What if Bush is completely, totally, utterly bat shit crazy

[bklyncowgirl]

Most of us have observed that George W. Bush does not seem to be operating in the same reality that the rest of the world is living in. Perhaps it's the combination of the usual White House Bubble combined with Bush's notoriously incurious personality, but what if the leader of the free world is, to put it bluntly, insane.

A few days before the election, Bush proclaimed that Don Rumsfeld would be Secretary of Defense as long as he was President. A day after the election, Bush icily accepted Rumsfeld's resignation. Most people took it as a welcome acknowledgment that Bush was finally waking up to reality in the face of electoral disaster. Now we learn that Rumsfeld had written a lengthy memo outlining why Bush's Iraq policy wasn't working a few days before the election.

Now this could have just been Rumsfeld, hearing that he was on the way out, writing this memo to protect what little remained of his reputation.

There is another explanation--a more troubling one. Did Rumsfeld do the one thing that in Bushworld will get you fired? Did Rumsfeld display disloyalty to the Commander in Chief by telling him the truth?

Frank Rich has an op-ed out in which he conjures up images of Bush talking, like Nixon, to the pictures on the White House walls. I think (and I'm no fan of armchair psychology--I haven't even read "Bush on the Couch") it's far worse. I think that the pictures are talking back to him and that the voices he's hearing are the ones that resonate in his mind--not those of the few people around him who have even some tenuous grasp on reality.

This is all scary stuff. The Constitution allows for the involuntary replacement of a President in case of physical or mental disability upon the recommendation of the Vice President and the Cabinet heads--a bloodless coup so to speak, but in this case the Vice President may even be crazier than the President.

The Constitution also allows for impeachment of a president for high crimes and misdemeanors. The impeachment process would be necessarily long, involving investigations and inter party fighting and in the end, once again, we get Cheney.

In the meantime the guy with his finger on the button appears to be a few fries short of a happy meal.

The framers of the Constitution were brilliant but somehow they failed to consider this set of circumstances.

[CGrantt57]

1. Excuse me, but...

What IF???

There's a question??

[Eurobabe]

2. There's no WHAT IF involved here...

the guy and his team of goons are certifiable. The American people need to exercise the clause in the Constitution that protects them from a leader who is mentally not fit to govern this country.

How long before we impeach Bush?

[malaise]

11. Bingo

There's no what if needed. Bush is a raving lunatic.
Sp.

[bklyncowgirl]

18. I think he IS crazy--now what can we do about it?

This is starting to sound like some sort of political novel.

[rzemanfl]

28. And Cheney will do that? n/t

[Eurobabe]

30. Notice I said GOONS, plural

we need to remove them both. ASAP.

[rzemanfl]

40. The Amendment doesn't work that way. Cheney has to concur

that Bush is incompetent.

[Dinger]

3. The Frank Rich Article Was Just Mentioned On Washington Journal!

I never read "bu$h on the couch," but I will now.

[PurpleChez]

12. Anybody have a link to this piece?

Is it current? Sounds great!

[n2doc]

21. here...

http://wealthyfrenchman.blogspot.com/

[annabanana]

4. If?

The framers of the constitution probably couldn't conceive of a system that would let a sociopath even get close. That people would get SO rich and SO lazy that they would stop paying attention altogether wasn't on their radar.

[pretzel4gore]

14. maybe the insane fukker's a good thing(?)

there's something hideous about a society that puts its kid's future into hands that shake and shiver and tremble for death.....
goddam right. go georgie

[drm604]

24. They also couldn't conceive of "the button"

or of a world where Presidential decisions (or lack of decisions) could have nearly instantaneous (by their standards) consequences on a large scale. We have an 18th century system in an era of rapid communication, rapid travel, and mass destruction.

[marmar]

5. I think he absolutely is nuts....

The meds are the only thing preventing him from having a breakdown. And as per his behavior at his news conferences, he's clearly on meds. Heaven help us if he ever goes off the meds and pushes that "emergency only" button in the White House.:scared:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

6. then we are in deep danger, and must beg forgiveness of the rest of the

world until we can inject sufficient spinal stem cells into the senate so this guy can be impeached.

