Features collected by TFF • October 28, 2004
The U.S. is history's militarily strongest power. It's global influence is second to none. The personality at the helmet of such an actor in global affairs cannot but attract curiosity and scrutiny.
Over the last couple of years, TFF has collected articles about Mr. Bush, his personality, mode of operation, leadership, his family background, etc. Below we offer you a mini library of links to the essential reading.
We have avoided all that smacks political propaganda, anti-Americanism and hate. Each is based on considerable knowledge and scholarship, some on personal experience. Virtually all are from American sources. The lack of similar discussions in Europe and elsewhere - Japan for instance - is conspicuous, if not mind-boggling.
There are aspects in these article that should make every concerned reader ask: will democracies survive without a minimum of quality control of their leaders?
Browse, read here and there and ask yourself: Should George W. Bush ever have been trusted the power he has, including thepower to wage conventional and nuclear war - without the consent of Congress? And what kind of society, what kind of political system - and political psychology - make it anyhow possible?
1. George W. Bush' psychology & state of mind
Washington Post 1999 and onwards
The making of a president.
A seven-part series on Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush traces the Texas governor's lifelong effort to reconcile the expectations placed on him with the success he sought. (Also see Post series "Understanding Bush" and "Bush' Texas Record"Ron Suskind, New York Times, October 17, 2004 at TruthOut
Without a Doubt.
Civil war over Bush's faith-based rule?Bill Keller, New York Times, March 23, 2002
The soul of George W. BushDavid Greenber, The New Yorker, July 2004
Fathers and Sons. George W. Bush and his forebearsAndrew Stephen, The Observer, October 17, 2004
Has Bush lost his reason? The President's apparent mental fragility should give US voters pause for thought at the ballot boxJulian Borger, The Guardian, August 13, 2003
Study of Bush's psychology touches a nerve
About a study funded by the US government.Ira Kay, CounterPunch
The mental map of the Bush Presidency - his ideas about the world map...Robert L. Knowles, Information Clearing House, October 26, 2004
The Bush family tree: Consider again for the first timeDaniel Schorr, Christian Science Monitor, March 26, 2004
Was Bush fixated on 'getting Saddam'?Doug Thompson, Capital Hill Blue
Bush's erratic behaviour worries White House aidesRenana Brooks, clinical psychologist, SeattlePi.com
Power of Presidency resides in language as well as lawThe Guardian, June 2, 2003
' George Bush is being childish'
New York Times editorial, June 1Los Angeles Times - Editorial, October 7, 2004
Is He a Dope?Liz Marlantes, Christian Science Monitor, July 18, 2003
More John Wayne rhetorics infuses politics - growing machismo in public discourseHelen Thomas, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Nothing sweeter to Bush than revengePeter Beinart, The New Republic, October 11, 2004 & TruthOut
Speech impediment.
A more decent president would not accuse his opponent of assisting terrorists and harming American troops merely because he criticizes U.S. policy.
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2. Bush's faith and relation to the religious right and a religious mission
Bill Keller, New York Times, May 19, 2003
How religion influences the presidentLisa Walsh Thomas, CounterPunch, June 4, 2003
The Isaiah Crowd, How their neo-Christianity is killing usSidney Schanberg, The Village Voice, october 15-21, 2003
The widening Crusade. Bush' war plans are scarier than he saysAmericans Against Empire
Collection of articles about the Armageddon Lobby
Statements, analyses, quotation - and many links
See also Many fundamentalists ache for Armageddon and homepageArnon Regular, Haaretz.com, June 24, 2003
Bush: God told me to strike and then (towards end of the article)Frank Rich, New York Times, October 3, 2004 and TruthOut
Now on DVD: The Passion of the Bush
3. Bush as a leader of his team
The US Government homepage
Resources for the President's leadershipEditorial in New York Times, September 10, 2003
The President's characterChris Floyd, Moscow Times & Information Clearing House, October 22, 2004
The Bush CultRussell M. Drake, Information Clearing House, July 21, 2004
Bush-Hitler: Hypnotizing the massesRitt Goldstein, October 30, 2003, SMH, Australia
Cheney's hawks 'hijacking policy'Nick Welsh, The Santa Barbara Independent, April 1, 2004
Thinking Unthinkable Thoughts. Theologian charges White House with complicity in 9/11 attack
Conversation with David Ray Griffin, author of "The New Pearl Habour"Arianna Huffington, Alternet, June 18, 2003
WMDs and the psychology of fanaticism
Hey, why let facts get in the way of a perfectly good war?Thom Hartmann, Common Dreams, July 19, 2004
The ghost of Vice President Wallace warns: "It can happen here"Ian Williams, Alternet, October 27, 2004
Bush's war against the military.
He is not pro-military, he is militaristicCraig Aron In These Times
Timeline of a Failure - Since Bush's Inauguration January 20, 2001
4. The Bush family's relationship to Hitler Germany & rise to power
Jonathan D. Salant, Kansas City Star, October 17, 2003
Bush ancestor's bank seized by governmentBen Aris and Duncan Campbell, The Guardian, September 25, 2004
How Bush's grandfather helped Hitler's rise to power.
Rumours of a link between the US first family and the Nazi war machine have circulated for decades. Now the Guardian can reveal how repercussions of events that culminated in action under the Trading with the Enemy Act are still being felt by today's president.Kevin Phillips, Portland Independent Media, January 12, 2004
American Dynasty: Bush family's rise to power
5. Bush's world views
Maureen Dowd, International Herald Tribune, April 27, 2004
In Bushworld: down is always upRobert Scheer, Alternet, November 11, 2003
Mr. President, You are no MosesThe White House, May 2003
George Bush delivers commencement address at Coast GuardJim Wallis, Information Clearing House, December 19, 2003
Dangerous religion - Bush's theology of empireThom Hartmann, Common Dreams, July 19, 2004
The ghost of Vice President Wallace warns: "It can happen here"
Other relevant materials
Richard Lichtman, CounterPunch, February 27, 2003
Psychologists and WarJohn Cory, TruthOut Perspective, October 26, 2004
I need a president - againInternational Society of Political Psychology
Related Feature Collections Who is George W. Bush? - October 27, 2004
US Presidential Elections - August 16, 2004
US Presidential Elections - October 24, 2004
The US Empire - what future, what end? - November 1, 2004
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