How does the Finacial bailout compromise Bush's soul or his 'principles'? He's a rich boy who has lived his entire life screwing up and being bailed out by others. A bunch of other rich boys screw up on Wall Street so natually he thinks bailing them out would be a good thing.

The man really is a study in pathology. I know there have been books on the psychology of Bush, but during the past few years I have been too depressed to read any. Now that he's going, I'll probably look at a few, and some of those that will undoubtedly appear in the near future, to see if I can ever gain any insight into this extraordinarily flawed personality.

Sorry, Georgie. Your soul was forfeit when you crawled out from under that rock. AND you're unpopular anyway.

Here's a kiss for ya:

Bush has a soul? Who knew?

Apparently, the sycophants surrounding Bush spend a lot of time telling him that his incredible unpopularity is the result of his amazingly courageous refusal to compromise his "soul." And he has to believe them and repeat this crap, because the alternative is too gruesome to contemplate. Neato!

I'd love to sit in on those little worship sessions.

Does anyone ever tell him that people hate him because he has been a terrible, awful, not good president?

Uh, isn't the most significant aspect of this Bush interview is he AGAIN fails/refuses to recognize any connection between his actions and decisions and any of the bad things that have happened during his administration.

I mean, no President is going to want to admit he's massively screwed up, even to himself. And, I guess, Bush could make the argument that things would be even worse if he hadn't done the things he did. That, however, does not seem to be the argument that he and his sycophants are making. They seem to fixate on defining Bush's intentions as good, as though his Presidency existed only as a parable about the right way to think and behave.

Mike

The great decider now sees himself as just another observer. That belief in predetermination comes in handy sometimes. I suspect two planes and two shoes will be the iconic symbols of his legacy.

You have to understand comments like this in the context of his belief that God wanted him to be President and speaks through his gut instincts. Therefore, any decision he makes, including the ones that feel so good like protecting his rich friends and his own interests, are in keeping with his soul. The fact that he is deluded and narcissistic is what keeps him alive and smiling and what has hurt, killed and maimed so many others.

Steve you're making a semantic mistake. Bush isn't saying that the choice was between his soul and his popularity. He's saying that popularity isn't the reason he compromised his soul. He's saying he compromised his soul for other reasons likely known only by him and the devil.

The pathology of Bush's mind is demonstrated in his infamous "Fool me once.." quip.

He stutters on the "Fool me.." part, and can't even say the phrase "shame on me."

He seems incapable of expressing any remorse, any failing.

Historians will debate Bush's pathologies for years. But we probably won't know the truth until the Bush administrations classified papers are released -- in about 50 years.

I have my own opinion about how Bush's mind works, based on my experiences working in cubical farms with the word "International" in their names.

Bush is a Harvard MBA, and Harvard MBAs are like the guy in the commercial who 'stayed at a Holiday Inn last night' -- they think that their degree grants them the expertise to do anything.

Brain surgery? Who needs medical school, I have a Harvard MBA!

Predict the results we'll get from a partical accelerator? I don't need no stinkin' physics classes -- I have a Harvard MBA!

So it's not surprising at all that Bush, with no combat experience at all thought he knew how to plan a military invasion better than a bunch of generals.

The other thing about Harvard MBAs is that they create plans about what will happen, and then stick to them no matter what.

I've done the hard part -- I created The Plan. And my Harvard MBA plan calls for objects to fall UP when released, so don't bother me with trivia, like the law of gravity. Just do your job and follow my plan and everything will work out just like I said it would.

MTC is absolutely right, Bush is pathological, a narcissist of the highest order. He is so self-obsessed, he sees this "compromise" thing, just as he sees everything, as all about him...he's the important part of the calculation, his so-called principles are what are paramount. Forget the country, the world, anything else, everything is always about him. As if anyone gives a crap about his soul.

"Bush really does seem to think this is an either/or situation"

No he doesn't. He is desperately trying to convince himself of this no-soul-compromising nonsense. But nonsense it is, even to a second-rate mind like George W Bush.

The person he's most interested in persuading is himself.

When people are asked to predict how well they will score, relative to their peers, on tests like spelling, math, geography, history, etc., their predictions are fairly accurate compared to the subsequent test results.

But if the test measures logical thinking, people who are poor at reasoning nevertheless predict they will score well. They can't recognizing their weakness and their life experience teaches them little because they simply think all those who disagree with them are irrational.

Hence, Bush's line of "reasoning."

Bush's most destructive quality, always to those around him and not himself, is that he lives in a fantasy world. You could never call him an idealist but he's a romantic on the level of the most stone-cold country music fan. Wishing don't make it so, either in world "diplomacy" or the American economy; he saves his greatest pash, though, for his favorite people: those, like him, with lots of inherited money. That explains his support for the "bailout," which turned out be nothing more than a class-centered pillaging of the Treasury. Dick'n Henry's idea, of course. Bush was just happy to go along.

This goes hand-in-hand with Bush's canned response when people ask about how we justify the deaths of soldiers in Iraq given that there were no WMDs. He talks about how bad he feels when soldiers die. How very, very sad it makes him.

It's a deeply narsiccistic worldview. Really, the American people would not about the state of his soul so long as he got better results. If he hadn't fucked everything up, he'd be popular. People don't dislike him because he's funny looking, they dislike him because he's done a bad job.

