Bush's 'dementia' - in an ATLANTIC letter!

[alonso_quijano]

The Atlantic Monthly, as a conservative magazine, has been as big an apologist for the Bush administration as anybody--and probably more damaging than most, as they have the credibility that, say, Fox just doesn't. They've backed off from their support of the Iraq war since the death of editor Michael Kelly in Iraq, and have actually done some good, in-depth reporting critical of both starting the war and prosecuting it. However, they've still been cheerleading Bush, mocking Democrats, and generally being deliberately obtuse about the harm being wrought upon this country.

So imagine my surprise when I open up this month's issue and read the first letter to the editor:

---

When George Meets John

James Fallows's description of John Kerry's debating skills ("When George Meets John," July/August Atlantic) was interesting, but what was most remarkable was Fallows's documentation of President Bush's mostly overlooked changes over the past decade--specifically, "the striking decline in his sentence-by-sentence speaking skills." Fallows points to "speculations that there must be some organic basis for the President's peculiar mode of speech--a learning disability, a reading problem, dyslexia or some other disorder," but correctly concludes, "The main problem with these theories is that through his forties Bush was perfectly articulate."

I, too, felt that something organic was wrong with President Bush, most probably dyslexia. But I was unaware of what Fallows pointed out so clearly: that Bush's problems have been developing slowly, and that just a decade ago he was an articulate debater, "artful indeed in steering questions and challenges to his desired subjects," who "did not pause before forcing out big words, as he so often does now, or invent mangled new ones." Consider, in contrast, the president: "the informal Q&As he has tried to avoid," "Bush's recent faltering performances," "his unfortunate puzzled-chimp expression when trying to answer questions," "his stalling, defensive pose when put on the spot," "speaking more slowly and less gracefully."

Not being a professional medical researcher and clinician, Fallows cannot be faulted for not putting two and two together. But he was 100 percent correct in suggesting that Bush's problem cannot be "a learning disability, a reading problem, (or) dyslexia," because patients with those problems have always had them. Slowly developing cognitive deficits, as demonstrated so clearly by the President, can represent only one diagnosis, and that is "presenile dementia"! Presenile dementia is best described to nonmedical persons as a fairly typical Alzheimer's situation that develops significantly earlier in life, well before what is usually considered old age. It runs about the same course as typical senile dementias, such as classical Alzheimer's--to incapacitation and, eventually, death, as with President Ronald Reagan, but at a relatively earlier age. President Bush's "mangled" words are a demonstration of what physicians call "confabulation," and are almost specific to the diagnosis of a true dementia. Bush should immediately be given the advantage of a considered professional diagnosis, and started on drugs that offer the possibility of retarding the slow but inexorable course of the disease.

Joseph M. Price, M.D.
Carsonville, Mich.

---

Presenile dementia, folks. That'd explain it.

[Dogmudgeon]

1. So would a conscience

Being an evil, corrupt muthafukka with a still-functioning conscience could also screw with Bush's behavior mightily.

Here again, drugs would "help".

--bkl

[seemslikeadream]

2. Bush's Erratic Behavior Worries White House Aides

Bush's Erratic Behavior Worries White House Aides
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=602189

[NC_Nurse]

3. I've wondered about that too

He didn't seem to be so incoherent 4 years ago. I wasn't sure if he was drinking or getting Alzheimer's. Interesting. I doubt that we'll hear about it anyway, even if he is diagnosed, since people might think twice about voting for him. The junta will want to keep their puppet going.

[bunkerbuster1]

4. I read this same "Letters" item last night and felt a little sick

I was thinking it was history repeating itself. We had someone in the White House before, whose detractors claimed wasn't all there, and whose supporters would cover with all kinds of absurd explanations for his increasingly erratic behavior.

Who knows if this Dr. Price (who is listed as having a practice in Carsonville, BTW) is on to something or not, but it actually makes more sense than any other explanation I can imagine.

