Best description of W I have ever read.
>>> This is circulating from the mail of ALLAN SCHNAIBERG, Professor of
>>> Sociology & Faculty Associate, Institute for Policy Research,
>>> Northwestern
>>> University.
>>> He says: Here is an interesting perspective from Dr. Paul Minot, a
>>> psychiatrist in Waterville, Maine.
>>> George Bush's "irrational" consideration of a "surge" in the wake of the
>>> Iraq Study Group report -- which apparently defies all credible
>>> counsel -
>>> has begun to generate speculation regarding his sanity. References to
>>> Bush's "delusions" have appeared in the mainstream media and throughout
>>> the
>>> blogosphere.
>>> As a psychiatrist, I understandably get concerned when I see clinical
>>> terminology bandied about in political discourse, and thought it might
>>> be
>>> of interest to share a professional perspective on this question. I have
>>> a
>>> distinct clinical impression that I think explains much of Mr. Bush's
>>> visible pathology.
>>> First and foremost, George W. Bush has a Narcissistic Personality
>>> Disorder
>>> (NPD). What this means is that he has rather desperate insecurities
>>> about
>>> himself and compensates by constructing a grandiose self-image. Most of
>>> his
>>> relationships are either mirroring relationships - people who flatter
>>> him
>>> and reinforce his grandiosity -- or idealized self-objects -- people
>>> that
>>> he himself thinks a lot of and hence feels
>>> flattered by his association with them. Some likely perform both
>>> functions.
>>> Hence his weakness for sycophants like Harriet Miers and powerful
>>> personalities like Dick Cheney.
>>> Even as a narcissist, Bush knows he isn't a great intellect and
>>> compensates
>>> by dismissing the value of intellect altogether. Hence his disses of
>>> Gore's
>>> bookishness and any other intellectual that isn't flattering him. Bush
>>> knows that his greatest personal strength is projecting personal
>>> affability
>>> and he tries to utilize it even in the most inappropriate settings.
>>> That's
>>> why he gives impromptu back rubs to the [female] German Chancellor in a
>>> diplomatic meeting -- he's insecure intellectually and tries to make
>>> everyone into a "buddy" so he can feel more secure.
>>>
>>> The most disturbing aspect about narcissists, however, is their
>>> pathological inability to empathize with others, with the exception of
>>> those who either mirror them or whom they idealize. Hence Bush's
>>> horrifying
>>> insensitivity to the Katrina victims, his callous jokes when visiting
>>> grievously injured soldiers, and numerous other instances. He simply has
>>> no
>>> capacity to feel for others in that way.
>>> When LBJ was losing Vietnam, he developed a haunted expression that
>>> anybody could recognize as indicative of underlying anguish. For all his
>>> faults, you just knew he was losing sleep over it. By the same token, we
>>> know just as well that Bush isn't losing any sleep over dead American
>>> soldiers, to say nothing of dead Iraqis. He didn't exhibit any sign of
>>> significant concern until his own political popularity was sliding --
>>> because THAT'S something he CAN feel. This brings us to his recent
>>> "delusion." To be blunt, I don't see any indication that Bush has any
>>> sort
>>> of psychotic disorder whatsoever. The lapses in reality-testing that he
>>> exhibits are the sort that can be readily explained by his
>>> characterological insensitivity to the feelings and perceptions of
>>> others,
>>> due to his persistently self- centered frame of reference.
>>> Mr. Bush knows that things aren't going his way in Iraq, and he knows
>>> that
>>> it is damaging him politically. He also sees that it is likely to get
>>> worse
>>> no matter what he does, and in fact it may be a lost cause. However, he
>>> recognizes that if he follows the recommendations of the Iraq Study
>>> Group,
>>> that Iraq will almost certainly evolve into a puppet state of Iran, and
>>> given his treatment of Iran he will completely lose control of the
>>> situation -- and he will be politically discredited for this outcome.
