What Graphology Reveals About Donald Rumsfeld

There are many people who believe that one's character can be assessed through one's signature. Graphology is the "science" of divining a person's character through his or her handwriting. I came across this article on handwriting analysis where it was written:

As handwriting comes from the unconscious, it contains a great deal of information which can be useful for interpreting ones character. Any time we write, we are under the influence of emotions that dictate our mood at the time of writing. The brain transmits its instruction via the motor nervous system for the hand to carry out. This expression is a mixture of conscious thought and unconscious automatic responses learnt as part of the stimulation.

Each individual’s handwriting is unique to them and so can reveal a lot about their nature and behavioural characteristics, such as aggression and manner.

So what are we to make of Donald Rumsfeld character when he signs letters of condolence to family members who have lost loved ones in combat with a machine? As was reported today:

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has decided to personally sign condolence letters to the family members of U.S. troops killed in action rather than letting a machine affix his signature.

Republican and Democratic members of Congress criticized the Pentagon chief Sunday for not signing all along.

''My goodness, that's the least that we could expect of the secretary of defense, is having some personal attention paid by him,'' said Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), noting that President Bush signs such letters himself

But this President and this Administration has always wanted a "clean" conflict. None of this personal touch that might bring attention to the horrible personal cost of this war.

Of course, this year Bush honored the veterans at Arlington this year as "These are the hidden heroes of a peaceful nation."

Keeping a proper distance from these heroes, whether it be by mechanically signing letters of condolence or preventing photographs of returning caskets is part of the effort by this Administration to manage public opinion by preventing the casual observer from realizing the true impact of this war.

As was reported on PBS:

But on the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March of last year, the Bush administration reinstalled a ban on pictures of the arrival of war coffins and expanded it to include all U.S. bases. No more pictures like these of arriving coffins. Some Americans say the ban allows the administration to hide the body count of the Iraq war. Others, like Kirk Morris of Gurnee, Illinois, say the blackout prevents a media circus at a very tragic and private moment for the families.

The report/interview explains further:

Officials say the photo ban is in deference to the privacy and the sensitivity of the families of the fallen. And, that President Bush believes we should honor and show respect for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. So when these pictures, almost 300, appeared on the Internet in April, the private Defense Department contractor who took them was fired and the debate about the policy rekindled.

And what does this have to do with John Kerry? Is this just more 'Bush-bashing'?

This has everything to do with Kerry. On April 22, 1971, John Kerry came forward to the U.S. Congress and testified about the Vietnam War and revealed some of the horrors of war to Congress and to America. He stated:

We could come back to this country; we could be quiet; we could hold our silence; we could not tell what went on in Vietnam, but we feel because of what threatens this country, the fact that the crimes threaten it, not reds, and not redcoats but the crimes which we are committing that threaten it, that we have to speak out.

John Kerry had the courage to speak out and tell America what was going on in Vietnam. This Administration could learn much from Kerry. They choose to suppress that information, to distance themselves from the worst of tragedies, reducing letters of condolence to mere machine signatures. Shame on them.

John Kerry was lambasted by the Conservative talking heads about what he did that day in Washington. But it is courage to be honest to America. Cowards hide behind censorship and mechanical penmanship.

Bob