Doug quoted:
> [a letter in the current ish of The Atlantic Monthly]
>
> 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.
this diagnostic conclusion depends on two factors. 1. the belief that shrub has changed since he was in his 40s. 2. that his speech reflects "confabulation" related to presenile dementia.
1. as michael notes above, shrub's had problems when speaking truth under pressure for a long time, as noted by mark crispin miller, molly ivins, et al. he's so unused to it, and so out of touch with realities people like us take for granted, he's at a loss for words. he's also terribly ignorant about what most people term "issues;" he wings it, often making no sense at all. it appears this has been his pattern during his 40s, and probably before and since. shrub is not a deep thinker, folks.
2. presenile dementia and dementia are often characterized by confabulation, among several other things. but confabulation is not a proof of presenile dementia. it can be a characteristic of multiple personality disorders, narcissistic personality disorder, retardation, schizophrenia, substance abuse, etc. DTs can cause confabulation.
confabulators are often unaware their confabulations are inaccurate. shrub may have talent at coming across as a boob, but it's hard to say he does it on purpose. he's a natural.
in her forthcoming book, i understand that kitty kelly will introduce evidence that shrub was taking cocaine while at camp david during his father's presidency. this period falls roughly within the past 12 to 16 years -- not the 25 years since shrub found jesus -- wherever jesus was lurking -- and claims to be off all drugs and alcohol. it's hard to forget his "pretzel" incident, too.
with a lifestyle of chronic substance abuse, flight from reality, a lifetime of being overprotected and sheltered, and now an obsession with a repressive religion in which he sees himself a called upon by god, it's easy to imagine shrub never learned to "talk straight" when confused or under pressure to be honest. he appears to have more self confidence when lying and making up stories. and when drugged or drunk.
there is no doubt shrub has profound emotional problems; and possibly physiological problems which accompany decades of substance abuse. to make diagnostic claims about his mental health without a complete, detailed physiological medicine work up is completely irresponsible. as was said above, "he should be given the advantage of a considered professional diagnosis." this should be a lot more than a psychiatric evaluation. it should start with at least a thorough neurological consult, including a brain scan and testing, before anyone starts writing about dementia like a pop psych radio personality.
as wojo alludes, there's a danger in allowing the media and society to assume shrub is competent, or winning a presidential debate, just because he doesn't trip over his shoe laces or can finish a complete, however mangled, sentence. shrub's handlers have had too much success with portraying this child of money and privilege as a "regular guy" simply because he comes across as a dope, when a "man of the people" is as far from the truth about shrub and his background as possible. the best way to offset this impression is to spread as much of the truth about his past and current failures as possible. not even "boobus americanus" likes to identify with a total failure. we'll see if the kerry campaign figures this out.
R