Dubya the AH
“There’s an old... saying in Tennessee... I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee that says Fool me once... (3 second pause)... Shame on... (4 second pause)... Shame on you.... (6 second pause)... Fool me... Can’t get fooled again.” --George W. Bush to Nashville, Tennessee audience, Sept. 17, 2002
The Anti-AH Bias manifests itself in many ways. One obvious, but subtle, way is how those who dislike George W. Bush’s politics find it so easy to ridicule him based on his obvious AH-traits. For the record, I should state that my political affiliation is Anti-Conservative; I find right-wing idealogy quite repulsive. However, I am able to separate Dubya the politician from Dubya the AH.
The following is an edited version of the first thread I started at ToT:
A few years back while browsing at a bookstore, I stumbled across a semi-biography about our beloved president written by syndicated columnist and longtime Dubya nemesis Molly Ivins; in fact, she coined the moniker “Dubya”. Her description made it so clear to me that Dubya is an AH.
Back when Dubya decided he wanted to be governor of Texas, he did a most peculiar thing. He approached the de facto leader of the Democratic (not Republican) party in Texas to ask permission to run as the Republican (not Democratic) nominee for governor! He literally charmed the socks off this die-hard Democrat.
Dubya went on to defeat Ann Richards, a very popular sitting governor whose approval ratings hovered at 60% at the time. Four years later, he did something that no other Texas governor had ever done - he was re-elected. This, despite being characterized by many as lacking intelligence. However, even his most vocal critics can’t dispute that he is unrivaled in his ability to build consensus.
The Bush family has had grand aspirations for the Bush boys, and seemed certain that one of them would be president. What they were absolutely sure of is that Dubya wouldn’t be the one. He was, after all, the black sheep of the family. Dubya was a “C” student in college, and he’s never denied the allegation of alcohol and cocaine abuse.
How can someone who uses phrases like “Hispanically-owned businesses” ever rise to the presidency? Well, it’s because Dubya is the charismatic AH and inspires his followers, whereas his opponent, Albert (yawn) Gore, is the most Farmer-like public figure I’ve ever seen.
When the 2000 presidential election crisis in Florida was in full tilt, Dubya supporters were livid due to their fear that the election might be stolen from their guy. And the Gore supporters? Their average reaction was “Yeah, like whatever”. See how I have the answers to some of the biggest mysteries of our times? And the rest of you were arguing about “dangling CHADDs”!!!
Critics of Dubya have contended that he’s a Washington insider who has profited immensely from his name, but having the Bush name hasn’t been the advantage to Dubya that they think. If all it took was the Bush name to win the presidency, then why isn’t Jeb our president or, more fundamentally, how in the world did Billy Bob Clinton defeat Papa Bush?
Believe it or not, it gives me hope when someone like Dubya can become president. I used to think that a Black, Hispanic, female, George Carlin, or a gangsta rapper would have to achieve this goal in order for me to not feel quite so jaded, but that was before I realized I am a AH first and foremost.
The following were some comments made by ToT members whom I can no longer identify:
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Dubya could not possibly be ADD. The requirement for ADD is possession of a brain.
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Almost inevitably the ADD person at some point or time in their life appear to exhibit signs of extreme intelligence in almost every case. This also let’s GWB out of the ADD category.
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It never ceases to amaze me that he is allowed to speak in public. His speech writers and advisors should try to exercise more control of his ad-libbing before he gets himself into more serious trouble that could be disastrous for our nation.
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It is incredible that people still reveal their immaturity by commenting on the “ignorance” of our president. I defy anyone who has the audacity to attack the intelligence of a pilot, especially a fighter pilot, to explain any of the math it takes to achieve such a position in life. Or the issues of physics involved in flight. If you must reveal your own level of immaturity to the general public... why not do it with the other teenager sites, instead of a place in which the maturity has risen above character assassination, poor child.
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José’s response (at ToT):
I am truly dismayed by the tenor of this discussion. It was supposed to be humorous, and few (if any) seemed to get it. There is an attitude among ADDers which must be examined more carefully - the notion that ADD = intelligence. Sorry, but it don’t.