I never considered GWB stupid, nor (unlike many here) especially evil. But I have serious problems with his willingness to delegate and, essentially, take the word of specific trusted "experts" on specific items--Rove for the campaign, Ashcroft for legal stuff, Cheney for, well, everything else I guess.

I'm familiar with the manifestations of senility. I watched a neighbor, a man only in his (gulp) 50s, who was incredibly bright and funny slowly wither away inside to the point where only occasional flashes of his brilliance and wit would poke through.

If what Dr. Price says is true, then another 4 years of Bush will mean another four years of "I can't recall" and "I don't remember."
I don't want it to be true, but it does makes sense.

/bb

[Lisa]

10. I remember reading an account by Dr. Helen Caldicott

... of a meeting she had with Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. She suspected something was wrong with him, in the medical sense -- as a doctor, she would have known about dementia symptoms. Being in the same room as him, observing him as he talked to her, left her concerned and disturbed. At the time, people dismissed her worries as leftist peacenik rantings, but knowing what we know now, I think she was onto something.

As you say, bunkerbuster1 -- 50 is definitely not too young to experience dementia. The mother of a school friend was afflicted while she was in her mid-40s, and one of the first signs was a change in her personality -- irritability and defensiveness -- as she tried to conceal what was happening to her. She kind of closed down, over a period of a couple of years, and refused to see people outside of the family and longtime friends, because she thought they were making fun of her.

[RamboLiberal]

11. I've seen Reagan video - even in his 2nd term he was

still able to speak in full sentences. I've suspected that Bush did damage with drugs and booze and is very likely in early onset of Alzheimers or something else.

Too bad it will probably take 20-40 years before we will know the truth.

[SharonAnn]

20. An former boss, then good friend of mine was diagnosed at 50 with

what was called "early onset Alzheimer's". His wife had insisted that he go to a geriatric specialist after his regular MD didn't think there was anything to worry about. If he was diagnosed at 50, he'd had signs before but we all had attributed them to overwork, stress, etc.

He was a brilliant, witty person before and that person has now completely disappeared. He's 60 now, in an "assisted living" home for Alzheimer's patients and is a real problem for them. He's physically strong and gets agitated very easily. He's very mobile, doesn't sleep well at night and walks the halls, and has no idea what's going on.

[Crunchy Frog]

5. That was something that I really noticed

in the movie F911. There was footage of him speaking from a decade or so ago, and it was like listening to a different person. Way, way more articulate, (still an asshole).

I think it's quite likely that he has a rapidly progressing degenerative neurological situation going on.

If he gets a second term, I predict that at the end of it, they're barely even going to be able to scrape him off the floor, or get a coherent word out of him. The sick thing is that nearly half the country will still think he's been sent by God to deliver the world from evil.

[KurtNYC]

6. Could it be dislexia AND PS dementia?

Bush himself said, "That woman who knew I was dislexic, I never interviewed her."

Which I'm pretty sure translates to "I am dislexic but that woman who said so never interviewed me."

I should note also that many dislexics are successful business people and compensate for the impairment with excellent recall. But they tend to prefer to receive information orally as opposed to by reading.

[acmavm]

7. I know a dislexic person and he doesn't even come close to acting

as whacked as bush* does, nor has he shown any signs of decreasing mental capabilities. He has problems that is true, but he certainly doesn't say things like 'OB/GYNs not being able to practice their love', or the peance freeance thing, and the rest of the really strange things bush* says. Because of nonrecognition of his problems, he seemed at times to be a little slow, so to speak. But this has been consistent. It just didn't seem to suddenly show up one day.

But I do know someone that's gotten increasingly paranoid and semi-hysterical as they've gotten older. That person has a history of alcohol abuse. The man is petty, he lies, he's sneaky, paranoid, and he has a vendictive streak in him a mile wide. He's done some really dishonest things in his life, some would even be criminal if he would have been caught at them, but he's the first person to tell you that "God hates falsifiers". That is a direct quote. This coming from a man who's told so many whoppers in his life that if that statement is true, his room in hell is already reserved. I understand that he doesn't drink now but I also know that he's gotten worse over the years in regard to his mental problems. If you ever met him you would think he's a really nice guy, unless you had to spend a lot of time around him. Then you'd start to get a clue. He can't maintain the facade for long.

