Pas si “moron” que ça?

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Pas si “moron” que ça?

1er décembre 2002 — On connaît la polémique autour de l'indiscrétion de la Canadienne Françoise Ducros, au sommet de Prague, concernant la qualification de GW, de “moron”, qui est un qualificatif très pessimiste quant à ses capacités intellectuelles. Un article récent (28 novembre) du Toronto Star apporte quelques éléments nouveaux sur ce débat concernant la personnalité de GW, qui nuancent notablement l'appréciation qu'on peut avoir de lui. Il s'agit d'appréciations d'un professeur de culture et de communication de l'University de New York, Mark Crispin Miller.

Diverses sources que nous avons consultées tendent également à nuancer l'appréciation abrupte qu'on pourrait avoir de GW. En voici deux, notamment, que nbous proposons en complément du texte de Miller.

• Une source diplomatique européenne rapporte que l'appréciation de Kofi Annan, qui a rencontré GW à plusieurs reprises, est celle d'un politicien extrêmement habile, aisément passé du niveau local au niveau national et international, et qui sait bien jouer pour son compte des pressions des durs (les neo-conservatives). Cela lui permet, à la fois, de justifier certaines politiques extrémistes ou bien, éventuellement, de paraître modéré par rapport à ces groupes de pression, lorsqu'il repousse cette pression. Annan se demande si le problème n'est pas de voir à partir de quel moment GW ne risque pas d'être conduit au-delà d'où il veut aller par ses durs.

• Une source diplomatique d'origine française rapporte certaines attitudes très nettes d'autorité. « Quand on le voit avec Powell, on sait tout de suite qui est le patron », dit cette source. Elle rapporte d'autre part l'attitude de GW lorsqu'un de ses vis-à-vis le met en garde contre la guerre en Irak, — ce qui fut le cas, lors de rencontres parallèles au sommet de l'OTAN à Prague, de la part de Chirac mais aussi de la part de Berlusconi : « Quand on lui parle de cela, il se ferme complètement. »

Ces diverses appréciations nuancent la perception qu'on peut avoir de la personnalité de GW. Plus encore, le détail des réflexions de Mark Crispin Miller nous convaincra, effectivement, que le président américain a une personnalité complexe. Voici le texte du Toronto Star , de Murray Whyte:

«Bush Anything But Moronics»

» When Mark Crispin Miller first set out to write “Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder”, about the ever-growing catalogue of President George W. Bush's verbal gaffes, he meant it for a laugh. But what he came to realize wasn't entirely amusing.

» Since the 2000 presidential campaign, Miller has been compiling his own collection of Bush-isms, which have revealed, he says, a disquieting truth about what lurks behind the cock-eyed leer of the leader of the free world. He's not a moron at all — on that point, Miller and Prime Minister Jean Chrétien agree.

» But according to Miller, he's no friend.

» ''I did initially intend it to be a funny book. But that was before I had a chance to read through all the transcripts,'' Miller, an American author and a professor of culture and communication at New York University, said recently in Toronto.

» ''Bush is not an imbecile. He's not a puppet. I think that Bush is a sociopathic personality. I think he's incapable of empathy. He has an inordinate sense of his own entitlement, and he's a very skilled manipulator. And in all the snickering about his alleged idiocy, this is what a lot of people miss.''

» Miller's judgment, that the president might suffer from a bona fide personality disorder, almost makes one long for the less menacing notion currently making the rounds: that the White House's current occupant is, in fact, simply an idiot.

» If only. Miller's rendering of the president is bleaker than that. In studying Bush's various adventures in oration, he started to see a pattern emerging.

» ''He has no trouble speaking off the cuff when he's speaking punitively, when he's talking about violence, when he's talking about revenge. When he struts and thumps his chest, his syntax and grammar are fine,'' Miller said. ''It's only when he leaps into the wild blue yonder of compassion, or idealism, or altruism, that he makes these hilarious mistakes.''

» While Miller's book has been praised for its ''eloquence'' and ''playful use of language,'' it has enraged Bush supporters.

» Bush's ascent in the eyes of many Americans — his approval rating hovers at near 80 percent — was the direct result of tough talk following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. In those speeches, Bush stumbled not at all; his language of retribution was clear.

» It was a sharp contrast to the pre-9/11 George W. Bush. Even before the Supreme Court in 2001 had to intervene and rule on recounts in Florida after a contentious presidential election, a corps of journalists were salivating at the prospect: a bafflingly inarticulate man in a position of power not seen since vice-president Dan Quayle rode shotgun on George H.W. Bush's one term in office. But equating Bush's malapropisms with Quayle's inability to spell ''potato'' is a dangerous assumption, Miller says.

» At a public address in Nashville, Tenn., in September, Bush provided one of his most memorable stumbles. Trying to give strength to his case that Saddam Hussein had already deceived the West concerning his store of weapons, Bush was scripted to offer an old saying: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. What came out was the following: ''Fool me once, shame ... shame on ... you.'' Long, uncomfortable pause. ''Fool me — can't get fooled again!''

» Played for laughs everywhere, Miller saw a darkness underlying the gaffe. ''There's an episode of Happy Days, where The Fonz has to say, `I'm sorry' and can't do it. Same thing,'' Miller said.

» ''What's revealing about this is that Bush could not say, `Shame on me' to save his life. That's a completely alien idea to him. This is a guy who is absolutely proud of his own inflexibility and rectitude.''

» If what Miller says is true — and it would take more than just observations to prove it — then Bush has achieved an astounding goal. By stumbling blithely along, he has been able to push his image as ''just folks'' — a normal guy who screws up just like the rest of us.

» This, in fact, is a central cog in his image-making machine, Miller says: Portraying the wealthy scion of one of America's most powerful families as a regular, imperfect Joe. But the depiction, Miller says, is also remarkable for what it hides — imperfect, yes, but also detached, wealthy and unable to identify with the ''folks'' he's been designed to appeal to.

» An example, Miller says, surfaced early in his presidential tenure. ''I know how hard it is to put food on your family,'' Bush was quoted as saying. ''That wasn't because he's so stupid that he doesn't know how to say, `Put food on your family's table' — it's because he doesn't care about people who can't put food on the table,'' Miller says.

» So, when Bush is envisioning ''a foreign-handed foreign policy,'' or observes on some point that ''it's not the way that America is all about,'' Miller contends it's because he can't keep his focus on things that mean nothing to him. ''When he tries to talk about what this country stands for, or about democracy, he can't do it,'' he said.

» This, then, is why he's so closely watched by his handlers, Miller says — not because he'll say something stupid, but because he'll overindulge in the language of violence and punishment at which he excels. ''He's a very angry guy, a hostile guy. He's much like Nixon. So they're very, very careful to choreograph every move he makes. They don't want him anywhere near protestors, because he would lose his temper.''

» Miller, without question, is a man with a mission — and laughter isn't it. ''I call him the feel bad president, because he's all about punishment and death,'' he said. ''It would be a grave mistake to just play him for laughs.'' »

Copyright 1996-2002. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited

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