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Today's Must Read
Of all the half-truths and distortions coming from the White House, President Bush's tendency to cite public support for his Iraq policy is among the most pernicious. And the Associated Press calls him on it in a lengthy piece this morning. For example:
[In a press conference last week], Bush said: "I recognize there are a handful there, or some, who just say, `Get out, you know, it's just not worth it. Let's just leave.' I strongly disagree with that attitude. Most Americans do as well."In fact, polls show Americans do not disagree, and that leaving — not winning — is their main goal.
There are numerable other examples, such as Bush's line during the standoff with Congress over the Iraq funding bill that the Democrats' "failure to fund our troops... is unacceptable to me, and I believe it is unacceptable to the American people." Polls, of course, showed popular support for the Democrats' plan. (Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has sounded a similar line.)
But there's an explanation, the AP reports, for this clash between Bush's assertions and polling results:
Bush aides say poll questions are asked so many ways, and often so imprecisely, that it is impossible to conclude that most Americans really want to get out. Failure, Bush says, is not what the public wants — they just don't fully understand that that is just what they will get if troops are pulled out before the Iraqi government is capable of keeping the country stable on its own.
To which a polling expert replies:
Independent pollster Andrew Kohut said of the White House view: "I don't see what they're talking about.""They want to know when American troops are going to leave," Kohut, director of the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, said of the public. "They certainly want to win. But their hopes have been dashed."
Kohut has found it notable that there's such a consensus in poll findings.
"When the public hasn't made up its mind or hasn't thought about things, there's a lot of variation in the polls," he said. "But there's a fair amount of agreement now."
But there are times when even the administration admits that the public support is not there -- for instance, the president's consistently and irrefutably abysmal approval rating. And at such times, Bush and others have backpedaled to a stance of aloofness, the president posing as a rock of judgment that won't be swayed by public whim: "If you make decisions based upon the latest opinion poll, you won't be thinking long-term strategy on behalf of the American people."
Or, as White House spokesman Tony Fratto put it in the case of Alberto Gonzales:
"It's important for any public official to have as much confidence as he can garner. And that's going to ebb and flow, but it will not ebb and flow with this President and this Attorney General."
So, in conclusion, the White House's attitude toward public opinion: claim public support for policies that do not have it; when challenged, explain that the public isn't really saying what it's saying; and when confronted with inarguable evidence of public disapproval, claim indifference. It's quite a dance.
Comments (59)
Z wrote on May 29, 2007 10:35 AM:Wasn't Fratto's comment on Gonzales actually referring to Congress' confidence (in discussing the no-confidence vote) as opposed to overall public opinion? Of course, Congress is supposed to represent the public will, but I'm just trying to clarify.
gcs wrote on May 29, 2007 10:35 AM:"And be careful of what you do 'cause the lie becomes the truth..."
- Michael Jackson
Anonymous wrote on May 29, 2007 10:36 AM:Important translation.
Parsed text:
"...Bush aides say poll questions are asked so many ways, and often so imprecisely, that it is impossible to conclude that most Americans really want to get out..."
Translated text:
"Karl Rove says he didn't like the way the poll questions were phrased and therefore will say he disbelieves the results."
yendornyc wrote on May 29, 2007 10:42 AM:Johnson went through this during the Vietnam War. It is called Denial. And it is logical really...you're in so deep and you have so much on the line that reality is no longer your friend. Only those who continue to regurgitate the "party line" are allowed into this fairly land. And Realists are simply persona non grata...
adyacent wrote on May 29, 2007 10:47 AM:What is winning in the case of Iraq? Even in Vietnam, if the US had defeated the VIetcong, it would have win. But here? Who is the enemy? Sunni insurgents? Al Qaida in Iraq? The Mahdi Army (Shia)? The Baathists? Looks like all of them. Is it not evident to anyone that in that mess (created in huge part by US policies) that we do not really have a chance, because it is even impossible to define winning? And I am not even bringing up the inmorality of destroying a country just in case, which is appaling.
male wrote on May 29, 2007 10:54 AM:"Bush said: "I recognize there are a handful there, or some, who just say, `Get out, you know, it's just not worth it. Let's just leave.' I strongly disagree with that attitude. Most Americans do as well."
