Bush, the narcissist?

I don't know if this should go under philosophy or here or politics, but here you are:

George W. Bush is ill. He has a psycho-spiritual dis-ease of the soul, a sickness that is endemic to our culture and symptomatic of the times we live in. It’s an illness that has been with us since time immemorial. Because it’s an illness that's in the soul of all of humanity, it pervades the field and is in all of us in potential at any moment, which makes it especially hard to diagnose. Bush's malady is quite different from schizophrenia, for example, in which all the different parts of the personality are fragmented and not connected to each other, resulting in a state of internal chaos. As compared to the dis-order of the schizophrenic, Bush can sound quite coherent and can appear like such a "regular," normal guy, which makes the syndrome he is suffering from very hard to recognize. This is because the healthy parts of his personality have been co-opted by the pathological aspect, which drafts them into its service. Because of the way the personality self-organizes an outer display of coherence around a pathogenic core, I would like to name Bush's illness "malignant egophrenic (as compared to schizophrenic) disorder," or "ME disorder," for short. If ME disorder goes unrecognized and is not contained, it can be very destructive, particularly if the person is in a position of power.

So is Bush a sociopath or a narcissist or a good old boy who is just doing the best a feller can?

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Doing the best a feller can. He's actually trying to win a war you don't want won (Shame on you! Don't whore after dictators! Crush them.). His values and mine are very similar in the areas that really matter, and I can live with the parts that aren't congruent. He is not an eloquent man; he stammers a bit -- his father has the same sort of convoluted, halting speech. People I do not trust attempt to paint him as a tyrant since trying to persuade people he was an incompetent fell flat, in view of his rivals' manifest inability to do as well as he does.

He takes the Bill of Rights as a guide to his behavior in office, rather than as a stumbling block to his ambition as his regrettable predecessor did. Those who believe he must be a tyrant simply because of a parenthetical R after his name don't know what tyranny is. That they are not letting their ignorance stop them serves to expose them in all their purblind, gormless silliness.

Friends don't let friends contribute money to the Democrats until and unless that Party wises up. That will take years, probably dynamite, and a night of the long knives. The socialist wing of the Democratic Party stupidly believe they are in the right, and they will claw and bite to retain their vampiric station.

Maybe it's time to join the Party of Adult Thinking. This would be the Libertarians.

[wolf]

I spend a lot of time in the land of the New Age whackos.

It is not uncommon amongst this tribal group to play stupid games with language.

When they start hyphenating non-compound words, I usually stop listening/reading right there, because I know that it's just going to go downhill from that moment on.

Oh, and that's possibly the second grossest misunderstanding of schizophrenia that I have ever seen.

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

Friends don't let friends contribute money to the Democrats until and unless that Party wises up. That will take years, probably dynamite, and a night of the long knives. The socialist wing of the Democratic Party stupidly believe they are in the right, and they will claw and bite to retain their vampiric station.

That's right, this discussion was about paranoid schizophrenics. Thanks for reminding us.

Personally, anyone who actually floats the idea of a marriage amendment to federalize marriage just because his base supporters find homosexuality offensive is no friend of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, or the Declaration of Independence (Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness).

Whether Bush is an activist true believer or a politician cynically playing to his base, I find his attempts to turn one of the greatest documents ever written into intellectual comfort food repugnant.

Whatever Clinton's sins, he didn't advocate enshrining stupidity into the very foundation of our Republic where it might sit for decades or centuries.

[Undertoad]

The brain-damaged should not do sarcastic mental evaluation. It's too ironic.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Friends don't let friends contribute money to the Democrats until and unless that Party wises up.

So it isn't just foreigners to wish to dictate too, but everyone.

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

The brain-damaged should not do sarcastic mental evaluation. It's too ironic.

Was that directed to Mari, Urbane, Wolf, or me? Or 'all of the above?'

