Bush Depressed (1 Viewer)

[Iron]

Bush Taking Anti-Depressants to Control Mood Swings
By CHB Staff
Jul 28, 2004, 06:13

President George W. Bush is taking anti-depressant drugs to control his erratic behavior, depression and paranoia, Capitol Hill Blue has learned.

The prescription drugs, administered by Col. Richard J. Tubb, the White House physician, can impair the President’s mental faculties and decrease both his physical capabilities and his ability to respond to a crisis, administration aides admit privately.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” says one aide. “We can’t have him flying off the handle at the slightest provocation but we also need a President who is alert mentally.”

Tubb prescribed the anti-depressants after a clearly-upset Bush stormed off stage on July 8, refusing to answer reporters' questions about his relationship with indicted Enron executive Kenneth J. Lay.

“Keep those motherfuckers away from me,” he screamed at an aide backstage. “If you can’t, I’ll find someone who can.”

Bush’s mental stability has become the topic of Washington whispers in recent months. Capitol Hill Blue first reported on June 4 about increasing concern among White House aides over the President’s wide mood swings and obscene outbursts.

Although GOP loyalists dismissed the reports an anti-Bush propaganda, the reports were later confirmed by prominent George Washington University psychiatrist Dr. Justin Frank in his book Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President. Dr. Frank diagnosed the President as a “paranoid meglomaniac” and “untreated alcoholic” whose “lifelong streak of sadism, ranging from childhood pranks (using firecrackers to explode frogs) to insulting journalists, gloating over state executions and pumping his hand gleefully before the bombing of Baghdad” showcase Bush’s instabilities.

“I was really very unsettled by him and I started watching everything he did and reading what he wrote and watching him on videotape. I felt he was disturbed,” Dr. Frank said. “He fits the profile of a former drinker whose alcoholism has been arrested but not treated.”

Dr. Frank’s conclusions have been praised by other prominent psychiatrists, including Dr. James Grotstein, Professor at UCLA Medical Center, and Dr. Irvin Yalom, MD, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University Medical School.

The doctors also worry about the wisdom of giving powerful anti-depressant drugs to a person with a history of chemical dependency. Bush is an admitted alcoholic, although he never sought treatment in a formal program, and stories about his cocaine use as a younger man haunted his campaigns for Texas governor and his first campaign for President.

“President Bush is an untreated alcoholic with paranoid and megalomaniac tendencies,” Dr. Frank adds.

The White House did not return phone calls seeking comment on this article.

The exact drugs Bush takes to control his depression and behavior are not known. While Col. Tubb regularly releases a synopsis of the President’s annual physical, details of the President’s health and any drugs or treatment he may receive are not public record and are guarded zealously by the secretive cadre of aides that surround the President.

Veteran White House watchers say the ability to control information about Bush’s health, either physical or mental, is similar to Ronald Reagan’s second term when aides managed to conceal the President’s increasing memory lapses that signaled the onslaught of Alzheimer’s Disease.

It also brings back memories of Richard Nixon’s final days when the soon-to-resign President wandered the halls and talked to portraits of former Presidents. The stories didn’t emerge until after Nixon left office.

One long-time GOP political consultant who – for obvious reasons – asked not to be identified said he is advising his Republican Congressional candidates to keep their distance from Bush.

“We have to face the very real possibility that the President of the United States is loony tunes,” he says sadly. “That’s not good for my candidates, it’s not good for the party and it’s certainly not good for the country.”

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=33&num=5141
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A little dated, but most recent I could find. Ive heard from other sources that this a little credible. Also around recently that he's disenchanted, cynical, moody etc for a variety of appropriate reasons.
Does the mental health of the leader of the free world really matter? Have your say.

 

[loquasagacious]

Well it certainly doesn't come across immediately as credible but I'm sure the Seymour Hersch book on it (published circa 2012) will confirm it all and have a picture of Bush dancing naked on a table whilst railed on cocaine on the cover.

Were it true then obviously a mentally unstable leader of the free world would be a little concerning. The power literally controlled by him (via the 'football' - a briefcase with missile launch codes that is carried with the President at all times) would allow us to entertain the prospect of irrational actions.

The irony in all of this (likley intended) is that Bush could be a rogue president, acting irrationally and in control of WMD would make him a leading candidate for Regime change....

 

[Iron]

There have been less significant news about his minor dyslexia (cuff links become hand cuffs etc)and how preparing for speeches is very hard, but his folksy charm and texan drawl are meant to be bunged on. It's not hard to accept that he's probably a pretty bright fella.
I just dont know how significant this is, in light of the hilarious Nixon saga ("Floppy writsed, cocksucking pig fucking liberal Jewish media did this to me, Henry"), or the alien spotting Reagan ("Your pants, off with them!"). Maybe it comes with the territory. I think that's swell.

 

[SashatheMan]

i like the quote

"Keep those motherfuckers away from me,”

 

[loquasagacious]

Actually I do find it hard to accept that he's particularly intelligent. I think he has a fair degree of political savvy - certainly more than he is given credit for. I know that dyslexia does not make somebody stupid and am disappointed that the connection is so often made. However I would not go so far as to say that he is pretty smart.

Probably smarter than Reagan though who apparently thought almost in parables and anecdotes, eg he thought that Welfare was bad because in Detroit he believed there to be a welfare queen who drove a cadillac.

 

[Iron]

Haha yeah.
I put it to you that democracy is dead.

 

[supercharged]

I wonder who the fuck put Bush up as the poster boy for democracy? Scandavian countries actually have the most democratic system around and are far more peaceful.

 

[loquasagacious]

How are you measuring democracy?

