Received Wisdom
I've come to think that Bush Jr. actually believes 99% of the words that come out of his mouth. We have to remember that his brand of religion is based on the concept of received wisdom. You do not question the word of God (as it's interpreted by Falwell, Robertson, or someone similar). There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. This is part and parcel of the absolutist, black and white philosophy of the neocons. Good is good, and anything that is not good is bad. (That's how you can so easily blur Saddam and Osama.) If your whole world view is built upon this oversimplified foundation, you are never going to question the premises of an argument.
I'm no presidential historian, but as far as I can tell Bush is the least intellectually equipped president at least since Harding, and he is especially ignorant about foreign affairs. He has to rely on his "advisors" (that is, his handlers) for background information on nearly everything. He is never going to question that information. He does not have the tools to do so.
So when Rumsfeld and Cheney and Wolfowitz tell him that Saddam was involved in 9/11, or that the post-"Iraqi Freedom" world is now a safer place, or that two trailers in the desert are our proof of WMD, he can't understand how anyone could question him. This is the truth, dammit! Anyone who questions him is questioning the foundations of his reality, and therefore must be either willfully ignorant, mentally deranged, or purposefully deceitful. In short, we are heretics.
I've heard that in order to sell a lie, you must believe your lie. You must live your lie. The neocon ringleaders found their perfect puppet in Bush. He doesn't even know that he is lying. He wouldn't know how to question his received wisdom.
Note: I have corrected this post. I initially mistyped Hoover instead of Harding. Well, I did disclaim that "I'm no presidential historian," not that that's an excuse. I guess this is one of the dangers inherrent in blogging. Your readers and your proofreaders are the same people. Rob and Jack corrected me in the comments. Thanks for your vigilance, guys.
7:31:49 AM 
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