Columbia historian Alan Brinkley today reviews Jacob Weisberg's The Bush
Tragedy, which purports to offer a psychological analysis of
the liberals' favorite bête noir president.
In his opening paragraph Brinkley lets readers know that
Weisberg analysis "is not as original or startling as he sometimes
claims," that "his explanations of Bush's behavior are highly
speculative," and that Weisberg "relies too much on...overworked
clichés."
Nevertheless, Brinkley concludes, Weisberg's book is
"intelligent and illuminating" and a "mostly peruasive" look at the
"man whom many observers have already called the most disastrous
president in our history."
In other words, pop psychology is great if in the service of
correct politics.
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