In fact, polls show Americans do not disagree, and that leaving — not winning — is their main goal."
P J Evans wrote on May 29, 2007 10:55 AM:Bush Translation: Only Republicans are Americans. And a majority of the 30% are still with him. In BushWorld, the Dem's are on a level with the terrorists.
Rule 1: the President is always right (if a Republic)
rush from repubilican rehab wrote on May 29, 2007 11:15 AM:Rule 2: if you think he's wrong, see Rule 1
Rule 3: if the evidence suggests otherwise, the evidence is wrong; make up something that looks better
'The 'lie' pay cash money'
SB wrote on May 29, 2007 11:18 AM:As one of Reagan's PR people once said about the Reagan administration, "This was a public relations outfit that won an election and became president." EVERY public action and utterance by Bush is done with PR value in mind. And since the news media don't make him pay a price for repeatedly lying ("Saddam wouldn't let the inspectors in") he keeps doing it.
Gandhi wrote on May 29, 2007 11:19 AM:Nobody likes to lose. Bush fails to understand that this is his war, that he is losing this war, not the American people.
victoid wrote on May 29, 2007 11:21 AM:The American people are losing young people and tons of moneys.
The sooner the WH clown admits (well, he never will) that he is a miserable failure the better for him and for the American people.
Rahmy, can you see me?
Supdog wrote on May 29, 2007 11:24 AM:Can I help to cheer you?
Steny, can you hear me?
Can you feel me near you?
Oooh, Rahmy, Steny, Harry, Nancy.
(Apologies to Pete Townsend)
This is neither denial nor delusion.
The Decider simply doesn't care what the public thinks of him or his policies.
Never has, never will.
Largo wrote on May 29, 2007 11:25 AM:Bush only respects poll questions that deliver answers that back his misguided policies. Like the way Fox News asks them, so that black is white, and up is down. The only thing I can believe anymore is that it's safe to assume that whatever comes out of their mouths, the opposite is closer to the truth.
Impeach.
GE wrote on May 29, 2007 11:26 AM:Bush engages in many cognitive distortions, particularly emotional reasoning. With emotional reasoning one's emotional affect is taken as accurate evidence of objective truth (i.e., if I'm angry at you, it must mean that you've done something bad to me).
Bush engages in this all the time and believes it to be a leadership asset (this is what he's talking about when he talks about his 'gut instinct'). He engaged in this with Putin (looking in his eyes and seeing he was a good man) and of course in the above instance and on any number of other occasions.
In a very accurate sense he's deluded.
Regards,
tomg wrote on May 29, 2007 11:27 AM:GE
war is peace, repeat after me, war is peace
Philip the Equal Opportunity Cynic wrote on May 29, 2007 11:39 AM:Andrew Sullivan has quoted others making the point that this crop of Republicans is incredibly relativist and postmodern in its epistemology. There is no such thing as objectively measurable public opinion! The public believes whatever we say it believes. "[Y]ou are entitled to your math and I'm entitled to THE math."
This is a great development. As these clowns set their minds to driving the Dixie-Utah Party from the 28% party to the 12% party, I cling to my Libertarian pipe dream of getting a real conservative opposition. I'm not crazy about the decades of Democratic dominance while this transition takes place, but compared to these rubes the Dems have the wisdom of Solomon.
John S wrote on May 29, 2007 11:48 AM:This is a surprise? Logic, reason and honesty were never part of the Bush team's strength.
In fact, they've taken the pernicious tendency of politicians to be fraudulent when confronted with data that is contrary to their position, and elevated fraud to an art form, enshrined it as a Republican ideal and embedded it in the bureaucracy of government.