[NOLADEM]

7. IF ??? Not if. IS. Our president is insane. Certifiable.

[trof]

8. 25th Amendment. Sec. 4: Involuntary withdrawal

Section four: Involuntary withdrawal

It is also possible for the Vice President, together with a majority of the heads of the executive departments (that is to say, members of Cabinet) or of such other body as Congress by law provides, to declare the President disabled. The provisions of section four have never been invoked. The President may resume his duties by a written declaration sent to the President pro tempore and the Speaker. If the Vice President and Cabinet, however, are still unsatisfied with the President's condition, they may within four days of the President's declaration submit another declaration that the President is incapacitated. Congress must decide within 21 days the issue; a two-thirds vote in each House is required to permit the Vice President to assume the Acting Presidency.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-fifth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution#Sections_three_and_four:_Presidential_disability

Needless to say, it'll never happen with this scummy bunch.

[bklyncowgirl]

13. It all comes down to the Vice President, who in this case is Dick Cheney

Unless everyone is reading the Bush/Cheney relationship wrong (and I sometimes wonder if we are) we'd be getting the puppetmaster instead of the puppet.

That bit about Congress being able to designate some group to declare the President incapacitated is intriguing however.

It is also possible for the Vice President, together with a majority of the heads of the executive departments (that is to say, members of Cabinet) or of such other body as Congress by law provides, to declare the President disabled.

Could Congress bypass the Vice President?

[drm604]

26. I don't think so.

I think the "other body" is an alternative to the Cabinet, not to the Cabinet and the Vice President. The Vice President is required either way.

Section 4 of the 25th amendment says:

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

I think the wording makes it pretty clear. "Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide..."

I don't see how it can be interpreted to allow the Congress to bypass the Vice President.

[bklyncowgirl]

35. You're probably right. So it all comes back to the one person who may be crazier than Bush. Great

[drm604]

39. I'm afraid so.

Sorry, not trying to burst any bubbles. I also wish there was any easy way out.

[thingfisher]

59. Cheney is just as crazy as Bush but

he's also a lot more crafty as well. How did we end up with these two in the one and two spots? (rhetorical question).

[GOPFighter]

9. If he wasn't bat-shit crazy in 2000....

...he certainly will be by the time his term is up in 2009. I think it will be painfully obvious in the first year after his Presidency just how crazy he is.

[Anthony Soprano]

10. Have you read "Bush On The Couch?" If not, it will answer your questions.

I'm still stunned that this came out before the 2004 elections and Junior still got a second term. On the other hand, it's not the kind of book that the average Mr. and Ms. Middle American voter would read, I guess...

...ANYWAY...it's incredibly distrurbing, but essential nonetheless.

:patriot:

http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/B00076F0M0.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_OU01_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President (Hardcover)
by Justin A. Frank

http://www.amazon.com/Bush-Couch-Inside-Mind-President/dp/B00076F0M0/sr=8-1/qid=1165154648/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-1078285-1283235?ie=UTF8&s=books

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Bush Administration policies are not only a "great catastrophe" but the products of a disturbed mind, according to this provocative blend of psychological case-study and partisan polemic. Psychoanalyst Frank sifts through family memoirs, the writings of critics like Al Franken and David Corn and the public record of Bush’s personal idiosyncrasies for clues to the President’s character, interpreting the evidence in the rigidly Freudian framework of child psychoanalyst Melanie Klein. He finds that Bush, psychically scarred by an absentee father and a cold, authoritarian mother, has developed a galloping case of megalomania, characterized by a Manichaean worldview, delusions of persecution and omnipotence and an "anal/sadistic" indifference to others’ pain, with removal from office the only "treatment option." The author’s exegesis of Bush’s personality traits-the drinking problem, the bellicose rhetoric, the verbal flailings and misstatements of fact, the religiosity and exercise routines, the hints of dyslexia and hyperactivity, the youthful cruelty to animals and schoolmates, the smirk-paints an intriguing, if exaggerated and contemptuous, portrait of a possibly troubled public figure. But Frank’s attempts to translate psychoanalysis into political analysis are unconvincing. Indeed, if Bush’s reneging on campaign promises is a form of clinical "sadism," and his budget deficits an "unconscious attack on his own parents," then Karl Rove, the Cabinet, and both houses of Congress belong in group therapy with him.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Book Description

A renowned Washington, DC-based psychoanalyst examines George W. Bush's public persona-and asks serious questions about whether he is fit for the office he holds.