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More commentary from different threads at ToT (and its sister “boreds”):
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Danny
Member # 986
posted 25 January 2003
I’m not proud to say it, but the United States has its share of morons and Dubya is their leader.
quote:
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“Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?“ George W. Bush in Florence, S.C., Jan. 11, 2000
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What a moron...
Dubya still hasn’t gotten Bin Laden and now he’s gunning for Hussein because it’s personal and because he’s too dumb to see what many compassionate and thoughtful people already plainly see. “Look! Over there! It’s a puce terrorism threat level!” isn’t working and now he’s huffing and puffing like the fabled Big Bad Wolf at the UN. However, he has the arrogance and lack of intelligence to sweepingly dismiss the nations that won’t go along with his every whim.
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Vaudree
Member # 203
posted 17 December 2002
As it may turn out, Bush’s impulsivity may not be due to ADHD at all. Does this sound like a symptom of Conduct Disorder to you?
quote:
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Shooting frogs with BB guns was apparently pretty standard entertainment for young boys in Texas in the 1950s. But for added amusement, George W. Bush and his friends used to tuck firecrackers into the mouths of frogs, throw them in the air, and watch them explode.
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Despite psychiatric evidence that children who are cruel to animals often go on to be abusive adults, the U.S. media apparently decided that the torture of frogs was nothing more than a charming little anecdote from Dubya’s early years.
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theguyonthemove
Member # 375
posted 24 December 2002
I think President Bush has ADD and Dyslexia. He did mess up speeches a lot in the presidential campaign and it was not until after 9/11 that he seemed to get it together - the crisis got him to hyper-focus. He runs every day and he gets to bed early by 10:00 P.M. He sounds like he is dealing with ADD to me. Bush’s mother pushes programs on literacy and so does his wife. They are both concerned with learning disabilities.
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Bonnie
Member # 141
posted 24 December 2002
I recently watched an advertisement for a documentary on HBO on GWB’s presidential campaign. There was a scene “snip” where GWB was blindfolded and said, “I can’t hear you because I can’t see you.”
All I could think is - boy, that sounds like something a gifted visual/spatial person with auditory processing problems would say. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if GWB has what experts call ADHD.
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Vaudree
Member # 203
posted 31 March 2003
According to this Article, George W Bush’s symptoms may not be due to ADHD at all, but due to the fact that he is what they call a DRY DRUNK - someone who no longer drinks but who has suffered some brain damage due to their past drinking behavior:
quote:
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First, in this essay, we will look at the characteristics of the so-called “dry drunk;“ then we will see if they apply to this individual, our president; and then we will review his drinking history for the record. What is the dry drunk syndrome? “Dry drunk“ traits consist of:
Exaggerated self-importance and pomposity
Grandiose behavior
A rigid, judgmental outlook
Impatience
Childish behavior
Irresponsible behavior
Irrational rationalization
Projection
Overreaction
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Clearly, George W. Bush has all these traits except exaggerated self importance. He may be pompous, especially with regard to international dealings, but his actual importance hardly can be exaggerated.
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The following is an exchange I had - with one member of an ASD forum - after other members asserted that Dubya is a Neurotypical (NT)
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José:
This GWB talk has reminded me of one of the things I find both amusing and somewhat alarming about the worshippies. The first thread I started at ToT was called “Dubya the AH”. It went over like a lead balloon, even though the points I made were extremely valid. Their argument went something like this:
-we are hunters
-hunters are good
-therefore, we are good
-anyone we don’t like is not good
-therefore, anyone we don’t like can’t be a hunter
ToT is dominated by VGs and liberals. I am afraid that, given the assessment that GWB is the poster boy for NTs, there seems to be a variation of the worshippies’ reasoning here.
If there are subcategories of Aspies, then GWB and I are in the same one, or nearly so. The biggest difference between me and GWB is that his name and $ has brought him many opportunities, and that I’m much smarter than he is, but this thought doesn’t give me comfort.
