Tweet
While folks in Washington try to decide between going long, going big or going home, the Bush Administration is engaging in more rose-colored magical thinking. Nope, no civil war here:
In a cycle that has been tracked by the American military since May and June, after months of apparently random sectarian violence the pattern has become one of attack and counterattack, with Sunni militants staging what commanders call “spectacular” strikes and Shiite militias retaliating with abductions and murders of Sunnis.
Militias come to funerals and offer to carry out revenge attacks. Gunmen execute blindfolded people in full public view. Mortars are lobbed between Sunni and Shiite neighborhoods. Sometimes the killers seem to be seeking specific people who were involved in earlier attacks, but many victims lose their lives simply to even out the sectarian toll.
“The problem is that every time there’s a sensational event, that starts the whole sectarian cycle again,” said Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, the chief spokesman for the American command in Iraq. “If we could stop the cyclical nature of this in Baghdad, we could really change the dynamics here.”
"I do believe in neocons, I do. I do." says little Shrub. More clapping please, because your magical thinking and adherence to pixie dust has clearly been so effective up 'til now.
152 Comments
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About Firedoglake
FITZ!
Okay, I get here with no comments and don’t know what to say.
Zed’s dead baby…
Why don’t you say “no comment?”
Redd
“magical thinking”
Yep–that’s EXACTLY what it is. Wish that was more widely seen.
“magical thinking”, as I recall, is well known to occur frequently among alcohoics.
Magical thinking is often intensified in mental illnesses such as obsessive-compulsive disorder or clinical depression. In each it can take a different form peculiar to the particular illness. In OCD, it is often used in ritual fashion to ameliorate the dread and risk of various dangerous possibilities, regardless of whether it has real effects on the object of fear. It contributes more to peace of mind, in that the person now feels he or she can engage in a risky activity more safely. This is not unlike magical thinking in non-afflicted individuals; lucky garments and activities are common in the sports world. It begins to interfere with life when those activities deemed risky are routine and everyday, such as meeting others, using a public toilet, crossing a busy intersection, or eating. It is important to note, however, that not all people with OCD engage in a strict form of magical thinking, as many are fully conscious that the rationalizations with which they justify their obsessions or compulsions to themselves and others are not ‘reasonable’ in an ordinary sense of that word.
In depression, examples are generally more of the good luck charm variety, where the magical thinking is used to create confidence. Self-confidence is one of the first casualties in depression, so a surrogate object is invoked to bolster confidence. Additionally, a more aggressive associative magic can be used to curse others, often to vent frustration and give the individual some feeling that they have acted against a perceived aggressor.
…and bongaholics
:-)
magical thinking
Magical thinking meets say-anything marketing, in the context of ratings-whoring/dumbed-down TeeVee.
What a combo.
Good thing the majority still seems to be able to think.
A common form of magical thinking is that one’s own thoughts can influence events, either beneficially, by creating good luck, or for the worse, as in divine punishment for “bad thoughts”. Freud reflected on these phenomena in his essay, “The Uncanny”.
Another form of magical thinking occurs when people believe that words can directly affect the world. This can mean avoiding talking about certain subjects (”speak of the devil and he’ll appear”), using euphemisms instead of certain words, or believing that to know the “true name” of something gives one power over it, or that certain chants, prayers or mystical phrases will change things.
(THE above from Wikipedia)
rw — sometimes all that work with criminals that I’ve done in my professional lifetime, including working with a whole lot of therapists who used to work with my former clients and/or the folks I was prosecuting, pays off. It’s amazing how much stuff can stick in your brain, isn’t it?
Redd- Yes it is- and you’ve really nailed it.
Clusterfuck is a classic case of thinking that “believing real hard will make it so”–you see it constantly in his thinking. The enemy- on the other hand- is “not believing”- cause “not believing” make it be “not so”.
He’s a thirty year analysis case waiting to happen.
I guess that magical brocolli potion had some effect, if the AFOne stories are all true….
http://newsblogs.chicagotribun…..he_do.html
Less majyk, more grownups, fewer hats’n’bunnies.
Pixie dust all around, though. It heals.
The scary thing about Bush is that he seems to actually believe that god is directing his actions.
“Son of Sam” thought the same thing.
Maybe the Fallujah plan? Leaving the city in rubble seemed to work so well
Sensei Scarecrow – I have epu’d responses for you on two threads now; I’m beginning to feel very slow.