In Bush On the Couch, Dr. Justin Frank, a renowned Washington, DC-based psychoanalyst, assembles a comprehensive psychological profile of President George W. Bush. Using the principles of Applied Psychoanalysis, the discipline of psychoanalysing public and historical figure pioneered by Freud, Frank fearlessly builds his case, which concludes with a most disturbing diagnosis. With an eye for the subtleties of human behaviour sharpened through thirty years of clinical practice, Dr. Frank traces the development of Bush's character from childhood to present day, identifying and analysing Bush's patterns of thought, behaviour and communication. A thorough and authoritative examination of Bush's public appearances and speeches, along with historical, biographical, and journalistic records, Bush On the Couch is a compelling portrait of George W. Bush, filled with controversial and disturbing revelations about our nation's leader:

. the scion of a powerful family that failed to nurture its first-born son even as it instilled within him a false sense of omnipotence
. an individual in the grip of anxieties that require a monumental effort to manage
. an untreated alcoholic supported by a nation of enablers
. a rigid thinker with a perilously simplistic worldview
. and a megalomaniacal leader driven to invent adversaries so he can destroy them

Insightful and accessible, courageous and controversial, Bush On the Couch sheds startling new light on the Bush psyche and its impact on the way he governs, tackling head-on the question no one seems willing to ask: Is the president psychologically fit to run the country?

[bklyncowgirl]

16. I've resisted reading it. I don't like the idea of long distance diagnosis

In this case--given the President's increasingly bizarre behavior--I think I will finally break down and read it.

[Jackpine Radical]

20. Well, I don't have such problems with "armchair psychology"

(although in this instance I believe it's armchair psychiatry), but I do have problems with Frank's attempts to fit it all into a Kleinian psychoanalytic model. Frank isn't particularly wrong about his data, but only in his insistence of fitting it into a Procrusetan bed of outmoded, unempirical analytic theory.

Anyway, I do think there's enough information out there for even an eclectic like me to identify the presence of a personality disorder (antisocial & narcissistic features) and an psychopathic leader-type authoritarian personality structure of the sort John Dean discussed in his Conservatives Without Conscience. Furthermore, most of the professionals I know tend to see it this way.

[jazzjunkysue]

41. Read it years ago. It makes it all make sense. Paranoid, closed,

fearful, lacking in human empathy, extreme, delusional, impervious, it goes on and on.

[patricia92243]

15. Do you have a link to the Frank Rich op-ed? I would like to read it. n/t

[bklyncowgirl]

17. It's behind the NYT firewall. So far I haven't seen the full thing

Here another thread on the article.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x249369

[n2doc]

19. Here...

http://wealthyfrenchman.blogspot.com/

[bklyncowgirl]

37. Wow, quite an article. Scary. nt

[NNN0LHI]

22. When he admitted to killing 30,000 Iraqis last December on live TV and then he giggled

That was all I needed to see.


Don

[HockeyMom]

23. He did the same with Karla Faye Tucker

So why would anyone be surprised? One person or 100,000 people, it doesn't matter to him.

[warrior1]

25. Saying he's insane

takes him off the hook. See criminal law, etc. Rendering verdict of insane means the subject can not be help responsible for his/her actions. IE, Not guilty.

He's a sociopath. Plan and simple. See also bush on the couch.

[riderinthestorm]

27. He freely admits he hears voices, he says the voice of God directs him

he openly states that God placed him in office for his historic role to play after 9-11, :puke: .

Creepy. In combination with his sociopathic personality, I think it's clear the guy is batshit crazy. He has been his whole life. I'm pretty sure there's a factoid out there that Bu$h used to torture animals when he was a kid. The only thing missing to make his personality disorders manifest would be if it were revealed that he was a firestarter as a kid although it's possible to extrapolate that his warmongering - "shock and awe" campaigns - are just the extreme form of arson.

:scared:

[InvisibleTouch]

33. If I believed in such things, I would say...

...that it's not God he's hearing. Draw your own conclusion.