One of the many bizarrely twisted outcomes is that non-political Government employees are held to much higher ethical standards than the Offices of POTUS and VPOTUS.
Welcome to the 21st century?
Xman wrote on May 29, 2007 11:49 AM:He knows what he's doing.
He knows what he's doing.
He knows what he's doing.
He doesn't care what you think.
He doesn't care what you think.
He doesn't care what you think.
He's doing what he wants.
He's doing what he wants.
He's doing what he wants.
Stop hoping he cares.
Stop hoping he cares.
Stop hoping he cares.
Stop hoping he wakes up.
Stop hoping he wakes up.
Stop hoping he wakes up.
F**king you in the *ss fells good.
F**king you in the *ss feels good.
F**king you in the *ss feels good.
He's going to keep doing it.
He's going to keep doing it.
He's going to keep doing it.
And the Dem's aren't going to pull him off you.
Supdog wrote on May 29, 2007 11:50 AM:And the Dem's aren't going to pull him off you.
And the Dem's aren't going to pull him off you.
Bush isn't deluded. That argument requires Bush believing in what he says, which I think is a false premise.
His statements and those of his aides are meant to confuse and distort public dialogue; i.e. they aren't an honest reflection of Bush's worldview.
They are conscious attempts to reframe and manage discourse.
n8 wrote on May 29, 2007 11:51 AM:It's much easier to win a debate in which leaving Iraq is equated -- and not perceived as antithetic -- to, winning war. Isn't that common sense? Why is it so difficult to change the scope/rhetoric of this debate??!!
Philip the Equal Opportunity Cynic wrote on May 29, 2007 11:54 AM:Bush isn't deluded. That argument requires Bush believing in what he says, which I think is a false premise.
Well, I generally agree with you. But they're also capable of making HUGE strategic blunders. I think there's a great deal of evidence, including the Rove quote I cited, that the GOP really didn't expect 2006 to be such a bloodbath. They thought they were too smart for conventional polling.
In a way it's like they're cursed to repeat their Iraq hubris over again in electoral politics, except this time it's for the net benefit of our country.
bohdi wrote on May 29, 2007 12:02 PM:I think even on this blog far too much credibility is given to the 'white house' as if its some variation of a functioning democratic organism. Even the comparisons to Johnson knee deep in the shit of Nam are erroneous and innacurate. Yes the bushman is in denial and yes they follow polls with all of their attention. But what is critical is that they see themselves as operating from first to last outside of and independent of a democratic system of accountability,responsibility and justice. In short they are very committed facists. Why is this not yet clear to most? Why must we pretend constantly that they are maladroits screwing up within the system? Not once despite all experience to the contrary has anyone in the mass media with the possible exception of K.O. actually challenged the Public's massive denial on this question.
In truth it is the Public that is playing pretend. The Public and the Media want to beleive or have us beleive that we have a president, he is somewhat incompetent and comically stupid and he has mired down the Country in a bad War. This kind of framing misses the point from start to finish. This government has been very effectively overthrown and its Constitution has been very effectively Neutered. There have been only a very small circle of players running the show since December 00'. There is no democracy only outlets of occasional light across the Internet. The toy notions of politics,two parties, horse-race electioneering,etc. are all virtual distractions that keep people in denial about the true reality. As if we are all trapped in a video game and cannot differentiate between it and reality.
People really must step back and see the forest for the trees. It is people who need to come out of denial. Bush knows damn well where he is at and what he wants. Ted Bundy was a psychopath but he knew how many women he had strangled and how many more he wanted to. He just had zero conscience about the killing and the deceiving.
Xman wrote on May 29, 2007 12:06 PM:ahaaa!
jeffgee wrote on May 29, 2007 12:15 PM:Bohdi, you get it!
As long as he favors the voice in his head which he thinks is God speaking directly to him, public opinion doesn't matter. Nobody's opinion matters. Not the Iraq study group, not General Batiste, not Colin Powell.
jeffgee wrote on May 29, 2007 12:22 PM:Anyway, he's going to hand Iraq off to the next President, the same way he handed off his other failures to Dad's pals.
