Bullypulpit
Senior Member
Have you ever wondered why a battered woman continues to return to the man who beat her the day before? Ever wonder why a child gushes about the father who abandoned them years before?
It is a psychological phenomena called <i><a href=http://www.freep.com/voices/columnists/eflana1_20041001.htm>trauma-bonding</a></i>. This results in the attraction to the perpetrator of the abuse...particularly when the victim feels he or she cannot escape the abuse or the threat to their security. And when one's world is shaken to its very roots, who better to turn to than an apperently strong, tough-talking leader who seems to have been in charge all along? The morality and/or competence of this leader become less important than their percieved ability to protect one from future events. It is this percieved ablility that leads otherwise intelligent people to continue to cling to such a leader beyond all reason.
George W. Bush is such a leader. Despite his rhetoric about making the "homeland" safer, his actions have had quite the opposite effect. His apparent concern for those who are most vulnerable to further attacks evaporates when they have served his political ends. Like all abusers, he has no one's interests at heart but his own, and will leave us bleeding on the ground when we have served his purposes.
It is a psychological phenomena called <i><a href=http://www.freep.com/voices/columnists/eflana1_20041001.htm>trauma-bonding</a></i>. This results in the attraction to the perpetrator of the abuse...particularly when the victim feels he or she cannot escape the abuse or the threat to their security. And when one's world is shaken to its very roots, who better to turn to than an apperently strong, tough-talking leader who seems to have been in charge all along? The morality and/or competence of this leader become less important than their percieved ability to protect one from future events. It is this percieved ablility that leads otherwise intelligent people to continue to cling to such a leader beyond all reason.
George W. Bush is such a leader. Despite his rhetoric about making the "homeland" safer, his actions have had quite the opposite effect. His apparent concern for those who are most vulnerable to further attacks evaporates when they have served his political ends. Like all abusers, he has no one's interests at heart but his own, and will leave us bleeding on the ground when we have served his purposes.