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More Readers' Comments

August 29, 2006

Editor's Note: Here are some readers' comments that followed our publication of "Bush's Disdainful Presidency."

One of the most striking examples of Bush's thin-skinned mean streak is
the way he treated the woman who asked him at the end of a presidential
debate whether he had ever made a mistake (or regretted a mistake).  He
basically accused her of being a hack for his opponents and was dismissive
and arrogant in the worst way...not to mention displaying his pathological
inability to admit any responsibility or fault.

Chris Wendel
Tucson AZ

     --

I've been watching this president closely for many years and determined along time ago that he possesses all of the characteristics of a psychopath, a few of which Mr. Parry described.  I remember watching the president during an opening scene from Fahrenheit 9/11 where he was being prepped to deliver an address to the nation from the Oval Office.  For some inexplicable reason, he decided to 'give the finger' to the camera, an obvious sign of his immature, juvenile personality.  At that moment, it hit me: "this guy's a psychopath."  It seemed so uncharacteristic for a sitting president to act in such a juvenile, deviant manner that, to this day, I can't get that picture out of my mind.  To date, he has not behaved in a manner that disproves my initial assumption.  In fact, everything Bush does only reinforces my opinion that the guy is psychopathic.

 
Aside from the president's total lack of emotional maturity, consequential responsibility, remorse/conscience, and empathy, he also possesses a distorted sense of entitlement, impulsiveness, an exploitative nature, poor behavior controls, manipulative tendencies, deceitfulness, shallowness, grandiosity, glib superficiality, and narcissism.  In addition, he's also a semantic aphasic, another symptom of this personality disorder.  As we all know, this president cannot speak properly.  Though I've never read anything he's written, I'd bet he writes in long, rambling, incoherent, and contradictory sentences.  Psychopaths tend to be horrible with language skills, often rambling and confusing words. Here's a classic example of Bush's semantic aphasia: "We cannot let terrorists hold this nation hostile or hold our allies hostile."  Here's another:  "I am mindful not only of preserving executive powers for myself, but for predecessors as well." Obviously, the correct words should have been 'hostage' and 'successors,' but psychopaths possess little, if any, skill with word usage.  They have no emotional understanding of language.  They, like Bush, also frequently contradict themselves, at times, in the space of a single sentence.   Anyone who doubts this should pick up a copy of Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us, by Dr. Robert Hare.  Also, check out The Mask of Sanity by Hervey Cleckley, who did very early research on these bizarre people.  Psychopaths all think of themselves as special and unique, however, once one learns their distinctive characteristics, he or she will find that they are all the same, very recognizable and dangerous. 
 
Giovanna
San Diego, California

     --

I've read Robert Parry's articles for years and I have the highest regard for his writing. But I will say this latest one, Bush's Disdainful Presidency, is probably the worst. It pulls up old news of G. W.'s previous boorish behavior as well as the old malapropisms for which G. W. Bush is famous.
 
Who really cares? We all know Bush is not running for anything so what's the point on dwelling on garbage that only his most loyal supporters will excuse. There is really no substance to this latest Robert Parry article and it seems a waste of his good talent and time to repeat the same old broken record that most of us are tired of hearing.
 
The point I would like to make here, in spite of Bush's divisiveness, is that the U.S. Congress is up for grabs in a couple of more months. More should be focused on the entrenched Republican control of both houses of congress by their lobbyist benefactors who keep pouring more money into their reelection campaigns to keep them happy and in their comfort zones in both the Senate and the House.
 
The biggest issue aside from the disastrous Iraq War will be illegal immigration. It is a lightning rod for the bigots and xenophobes whose main purpose is to whip up the anti-Mexican furor with the purpose of bringing out the racists who predominantly vote Republican.
 
As we all know from past history, off-year elections favor Republicans in a low turnout of voters. This year many political pundits and experts are predicting only about a 30% turnout in November. Even if that is on the low end, it will still favor Republicans for the simple reason that they are better at energizing their voter base to get to the polls.
 
Republicans absolutely, will reap the "hate dividends" from the illegal immigration issue which will be revived  by Speaker Dennis Hastert in September when it comes up for debate. Whether Republicans  maintain their control by a razor-thin edge is irrelevant when you know that a 3-2 win is just as good as winning by 10-1. Regards,
 
Richard A. Stitt
San Diego, CA

     --

I would suggest that Robert Parry read the article "Violent Pride" in the September issue of Scientific Mind. It presents the results of research on narcissitic/high esteem people and their propensity for aggression and violence. Bush exhibits ALL of the symptoms of narcissism.  He exhibits grandiosity, lack of empathy, an unreasonable sense of entitlement, an exploitative attitude towards others, arrogance and, one must assume, fantasies of greatness and a wish to be envied.  Other sources point out that narcissists are often very charming, until they are crossed.  This is a very serious and dangerous mental illness. 

The article points out that these people are most likely to become agressive when their self esteem is threatened. Bush's self esteem is seriously threatened by his failed policies in the Middle East.  I believe that this will make him extremely open to an attack on Iran. He is being told by neocons that this will be the way for him to ensure his "legacy", clearly an appeal to his pride.

If journalists persist in seeing Bush as a case of arrested development, rather than a man with a dangerous mental illness, we may pay a big price.  Just last week I heard a panel of journalists discussing the possibility of our attacking Iran. Robin Wright dismissed the idea, since it clearly makes no sense.  I think if she understood Bush's mentality she wouldn't be so quick to dismiss this possibility. Unfortunately her attitude seems to be common in the MSM.  This attitude is keeping them from informing the gneral public of a very real possibility of war with Iran. By the time the media wakes up, it may be too late.

Dora O'Shaughnessy
Charlotte, NC

    --

Dora's comment shows just how this all has been and will be
translated into past and future disasters.
 
We are way beyond rationality and into a fantasy the basis of
which is the delusion that enough force can make of reality
what one wills.
 
tim

    --

I read once that LBJ used to meet with his flunkeys
while seated on the toilet. A real king on his throne.
Even so, Bush is much worse. I think the worst thing
about the US empire is that whatever mediocre human
being makes it to the White House can go strutting
around the world and better people bow down.
 
Per Fagereng
Portland, Oregon


 


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