Remember in 2002-2003 how Bush called the U.N irrelevant if they didn't agree with his conclusions about Iraq? It sounded like what a teenager calls his parents when they don't give him the car keys.
exdem wrote on May 29, 2007 12:27 PM:Like the "handful" of people (a 70% handful) who want us out of Iraq. Irrelevant.
He Always Knows What Is Best. Like George Tirebiter, he never lies and he's always right.
Yes, bhodi-- and here's the final grab, the complete subversion of the Constitution:
worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55825
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
"President Bush has signed a directive granting extraordinary powers to the office of the president in the event of a declared national emergency, apparently without congressional approval or oversight.
The “National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive” was signed May 9, notes Jerome R. Corsi in a WND column.
It was issued with the dual designation of NSPD-51, as a National Security Presidential Directive, and HSPD-20, as a Homeland Security Presidential Directive.
The directive establishes under the office of the president a new national continuity coordinator whose job is to make plans for “National Essential Functions” of all federal, state, local, territorial and tribal governments, as well as private sector organizations to continue functioning under the president’s directives in the event of a national emergency.
“Catastrophic emergency” is loosely defined as “any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions.”
It says the president can assume the power to direct any and all government and business activities until the emergency is declared over.
The directive says the assistant to the president for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, currently Frances Fragos Townsend, would be designated as the national continuity coordinator.
Corsi says the directive makes no attempt to reconcile the powers created for the national continuity coordinator with the National Emergency Act, which requires that such proclamation “shall immediately be transmitted to the Congress and published in the Federal Register.”
A Congressional Research Service study notes the National Emergency Act sets up Congress as a balance empowered to “modify, rescind, or render dormant” such emergency authority if Congress believes the president has acted inappropriately. But the new directive appears to supersede the National Emergency Act by creating the new position of national continuity coordinator without any specific act of Congress authorizing the position, Corsi says.
The directive also makes no reference to Congress and its language appears to negate any requirement that the president submit to Congress a determination that a national emergency exists.
It suggests instead that the powers of the directive can be implemented without any congressional approval or oversight.
Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke affirmed to Corsi the Homeland Security Department would implement the requirements of the order under Townsend’s direction.
The White House declined to comment on the directive."
Go to the article and you can link to the WH press release about this. Where is everybody on this?!
c4logic wrote on May 29, 2007 12:29 PM:I don't know if anyone has noticed this, but George W Bush is completely insane. He does not know the difference between right and wrong. And the more insane his pronouncements, the more his few supporters cling--because what else can you do when you have bet the farm on a Madman?
pResident Evil wrote on May 29, 2007 12:33 PM:Bush knows damn well where he is at and what he wants. Ted Bundy was a psychopath but he knew how many women he had strangled and how many more he wanted to. He just had zero conscience about the killing and the deceiving.
Posted by: bohdi
Date: May 29, 2007 12:02 PM
bohdi does indeed get it. One clarification, however. Bundy and Bush are what is known as sociopaths. http://www.hss.caltech.edu/~mcafee/Bin/sb.html
I've felt for quite some time that Bush and Ted Bundy were eerily identical. There's more than a physical similarity. The main difference is that Bundy didn't have the family wealth and political apparatus to maginify his pathology upon the enire country and world.
Nitnorth wrote on May 29, 2007 12:33 PM:Supdog:
"Bush isn't deluded. That argument requires Bush believing in what he says, which I think is a false premise."
Don't be too sure. Gail Sheehy wrote quite an article on GWB, "The Accidental Candidate", which appeared in Vanity Fair. You can find it here:
http://gailsheehy.com/Politics/polimain_bush3.html
Near the top of the article, you'll find this:
"Even if [GWB] loses, his friends say, he doesn't lose. He'll just change the score, or change the rules, or make his opponent play until he can beat him."
