My guess would be both. His life is riddled with failure, yet he remains cock’sure. Makes no sense! Someone (probably his mother?) must have given him positive reinforcement on every fuckup he’s ever committed. Kinda like petting your dog’s head and saying “good boy!” whenever you catch him peeing on the living room carpet.

It’s my belief that Bush has never been allowed to fully grow into a mature adult.

With Congress away, Bush reasserts independence

Independent stance could be short-lived

WASHINGTON: Immediately after the beating his party took in November, President George W. Bush indicated he had received a message that voters wanted change and he would serve some up fast: He ousted his defense secretary, announced a full’scale review of his war plan and contritely agreed with critics that progress in Iraq was not happening “well enough, fast enough.”

But in the past two weeks critics and even some allies say they have seen a reversal. He has shrugged off suggestions by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group that he enlist the help of Iran and Syria in the effort to stabilize Iraq. He has countered suggestions that he begin thinking of bringing troops home with public deliberations over whether to send more. And he has adjusted his view of the message voters sent in November away from Iraq, saying on Wednesday: “I thought the election said they want to see more bipartisan cooperation.”

In many ways, it is the president being the president he has always been - while he still can.

With Congress out of session, Bush sought to reassert his relevance and show yet again that he could chart his own course against all prevailing winds, whether they are coming in the form of bad-news election returns, record-low polls or the public prescriptions of Washington wise men.
…

“I’m growing more disturbed every night by how isolated George W. Bush has become,” Joe Scarborough, the former Republican congressman, said on his MSNBC program last week. “Shouldn’t more Americans be disturbed at this unprecedented example of a White House that’s in - and you can only call it this - a bunker mentality?” The screen below him read: “Bush: Determined or Delusional?”

Source: Jim Rutenberg, International Herald Tribune