First of all, I don't think I (and perhaps you) have enough info to say accurately that George Bush is a psychopath. But I think it is entirely possible. If he is, though, by those same measures, Bill Clinton was probably also a psychopath. 

But to equate these qualities with Republicanism is a leap of large proportions. And to say that it is because they were raised in Republican families is another leap. 

To say that would be to say that these aberations represent traditional republican principles, and they do not. Ron Paul was raised as a Republican. He exhibits the opposite of these (psychopathic) qualities. And he supports traditional Republican principles. 

These other guys promote the mantra that "everything changed since 911" (a relatively new philosophy).

Should you gather evidence to suggest that a large number of Republicans in power exhibit psychopathic qualities, perhaps you might more accurately theorize that psychopaths tend to gravitate towards positions of power. And right now, the Republicans happen to control the executive department. But I predict if a Democratic president is elected, the balance will change. You will find many more Democrats exhibiting "psychopathic qualities". (Though I use that term lightly...maybe even tongue in cheek.)

We will have this problem as long as we are a nation of sheep, who accepts the kind of behavior we have seen in our recent presidents, without getting rid of them...and as long as we accept unquestioningly the point of view portrayed by the media. As long as we accept government as benign, and do not fufill our responsibility to limit their power, we will have some people gravitating towards positions of power who exhibit the qualities you have referred to.  

by Cathy K. (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 7 comments) on Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008 at 10:16:29 AM

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Thanks, Cathy.  I'm glad you recognized that the article is bizzare, since the article must match the bizzare subject matter.  Any description of the bizzare Bush administration will inevitably be bizzare.  Can't be helped. 

The first descriptions of the dinosaurs were unbelievably bizzare.  But, that did not lessen the fact that dinosaurs existed, just as the bizzare Bush administration exists.

Having George Bush as president is as bizzare as having a Tyrannosaurus Rex as president.  It's literally unbelievable that we have come to this level of political ineptitude.

Ed. 

by Ed Martin (139 articles, 0 quicklinks, 35 diaries, 173 comments [4 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008 at 10:54:27 AM

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verrrry interesting. got my attention quite absolutely

by vin agamenone (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 20 comments) on Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008 at 12:09:25 PM

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Thanks for the article, Ed. I have known for years that George W. Bush was a sociopath/psychopath. I know three sociopaths personally, one dead and two still living (as far as I know). Two are/were family and one was a "friend."

A good book on sociopaths is "The Sociopath Next Door" by Martha Stout, Ph.D. She claims that 4% of the population is sociopathic. That doesn't sound like very many until you realize that it is one in 25. Since most of you know and/or associate with far more than 25 people, there's a good chance that you know a socipath or two. If you don't know any, you may be the sociopath (just kidding).

Four percent of three hundred million is 120,000. If you look at Iraq and count mercenaries, we have a minimum of 500,000 armed invader/occupiers. That gives us 20,000 armed psychopaths in Iraq. The number is probably much higher as psychopaths love to kill people. The mercenaries probably have a very high percentage of psychopaths.

Bush demonstrated his psychopathic tendencies as a child. He stuck firecrackers down the throats of frogs (or horned toads) and blew them up. In Yale, as president of his fraternity, he enjoyed torturing pledges by shoving hot wire coat hangers up their ass. And of course he enjoyed sending inmates to their death as governor of Texas.

A psychiatrist, whose name I can't recall, said that psychopaths make good CEOs. That's because many of our company heads are nothing more than obscenely operpaid liars. Psychopaths, as mentioned in the article, are consummate liars.

Kathy K. is right about the power issue. Doesn't anybody wonder why, in a nation of 300 million human beings, we can't find a few thousand good women or men who would make the best president this nation has ever seen? Of course we can. Why don't these paragons of virtue ever run for public office?

The sad fact is that the people who run for public office tend to be people who do not feel powerful. People who do not feel powerful tend to seek positions of power. Unfortunately, those positions of power do not make them feel powerful so they must exercise their power. It never works and never will.

Psychopaths/sociopaths fundamentally do not feel powerful. Everything Bush has done in his life has represented an attempt to feel powerful. He has failed at everything. He stated, while still governor of Texas, that he wanted to be a great president. It was his assessment that all of the great presidents were war presidents and so he wanted to be a war president. Specifically, he wanted to go to war with Iraq. He said this to a family biographer and ghost-writer.

This is why Bush loves to call himself Commander-in-Chief and silly things like "The Decider." He has a juvenile comic-book view of the world and wants to see himself as a superhero. He is able to successfully deny his failures and even twist them into successes. When the deaths in Iraq decreased after the escalation (I mean "surge"), he claimed success. When the deaths escalated shortly after that, he claimed that also as a sign of success.

As for Republicans, I am astounded that they have rolled over and allowed a man to become president who has gone against all of the stated ideals of the Republican party. I can only assume that they were more concerned with staying in power than in following their own principals.

But most people who seek high public office do not experience a high level of personal power, Democrats included. Those people who do experience personal power are not interested in positions of power. That's why this country is in such a mess. The powerless and the power hungry are the same folks.

by Bob Trowbridge (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 70 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008 at 1:17:36 PM

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You're right, Bob.  Its people with spectacular, monumental inadequacies who seek positions of power to compensate.  You and I, being normal, don't have those inadequacies and have no need to prove otherwise.  I have some inadequacies, such as procrastinating paying the bills and mowing the lawn.  That's about all.  And, that's why I have no desire or need to be president.  I've already proved myself to myself, adequately.  I'm satisfied with myself, know who I am and do not need to belittle and humiliate other people to make myself feel that I'm better than they are.  Other people cannot give you a sense of self worth.  Only you can do that.

Descartes said that the test of a person's courage was to go to your room.  And, that room he was talking about didn't have a TV to use as a substitute for yourself.  You were there, all alone with only yourself to contend with.  That's why most people can't do it.

Ed.

by Ed Martin (139 articles, 0 quicklinks, 35 diaries, 173 comments [4 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008 at 1:48:44 PM

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I often observe, quite in stunned silence, (I realized ranting does no good), the man-child George Bush stumbling from one bumbling to another, and ponder the stark, debilitating delusions that he suffers. With an obvious, sickening lack of grasp, he seems yet able to maintain a core support among the diehards.
A sensible overview of his life reveals a juvenile, contempuous approach to life and an utter failure at each endeavor he undertook, with papa ever close by to bail him out.
I have become convinced that George Bush was recognized early for what he is, and groomed carefully to fulfill the role as the grandest of puppets. On the world stage, in a world that he has fashioned post 911, the men behind the curtain must be thrilled to see the puppet dance so nicely to their every song. And with Cheney looking over Bush's shoulder, prompting, cajoling, prodding - the fact that two psychopaths are better than one is painfully clear.
Michael McCoy

by Michael McCoy (7 articles, 1 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 487 comments [26 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008 at 1:53:19 PM

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