It is now time to impeach Bush and Cheney. But not for the reasons you think.

[sinkingfeeling]

Forget about the 28 US laws Bush has broken. The UN Charter and the multitude of international treaties and laws that have been violated. While those are all good reasons to issue articles of impeachment, it has become clear that there is another, more important reason to impeach both George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. They are Paranoid Schizophrenics.

The essential feature of Paranoid Schizophrenia is preoccupation with one or more systematized delusions or with frequent auditory hallucinations related to a single theme. Associated features of Paranoid Schizophrenia include unfocused anxiety, anger, argumentativeness, and violence. Often a stilted, formal quality or extreme intensity in interpersonal interaction is noted.

Symptoms include: People with schizophrenia may have perceptions of reality that are strikingly different from the reality seen and shared by others around them. Living in a world distorted by hallucinations and delusions, individuals with schizophrenia may feel frightened, anxious, and confused. In part because of the unusual realities they experience, people with schizophrenia may behave very differently at various times. Sometimes they may seem distant, detached, or preoccupied and may even sit as rigidly as a stone, not moving for hours or uttering a sound. Other times they may move about constantly – always occupied, appearing wide-awake, vigilant, and alert.

Hearing voices that other people do not hear is the most common type of hallucination in schizophrenia. Voices may describe the patient’s activities, carry on a conversation, warn of impending dangers, or even issue orders to the individual. Illusions, on the other hand, occur when a sensory stimulus is present but is incorrectly interpreted by the individual.

Delusions are false personal beliefs that are not subject to reason or contradictory evidence and are not explained by a person’s usual cultural concepts.

Schizophrenia often affects a person’s ability to “think straight.” Thoughts may come and go rapidly; the person may not be able to concentrate on one thought for very long and may be easily distracted, unable to focus attention. The person may be unable to connect thoughts into logical sequences, with thoughts becoming disorganized and fragmented. This lack of logical continuity of thought, termed “thought disorder,” can make conversation very difficult and may contribute to social isolation. If people cannot make sense of what an individual is saying, they are likely to become uncomfortable and tend to leave that person alone.

A person with schizophrenia may not show the signs of normal emotion, perhaps may speak in a monotonous voice, have diminished facial expressions, and appear extremely apathetic.

http://www.healthyplace.com/Communities/Thought_Disorders/schizo/nimh/life.asp

We, the people of the United States of America, have a couple of Paranoid Schizophrenics, running our country, a so-called 'war', and with the fingers on the buttons controlling nuclear weapons (currently pointed at Iran). It is imperative that we remove these two from office, post-haste.

[hobbit709]

1. I want them impeached

for stealing oxygen.

[Fiendish Thingy]

2. Probably delusional, but definitely not Paranoid Schizophrenic...

but still dangerous enough to impeach. Perhaps your diagnosis was tongue in cheek? I don't want to smear the reputations of good, decent paranoid schizophrenics out there ;-) .

Perhaps the next DSM will have a new category to fit the madness of Bush and Cheney : Evil NOS (not otherwise specified) i.e. Just Plain Evil.

[TahitiNut]

3. I disagree. Paranoid schizophrenia is an Axis-I disorder and is treatable, iirc.

That's not what either Cheney or Smirk suffer from ... and, imho, it belittles people who actually suffer from treatable mental pathologies - in a society with inadequate health care.

IMHO, Smirk has Narcissistic Personality Disorder ... an Axis-II disorder that's effectively untreatable. Sneer is a sociopath - Anitsocial Personality Disorder, which is also an Axis-II disorder that's only marginally more treatable. People who suffer from these disorders are technically capable of ascertaining right from wrong - and are, therefore, legally responsible for their behavior.

[pat_k]

9. Perhaps "authoritarian personality" will eventually be recognized as. . .

. . .a personality disorder/syndrome detrimental enough to the "public health" to be worthy of intervention or preventive measures.

A cluster of "symptoms" has been identified, at least for the purposes of the studies cited in John Dean's book "Conservatives without Conscience." When the book was released Dean was on Countdown (excepts below). It looks like it's definitely worth a read, but I haven't gotten past skimming it yet.)

Countdown, July 10, 2006
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13816491 /

DEAN: I ran into a massive study that had really been going on for 50 years now, by academics. They‘ve never really shared this with the general public. It‘s a remarkable analysis of the authoritarian personality, both those who are inclined to follow leaders, and those who jump in front and want to be the leaders. . .

OLBERMANN: Does it really—do the studies indicate that it really has anything to do with the political point of view? Is it—would it be easier to essentially superimpose authoritarianism over the right than it would the left? Or is it theoretically possible that they could they have gone in either direction, and it‘s just a question of people who like to follow other people?

DEAN: They found—they have found really—maybe a small, 1 percent of the left, who follow authoritarianism, probably the far left. But as far as widespread testing, it is just overwhelmingly our conservative orientation.

OLBERMANN: There is an extraordinary amount of academic work that you quote in the book. A lot of it is very unsettling. It deals with psychological principles that are frightening and that may have faced other nations at other times, in Germany and Italy in the ‘30s coming to mind in particular. . .

DEAN: The lead researcher in this field told me, he said, I look at the numbers in the United States, and I see about 23 percent of the population who are pure right-wing authoritarian followers. They‘re not going to change. They‘re going to march over the cliff. The best thing to deal with them—and they‘re growing. And they have tremendous influence on Republican politics. The best thing, the best defense is understanding them, to realize what they‘re doing, how they‘re doing it, and how they operate. Then it can be kept in perspective, then they can be seen for what they are. . .

[Norquist Nemesis]

4. Impeachment is not enough at this point

Impeachment is only the political process. Clearly, crimes have been committed.

[pat_k]

10. It is mandatory to defend the Constitution. Justice/Retribution is for the

. . .courts.
'
Impeachment is not only the means by which Members of Congress fulfill their oath to defend the Constitution against attacks that come from within the halls of power, it is the means by which the electorate withdraws our consent for whatever reasons we, through our representatives in Congress, deem it necessary. Withdrawing our consent, like giving it, is "only a political process," but it is not a process to be trivialized.

Certainly, Bush, Cheney, and their co-conspirators must face prosecution in court, both here and at the Hague, if we are to truly redeem ourselves, but that is secondary. The highest priority is to rescue the Constitution without which there is no justice.

[bdamomma]

5. I wish Dr. Justin Frank would be on Bill Maher, or Jon Stewart

or even Colbert, to put Bush's mental condition out there, and let the media feed on this for a while. There has been much discussion on DU regarding W's mental disorder or whatever it is.


Here is an article or interview with Dr. Justin Frank

http://www.larouchepub.com/other/interviews/2006/3314justin_frank.html

here is another explanation for their condition:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_Wing_Authoritarianism

[Thothmes]

6. Paranoid Schizophrenics

According to Article II section 4 of the Constitution of the United States, the only reasons for removal from office of the President and Vice President are "Conviction of, treason, Bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors"

[bdamomma]

7. I think after this disgusting regime, we should require all

Presidential candidates to have a mental evaluation along with that physical.

[pat_k]

8. If Congress is incapable of confronting the truth, "Unfit to serve". . .

. . .has been an option that's been staring Members of Congress in the face for a long time.

From a http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3144476&mesg_id=3144996">post a while back:

. . .
If Members of the House can't bring themselves to confront the grim reality that America has become a War Criminal nation that spies on it's own citizens, they could simply impeach Bush and Cheney because they are incapable of defending the nation. Their consistent lies (or as their defenders term them, "mistakes") have made any "evidence" that comes from any agency run by their appointees suspect. Their entire administration is therefore incapable of effectively motivating national or international response to a threat.