>>> The ONLY chance that he has to avoid this political disaster and save
>>> his
>>> political skin is to hope against hope for "victory" in Iraq. Advancing
>>> the
>>> "surge" idea offers Bush two political advantages over following the ISG
>>> recommendations. One is that if it is implemented, maybe, just maybe, he
>>> can pull out some sort of nominal "victory" out of the situation. The
>>> chances are exceedingly slim, granted, but slim is better to him than
>>> the
>>> alternative (none). Alternately, if the "surge" is politically rejected,
>>> he
>>> gains some political cover, so when things inevitably go bad, he can say
>>> "I
>>> told you so" and blame the "surrender monkeys" for the outcome. Most
>>> people
>>> probably won't buy it, but some (his core base) will.
>>> Now, I know what many of you are thinking -- is George Bush willing to
>>> risk
>>> the lives of hundreds, maybe thousands, more American soldiers, on an
>>> outside chance to save his political skin, in a half- baked plan that
>>> even
>>> he knows probably won't work at all? Yes, he is. Because George Bush is
>>> that narcissistic, that desperate, and, yes, that sociopathic as well.
>>> Especially interesting about Mr. Bush, but quite common, Narcissistic
>>> Personality Disorder is frequently associated with alcoholism. The
>>> insufferable "holier than thou" attitude associated with "Dry Drunk
>>> Syndrome" is indicative of underlying narcissism.
>>> Also, the way that Bush embraces Christianity is characteristically
>>> narcissistic. Rather than incorporating the lessons of humility and
>>> empathy
>>> modeled by Jesus, Bush uses his Christian faith to reinforce his
>>> grandiosity. Jesus is his powerful ally, his idealized "buddy" who gives
>>> a
>>> rubber stamp to anything he thinks.
>>> Finally -- and this will sound VERY familiar to many readers - those
>>> persons with NPD are notoriously unable to say they're sorry. Admitting
>>> error is fundamentally incompatible with their precarious efforts to
>>> maintain their sense of order. Anyone having this particular character
>>> flaw
>>> almost certainly has NPD.
>>> This is circulating from the mail of ALLAN SCHNAIBERG, Professor of
>>> Sociology & Faculty Associate, Institute for Policy Research,
>>> Northwestern
>>> University.
>>> He says: Here is an interesting perspective from Dr. Paul Minot, a
>>> psychiatrist in Waterville, Maine.
>>> George Bush's "irrational" consideration of a "surge" in the wake of the
>>> Iraq Study Group report -- which apparently defies all credible
>>> counsel -
>>> has begun to generate speculation regarding his sanity. References to
>>> Bush's "delusions" have appeared in the mainstream media and throughout
>>> the
>>> blogosphere.
>>> As a psychiatrist, I understandably get concerned when I see clinical
>>> terminology bandied about in political discourse, and thought it might
>>> be
>>> of interest to share a professional perspective on this question. I have
>>> a
>>> distinct clinical impression that I think explains much of Mr. Bush's
>>> visible pathology.
>>> First and foremost, George W. Bush has a Narcissistic Personality
>>> Disorder
>>> (NPD). What this means is that he has rather desperate insecurities
>>> about
>>> himself and compensates by constructing a grandiose self-image. Most of
>>> his
>>> relationships are either mirroring relationships - people who flatter
>>> him
>>> and reinforce his grandiosity -- or idealized self-objects -- people
>>> that
>>> he himself thinks a lot of and hence feels
>>> flattered by his association with them. Some likely perform both
>>> functions.
>>> Hence his weakness for sycophants like Harriet Miers and powerful
>>> personalities like Dick Cheney.
>>> Even as a narcissist, Bush knows he isn't a great intellect and
>>> compensates
>>> by dismissing the value of intellect altogether. Hence his disses of
>>> Gore's
>>> bookishness and any other intellectual that isn't flattering him. Bush
>>> knows that his greatest personal strength is projecting personal
>>> affability
>>> and he tries to utilize it even in the most inappropriate settings.