It's also totally contradictory to everything he says about approving torture. It's "by any means necessary" when it comes to Afghani goatherders, but "whither my soul?" when it comes to saving the American economy? Seriously?

Bush and Blago may come across as clueless, corrupt, amoral sociopaths, but American (or Illinois) voters take some blame for ever allowing them to be in the position where they do great harm. Of course they were going to screw up. No one was surprised by it. That is why we must share the blame. We act like fools, buying silly promises that anyone spending 15 seconds thinking would realize are flat-out lies.

That's right, President Bush didn't compromise his soul when he discredited and pulled out not one but two weapons inspectors in Iraq.

He knew he and Cheney hated diplomacy. He knew Iraq had to have weapons of mass destruction. He knew he wanted to go to war. And by golly he didn't compromise one bit -- not in the face of overwhelming intelligence to the contrary, not in the face of tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths, not in the face of repeated warnings about a lack of preparation, not in the face of massive costs.

Nope, President Bush didn't compromise his soul. He got just what he wanted. That's why people are throwing shoes at him as he prepares to leave office. People appreciate what he did and they believe he did the wrong thing. Even as President Bush leaves office he is asking (and answering) the wrong questions.

President Bush is not a wise leader. Just what he thinks history will correct about his reputation over time baffles most voters. His record of ideologically driven government speaks for itself and it will be secure for decades, perhaps centuries.

I find analysis of this shallow boring man BORING. (I do agree with both the Harvard MBA and God-did-it views.) The real mystery is why did 50% of the nation vote for him? I have no problem with voting for the guy you would like to have a beer with. (Except for Huckabee - but he probably doesn't drink so I am safe.) The mystery is why would so many want to have a beer this piece of nothing.

He will go away but all those strange people will still be here. The only hopeful sign that I have heard is that people are denying that they voted for him in 2004.

W. Bush sold his soul to Satan in order to become governor of Texas. After his terms as governor Satan took possession of W.'s soul and ran it for president. Americans voted for it and Satan began his torment of Iraq and Afghanistan with the help of his American demons.

Bush's reasoning (about not compromising his principles and that is why he is so unpopular) only make sense if he actually INTENDED to be the worst president in US history.

It's called denial.

Bush's either/or philosophy is what Glenn Greenwald was talking about on Bill Moyer last Friday when he said that Bush is a "Manichean" thinker. Glenn was referring to Bush's method of thinking that the world is divided into Absolute Good and Absolute Evil, and the belief that the two were always in conflict.

That seems to be Bush's basic way of thinking - the world is broken down into two opposing camps, and he is always on the side of good.

As to the many complaints about his Harvard MBA, that is NOT what an MBA teaches. It is assumed that when someone is accepted into an MBA program that he is capable of more nuanced thinking than that. Don't forget that Bush bought his way into the Harvard MBA program as his father's son, and he did so after the University of Texas Law School refused to admit him. To say that Bush is representative of MBA's is to give MBA programs a bad name they don't deserve (as opposed to many bad raps MBA programs DO deserve.)

Considering Bush's innate Manichean thinking process, my bet is that by the time he approaches age 70 or so it will be clear that he is in Alzheimer's. I think we are watching a case of pre-Alzheimer's working its way out. It's either Alzheimer's coming on, or the form of Manichean philosophical thought Bush shows was the only way he could stop his excessive drug and alcohol use. That simplistic either/or thought process leaves no room for rationalizing the use of drugs and alcohol. I think it's one or the other. (That last line is a joke, by the way.)

supporting policies -- such as the financial industry bailout -- that completely contradict the philosophical principles he holds dear

The only principle he holds dear is "Take care of your own."

We've got a major economic problem and I'm the president during the major economic problem. -- The Shrub

Nothing to do with me, really; I just happened to be passing by and got trapped.

I've been a wartime president. -- TS

And let me tell you; that was the only part of this whole President shtick that was any fun. I looked good as Commander-in-Chief, didn't I?

I've dealt with two economic recessions now. -- TS

Yeah, I know; y'all would have preferred I had stayed in Crawford and *not* dealt with those recessions but, hell, a President has an obligation...

I've had, hell, a lot of serious challenges. -- TS

Like what? Well, like how to pronounce Ahmadiwhatever; you know... that monster in Iran. And the whole I-wreck situation. It was only when it was explained to me that I-wreck was like the Brit weather (partly Sunni, but mostly Shiite. Heh, heh), that I could remember who was who there. Still have trouble remembering that third group though; something to do with cheese, I think

Gee, a politician with integrity. And the far left kooks (redundant) are shocked, shocked I tell you!

2 LOLs in a row, one intentional (thanks, exlibra)and one Fox TV stupid. Stupid is very big on TV.

Now, watch this swing!

"I didn't compromise my soul to be a popular guy."

That's pretty much George H. W. Bush's public posture on his idiot son. What else can he say? Express his regret at not faking a crib death?

One man's uncompromising statesman of principle is anther psychologist's inflexible neurotic, or a father's loyalty to a "bad seed."

Ready GWB's comment, he seems to blame his unpopularity on the economic crisis. He seems to foreget his approval rating was in the low 30%'s for a full year prior to the collapse of the economy.

It's interesting that Boy George says he wants to create a democracy in Iraq, at the same time we have been losing every single right we have enjoyed for decades. Dude, What-up?

So annjell - just what rights have you, personally lost? Not what KOS has told you, not what the "blame America first" crowd claims but you specifically?