That section all by itself manages to explain Dubya's reaction to Iraq and all his administration's various scandals, sufficiently to make it make sense as a package. The short form explanation is, GWB Does Not Lose. (If GWB is losing, see Rule 1.)
-- Elton
pResident Evil wrote on May 29, 2007 12:33 PM:Bush knows damn well where he is at and what he wants. Ted Bundy was a psychopath but he knew how many women he had strangled and how many more he wanted to. He just had zero conscience about the killing and the deceiving.
Posted by: bohdi
Date: May 29, 2007 12:02 PM
bohdi does indeed get it. One clarification, however. Bundy and Bush are what are known as sociopaths. http://www.hss.caltech.edu/~mcafee/Bin/sb.html
I've felt for quite some time that Bush and Ted Bundy were eerily identical. There's more than a physical similarity. The main difference is that Bundy didn't have the family wealth and political apparatus to maginify his pathology upon the enire country and world.
cevrero wrote on May 29, 2007 12:44 PM:Bush is still a war criminal. He bypassed the UN and the rest of the world and the tragic result lies solely on his shoulders. This is his first experience in Nation building and he's failing miserably, because he never listens to the real experts. He only listens to greedy power. He has attempted to win peace with violence. You can only sugar coat the truth for so long before you have a mouth full of cavities(aka lies). He is bleeding from the mouth. There's been too much bloodshed to right the wrongs of warfare. All he is doing is stalling, which only makes the situation worse. The international community does not trust him. The majority of americans don't trust him. Iraqis don't trust him. He will go down as the most ignorant president in US history. Hopefully there won't be anyone worse. He should stick to clearing brush and fishing, he's probably ok at doing those things.
Anthony wrote on May 29, 2007 12:46 PM:I think that Bush's comments are ready-made for Foxnews.
molly wrote on May 29, 2007 12:51 PM:Thanks bohdi. Maybe Bush's handlers will pull him when he is drunk on national tv. Right ..he has already done that. Just last week when the house was voting on whether to sue OPEC, a repub. from Fla. read,"We have a statement from the president that he will veto this bill. He spells president present. Guess he doesn't use spell check." That coming from a repub. Notice bush misses syllables when he is mad or agitated.Heard him say twice after a press conference, "Thank you for your answers." I used to be a substance abuse nurse...don't know if it's drugs, booze or both.
StephenH wrote on May 29, 2007 12:51 PM:Bush has never had any respect for the public or their opinions. His governing style has always been to lie and say one thing, and then do the opposite. Most of the public finally understands this and now they don't believe anything he says. So he has to lie about what the public thinks because his other lies aren't working anymore.
GE wrote on May 29, 2007 12:54 PM:>
Deluded vs the above. The two are not mutually exclusive, I believe.
I think if you listen to his recorded conversations you will find that he continually engages in emotionally reasoning, which is a textbook cognitive distortion.
Re: sociopathic tendencies. Aren't there reliable reports that he blew up frogs with firecrackers as a kid? He certainly was a bully at Andover (I have this from a first hand report from a victim of his bullying). Both are predictors of sociopathic tendencies (although I caution to add not 100% predictors, not all kids who are cruel to animals or bullies grow up to display sociopathic traits).
Regards,
trank wrote on May 29, 2007 12:54 PM:GE
he is isolated and it is possible that he is not getting the truth from his staff
has he ever responded to a press conference question prefaced by the polling reality?
the whole bush pyramid of cards, like any other reign or dictatorship, requires that the guy at the top maintain his cerrtitude- he can never be wrong- and that requires monumental levels of denial.
he is very practised at denial and his whole environment is controled to help him maintain that denial- otherwise the fantasy world he lives in, in which he is king, falls apart and he loses his royal certitude and begins to huddle in the corner in fear.
Jason wrote on May 29, 2007 1:03 PM:OUCH! Xman
Hank wrote on May 29, 2007 1:09 PM:All I know is that we have a war that Bush says we won't disengage from until we win. However he can't or won't articulate what "winning" would look like.
