Unfit For Command?

[MG]

Well, for the seventh time in a row, by my unofficial count, the next 6 months will be critical. Does it seem to anyone else that George W. Bush is psychological incapable of leading?

He has brushed off the advice of his generals by replacing them. He has brushed off the advice of his father's surrogates, aka the Iraq Study Group, by ignoring them. He has brushed off his critics in his own party.

From my perspecitve, this is ALL about some psychotic notion of proving his father wrong when the elder Bush refused to follow the retreating Iraqi army into Baghdad after they left Kuwait. COULD the US be being held hostage to some Oedipal sideshow between 41 and 43?

I, of course, don't know, being a lowly sociology major. But I DID read Bush On The Couch this fall in which a well respected psychologist denominated our president as a sadist and "dry drunk" who is incapable of feeling empathy for the people he hurts by his policies. Filling in the picture, he is inflexible and dismissive of anyone who disagrees with him.

Should our soldiers be guided by such a delusional mind?

If ONLY there was someone here with some professional credentials who could speak to these matters........

It is MY non-professional judgment that the President is a sociopathic lunatic and ought to be removed from office as unfit to be Commander in Chief. Even Dick Cheney is more rational than Bush.    Of course, as of this moment, no one has actually ASKED for my opinion. But you have it, nonetheless.  Fwiw......

[Ultra]

It is my professional judgement as a praxeologist that our standing president is becoming increasingly isolated emotionally due in largest part to the political isolation he has inflicted upon himself.  When cornered, wounded animals fight hardest and most viciously.  His fight is actually a shrewd one, if his own interests are to the only ones being considered.  Simply put, passing the failure to the next administration.

[MG]

if his own interests are to the only ones being considered

Precisely my point, Ultra. I can accept an enlargement of our forces in Iraq IF there is a valid military reason for doing so. But IF the reason is to burnish the luster of the President himself, who is solely interested in his standing in the pantheon of world leaders, then I say not one American soldier should be killed or maimed in pursuit of such a false and shameless endeavor.

The ultimate judgment of the author of Bush On The Couch is that he is a megalomaniac who cares not one whit for anyone but himself and is incapable of comprehending the wreakage he has created.

If that is so, why does America have to stand idly by while he breaks everything in sight? Under such circumstances, shouldn't he be removed from office before he does MORE damage?  Is there NO check on a psychologically disabled president?

I think the answer to that question is: No, there is not.

Interesting parallels here between W and Capt. Queeg of The Caine Mutiny, dontcha think?   

[Ultra]

What you lament about GWB is that he is no leader.  You know I am in agreement with you on that.  I don't need science to put a tag on him for me to recognize he is very dangerous.  I know you don't need that either.   

When one community secedes from another, oftentimes there is a longing between the split communities for a re-uniting and a mending of the wounds inflicted during the seperation.  It takes leaders, people who are willing to buck popular trend and stand up for what they believe is the right thing to take a community through a secession, or to lead a community to re-unite after such a thing.

Forums are all about one thing; community.

I am loathe to use the labels you do.  As a leader, do you think you are always doing what is best for your "troops" or have you, at times, been guilty of doing what furthers your own interests?

We hate the traits in others which most remind us of what we hate about ourselves.

Yourself and Arthur, the two leaders of your community, invest more of themselves here than they do there.  Karn, myself and all the rest of AP are extremely grateful this is so.  I know in the past, at times, I have been "difficult."  With the responsibilty of being a host here, that won't happen anymore, I assure you.  I apologize to you and your entire community for my churlishness in the past.  What can I do to help mend old wounds and re-unite us all in the future?  Will you lead them in that direction?

[MG]

awwww....geeze, Charlie. Now you've gone all soft on us.  This is like finding out that Trob has joined the ACLU!      

Here I thought we had two nice sites pursuing different but complimentary objectives.  Perhaps cross-linking the two sites with easily identifiable buttons so people could slide back and forth at will would be a start?  Not only that, cross linking helps to raise both sites in the eyes of the web indexing folks like Google.

Fwiw, I genuinely enjoy the puzzles, although my knowledge is far less than encyclopedic, especially compared to some of the real experts.  And I also enjoy the input from such fringey types such as Rich and Poodlehead and my old friend, S&M. Each site offers something the other does not, and I like to be able to frequent both and know I am welcome. Its sorta like being a bi-sexual woman. You get to enjoy the best of both worlds.


Uhhhhh.......let me re-phrase that............

[Ultra]

I wasn't suggesting taking down CarNuts.   I was more or less asking for your help in getting people like rloewy, meteorite, Drachen and a few others to just give us a chance here.

Sorry for the misunderstanding. 

[porridgehead]

How have I survived this long without knowing that there's an other web site? Should I join? Should I stay away? Should I forget that ever gleaned this info in the first place?

And just for the record, I am not 'fringe'. Fringe implies a state of coming unstrung around the edges. I prefer to think of it as tastefully tassled.

[Ultra]

I prefer to think of it as tastefully tassled.

"Tastefully"

[Arthur Dent]

How have I survived this long without knowing that there's an other web site? Should I join? Should I stay away? Should I forget that ever gleaned this info in the first place?

And just for the record, I am not 'fringe'. Fringe implies a state of coming unstrung around the edges. I prefer to think of it as tastefully tassled.

a little history. A lot of us started on the Autoweek forums which was a fine place at its peak. Management there continually eroded at the features that make it great until I think it was Ultra that first got the exodus movement going. A core group went to carnuts.ws which survived for years until the admin dropped off the edge of the earth. Then http://carnuts.us was created (the other side mentioned above) as Ultra's Lachine Machine forums. Then Autopuzzles was created as well. Quite a few members belong to two or more of the boards. Autoweeks forums are now a toilet of bottom feeding trolls so I wouldn't bother going there.

[Ultra]

The forums at the Lachine Machine have always been an unrelated event as to this group and very few from the original CC have ever even visited,  Arthur.   I would also like to add that this site and these forums were created before the .us ones were.   Otherwise, your history is succinct.

[Arthur Dent]

quite right - thanks for the clarifications.

[MG]

Well. I am fringey and proud of it!   

Btw, if anyone feels like addressing the original intent of the thread, there is no penalty to doing so.   

[Ultra]

Btw, if anyone feels like addressing the original intent of the thread, there is no penalty to doing so.   

Yes, I think a leader putting his own interests before the interests of those he leads demonstrates that he is unfit for command.   Proving that a leader is doing such a thing is nigh on impossible, however.

[Rich]

That Duhbya is unfit for the job is a given; his resume' prior to his election (ahem) is hardly one of distinction.  He was born to privilege and has really never had to work very hard for very much in his life.  Given such a socialization, it is likely that narcissism (look up the diagnostic criteria for it...he fits remarkably well) has set in and has only been enhanced via the ongoing criticism he has endured regarding his fitness, intellect, character, etc.  Ultra's analogy of a cornered animal fits quite well.  Fight or flight is Duhbya's choice at this point in time; the likelihood of the latter is none, which leaves us to suffer with the former.  These are eight years for which the American public will pay generations.

BTW, road trip anyone?

[MG]

Proving that a leader is doing such a thing is nigh on impossible, however.

Aye, there's the rub.   

These are eight years for which the American public will pay for generations.

Pay in all senses of that word. Apart from the bilions upon billions pissed away, our standing in the world community has suffered a devastating blow.

I'm with Ultra: BTBH. And the girls too!   

[Ultra]

I heard something about a glacier in Big Sky country.   Anyone heard about that?

[Rich]

S'posed to be a nice place to go biking in...............

BTW, Jason and I are in planning mode, C......