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Forum member whom I can no longer identify:
Not by me. I don’t reason like that.
He’s NT because he has massively successful social skills. He can charm the socks off NTs because his body language is very reassuring. My NT younger sister has told me several stories of friends who told her, they didn’t like him, but somehow “his face is just so... so... trust-inspiring.” That’s because his nonverbal language use is very strong.
If you read about his childhood, it’s clear that he was gifted in this way early on. It’s kind of like the “seven intelligences” theory, in which one of them is Interpersonal Skills. GWB isn’t gifted in verbal or math, and probably not in music or art. But he is extremely gifted in understanding how to relate to people. His employees tend to be more loyal than it’s possible to find in politics--he’s had the same advisors for years and years, and they are his greatest boosters.
Compare that to Clinton, who is also NT and gifted in some ways, but never inspired loyalty and love in the same ways. Even more, compare to Al Gore, who basically has few friends because he tends to undercut his underlings’ decisions. I don’t think Gore is an Aspie, I just think he’s not gifted with this kind of intelligence. People look down on GWB for not having as much intelligence in verbal things, though actually he’s really not dumb (IQ 125-130?), but they overlook his outstanding intelligence in Interpersonal. That’s why I say he’s NT, based on voluminous evidence--I’ve only presented a fraction of the evidence here.
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José’s response:
Being offered a multitude of opportunities (such as running for president on name recognition) despite being a former (?) alcoholic and cokehead (which I have never been) and seemingly trying his hardest to squander every opportunity offered him (all of which dwarf the opportunities I have had) demonstrates to me that “massively successful social skills” do not define the AH (note: AH, not aspie). Bottom line - if GWB is an NT, then so am I.
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Response from same member who posted previous:
José, I’m not sure we use the term “NT” in the same ways. When I was saying that President Bush is neurotypical and in fact scores high in “interpersonal skills” intelligence if not verbal or math skills, you responded that if he’s NT, so are you. The only way I can respond to that is to wonder if we’re using the term in the same way. So I’d like to hear what you were meaning, but I’ll go first and say how I use it.
First, I don’t really like the term but it’s in common use and so I use it for shorthand. Its origin is a desire to find a word for “not-autistic” which isn’t the word “normal.” It’s a good word in that way. What I don’t like about it is that many kinds of people are not autistic. It’s too broad--it’s not like the world is divided into two camps. I’m especially aware of this since my second son has a mood disorder, and is poignantly aware of not being typical in any way, and yet he’s definitely “NT” in the other sense. So I don’t like the term in itself.
When I use it, I always mean “socially modulated,” my preferred phrase. A person on the autistic spectrum is who s/he is, without regard to those in the environment. In the most extreme, you get people who really ignore other people completely, the LFA person who doesn’t even look at them and is totally wrapped in their own mind. At the top end, you get people who want to be around others, but can’t cue in to them, and if they could take a pill to give them the ability, they’d probably only want to take it on rare occasions--it’s just not a motivation. An ASD person is just the way they are, with likes and dislikes pretty much self-determined, not following fashions.
The opposite of that is “socially modulated.” This is someone whose traits are determined by those around them. Of course, this varies in individuals, but I’m going to talk as though there is a generalized average, which there roughly is. While the results of the social modulation are “learned,” the actual trait of being this way is not. I see it also in my family in that I’m not very socially modulated, and my oldest son is even less, but my second son has been socially aware and modified since he was very small. He learned to change his behavior when people were watching before he was two. I surely did not teach him this!
In addition to being socially modulated, *usually* NTs are free of glitches like sensory overload and other autistic-typical problems. However, it’s not at all a rule. They can have learning disabilities and sensory problems and mental illnesses and IQ differences. In fact, I would say that they can have ADD, which I doubt you’ll agree with. Maybe one measure of how “NT” the person with ADD is, is whether they take Adderall or Ritalin and just become a pretty normal (read: socially modulated) person. I have a cousin like this, and I know a few others. There are also some other differences of movement that come out in observing ASD vs. NT people.
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