I tend not to dwell on the Oedipal complexities of the president’s relationship with his father — Maureen Dowd seems to have the beat pretty well covered — but the NYT had a noteworthy piece today on the complex family dynamic.

As to what is said in private conversations between father and son, no one can be certain. When phone calls come in from Houston or Kennebunkport, White House aides make themselves scarce. But [former White House Chief of Staff Andy] Card says it is clear to him that family talks were not always confined to family matters.

“It was relatively easy for me to read the sitting president’s body language after he had talked to his mother or father,” Mr. Card said. “Sometimes he’d ask me a probing question. And I’d think, Hmm, I don’t think that question came from him.”

Ouch. This certainly makes it sound as if Card believed intelligent inquiries from Bush were so unusual, he assumed the president didn’t think of them on his own.