A medical cause for Bushisms (pre-senile dementia)

[JoFerret]

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2004/09/14/a_medical_cause_for_bushisms/

....
So why does Bush sound stupid? One doctor thinks he shows signs of "presenile dementia," or an early onset of Alzheimer's disease.

This summer, Joseph Price, a self-described "country doctor" in Carsonville, Mich., was reading a long article in The Atlantic about Bush's speaking style. Author James Fallows alluded to Bush's malapropisms and to speculation that Bush had a learning disorder or dyslexia. But those conditions generally manifest themselves in childhood. Furthermore, Fallows wrote, "through his forties Bush was perfectly articulate."

Dr. Price's children happened to have given him a daily tear-off calendar of "Bushisms" for Christmas. "They are horrible, but they are also diagnostic," Price says. When he read that Bush had spoken clearly and performed well while debating Texas politician Ann Richards in 1994, Price thought: "My God, the only way you can explain that is by being Alzheimer's."

In a letter to be published in The Atlantic's October issue, Price calls presenile dementia "a fairly typical Alzheimer's situation that develops significantly earlier in life. . . . President Bush's `mangled' words are a demonstration of what physicians call `confabulation' and are almost specific to the diagnosis of a true dementia." He adds that Bush should be "started on drugs that offer the possibility of retarding the slow but inexorable course of the disease."

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[LiberalVoice]

1. I think he's already retarded.

You can't slow down whats already been done. :shrug:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. We all know Bush is demented, all right

I will have to ask my doctor friend about this. Her analysis of Bush's behavior is that he's a dry drunk-maybe he could be both?

[Sugarbleus]

3. Hmmm, maybe but Bush was talking like this since his youth...and

my own hubby has trouble with malaprop. Of course my hubby isn't the prez and he isn't a megalomaniac either; he is sweet and funny and lets us laugh with him over his "blurbs".

[Hekate]

4. Way scary

> He adds that Bush should be "started on drugs that offer
> the possibility of retarding the slow but inexorable course
> of the disease."

How about we just toss him out of office and let him try to find those drugs on his own. We have a country to run.

Hekate

[leftchick]

5. I agree but with no drug coverage....

wouldn't that be appropriate?

[Disturbed]

7. A millionaire.

He doesn't need any more money.

In case he goes bankrupt though he can borrow a few million from his buddy Cheney who has $70 Million.

[leftchick]

10. as a millionaire...

he is used to getting something for nothing ao I still think it would piss him off. Even in his demented state! :)

[0007]

6. That's a cool way to cover up a genuine dimwit that's easily manipulated

by family and others.

[Judi Lynn]

8. This is the last line of this article.....

The Democrats would rather feel superior to their opponents than beat them, and so far they are doing a very good job.


I may be wrong, but this doesn't sound any too "fair and balanced."

Where ARE the real journalists, I'd like to know?

[izzie]

12. I do not think Bush is stupid, he just shuts his mind but to what he -----

'knows' is right. If you are sure you are right and no one speaks up or you do not hear them your in trouble. He is not the first guy to do this. Not fun to face facts.Half the voters want to think the same way.Look what Germany did to its self with a man who knew he was right? We can go through out history and see this over and over and with leaders that often were kept in office by voters. It is beyond me why, but their it is.

[dmr]

13. Yea, where the hell did that come from?

They just can't print something without weaving in some off the wall comment from the back of their biased mind.

Without thinking, the average American will end up believing that those off the wall comments are actual comments from the Kerry camp. Once again planting a negative seed.

[eurolefty]

15. I agree with the writer

I think his last sentence is true:"The Democrats would rather feel superior to their opponents than beat them, and so far they are doing a very good job."
The Democrats and the Republicans both have their very own special ways of sometimes being as annoying as hell. The Republicans' idiotisms are well known to readers of this website. At the end of his article Alex Beam states the number one Democratic way of being an idiot. And I think he is right.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

9. Or maybe it's the liquor.

I'm pretty sure he's beyond pre-senility.

[Norbert]

19. I think it is substance abuse.

I heard yeard of drug and alcohol abuse tends to make people mess up when speaking. It causes them to be a little paranoid too.

I wouldn't wish Alzheimers on anyone but having a pResident with a precurser to dimensia puts me in less of a comfort zone.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

26. Reagan had it when he was in office...

I wouldn't be surprised if his Alzheimers was responsible for his infuriating inability to grasp reality when it came to understanding the depth and breadth of our nation's social ills that came as a direct result of his "Reaganomics".

[leftchick]

11. "organic brain syndrome"

I had a lot of fellas in the VA hospital I worked in with this diognosis after years of alcohol/substance abuse. aWol*s "dementia" sure matches the symptoms.

[kutastha]

14. Interesting choice of words

Confabulation comes from a memory disturbance, where the patient seems like he or she is sort of like making stories up that really don't go anywhere. It's more of a sign of a disorder called Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, caused by chronic thiamine deficiency, often associated with long-term alcohol use. It does include trouble walking, and some eye movement disturbances as well.

I'd say neologia (making up semi-understandable words) are more what Bush has, which can be seen in dementia.

[Ernesto]

16. The "republican desease"

Probably caused by excessive lying.

[robbedvoter]

17. Bingo! Enough excuses - he just doesn't care what comes out his mouth

If it's not about killing or money making, his brain is not there - I am with Crispin Miller on this. Illness is way too convenient. he simply doesn't care what we think.

[JoFerret]

18. But under enough pressure

...he will go into meltdown or be over medicated (he will do anything to help out Eli Lilley - even sampling the product)to get through (remember that press conference speech he gave pre-Iraq when he was zoned out and the speculation was prescription of some sort - like father on Haldol. The form of the meltdown will reveal the diagnosis.

Here are the shrinks on why he is so indecisve, paranoid and delusional:
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/printer_4704.shtml

[Claire Beth]

20. I think he's drinking again....

he can't stay on a bicycle...falls down at a campaign speech. I do believe he is drinking or Karl is keeping him HEAVILY medicated.

[Sputnik]

21. Penile diminishment?

I swear, that's what I thought the subject was when I first scanned the board.

Sometimes we see what we want to see, I guess.


:evilgrin:

[LiberalFighter]

24. Same here...

had to check the rest of the posts to see if anyone else had the same thought.

[napi21]

22. I think it's genetic. Did you forget how bad his father was?

I've seen a few re-runs of GHB's speeches. He wasn't a whole lot better than the kid.

[LiberalFighter]

25. poppy would use incomplete sentences

[gold_bug]

23. aphasia -

I think it was author of the "Bushisms" book who suggested Bush may have aphasia. I think he can't speak 'cause he's just a dope.

[KayLaw]

27. Something is wrong

I think he should be forced to submit to random drug/alcohol testing like most other workers.