The following is abridged from a very interesting article in the Sunday, January 18, 2009 Chicago Tribune written by Alan G. Artner:

"Character is destiny," wrote the ancient philosopher Heraclitus, and in the 19th Century writers found so much in the idea that George Eliot and Thomas Hardy created novels around it. More recently, it also appeared at the center of movies: Robert Rossen's 1961 film about a pool shark, "The Hustler," and its sequel, Martin Scorsese's 1986 "The Color of Money."

Now, on the eve of a new administration in Washington, it's here again, in a picture of George W. Bush. The image above comes from "The Late Show with David Letterman." It was shot during a commercial break on Oct. 19, 2000. Americans hadn't seen a lot of the governor of Texas back then. His opponent, Vice President Al Gore, was much more familiar. Bush appeared on "The Late Show" when he was calling himself a "compassionate conservative" and saying America needed to be humble. This was the manner that convinced people he'd be great to have a beer with. His segment on the show gave neither inspiration nor offense. Even the down-home mien, so different from his father's, was unmemorable.

It was the next night that made a difference. Letterman said he often was questioned about what happened onstage during breaks. He'd now show us in a clip from the evening before. People normally off-screen entered the picture. Men had gathered around the seated Bush. Women approached Letterman's desk. The program's executive producer Maria Pope stood closest to Bush but did not speak to him.

Nor did he appear to speak to anyone. He looked around, taking in the movement, then reached for his eyeglasses. They apparently needed cleaning, so, unnoticed by Pope, who was engaged with Letterman, Bush used her pashmina shawl - soft, don't you know? - to wipe them. He was not hesitant. Neither was he stealthy. The clip, slowed down and magnified, shows him at work in full view.

This was not a failure of ideology or policy. It went beyond liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican. The times Letterman reran the clip - once as late as last week - always it spoke for itself. Had a child cleaned any part of himself on a stranger, you'd blame the parents. But at age 54 it was more than not having been taught manners. It was a sign of arrogance, entitlement, force and disrespect - all failures of character.

Oliver Stone's "W." is in the old tradition of films about American presidents. Like movies about Jackson, Lincoln, Wilson and Roosevelt, it wants us to feel sorry for Bush's suffering. It certainly shows him feeling sorry for himself. Now that the real as opposed to filmic Bush has acknowledged "mistakes," some hearts will doubtless be melted. But before they are, look again at the image from 2000. Character is destiny.