>>> That's
>>> why he gives impromptu back rubs to the [female] German Chancellor in a
>>> diplomatic meeting -- he's insecure intellectually and tries to make
>>> everyone into a "buddy" so he can feel more secure.
>>>
>>> The most disturbing aspect about narcissists, however, is their
>>> pathological inability to empathize with others, with the exception of
>>> those who either mirror them or whom they idealize. Hence Bush's
>>> horrifying
>>> insensitivity to the Katrina victims, his callous jokes when visiting
>>> grievously injured soldiers, and numerous other instances. He simply has
>>> no
>>> capacity to feel for others in that way.
>>> When LBJ was losing Vietnam, he developed a haunted expression that
>>> anybody could recognize as indicative of underlying anguish. For all his
>>> faults, you just knew he was losing sleep over it. By the same token, we
>>> know just as well that Bush isn't losing any sleep over dead American
>>> soldiers, to say nothing of dead Iraqis. He didn't exhibit any sign of
>>> significant concern until his own political popularity was sliding --
>>> because THAT'S something he CAN feel. This brings us to his recent
>>> "delusion." To be blunt, I don't see any indication that Bush has any
>>> sort
>>> of psychotic disorder whatsoever. The lapses in reality-testing that he
>>> exhibits are the sort that can be readily explained by his
>>> characterological insensitivity to the feelings and perceptions of
>>> others,
>>> due to his persistently self- centered frame of reference.
>>> Mr. Bush knows that things aren't going his way in Iraq, and he knows
>>> that
>>> it is damaging him politically. He also sees that it is likely to get
>>> worse
>>> no matter what he does, and in fact it may be a lost cause. However, he
>>> recognizes that if he follows the recommendations of the Iraq Study
>>> Group,
>>> that Iraq will almost certainly evolve into a puppet state of Iran, and
>>> given his treatment of Iran he will completely lose control of the
>>> situation -- and he will be politically discredited for this outcome.
>>> The ONLY chance that he has to avoid this political disaster and save
>>> his
>>> political skin is to hope against hope for "victory" in Iraq. Advancing
>>> the
>>> "surge" idea offers Bush two political advantages over following the ISG
>>> recommendations. One is that if it is implemented, maybe, just maybe, he
>>> can pull out some sort of nominal "victory" out of the situation. The
>>> chances are exceedingly slim, granted, but slim is better to him than
>>> the
>>> alternative (none). Alternately, if the "surge" is politically rejected,
>>> he
>>> gains some political cover, so when things inevitably go bad, he can say
>>> "I
>>> told you so" and blame the "surrender monkeys" for the outcome. Most
>>> people
>>> probably won't buy it, but some (his core base) will.
>>> Now, I know what many of you are thinking -- is George Bush willing to
>>> risk
>>> the lives of hundreds, maybe thousands, more American soldiers, on an
>>> outside chance to save his political skin, in a half- baked plan that
>>> even
>>> he knows probably won't work at all? Yes, he is. Because George Bush is
>>> that narcissistic, that desperate, and, yes, that sociopathic as well.
>>> Especially interesting about Mr. Bush, but quite common, Narcissistic
>>> Personality Disorder is frequently associated with alcoholism. The
>>> insufferable "holier than thou" attitude associated with "Dry Drunk
>>> Syndrome" is indicative of underlying narcissism.
>>> Also, the way that Bush embraces Christianity is characteristically
>>> narcissistic. Rather than incorporating the lessons of humility and
>>> empathy
>>> modeled by Jesus, Bush uses his Christian faith to reinforce his
>>> grandiosity. Jesus is his powerful ally, his idealized "buddy" who gives
>>> a
>>> rubber stamp to anything he thinks.
>>> Finally -- and this will sound VERY familiar to many readers - those
>>> persons with NPD are notoriously unable to say they're sorry. Admitting
>>> error is fundamentally incompatible with their precarious efforts to
>>> maintain their sense of order. Anyone having this particular character
>>> flaw
>>> almost certainly has NPD.