[maxsolomon]

8. our second alzheimer's president

can any other nation boast of such broad-mindedness in leaders? no, they all insist on mental competency, the bigots.

[vogonity]

9. It's Drugs

I have posted this opinion in other forums as it is my favorite sub-topic of the sickness that is the bush administration: Speculation as to the various causes of his mental decline.

I think he is abusing prescription medications such as Ambien, Xanax, Vicodin, Percocet (he has bad knees right? Can't run anymore?) I also suspect he is hitting the bottle now also.

Think of all those "Georgie needs to be in bed by 9:30" stories in the context of a drug/alcohol abuser. I think he barely can keep it together probably popping a few Xanax throughout the day, then finally getting behind a closed door for the night and really letting loose with something stronger. I would like to know if abyone has any information as to the rules for his staff contacting him after hours. I think there are probably very strict "do not disturb" rules because I think he is probably out of his head much of the evening and night.

Those spills he has taken I think are indicators of a guy who is seriously affected by chemicals. The pretzel incident, the "wet road" incident, the spill on the Segway, and I am now just dredging up from my memory a spill on a bike back during the 2000 campaign. I may be wrong on the time, but it was definitely before the pretzel incident.

Lets face it if you are someone who is generally inclined toward "chemical recreation" as we know he is, and in position as the most powerful office holder in the world, you are going to make sure you have good source of drugs.

I also believe that his August "vacations" were probably absolutely mandatory for his ability to even pretend to be a functional adult. He is in over his head and everybody knows it.


GWB-- Worst Predident in American History. Period.

[hatrack]

13. Regarding 9:30 bedtimes and all of that

There seems to be growing concensus, even in Imperial Propaganda like CNN, MSNBC & Newsweek, that the later it is in the day, i.e. 3:00 or 4:00 PM, the ruder, angrier and snappier Bush becomes.

No single source, but a number of articles have discussed how the WOT has changed the Fearless Leader, and this is a consistent theme. This definitely fits in with what you've written.

[juslikagrzly]

18. Could be Sundowner's Syndrome

www.alzla.org/dementia/sundowning.html

where those with dementia such as alzheimer's begin to decompensate in the late afternoon, early evening.

(sorry if link doesn't work well, I'm 'puter illiterate)

[smirkymonkey]

22. Good analysis vogonity!

and welcome to DU! :hi:

[Love Bug]

12. I'd vote for alcoholic dementia, myself

My ex brother-in-law has it. Used to be able to have a coherent conversation with him. Not any more. He now lives in a nursing home. Still drinks, too, when he can get it.

Edit: Actually, now that I think about it, I used to have a coworker who had a brain tumor when she was in her late 20s. Before she was diagnosed we all noticed her increasing aphasia and word-mixing.

[teryang]

19. Alcohol related OBS is my vote as well n/t

[Gyre]

14. He talks like a freakin frat boy! OK?

Holy crap! I've never seen so much unchallenged speculative rubbish in a long time. And I'm one of those damned trial lawyers!

Gyre

[bunkerbuster1]

16. I'd like to see the videotapes

...of the Ann Richards debates. The way the original article (which the letter-writer was responding to) made it sound, he was extremely sharp and quick on his feet, there.

(Note to self--chat with Austin family members, who might have seen them as well.)

Then again, there is that theory many of us have been advancing for years, that GWB's deliberately dumbed down his public persona as a Presidential candidate for tactical reasons. But if it's an act it is a hell of an act to be keeping in character all these years.

/bb

[bunkerbuster1]

15. BTW--Atlantic is a conservative magazine?

If by "conservative" you mean careful, considered, old-fashioned in the way it carefully edits / fact-checks its feature articles, yeah. If you mean "to the right of center," I think you'll need more evidence than (say) it publishes PJ O'Rourke. So did Rolling Stone, and I don't think RS was ever "conservative."