[kestrel91316]

46. He's a pathological liar. He's NOT hearing the voice of God.

He's hearing the sound of his two neurons rubbing together.

[OneBlueSky]

29. 40 years of booze and coke tend to do funny things to the mind . . .

Bush is living proof (about 90 proof, in fact) that people who wreck their brains over extended periods are not fit to lead or command anything . . . particularly the most powerful military force in the history of the world . . .

[patrice]

31. That's a problem with "crazy", it can look so "normal", especially amongst

certain types of personality disorders that fall under the heading of "borderline". One hallmark of Borderline personality disorders is how persons diagnosed as such are characterized by habitually USING OTHER PEOPLE for their own personal needs, of which they have many because such persons are, essentially, 0s, so they focus on this or that, whatever presents itself as possible and with the biggest "bang for the buck", to make themselves not 0, which is impossible because they are sick.

[leftofthedial]

32. whaddya mean "what if"?

he fried his brain decades ago

all he ever knew how to do was pretend anyway.

he's a malignant sociapath--not likely to have a sane resonse to stress

[marions ghost]

34. we have no effective mechanism

for getting rid of the Chimperor because of his obvious insanity. The co-dependents in government will support him to the bitter end. Think how often people with mental disorders or substance abuse are tolerated in high positions. Everyone is too afraid to act in the public interest...that is a romantic notion in these harsh times. Unless there is a mass movement to oust them, the spectacular abuses and incompetence of this administration will be allowed to continue. Americans (and the system as it is now) were in no way prepared for a power grab like this.

[Bobbie Jo]

36. His co-conspirators know he's nuts.....

They continue to prop him up to advance their own agenda. When he finally crashes (and he will)....he takes the rap, while the co-perps invoke the "I was following orders" defense.

Truly obscene.....

[WinkyDink]

38. "What IF"?? Oh, I think we are WAY beyond this, and so is Bush.

Where's the evidence he's SANE?
Facial expressions?
Incomprehensible speech?
Creepy "massages", coat-pulling, and otherwise rudely invading the physical space of other WOLRLD LEADERS?
Rubbing bald heads?

Starting a war while claiming that Saddam would not allow inspectors in? Hello, Hans Blix?
Reality, anyone?

Yep, don't think we need the "what if" part.

[Ron Green]

42. Here's #5. This topic is worth discussing, IMO.

[symbolman]

43. Depends ON WHO is the vice Prez doesn't it?

Actually I brought up this whole concept a few days ago, and am wondering when this article was written.

I'm hoping that with so many people hitting that "rant" that maybe a ripple was sent out in the Force, I mean, HEY, we've Impeached a guy and gee, sure, we don't want to go through THAT again, but throwing out a Prez for being CRAZY, well MAYBE the Public might just get BEHIND that..

Why the hell not?

As for WHO is Veep, Let's say that someone approaches a REPIG that WANTS to get to the highest office, and makes a DEAL.

This is what I would do. Find a REPIG, and say, "Wanna be Prez for a few years? All you have to do is go along with us on this one.."

Congress decides that they need to Bring Cheney DOWN, get him out of office, maybe with investigations, just get the bastard OUT, Impeach HIM, scare the shit out of him, whatever, so he leaves to save his own ass.. make a deal, how the world goes around. Sometimes you just need to make a lot of noise, and the path of least resistance would be for him to LEAVE, claim he's TOO ILL - I imagine there is a Vehicle in the Constitution for a SICK VEEP as well..

YOU LEAVE AND WE WON'T PRESS CHARGES, and WE will decide who gets your Job as a DEM CONGRESS..

So we "install" WHO WE WANT, as is OUR RIGHT as a Dem Congress, don't let anyone is that we DON'T WANT IN for the job.. THEY Finger BUSH as NUTS, BUSH IS REMOVED and this contender SLIDES into the White House as prez for a "DAY".

See, BOTH of them GONE, we have WHO WE WANT at the Top ala DEM CONGRESS, and then we lay a bunch of crap at this guy's doorstep while he's in office so we take the White House BACK in 2008..