 

[supercharged]

"A model that focuses on levels of participation, instead of objectives of participation is the best. There is a distinction between public awareness, public involvement and public participation.

Public awareness implies one-way information and alerting to community issues. Public involvement implies two-way communication and a means of engaging community members in the exchange of information (dialog). Finally, public participation is the most intense form of interaction between authorities, experts and citizens and implies more than anything else truly joint planning and democratic delegation of power and shared leadership.

In the Danish model of consensus conference, lay people are used as assessors because the consensus conferences deal with societal problems at a parliamentary policy level. If the conference is aimed at lower-level decision making, for example decisions inside a sector (such as the health care sector), where the problems are often of an economic or technical nature, there might be a risk of a lay panel basing their conclusions too strongly on attitude. In such a situation, a panel composed of independent experts from related fields could have more credibility. "

"Lars Kluwer, ‘Consensus conferences at the Danish Board of Technology’ 1995"

It's well known that they have the best levels of public involvement in the political and public decision making, hence the best democracy. The US policy on the other hand, is run by 'special interest' groups and privately finaced 'think tanks' with deep pockets.

 

[Iron]

If it doesnt seem to matter that the Prez isnt fit to run... That the candidates aren't so important.
Comes back to the media being the new opiate - trivial little things satisfy (eg the hypocracy of supercharged's photoshoped wonders), while invisible people do the work.

 

[loquasagacious]

"Lars Kluwer, ‘Consensus conferences at the Danish Board of Technology’ 1995"

It's well known that they have the best levels of public involvement in the political and public decision making, hence the best democracy. The US policy on the other hand, is run by 'special interest' groups and privately finaced 'think tanks' with deep pockets.

You define good democracy as one with involvement but fail to prove involvement. Also your emphasis on involvement is to the exclusion of systematic issues eg different systems encourage different levels of involvement.

 

[supercharged]

"Also your emphasis on involvement is to the exclusion of systematic issues eg different systems encourage different levels of involvement"

wtf? More democratic = more public involvement in decision making. Less democratic = less public involvement in decision making.

 

[loquasagacious]

Yes your postulation is valid I did not dispute that. Read again I contended that you in no tangible way actually established scandinavia to be highly participatory hence highly democratic.

My other point was that your analysis avoided systematic influences. In Australia our entire political system is structured for the minimum public involvement, other places more so, some less so. You ignore this.

Furthermore you ignore systematic influences on the process in that whilst there may be high levels of participation maybe not everyone is getting an equal say. In this way a very participatory system could infact be less democratic than a less participatory system.

Finally you ignore the hard to measure nature of participation. What exactly constitutes participation? Member of a party? Attend rallies and parades? Vote? Write essays? Expound on your personal convictions to random crowds in public places?

 

[supercharged]

But "not forgetting" Afghanistan means making a very serious commitment about nation building. It is about letting Afghanistan grow into a moderate Muslim democracy, and not goading it into becoming a Scandinavian democracy. Afghanistan will never become a Scandinavian democracy. But then who said that becoming a moderate Muslim democracy is not a better option than emulating Scandinavians, or even the Americans every step of the way.

'Scandinavian democracy' is just a saying for a very democratic system, but the most democratic country is usually considered to be Switzerland. America just likes to claim credit for everything because it dominates the world

SWITZERLAND
Switzerland is considered by many to be the most democratic country in the world. It is also one of the world's most successful nations in economic terms. The Swiss people have the highest per-capita incomes in the world, and Switzerland is consistently rated among the top ten nations in terms of quality of life.

The key to Swiss success is not to be found in natural resources (which are in extremely short supply); nor does it lie in the temperament of its 6.4 million people, who are essentially no different from the Germans, Italians and French in the remainder of Europe. It lies rather in Switzerland's political institutions, which ensure that ordinary citizens are involved in political decision-making, and that no one interest group is able to benefit unduly at the expense of another.


Public representatives frequently abuse or overstep their mandates if there are no limits to their power. That is why the success of constitutional democracies depends on the existence of checks and balances. The Swiss experience indicates that possibly the most effective check of all is a thorough-going system of direct democracy.

The popular vote reflects public opinion accurately, ensures that elected representatives remain accountable, reduces the importance of party politics, focuses attention on specific issues, acts as a barometer of controversy, and encourages politicians to be fellow participants in the law-making process.

In Switzerland, not only is the right to challenge legislation and launch popular initiatives entrenched at the nation-al level, but all cantons and large communes include the right to referendums and initiatives in their constitutions. Important decisions in small communes are commonly made by the citizens themselves at public meetings.

Direct democracy takes two main forms: the referendum is the process whereby the people accept or reject new laws, and the initiative is the process by which citizens can themselves propose new measures. There are two types of referendum in common use: the obligatory referendum which must be held on all proposed constitutional amendments, and the optional referendum which permits new laws to be put to the popular vote provided a number of citizens sign a petition requesting the vote. Any group that wishes to launch an initiative has a specified period of time in which to collect the requisite number of signatures.

Voting in Switzerland generally takes place at least four times a year, usually on Sundays. Voter turnout averages 35% but varies greatly, depending on the issue. Decisions made by popular ballot may not be overruled by the courts.

Good government is achieved when rulers are made accountable -- and accountability is assured when ordinary citizens can participate in decisions, remove elected representatives who abuse their mandate, and repeal unpopular laws.

The Swiss system has served the ethnically diverse people of that country well for over 700 years. The rest of the world could learn from the example set in this mountain country and adopt similar systems of citizen-based government.

http://www.free-market.net/resources/lit/swiss-canton-system.html