I think of it as more center-left, like a monthly, heftier version of the New Republic. But I've only been receiving it at home for a few months, and read issues here and there, before.

/bb

[Lydia Leftcoast]

17. I think of it more as center-center

I subscribed to the Atlantic for years until I noticed its right-ward drift in favor of corporate globalization and militarism.

Now I spend my money on subscriptions to Harper's and The American Prospect. Lewis Lapham and his contributors say what needs to be said, and The American Prospect gives an enlightened policy wonk's view of the political scene.

The New Republic hasn't been "left" of much of anything for a long time, not since they supprted Reagan's bolstering of right-wing dictatorships in Central America during the 1980s.

Okay, they're left of the National Review and the Reader's Digest, but that's about it.

[grasswire]

24. the eye of the beholder

I read Atlantic for a lot of years but gave up five or so years ago except for an occasional notable essay. Why did I stop reading it? It drifted right of center. I believe that's the general consensus.

[smirkymonkey]

21. Or, he is well on his way to alcoholic wet brain...

it would make sense if you take his behavior and his "accidents" into account.

Dementia makes it seem like he's a victim of something outside himself. I think it's a little more complicated and self-inflicted than that.

[Pretty_in_CodePink]

23. He might want to reconsider his postion on stem cell research.

[TexasBushwhacker]

25. Not all brain damage is reversible

Bush drank heavily for the better part of 20 years. I know that the brain is able to repair itself somewhat, but that kind of long term, heavy abuse is going to have some permanent effects. Add regular aging and high stress to that. I'd love to see what a PET scan of his brain looks like, compaired to a normal one. For one thing, alcohol abuse causes shrinkage of the hippocampus, which is also seen in Alzheimer's patients. The hippocampus plays an important roll in memory function.

[vogonity]

26. Has anyone seen new forehead scrapes on * from 9/11-9/12

Over on Smirking Chimp a couple of people have noted what appears to be new forehead scrapes on *'s left eyebrow. A couple stills were posted that appeared to show *something* there.

I saw a video this morning of * in Russia (I think) and in the video there is clearly something on his left eybrow region. I don't have access to link to the stills at the moment, but I would like to know if anyone noticed anything over the weekend.

GWB-- Worst President in American History. Period.

[indepat]

28. By far, by any measure IMHO, without any doubt, without question

and there have been several very bad ones.

[grace0418]

27. I really and truly believe he is a sociopath

I came to that conclusion about 6 months ago and I decided to google "george bush sociopath" and a lot came up. One article listed the traits of a sociopath, which were alarming to say the least. Another gave more explanation of why the author believes this.

Here are a few excerpts:

"Mark Crispin Miller, author of The Bush Dyslexicon and professor of
media studies at New York University, who also sees the darker Bush,
said in a Nov. 28 interview with the Toronto Star, ""Bush is not an
imbecile. He's not a puppet. I think that Bush is a sociopathic
personality. I think he's incapable of empathy. He has an inordinate
sense of his own entitlement, and he's a very skilled manipulator.
And in all the snickering about his alleged idiocy, this is what a
lot of people miss."...

..."He has no trouble speaking off the cuff when he's speaking
punitively, when he's talking about violence, when he's talking about
revenge," Miller told Whyte. "When he struts and thumps his chest,
his syntax and grammar are fine. It's only when he leaps into the
wild blue yonder of compassion, or idealism, or altruism, that he
makes these hilarious mistakes." ...

..."This, then, is why he's so closely watched by his handlers, Miller
says not because he'll say something stupid, but because he'll
overindulge in the language of violence and punishment at which he
excels," Whyte wrote.

"He's a very angry guy, a hostile guy. He's much like Nixon. So
they're very, very careful to choreograph every move he makes. They
don't want him anywhere near protestors, because he would lose his
temper," Miller said...

And here's the link:
http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/archive.cgi?noframes%3Bread=26728

This article was dated Dec. 2002, before Bush really went of the deep end with the war, so I think it's very telling.

[Xipe Totec]

29. Things Go Better For Him With Cocaine

I bet he misses it.