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.
