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Bush Denial John LeBoutillier Last week on KABC radio's excellent "Al Rantel Show," I questioned the apparent denial of reality by President Bush when it comes to the situation in Iraq.
Just that morning a traveling British reporter, accompanying Prime Minister Tony Blair to the White House, had indeed asked the president if he was "in denial" about the situation in Iraq.
Denial is a character flaw we all engage in on topics sensitive to us; yes, we all do it.
I then questioned whether the president is — in the vernacular of alcoholics and recovery — what is known as a dry drunk — one who has given up drinking (as Mr. Bush did in 1986) but has not undergone proper rehabilitation in Alcoholics Anonymous, including the famous 12-step program. Story Continues Below
The point of AA is more than just the abstention from the alcohol; it is to change one's overall behavior — totally. Merely stopping the drinking isn't enough; one needs to change the alcoholic behavior itself.
Thus, some of the behavior changes include learning to admit your past misdeeds and mistakes and then going to those you hurt and honestly asking for their forgiveness.
G.W. Bush never went to AA; in fact his father cavalierly denied once that his son even had a drinking problem. Yet G.W. Bush was arrested in Maine for DUI back in the 1970s — and by his own admission in his autobiography his drinking was so bad that by 1986 Laura threatened to leave him if he had one more drink.
To his credit, he stopped cold turkey after a drunken night at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. And he soon thereafter became a born again Christian and threw himself into Bible study. But he never addressed his alcoholic behavior, and he never changed.
His denial and refusal ever to admit a mistake are fundamental bedrocks of his un-treated alcoholic behavior.
Do you recall the 2004 debate with John Kerry when an audience member asked the president if he could name "one mistake you have made during your presidency?" His response was shocking, "I can't think of one right now." Now, with respect to Iraq, he is yet again being accused of living in denial about the deteriorating situation there. It was like pulling teeth last week for the British journalist to get the president to state, "Things are bad in Iraq." Then the president laughed and asked, "Now, are you satisfied?"
With all the political world in an uproar over our stagnant policy in Iraq, it is only one man — G.W. Bush - who seems in denial about the "grave and deteriorating" situation in Iraq.
Some have tried to draw an analogy between G.W. Bush today and Winston Churchill in 1937; that is, of course, ridiculous as Churchill was out of power and was commenting on the appeasement of Hitler by the Chamberlain government. Bush is the one here who miscalculated the results of his invasion of Iraq — and systematically misled the American people as he went along.
Bush's state of denial is not confined to himself alone; it has infected the so-called conservatives, especially in talk radio and the Internet.
For example, after the KABC Rantel show, another KABC host, Larry Elder, took the tape and re-ran it on his nationally-syndicated show. He mocked Rantel and me, and our unhappiness with Bush and Karl Rove's despicable policy happily allowing millions of illegals to swarm into our country.
Did Mr. Elder ever call me and ask me to come on his show and defend myself? No!
Of course not. Because he is part of a (dwindling) group of phony, fake conservatives who have radio shows around this country. They are frauds; they are not conservatives at all. They use conservatism as a base from which to write books (or have them written for them as these guys couldn't write a coherent sentence if they had to) and to jack up their already-astronomical speaking fees.
These so-called conservatives have aided and abetted this policy of allowing 15-30 million illegals into our country. And they have "enabled" a war in Iraq that is a total disaster for our country, our soldiers, and our military.
These so-called conservatives have also misled their loyal audiences about this administration. However, when they listened to their own listeners, on Dubai Ports World, for example, these hosts were able to reverse the White House's idiotic policy of having an Arab government run our ports. But on too many issues they chose to drink the Kool Aid, to ensure their own access to power, such as an Oval Office invitation and picture suitable for a book jacket promotion — or a radio interview.
These so-called conservatives have sold out their own listeners and the conservative movement. They have enabled the very big government expansion they should have decried. What a shame that the self-delusion and denial that characterize GW Bush has now spread to so many radio hosts; their listeners deserve better. Editor's note:
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