He's already redefined "progress" from the surge to include both casualties going up or going down, so we're sure to be told in September that the surge is working.
I am so sick of this man and his delusions and lies. Many more people are going to die before he's gone, and we seem helpless to prevent it.
714Day wrote on May 29, 2007 1:11 PM:Yes, bodhi, we do know about the coup - some of us. (As to that, I'm not sure which is more frightening the Supreme Court sideshow or the theft of the vote.)
lyksumlikrish wrote on May 29, 2007 1:22 PM:But who likes being a big kid? Adulthood requires self examination and self responsibility. If we make the mature assessment of the realities, we have to change them if they're grotesque and deadly. Now, who wants to do that? Not John Doe who is busting ass all day to try to keep his family knee deep in the latest material must haves, not the politicos who can draw on a conscience (as opposed to those simply incapable), not anyone in the little red hen's purview.
Besides, it's rather appalling to believe a syndicate is running the nation. Best to keep pretending. Someone else will get around to squaring it up. Who wants to be, well, you know,...someone?
He is the Black Knight - "It's just a scratch. Come back here and fight - coward!"
714Day wrote on May 29, 2007 1:28 PM:to molly
It's both.
j swift wrote on May 29, 2007 2:10 PM:At this point the climax of the Iraq debacle is almost entirely about saving face. That is, George the Dim saving face and the Republican party saving face.
Thus, we have the push to draw this out til the election. If the Dems win, then it becomes the albatross around their neck. George the Dim's, the Bush Administration as a whole, and the do- nothing Republican controlled Congress will cease to exist. The bookends will be Clinton's incompetence on the left and the new sucker's incompetence on the right. Everything that transpired in between will fall down a rabbit hole or will be the inevitable consequences of Clinton's incompetence.
If the Repulbican's win the Presidency, well then it will the same cheerleading and fearmongering without results for another four years, unless the present Dem congress moves on this issue.
jimbo92107 wrote on May 29, 2007 4:10 PM:George Bush's biggest talent is his ability to make the majority of Americans disappear.
We The People must demonstrate our presence more prominently.
bartcopfan wrote on May 29, 2007 4:16 PM:Bush Translation: Only Republicans are Americans. And a majority of the 30% are still with him. In BushWorld, the Dem's are on a level with the terrorists.
Posted by: male
Date: May 29, 2007 10:54 AM
What male said.
bartcopfan wrote on May 29, 2007 4:27 PM:President Bush polls from his gut and finds "most Americans" support his policies.
-- Paul Kiel
Pompano Pete Jr wrote on May 29, 2007 6:36 PM:Sorry, Paul, but I had to laugh at the "polls from his gut" part. I think W pulled these numbers from an orifice a bit lower!
bohdi, Xmen, 741Day are all correct in their analysis of what has taken place. But, so what?
America is not paying attention, and nothing anyone says or does is going to change that until our current system collapses. We're addicted to foreign oil, pollution, corruption, bloated military, and opinion over reality. We're stupid beyond belief. But our response is, "But America is still the greatest nation in the world". Have you ever asked someone to explain such an unsupported statement?
If we can deny reality, Georgie can deny it too, and we all pretend it isn't happening.
The Soviet Union sunk like a rock once reality set in, and it will happen again right here and all we can do is remove ourselves from the breakdown.
Mike Valentine wrote on May 29, 2007 7:50 PM:The yiddish expression for screw you is trust me.
Bush is Jewish? Who knew?
JNagarya wrote on May 29, 2007 10:07 PM:"Johnson went through this during the Vietnam War. It is called Denial. And it is logical really...you're in so deep and you have so much on the line that reality is no longer your friend. Only those who continue to regurgitate the "party line" are allowed into this fairly land. And Realists are simply persona non grata...
"Posted by: yendornyc
Date: May 29, 2007 10:42 AM"
Realists know that Johnson did no such thing. He refused to run, and would refuse to accept nomination from the Democratic Party, precisely because he wasn't in denial.
