Mistakes, mistakes

One last thought on that “three mistakes” question that Bush ducked.

This is a really basic, standard-issue job interview question that every job-hunting college graduate learns to deal with. (It’s a variant of the “Tell me about your weaknesses” line of inquiry.) You know the interviewers want to hear something about how you deal with failure or criticism or learning from error. You need to show them that you are a little self-reflective. You’re obviously not going to reveal something that’s so damaging it disqualifies you from the job, and no one expects you to. But the very nature of the question is a test of tact and self-awareness.

The one thing you know never to do is what Bush did tonight: You don’t rattle off a list of your successes when you’re asked about your mistakes. You don’t say, “Let’s not talk about where I was wrong — here’s where I was right.” Say that and you flunk the test.

I was honestly surprised Bush was so obviously unprepared for the question. (As my colleague Geraldine Sealey points out over in Salon’s War Room, the president was asked a similar question at an April press conference, so he’s had some time to think it through.)

Then I thought about it and realized, gee, George W. Bush is a man who never in his life had to prepare for a real job interview — one that actually would determine whether he could pay his bills. Maybe he had interviews, but you’ve got to figure the family name and the pedigree opened the door and sealed the deal. The interview would always have been a formality. Fortunately, this debate was more than that.

Josh Marshall’s commentary on this matter is also illuminating:
“In the Bush world you never admit mistakes. The only mistakes the president can think of are the times he appointed people who admitted mistakes — who put reality above loyalty to the president.”