Hearing from Bush's Unconscious

When we see our own repressed, disowned traits in other people, we may react irrationally to them, become unduly annoyed, or blow things out of proportion.

President Bush does more projection than any politician in recent memory. I've taken to listening to his speeches for clues to what his unconscious thinks about what's going on.

It's even more illuminating to hear him speaking live, when he's not speaking through his very gifted speechwriters, and on his own without the language coaching of Karl Rove.

Yesterday, March 21, 2006, during a press conference with the White House press corps, Bush's unconscious mind spoke volumes through his projections.

Bush speaking live: Iran is dangerous because "they're walking away from international accords."

What I hear: His unconscious is aware of the President walking away from the Kyoto treaty, from the Geneva Conventions in dealing with prisoners, and from international law in pursuing a policy of pre-emptive war in invading Iraq.

Bush speaking live: "We realized on September the 11th, 2001, that killers can destroy innocent life..."

What I hear: His unconscious is aware of the number of innocent civilians who have died in the war in Iraq.

Bush speaking live: In response to a question about changing his staff, "We've been a remarkably stable administration, and I think that's good for the country."

What I hear: His unconscious is aware that the rest of the world has been remarkably stable, most notably North Korea and Iran, and that's good considering the U.S. has been so involved in Iraq and in recovery from natural disasters.

Bush speaking live: "A democracy in Iraq is going to affect the neighborhood. A democracy in Iraq is going to inspire reformers in a part of the world that is desperate for reformation."

What I hear: His unconscious is aware that during the Clinton years, some in the country felt anxiety and resentment about Clinton's private life. From that sprang Bush's presidency, which represents a totalitarian movement within the U.S. that is willing to spread fundamentalist Christian propaganda through death and destruction in Iraq and elsewhere.

Bush speaking live: "Our foreign policy up til now was to tolerate what appeared to be calm and underneath the surface was this swelling sense of anxiety and resentment out of which came this totalitarian movement that is willing to spread its propaganda through death and destruction to spread its philosophy."

What I hear: His unconscious is aware that reformers in the U.S. are desperate for reforming the government so that it can and will respond in a timely manner to domestic catastrophes such as Hurricane Katrina.

Bush speaking live: The insurgents "want to turn Iraq into a safe haven from which they can launch attacks."

What I hear: His unconscious is aware that he wants to turn Iraq into a safe haven from which the U.S. can launch attacks on other governments in the Middle East, by making it into a democracy sympathetic to U.S. interests.

Bush speaking live: On Congress: "There's a huge appetite for spending here. ... I'm not satisfied with the rise of discretionary spending."

What I hear: His unconscious is aware that he's got a huge appetite for spending on war and isn't happy about it.

Bush speaking live: "History has shown that democracies don't war."

What I hear: His unconscious is aware that since he has started two wars since taking office, he is not the leader of a democracy. That is, that he isn't listening to the people and doing their will, but acting in an authoritarian way that's foreign to the ideals of democracy.

Bush speaking live: "Imagine an enemy that says, We will kill innocent people because we're trying to encourage people to be free."

What I hear: His unconscious is aware that he's responsible for killing innocent people in the invasion of and war in Iraq.

Bush speaking live: "There are people willing to kill innocent life to stop [democracy]. To me that ought to be a warning to people around the world that the enemy we face is an enemy that ascribes to a vision that is dark and one that doesn't agree with the universal rights of men and women."

What I hear: His unconscious is aware that he's willing to kill people. It's aware that the people of the world should be warned that Bush has a dark vision that doesn't grant rights to men who want to marry each other, to women who want to marry each other, to prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, and to women wanting an abortion.

Bush speaking live: The Taliban "rule by intimidation and fear, by death and destruction."

What I hear: His unconscious is aware that he, Vice President Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and other members of his administration rule by intimidation and fear, and by causing death and destruction. As NPR senior news analyst Daniel Schorr said after the Dubai Ports World deal became an issue, this administration's own fear tactics came back to haunt it.

Bush speaking live: On rulers in the Middle East: "I see them bound by a philosophy with plans and tactics to impose their will on other countries."

What I hear: His unconscious is aware that he wants to spread American-style democracy throughout the Middle East even if it's not wanted.

Bush speaking live: The objective of the insurgents "for driving us out of Iraq is to have a place from which to launch their campaign to overthrow moderate governments in the Middle East..."

What I hear: His unconscious is aware that his plan to spread democracy in the Middle East is a campaign designed to overthrow moderate governments.

Bush speaking live: The Iraqi people "expect there to be a democracy in place that will listen to their demands ... and that's important for them to get confident not only in the government but in the security force that will provide them security."

What I hear: His unconscious is aware that the American people expect him to listen to them, and that they need confidence not only in his government but in the ability of the U.S. military to respond to natural disasters and other domestic situations.

Bush speaking live: "When we got into Iraq, we felt like we needed to train a security force that was capable for defending the country from an outside threat, and then ... we had to make sure that the Iraqi forces were able to deal with the internal threat."

What I hear: His unconscious is aware that the U.S. military is currently overburdened with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and consequently unable to respond in a meaningful way to natural disasters such as hurricanes and to terrorist attacks on the U.S. at home.

Bush speaking live: "For people [like the Taliban] to say, The natural rights only exist for one group of people, I would say that they're denying the basic rights to others."

What I hear: His unconscious is aware that that his administration doesn't want to grant rights to men who want to marry each other, to women who want to marry each other, to prisoners at Guantanamo Bay who want legal representation, and to women wanting an abortion.

Bush speaking live: "The goal of this country ought to be to end tyranny in the 21st Century."

What I hear: His unconscious is aware that the country should end his overreach of executive powers.