In fact, in recent days an excerpt from a Johnson tape was posted on TPM in which he is asking what the US is doing in Viet Nam.
'Course, some of us were attentive adults at the time -- some of us were unwillingly eligible for the draft. We needn't guess at it.
Denial is a Republican virtue. For almost everyone else, it is lying.
JNagarya wrote on May 29, 2007 10:12 PM:"In a very accurate sense he's deluded.
"Regards,
GE
"Posted by: GE
Date: May 29, 2007 11:26 AM"
Are you qualified to diagnose, Dr. Frist?
daniel mckeehan wrote on May 29, 2007 11:21 PM:Bush realy got to me today he made a statement that those who difer with him on his emergration policy just want to scare people, thats all they can do. Talk about scaring people, from a man who was re-elected by scaring the s--t out of people who just don't pay enough attention to the facts and get their facts in sound bites.
GE wrote on May 30, 2007 12:39 AM:..."In a very accurate sense he's deluded.
"Regards,
GE
"Posted by: GE
Date: May 29, 2007 11:26 AM"
Are you qualified to diagnose, Dr. Frist?...
I'm not offering a diagnosis. I'm pointing out a cognitive distortion that Bush regularly engages in. To the extent that Bush believes that these distortions are an accurate guide to objective reality (and this is something that he regularly claims), his thinking is distorted. A very accessible discussion of these kinds of distortions (which we all engage in to one degree or another) is contained in Burns' Feeling Good Handbook.
And yes, I am qualified to venture this opinion and the opinion about torturing animals as a predictor of later antisocial behaviors.
Regards,
outnow wrote on May 30, 2007 2:00 PM:GE, MA Clinical Psychology, Doctoral Candidate, Psychology
In Bushworld (tm) up is down and down is up. It's a topsy, turvy world.
The Oil Nazis have such a hold on the media that truth and reality are out the window. Faith-based is the opposite of evidence-based. Plausible denial becomes gospel.
The old joke about the baptism comes to mind. After being held under water sveral times the sinner was asked, "Do you believe? Do you believe?" Finally he sputtered, "Yes." Then, "What do you believe?" Answer, "I do believe you are trying to drown me!"
I am just as convinced as the sinner by the BushCo psycho-babble of the echo machine that call themselves media. I do believe they are drowning us all in bull s.... while they go to the bank.
Follow the money and you will connect the dots.
outnow wrote on May 30, 2007 2:32 PM:About Bush's cognitive and speech impairments...
Bush is the "decider." One with ssignificant cognitive impairment. Such people have to use a "gut instinct" to augment their impaired thinking processes.
The cognitive problem is physiological apparently. The confounding problem is characterological.
Anyone catch Bush's blinking period. Everything he said before the Iraq invasion was accompanied by extreme blinking, an obvious sign of dishonesty. To me, he flunked the facial dishonesty test. Colin Powell and George Tenet at the U. N.for example. Wow! they knew they were lying. So did I. Condi is also pathological but I digress.
Alcohol and other drugs can cause Kosikoff's and Weirnicki's syndrome where confabulation fills in the blanks. Hey! Check out the decline in speech functions of the President. This problem is not just word choice, it reflects a mental decline.
Character disorder? You bet. What if your Dad was head of the CIA? Branding a "delta" on the fraternity pledges behinds using a hot, straightened out coat hanger with a trianglular end and hurting small animals for fun are serious symptoms.
The foreshadowing of sadistic behavior was evident in his psychological history - absent dad, harsh mom, secretive family history in energy, diplomacy and foreign policy. Lot's of family pathology. Never a good doctor, never a good lawyer in three generations.
The religious conversion rather than alcohol treatment is interesting. 12 step programs encourage one to "get honest" to live a principled life.
outnow wrote on May 30, 2007 2:32 PM:About Bush's cognitive and speech impairments...
