The Sociopathic Bush Administration; Meeting the Psychiatric Criteria item
by item
- by Mary Shaw
www.OpEdNews.com
When Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was recently questioned by a U.S.
soldier regarding the shortage of armor to protect our troops in Iraq, his
insensitive response seemed to suggest that armor is for sissies, because
even armored humvees can explode. The lack of compassion and lack of empathy
exemplified by his response reinforced my belief that the Bush
administration consistently displays clear signs of collective sociopathic
behavior.
Let's take a look at some of the characteristics of sociopathic behavior, as
defined by the American Psychiatric Association, and see how they fit:
1. Callousness, lack of empathy, irresponsibility, and reckless disregard
for the safety of others: In addition to Rumsfeld's most recent display of
callousness and reckless disregard, President Bush routinely exhibits these
symptoms.
Childhood friends have described how the young George W. Bush would attach
firecrackers to frogs and blow them up. Decades later, as Governor of Texas,
Bush mocked and ridiculed convicted murderer Karla Fae Tucker's desperate
plea for her life. Today, President Bush sends our young people to Iraq to
fight an out-of-control war based on lies, ships American workers' jobs
overseas, runs up the budget deficit, and sets out to put Social Security
into the hands (and pockets) of Wall Street brokers, with apparently no
consideration for how this reckless behavior will affect average Americans.
He and those closest to him remain safe in their money-padded cocoons, far
removed from the reality that their actions create.
2. Glibness and superficial charm: George W. Bush won votes with his casual,
down-home style. He won the support of the heartland's cupcake moms and
NASCAR dads by coming across as a regular guy. At the height of the 2004
campaign season, when asked which candidate they would rather have a beer
with, 43 percent responded that they would rather have a beer with President
Bush, compared with 25.1 percent for John Kerry. But Bush's frozen smirk
betrays a glibness that tells us that his underlying agenda does not include
buying a round at the local saloon for the common folks.
3. Deceitfulness: George H. W. Bush deceived the nation when he said, "Read
my lips: no new taxes." But that lie did not cost thousands of innocent
lives. George W. sent our young men and women into Iraq to fight a war based
on false
allegations: Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, ties to al- Qaeda, and a
grave and gathering threat to America. Vice President Cheney still clings to
some of these stories, and National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice herself
tapdanced around the truth in her testimony before the 9/11 Commission.
This administration does not let facts get in the way of their agenda.
4. Grandiose sense of self: Having won reelection with 51 percent of the
vote (hardly a landslide), George W. Bush described his victory as a
"mandate." He claimed to have earned "political capital" during the
campaign, which he now intends to spend. The other 49 percent of the voting
public will just have to accept it. After all, as Bush told an Amish group
in July of 2004, "God speaks through me."
5. Aggressiveness and failure to conform to social norms with respect to
lawful behaviors: The Bush administration displays these tendencies on a
grand and global scale.
Perhaps nothing illustrates this better than the war in Iraq, launched in
defiance of international law and the U.N.
charter and replete with war crimes, including the use of indiscriminate
weapons against civilian targets and the blatant and calculated skirting of
the Geneva Conventions.
6. Impulsivity and failure to plan ahead: The war in Iraq was not a response
to a direct attack. Contrary to the all- too-common myth that Iraq was
involved in 9/11, Saddam Hussein was contained and posed no immediate threat
to the U.S. mainland. Nevertheless, the Bush administration chose to divert
troops from their search in Afghanistan for the real threat - Osama bin
Laden - and launch a poorly planned war in Iraq with inadequate supplies and
no real exit strategy. And who pays the price? American soldiers and
innocent Iraqi civilians do. I'm sure we'll never see Jenna or Barbara Bush
volunteering for combat duty.
7. Lack of remorse or guilt, and failure to accept responsibility for own
actions: Despite all these atrocities, George W. Bush still refuses to admit
to any mistakes. Administration officials continue to assure the American
people that everything is going just fine in Iraq and here at home. The
scariest part of it is that Bush seems to actually believe the spin. And
perhaps that's why so many voters believe it too, despite all the
in-your-face evidence to the contrary.
Cult experts have observed that a number of mind-manipulating cult leaders
tend to exhibit many of the characteristics of a sociopath behavior as they
charm and seduce their followers into sometimes dangerous situations. Is the
U.S. turning into a cult of mindless, trusting subservience to the
right-wing agenda?
America needs to wake up before they pass out the proverbial Kool-Aid.
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Mary Shaw is a Philadelphia-based writer and activist. She is a regular
columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, and her views on human rights and
social justice issues have appeared in numerous online forums and in
newspapers and magazines worldwide. She can be reached at mary@maryshawonline.com.
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