Has Bush Lost His Reason? -- The Guardian

[IrateCitizen]

Has Bush lost his reason?

The President's apparent mental fragility should give US voters pause for thought at the ballot box

Andrew Stephen
Sunday October 17, 2004
The Observer

It will, we are confidently told, be the most important American election for generations. In the words last week of Dick Cheney, the voice of what passes for gravitas in the Bush Administration, Americans will have to make 'about as serious a decision as anybody is ever asked to make' when they go to the polls in 17 days' time.
The prophets of doom, whom Cheney exemplifies, are precisely right about the importance of this election. But the momentous decision awaiting Americans is not whether they return to power a President who is uniquely qualified to protect the US against terrorism, as Cheney et al would have us believe. It is whether they re-elect a man who, it is now clear, has become palpably unstable.

The evidence has been before our eyes for some time, but only during the course of this election campaign has it crystallised - just in time, possibly, for the 2 November election. The 43rd US President has always had a much-publicised knack for mangled syntax, but now George Bush often searches an agonisingly long time, sometimes in vain, for the right words. His mind simply blanks out at crucial times. He is prone, I am told, to foul-mouthed temper tantrums in the White House. His handlers now rarely allow him to speak an unscripted word in public.

Indeed, there are now several confusing faces to the US President, and we saw three of them in the live, televised Presidential debates with John Kerry that culminated last Wednesday night in Tempe, Arizona. In the first debate on 30 September, watched by more than 62 million viewers, we saw Bush at his most unattractive: slouching, peevish, pouting, pursing his lips with disdain at what his opponent was saying. But he was unable to marshal any coherent arguments against Kerry and merely spewed out prepared talking points - in what, even his ardent supporters concede, was Bush's worst-ever such performance.

READ THE REST OF THIS DAMNING ARTICLE HERE: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,1329254,00.html

[JuniorPlankton]

1. Has he EVER had it?

[The Zanti Regent]

8. No

...well MAYBE when he was snorting cocaine...

[eldepeche]

10. He sure seemed like it

Side-by-side comparison of 1994 gubernatorial debate and 2004 presidential debate.

[newyawker99]

12. Hi eldepeche!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[buckettgirl]

13. F9/11

When we saw Farenheit 9/11 last weekend, I had to hit rewind to hear bush again.
There was a video clip of him talking about something (I don't recall exactly) but I think it was dated around '92 or so... and I thought that he spoke normal, like a normal everyday person without any problems. I had to rewind it to hear it again and make sure that was really Bush.
I had read other reports that said Bush appeared to be suffering from the effects of an alcoholic who stopped drinking but never sought treatment. These articles noted that over time, cogitive functions and speech patterns deteriorate over time.
When I saw that video clip on F9/11, I thought "my god, those articles must be right!"
One thing I could never figure out though, was if the Republican party wanted ultimate power and to blindside Americans into believing they were right: Why couldn't they have chosen a person who had the charisma and speaking ability to sell it? Ya know, to really snow over ALL Americans?
When Bush was first nominated by his party, I thought "who would vote for him, he can't even talk right!"

[DBoon]

14. Yes

Quote here:

These authors assessed 116 sober chronic alcoholic (SC) males (aged 21-60 years), 50 acutely intoxicated male nonalcoholics (INs) (mean age 25.9 years), and 58 sober nonalcoholics (SNs) (average age 32.4 years) along the psychological dimensions of anxiety, hostility. social alienation-personal disorganization, separation, guilt, diffuse anxiety and inward hostility by means of the content analysis of speech. Average cognitive impairment scores were found to be significantly greater among INs than SCs and significantly greater in SCs than in Sns. SCs also had a significantly higher score than SNs on depression, social alienation-personal disorganization, separation, guilt, diffuse anxiety, and inward hostility. These results indicate that the general mental health, including cognitive function, of SCs was clearly impaired when compared to SNs.

From:

Gottschalk, L.A., Eckardt, M.J., Pautler, C.P., Wolf, R.J., Terman, S.A.. Cognitive impairment scales derived from verbal samples. Comprehensive Psychiatry. 24: 6-19, 1983.

[AlinPA]

2. This article is a perfect description of Bush*. Andrew Stephen

can really tell it like it is. A great read. Scary if the idiot wins.

[wurzel]

3. "Foulmouthed temper tantrums? That's a new one.

Perhaps a little of Cheney is rubbing off?

[IrateCitizen]

4. That's a new PUBLIC one. But I can totally see the petulant prince...

... flying off the handle at anyone who didn't tell him what he wants to hear.

I mean, what should they expect? He's under a lot of stress. Playing Prezdent is hard work, after all.

[wurzel]

6. But it shows we have no clue who Bush really is.

I have to say I have never thought of him as "foulmouthed".

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. There have been reports

maybe not a regular thing; but:
"You fucking son of a bitch. I saw what you wrote. We’re not going to forget this."

- Bush to then Wall Street Journal Washington bureau chief Al Hunt in a Dallas restaurant in front of other diners, including Hunt’s wife, Judy Woodruff, and 4-year-old son, 1986

"In the summer of 1999, Carlson wrote a piece for Talk magazine on then-Governor Bush that wasn't taken very well by his staff, because Carlson noted that Bush used profanity, something that apparently isn't appreciated by voters. Bush's campaign deputy finance chairman, Jack Oliver, called Carlson after the piece was published and screamed profanities. Carlson observed that the Bush team covered up any and all references to Bush using profanities, and many accused Carlson of lying, that Bush never says the ‘F-word,’ even though he does all the time, according to Carlson."

- Scott Spicciati, Editor, Aggressive Voice, Oct. 18, 2003

"In interviews with a number of White House staffers who were willing to talk off the record, a picture of an administration under siege has emerged, led by who declares his decisions to be ‘God’s will’ and then tells aides to ‘fuck over’ anyone they consider to be an opponent of the administration…. who says he rules at the behest of God can also tongue-lash those he perceives as disloyal, calling them ‘fucking assholes’ in front of other staff, berating one cabinet official in front of others."

- Doug Thompson and Teresa Hampton, Capitol Hill Blue, June 4, 2004

http://www.moderateindependent.com/v2i19thoreau.htm

and the ever popular "Fuck Saddam, we're taking him out" March 2002, according to Time Magazine

[MatrixEscape]

5. How can you lose ...

something you never had? Scratching my head ... trying to remember when Bush had "reason" to lose????

[pen dragon]

9. Anyone can see Bush is a nasty, vindictive little troll

foulmouthed behind the scenes is a no brainer

[Gin]

11. The three faces of Eve...I mean George......Maybe he has multiple

personalities. We should start naming them.

[Technowitch]

16. How about "Dopey", "Furious", and "Smirky"?

[Technowitch]

15. I actually do think Shrub's cheese has slipped off its cracker