Bush is the "decider." One with ssignificant cognitive impairment. Such people have to use a "gut instinct" to augment their impaired thinking processes.
The cognitive problem is physiological apparently. The confounding problem is characterological.
Anyone catch Bush's blinking period. Everything he said before the Iraq invasion was accompanied by extreme blinking, an obvious sign of dishonesty. To me, he flunked the facial dishonesty test. Colin Powell and George Tenet at the U. N.for example. Wow! they knew they were lying. So did I. Condi is also pathological but I digress.
Alcohol and other drugs can cause Kosikoff's and Weirnicki's syndrome where confabulation fills in the blanks. Hey! Check out the decline in speech functions of the President. This problem is not just word choice, it reflects a mental decline.
Character disorder? You bet. What if your Dad was head of the CIA? Branding a "delta" on the fraternity pledges behinds using a hot, straightened out coat hanger with a trianglular end and hurting small animals for fun are serious symptoms.
The foreshadowing of sadistic behavior was evident in his psychological history - absent dad, harsh mom, secretive family history in energy, diplomacy and foreign policy. Lot's of family pathology. Never a good doctor, never a good lawyer in three generations.
The religious conversion rather than alcohol treatment is interesting. 12 step programs encourage one to "get honest" to live a principled life.
theunclejoeroom wrote on May 31, 2007 7:41 AM:When, on behalf of its rich and powerful, a big nation has done to a small one what the US has done to Iraq, of what is that big nation deserving? This is very troubling. We let it happen.
johannes wrote on July 28, 2007 10:18 PM:please mark my words -bush will stay on another
johannes wrote on July 28, 2007 10:18 PM:term in 2008.
within 16 months the americans will be grateful
that he did.
I know you little mice, cute but small brain.
even intelligent mice never understand how a mouse
trap works.
gigantic catastrophic circumstances require
standfast, direct and ironclad leadership.
NO MICE.
please mark my words -bush will stay on another
johannes wrote on July 28, 2007 10:19 PM:term in 2008.
within 16 months the americans will be grateful
that he did.
I know you little mice, cute but small brain.
even intelligent mice never understand how a mouse
trap works.
gigantic catastrophic circumstances require
standfast, direct and ironclad leadership.
NO MICE.
please mark my words -bush will stay on another
Eldred Z. Davis wrote on October 24, 2007 8:12 PM:term in 2008.
within 16 months the americans will be grateful
that he did.
I know you little mice, cute but small brain.
even intelligent mice never understand how a mouse
trap works.
gigantic catastrophic circumstances require
standfast, direct and ironclad leadership.
NO MICE.
I trust my Presidet. But I am strong to talk to all africa america peoples in america.I have the "Power Sign Langauge". Itis called "God Bless America". Bush is my right side. God, I want you. I appoint Bush frist with Jesus Chjrst. I appoint God last. I know you not like color peoples in America. All color peoples are free and right belong to the President and me. I am save. I am save. I am save. I am save for all color people. Free at not last. I am free . I am free. I am fre at forever. Don"t hate. Don"t hurt. I love all color peoples. Don"t listen the Africa America people say. I still hold all kid's hands and all color people's hand to be right and peace in America and the World. Because deaf peoples and hearing peoples not like to be together in peace in the world. You are one family to billion families in the world. I try to help all color peoples in America and the world. it is too late because billion peoples want to bad trouble in the world like " TERRORIST PEOPLE". You don't know the "TERRORIST PASTORS and TERORRORIST BISHOPS" in America and the world. Because they teached the baby and babies so late,late ,late, As all pastors all bishops teached the baby as babies so far and late. Right now I will give all color peoples and you the "ONE MORE WALK WITH ME" about God Bless America and The World. I say "YES, GOD LOVE YOU" and let you know about me and my president in America . Jesus Christ, I LOVE ALL COLOR PEOPLES AND YOU IN AMERICA AND THE WORLD. AS I AM SAVE FOR YOU SO FOREVER. AMEN