Moron, Psychopath or Cynical Prick? The Bloody Hands of a Spoiled Brat

What would you say about someone who crassly, and repeatedly, invokes the memory of a horrible tragedy for personal gain? It certainly doesn't speak well about his or her character. And beyond that, it makes you wonder if such a person is mentally and/or emotionally stable. So at the very best, such a person is cynical and manipulative. And it may indicate a personality disorder, or even the possibility that the person is a psychopath. The American Heritage Dictionary (4th edition) defines a psychopath as, "A person with an antisocial personality disorder, manifested in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral behavior without empathy or remorse." From a clinical perspective, the lack of empathy is at the root of a psychopaths' troubles. Without empathy, there is no compassion or understanding beyond the self.

It's probably not going to surprise anyone when I posit that President George W. Bush, the man who currently runs the executive branch of our government directly, and the legislative branch indirectly (given that his party holds a strong majority), is either "cynical and manipulative" and/or a psychopath. And obviously I submit that he is using the terrorist attacks of September, 11 2001 for political gain.

Many would argue that he is not. Instead, they see a man who was genuinely moved by what happened, and he is just doing the best job he can. That may make him pathetic, and the worst president in the history of the republic, but that assessment leaves his character intact. His presidency is analagous to a severly mentally disabled man trying to put out a burning building with a yo-yo. Too tragic to be funny, and too inept to be left in charge. And yet here we are, with 862 days left in his presidency.

Naturally, there are those who say that Bush is doing a great job. Anyone who reads this blog, knows me, or has never suffered a terribly brain injury knows that is absurd. In order to be a Bush supporter, one would have to follow him as if he were the leader of a cult. And in a way, that is exactly how they see him. Did you ever hear the term, "Papal Infallability?" That's the belief held in the Catholic Church that the Pope gets his orders from god, and is therefore never wrong. He can't be wrong. Being the Pope means exemption from the possibility of error. That also means that no matter how ugly is the decision making process, the final decision is that's important. So in the unlikely event that the Pope uses porn stars and the women on The View as his advisors, his final decision is just as unquestionably correct as if he listened to cardinals and intellectuals.

I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that Bush's people are like that, and that Bush could do nothing to shake their support. Therefore, they are not driven by reason or compassion and are only important when it comes to the political strategies of the right and left. As in, how will they be used? But if you're trying to figure out what kind of person President Bush is, their input irrelevant, no matter how loudly they try to make their case.

So we're back to three possibilities:

1. Bush is a good man, but he is completely incompetent; or
2. Bush is cynical and cares more about advancement than people; or
3. Bush is a psychopath and needs to be hospitalized.

As I said before, I'm big on 2 and 3, but any of these means he is a unworthy of such high office. Strangely enough, none of these would get him impeached directly, as in cause-and-effect. He'd have to do something else.

There can be no doubt at all that Bush is using 9/11 to help justify a war, to frighten people as a way to justify NSA wiretaps, CIA secret prisons, and the use of torture against suspected terrorists. He also draws from the emotional lexicon of 9/11 to help make a case for a broad war against, "Islamofascists." I could go on and on. Just listen to the man speak. Now he's busy telling people that Clinton is responsible for 9/11. He can't NOT use this terrible time in our history to his advantage. Earlier today, I heard Senator John Kerry say, "It is immoral to treat 9/11 as a political pawn (to) excuse the invasion of Iraq, they were attacked and killed not by Saddam Hussein but by Osama bin Laden.”

More and more politicians are pointing the finger at Bush, and it's about time. It's one thing for a Country "music" star to write a sappy song about 9/11 to sell CD's. That's bad enough, but this is our president. It's hard to imagine that Bush doesn't say to himself, late at night when the mind tends to race and we all find ourselves examining our lives, "9/11 is the best thing that ever happened to me. Thank Jesus." Either that, or he's a psychopath who sleeps like a baby, with no regrets.

As of right now, Bush is personally responsible for the deaths of 2,667 American troops (or 2,900 "coalition" troops). Not to mention the 19,910 American soldiers who have been injured. And President Bush has admitted that 30,000 innocent Iraqi people have been killed. Although the British medical journal The Lancet puts that number at 100,000.

As far as I'm concerned, anyone who could launch a pre-emptive war with manipulated intelligence against another country for no reason (he's tried to sell so many reasons...none worked) is a dangerous psychotic. Not to mention he claims to have conversations with Jesus, the Messiah, not the gardener. And he has all this blood on his brush-clearing hands. So many people who would still be alive if he hadn't been elected.

Looking at it from that point of view, it doesn't matter what motivates him. He's like that guy in Sling Blade, walking around the house in the middle of the night with a hammer. When you see that, you have to take the hammer away and get the fellow some help; it doesn't matter if he's stupid or crazy, you just don't want to be beaten with a hammer. Bush is just like that, except he has the world's largest military at his disposal, and a pack of ardent supporters. Actually, if memory serves, Billy Bob at least took out one bad guy with a lawn-mower blade. So in that sense, his record is much better than Bush's.

But seriously, as more people die every day, and as both our friends and enemies hate us more and more, can you say that you're not as angry and nervous as I am?