Problem of malformation of the 'do it my way' button

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Which brings me to a psychosocial concept I call the "congenital malformation of the do-it-my-way button." People who have this physiological determinant may always resist what they are ordered to do, even refusing to accept suggestions that might be helpful, simply because they are someone else’s ideas.

The deformation of the button may not be a bad thing in and of itself; it may be fundamental to being human, related to the old psychology saw that the personality begins when the child says "no," and begins to differentiate himself or herself from the parents.

The malformed button also has many positive aspects. It may be the true basis for creativity — the student begins to come into his or her own upon finding ways to do things that are not precisely those of the teacher. I often found that when given a writing or a filming assignment, my first impulse was to say "no" to the concept as it had been presented to me. Then I’d kick it around in my brain for a while, until I could change its form and subject and emphasis enough to make it my own, and become able to say "yes" and be enthusiastic about its possibilities.

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The bum button was revealed in some historical research I’ve been doing recently, I now realize.

It’s the summer of 1973. Robert Bork has just been appointed as solicitor general of the United States and learns from his boss, Attorney General Elliot Richardson, that Vice President Spiro Agnew has been taking bribes and such, and is being investigated. Bork looks into the case and is soon convinced of Agnew’s guilt.

But the White House — meaning President Nixon, chief of staff Alexander Haig and counsel J. Fred Buzhardt — do not want Agnew indicted. Bork and Richardson go to the White House; on the way into the Oval Office, they stop in the men’s room, turn on the faucets — so they can’t be overheard — and agree that if Nixon will not permit Agnew to be indicted, they will resign.

Bork, a Constitutional scholar, has researched the issue that he believes is bothering Nixon. If a sitting vice president can be indicted and removed from office, can a president be far behind? Bork thinks not. The separation of powers doctrine in the Constitution provides only one remedy for an errant president, impeachment; and it has been interpreted as forbidding his indictment while in office.

Agnew has been arguing behind the scenes that the same provision covers him. But Bork believes that the vice-president’s role in the government is limited — aside from being ready to take over if the president dies or is incapacitated, he only has to preside over the Senate, a function not frequently called for. Therefore, Bork concludes, a vice president can be indicted because he is not essential to the day-to-day conduct of the government’s business, as the president is.

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Bork, Richardson, Haig and Buzhardt traipse into the Oval Office. The question really is, can Nixon’s congenitally malformed do-it-my-way button be over-ridden by logic and a sense of true justice?

Nixon puts his feet up on the desk, and Bork and Buzhardt have at it.

"We went over the law, the evidence and policy considerations," Bork later recalled, "and finally Nixon said, ‘I guess you’re right. You have to indict him.’"

Bork also remembered that Haig and Buzhardt almost fell off their chairs, because prior to the meeting Nixon had desired precisely the opposite: no indictment of Agnew.

So, at least on that issue, Nixon’s seriously malformed do-it-my-way button proved to be capable of being suppressed, or over-ridden, by a persuasive argument that let him off the hook ... for a while.

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On the other hand, the more recent evidence is that President George W. Bush’s malformed button is very deeply ingrained in his psyche. The main case in point is the "surge" in Iraq, the addition of extra troops in an attempt to effectively pacify the country, and what the tasks are for the newly augmented force. Leaving aside the question of whether or not the surge is having or will shortly have the desired effect, let me examine the decision to commence it.

The idea of the surge originated around the time that the Baker-Hamilton "wise men" report on what to do in Iraq was delivered to Congress, late in 2006. That report suggested staged troop withdrawals, not additional troops. Additionally, around that time Bush met in Amman, Jordan, with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. Maliki wanted American troops to withdraw to the perimeter of Baghdad and secure that, while Iraqi troops and police took care of the streets of Baghdad.

Bush rejected both formulations. Rather than try a phased withdrawal, he added troops. And instead of putting them on the fringes of the city, he sent them into the middle and relegated Iraqi troops to a supporting role.

If President Bush cannot bring himself now and then to agree to — rather than to automatically reject — legitimate, thoughtful suggestions made by others, the country’s road during the remainder of his term is going to be increasingly rocky.