle if he or she were to analyze Gonzales's behavior at these hearings in detail?
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