Marichiko: So is Bush a sociopath or a narcissist or a good old boy who is just doing the best a feller can?
Wolf: I spend a lot of time in the land of the New Age whackos.
Urbane:That they are not letting their ignorance stop them serves to expose them in all their purblind, gormless silliness.
Me:That's right, this discussion was about paranoid schizophrenics. Thanks for reminding us.

Originally Posted by Undertoad

The brain-damaged should not do sarcastic mental evaluation. It's too ironic.

If that was directed at me, all I did was cut and paste someone else's article and ask what other people thought about it. Are you saying the author of the article is brain damaged?

Originally Posted by Wolf

Oh, and that's possibly the second grossest misunderstanding of schizophrenia that I have ever seen.

Bush's malady is quite different from schizophrenia, for example, in which all the different parts of the personality are fragmented and not connected to each other, resulting in a state of internal chaos.

That's as good a one sentence summary of schizophrenia as any other I've come across. What's wrong with it? The rest of the article talks about Bush's pathology which may be real or not, and which the author does NOT call schizophrenia. The author seems to believe that Bush has a personality disorder more akin to pathological narcissism. Whether this is true or not, it would be an interesting explanation for many of George Jr's acts.

[richlevy]

Actually, I was watching a summary of the movie 'Grizzly Man'. The profile of Tim Treadwell was that of a man who saved himself from alcoholism and self-destruction by believing in bears. He romanticised them and appeared to overlook their dangerous nature.

IMO, Bush saved himself from a similar situation. He appears to be a 'true believer'. Some of his actions appear to blur the lines between church and state. His belief may have impaired his judgement in failing to recognize the danger of even the slightest move towards a theocratic government in the United States, as long as the theocracy involved is one with which he agrees.

His use of the word 'crusade' was not an accident, or a nod to his base. It was a reflection of his thinking.

[wolf]

Bush's malady is quite different from schizophrenia, for example, in which all the different parts of the personality are fragmented and not connected to each other, resulting in a state of internal chaos.

That's as good a one sentence summary of schizophrenia as any other I've come across. What's wrong with it?

Internal chaos or not, the "split mind" of schizophrenia refers to a disconnect between one's internal thought processes and reality.

It has nothin' to do with a disordered personality.

Utilizing pseudo-psychological terms when all the author is really trying to say is "I hate GWB" is silly and unnecessary.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Originally Posted by richlevy

Was that directed to Mari, Urbane, Wolf, or me? Or 'all of the above?'

Yeah, because if "all of the above," we have to squabble over who gets how much, and whether it's any fair signing over your portion to another.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

He romanticised them and appeared to overlook their dangerous nature.

And in the end, brown bears killed him and his camping partner.

Originally Posted by wolf

Internal chaos or not, the "split mind" of schizophrenia refers to a disconnect between one's internal thought processes and reality.

It has nothin' to do with a disordered personality.

Utilizing pseudo-psychological terms when all the author is really trying to say is "I hate GWB" is silly and unnecessary.

Well, Wolf, I'm just a layperson.. But wouldn't one who "experiences a disconnect between his internal thought processes and reality" be considered a "disordered personality," among other things? Wouldn't such a person experience internal chaos? I know a few diagnosed schizophrenics, and they definately seem to be experiencing internal chaos and fragmentation of their personalities. Of course, you have met many more schizo's than I and work in the field, but aren't you splitting hairs, just a bit?

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

And in the end, brown bears killed him and his camping partner.

Jeez, where do you guys find such wierd movies? Do they air them all the time at 3:00am in Cali? That's the wierdest plot line I ever heard of!

[wolf]

Nope. No hairs to split.

Personality disorders are something else entirely. Your axe-murderer, scam artist paramour? THAT'S a personality disorder.

Most schizophrenics have perfectly fine personalities, believe it or not. It's just hard for most people to tell because of their inability to express or sometimes understand emotion.

(it's kind of like dealing with hardcore computer geeks, only without the pocket protectors.)