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Twitching in the Wind


WaPo reports that President Bush's body language is increasingly (uncontrollably?) nervous:  


But this much could be seen watching the tape of NBC's broadcast during Bush's 14-minute pre-sunrise interview, in which he stood unprotected by the usual lectern. The president was a blur of blinks, taps, jiggles, pivots and shifts. Bush has always been an active man, but standing with Lauer and the serene, steady first lady, he had the body language of a man wishing urgently to be elsewhere.


The fidgeting clearly corresponded to the questioning. When Lauer asked if Bush, after a slow response to Katrina, was "trying to get a second chance to make a good first impression," Bush blinked 24 times in his answer. When asked why Gulf Coast residents would have to pay back funds but Iraqis would not, Bush blinked 23 times and hitched his trousers up by the belt.


When the questioning turned to Miers, Bush blinked 37 times in a single answer -- along with a lick of the lips, three weight shifts and some serious foot jiggling. Laura Bush, by contrast, delivered only three blinks and stood still through her entire answer about encouraging volunteerism.


Does he suspect that he is losing the Mandate of Heaven?


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Body language is as telling as words, maybe more telling, as to what is really going on with somebody. Bush is clearly struggling now that he knows folks are angry and distrustful of him. Knowing that he has also lost some of that loyal base, has obviously impacted his fragile psychy.


If the WH doesn't step back in and really 'handle' him, he is going to reveal these kinds of behaviors even more in the future. My bet is, we won't see him in any 'nonscripted' events for awhile. The WAPO just told the WH, 'your boy is in trouble and the whole world is watching'.


So much for 'arrogant swagger'.

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Thomas

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