Sunday, March 16, 2008

Is Bush Certifiable?

I mean, seriously? Watching him do his little tap dance on the White House steps while waiting for Senator McCain last week, watching his song and dance routine at that event, hearing--and reading about--his breezy speech on the American economy, it did occur to me that the poor man, once merely out of his depth, had in fact slipped from simple denial of reality into the realm of certifiable disconnection from the world the rest of us inhabit.

I wonder if we out here in the public realm would necessarily recognize it, if it had happened? Is the man so protected by our common need to believe in the sanity of our leaders that we might refuse to recognize a dreadful truth? Are those around him conspiring to hide the truth from us? And how would we know, if this were true? I recall that wonderful book, Being There--and the wonderful Hal Ashby/Peter Sellers movie that was based on the Jerzy Kosinski novel, in which a simple-minded gardener ascended to the presidency. But this is more than a simple mind. It's a dangerously deluded one. And we're engaged in more than a novel or a movie. We're in it. And our "president" is showing signs of something more than common job-related stress.

Have we reached the time for rational minds to take control? Should we demand to have him evaluated by professionals? Should the leaders of Congress act to take the reins of government before the country self-destructs? How is it possible that it has come this far? I know we have only a few more months to survive this nightmare, but are things not getting worse from day to day, from hour to hour? Or is it just my imagination playing tricks with me?

I mean, seriously...

10 comments:

heartinsanfrancisco said...

I've been thinking the same thing for quite a while. I also can't understand why he hasn't been impeached.

I think our "leaders" are far more invested in saving face than in saving America, and that is beyond sad. It's terrifying.

Anonymous said...

I've seen some prettty compelling arguments for Bush having alcohol-related coginitive decline. I don't think it is just recently, though. I think Bush has a dangerous mix of organic impairment, regular ignorance, and sociopathy.

They call him James Ure said...

I find it interesting that politicians treat the public like we're stupid children. Yet they themselves act and rule quite immaturely.

Mark said...

I'm worried that my generation will muck this whole world up more than it already is.

Fortune Cookies said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fortune Cookies said...

I think it's really quite sad. He is likely displaying early signs of Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome (alcohol-related dementia)and will probably never get a proper diagnosis. Even more disturbing is that this man is running my country. Our country. The masses were swift to support the impeachment of Clinton for a little lie about some nookie, but Bush gets a free pass to kill countless innocent people in a war that was conducted based on lies and deception with an impeachment nowhere in sight.

MandT said...

In recent memory we were governed by a President with Alzheimer's. Bush is far worse. He remembers his sociopathic crimes and exalts in them. A comparison with Caligula might be more apt.

Anonymous said...

Impeachment. Or early elections. But it won't happen - political inertia. If it were my kid who had been killed in Iraq, enabling impeachment would be my new calling in life over the next six months.

robin andrea said...

Nothing will be done. The inattentiveness of our fellow citizens has allowed Bush's transgressions to go without challenge. We are about to bailout the Wall Street bankers. We are about to mark the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion. But invest in roads and bridges? Health care? NEVER. Protect Wall Street, absolutely. No wonder Bush smiles deliriously and tap dances.

Peter Clothier said...

I see there are many Buddha Diaries readers who think along the same lines as myself when it comes to the man who occupies the White House! Thanks to all for the responses. The thought that comes to mind is this: we must do everything we can to assure that his policies, at least, are not protracted into the next four years.