The Bush Personality Cult -

The Bush Personality Cult - Eugene Volokh on Paul Krugman's descent into madness:

Cult of personality? Whose personality? Bush's? Oh, yes, outside my office window I see the sign on the street corner -- "Long live Bush, hero of all times and nations!" Highways, schools, cities all over the country are being renamed after George W. Bush. There is talk of the month of May being renamed Bushember.

I'd like to ask KrugmanDowdFriedmanRichIvins - is the president as stupid as you say, or is he as devious and all-controlling as you also say? Which is it? Because it seems like a stretch to think that someone with the mojo to build a cult of personality in two years is also a drooling idiot.

Get back to me on this.

This is a President whose personality is, if anything, mocked by the media and a substantial sector of the public rather than glorified; and while the Administration naturally treats its leader politely, it isn't trying to create anything remotely like a cult of personality, nor could it succeed in any such attempt. And while Bush's stature has rightly risen since Sept. 11, 2001, he is probably a somewhat less commanding and prominent presence in his Administration than Clinton, George H.W. Bush, or Reagan were in theirs (not necessarily a problem for him, but a big problem for the cult of personality thesis).

Read the article.

(Via Instapundit)

Posted by Mitch at January 12, 2003 10:04 AM