Simple, elegant, and really how things work.. if anyone has any guts and goes for the whole tamale. :)

[bklyncowgirl]

50. Sort of a Jerry Ford Scenario--not a bad idea

With the Nixon follies, Agnew went down first. Resigned in disgrace and was replaced with the basicly competent albeit rather lackluster Jerry Ford. When the GOP got fed up with Nixon having Ford in the number 2 seat was a big plus in the move to impeach him.

Impeach Cheney first--Lord knows there's plenty of evidence. Replace him with some nice sensible Republican if there is such a creature--Warren Rudman comes to mind--and then oust the Chimp.

Problem is we'd have to accept that the Republicans would probably hold on to the Presidency in 2008.

[symbolman]

56. Yep, that's how I remember it

but like I said, once replaced you lay all this War crap at their feet, RUBBER STAMPING REPUBLICANS Stealing our civil rights, etc..

I don't think people remember the sequence that WORKED when Nixon got chopped from the team, thanks for pointing that out :)

[Nothing Without Hope]

44. Plus, he is clearly deteriorating mentally - see this VIDEO comparison of

Bush speaking as Texas governor and more recently:

http://www.adbuzz.com/bushbuzz.htm

[Disturbed]

45. "The impeachment process would be necessarily long.."

The Impeachment could be short. The Violation of the FISA Law is a Felony. It has been violated at least 30 times and each Violation carries a Prison Term and Fines. Warrentless Spying has been proven and Busholini admitted to it.

[Swamp Rat]

47. he is

[bklyncowgirl]

51. Oh I totally agree with you--he's living in his own special world.

Problem is what can be done about it?

[Swamp Rat]

52. Impeach the bastard for starters

[bklyncowgirl]

55. Sounds good to me but you gotta get Cheney first or go for a two for one deal.

I don't think that's ever been done before. Agnew resigned in disgrace before Nixon. Actually having Ford in place made it easier for Republicans and reluctant Democrats to go after Nixon.

[Art_from_Ark]

62. And getting Ford installed made it easier

for Nixon to get a pre-emptive pardon.

[w4rma]

48. Bush has been insane for a while. (nt)

[hootinholler]

49. Not so easy there bub...

I'm not going to accept an insanity defense in the case of the war crimes trial in the shubya's future.

-Hoot

[dbt]

53. Two points, the first being about bu$h's meds.

Does anyone remember the way the Boy King had to STRUGGLE to read his cue cards before 9/11? The fool couldn't get through a sentence AT ALL, even if it was carefully written for him in large letters and words of few syllables.

Then, when he finally DID address the nation after the attacks, he was suddenly, magically, able to string his words together. Can you say Treatment For ADD? That's sure what it looks like to me. Attention Deficit Disorder, treated with STIMULANTS beginning a week or two before 9/11--maybe even days before, because this sort of regimen works pretty fast.

Trouble is, long-term treatment involving stimulants can give the patient a Superman complex, much like long-term cocaine use. One begins to truly believe that one is infallible. Does this all sound like someone we know and despise?

Point The Second: Dick (The Dick) Cheney absolutely LOATHES being in the spotlight. His evil work requires the cover of Darkness (any old way you want to define the term). He would be totally hamstrung by being in the public eye 24/7 the way a pResident is. The scrutiny, even by the Lapdog Media, would give the old bloodsucker the drizzlin' shits. Besides, ain't his approval rating about HALF of bu$hler's? Kinda hard to work one's agenda with that handicap, innit?

It would DELIGHT me if Cheney had to take on the pResidency right out in the open where everyone could see his reptile sneer on TV!

:evilgrin:
dbt
Remember New Orleans

[MetaTrope]

54. There is the problem of the voters who still support Bush

being just as batshit crazy as he is...

[fooj]

57. What if?

[Orsino]

58. He is not.

* is very well compensated for adhering to policies that are plain crazy, as he has been bred since birth to do. The mentally ill advocate this shit for free, like his most devoted cultists.

He's not stupid; he's not insane. He's evil.

[GeorgeGist]

60. In case you hadn't noticed...

a bat-shit crazy SCOTUS made it clear that Bush's election was necessary to avoid a (imaginary) Constitutional crisis.

[greeneyedboy]

61. he is a sociopath completely isolated from the real world.

see also this one from Frank Rich:
http://wealthyfrenchman.blogspot.com/2006/12/has-he-started-talking-to-walls.html