Getting ready to leave and determined to hit a thread that’s still alive first – M
Mary at 17 — how are the horses these days? Digging in for the cold weather?
“I do believe in neocons, I do. I do.” says little Shrub. More clapping please, because your magical thinking and adherence to pixie dust has clearly been so effective up ’til now.
Wow, with this level of finely honed snark, who needs coffee? ;)
Kidding, of course, coffee is not optional. The snark is equally addictive. And accurate. Very well said.
So Perle thinks putting Chalabi in charge would’ve solved things? Apparently he’s still delusional.
Geoffrey Nunberg had a great piece in the LA Times on Sunday about the hollowness of GOP catch phrases, and how they got them in a hole they are unable to negotiate their way out of. It is an interesting read for those interested in linguistic nuances.
http://www.latimes.com/news/op…..-rightrail
Goopers the world over are strugglin to save themselves and gooperism by “separating the baby from the bath water”.
In every case, GW Clusterfuck becomes bathwater.
The formula “going long, going big or going home” would be more accurate as follows: “going long, then going home; going big, then going home; or simply going home.”
I believe the difference between the alternatives would be measured in blood.
“I do believe in neocons, I do. I do.” says little Shrub.
I guess I’m slower than usual today, I just got that little Shrub is channeling the Cowardly Lion.
Very snarky, Christy!
measured in blood
Yeah-as in “I just came up with a forty billion gallon solution”.
Go big = we hope that more troops, but not too many more (cause we ain’t got ‘em) will avoid catastrophe.
Go long = we can’t figure out how to get out, so we might as well find something to do while we’re here; let’s train the Iraqis faster/better, cause we apparently didn’t realize that was important till now, so haven’t been doing that so far.
Go home = we assume/assert that catastrophe would follow our exit and so dismiss it out of hand, even though that’s what the American people seem to want. That helps narrow the options to go big and go long.
Inevitable Conclusion – send more troops for as long as we can (not long, cause they’re wearing out), and keep training Iraqi’s for as long as we can, and hope that the insanity rule does not apply — doing the same thing over and expecting a different result.
Pixies everywhere resent their re-insertion into the political dialogue. Last referenced during the time of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s unhappy influence, along with Mr. Cohn, upon the body politic, to much giggling. And chortling.
Go big, go long, go Viagra.
Bomber Joe was into Pixies? Who’d a thunk it!
1,337 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON..
Citizen Hardin Smith and the Firepup Patriots:
It is absolutely frightenin’ how many “low information” citizens there are out there who will latch onta the “magical” memes and cycle ‘em thru their “prayer circles” for der leader. The engine for magical thinkin enmass is the corporate media…when the corporatists have finally figured out that it’s not in their interest to support the neocon fruitcakes, it would take less than a week to blow the “lets put enough troops in the field to do the job” craziness back to Ho Chi Min City.
The religious whackos are the political base for the “magical” memes but the corporate media is the loudspeaker…
KEEP THE FAITH AND KEEP THE AMMUNITION COMIN’, THEY AIN’T DEAD YET!!
rwcole, can an alcoholic/addicted person develop OCD later on? Or perhaps the alcohol/substances were used to self-medicate OCD in earlier years? I know this is all spec and groundless, but looking at his do-not-disturb scheduling and certain behavior patterns (including the recent Asia trip), it kind of falls into focus, doesn’t it?
MayDaze @
16
I thought it was the neighbor’s dog?
“Signing statements” are magical thinking as is “I’m the decider.”
Mary — thanks. I’ll check.
Mark—Well yer gettin way past my pay grade with those (very good) questions. Maybe we’ve got someone here qualified to answer.
So, the Decider hasn’t Decided on what to do with his China Shop.
BFD- It’s not like people are dying or anything.
_
Sparkles the Iguana @ 20
I’m of the opinion that Perle didn’t get his cut of the rake-off from oil proceeds. Chalabi and friends stiffed him and he’s miffed.
“We’ll succeed unless we quit” may be the weirdest slogan yet. It makes me think of paper losses in investing – as long as you hold onto your worthless stock, you haven’t lost money. You only technically lose money at the moment you sell. Maybe this is something he learned at Harvard?
montag @ 37
Perle’s statements are as good as hanging out a shingle to attract the next Chalabi-of-wherever. “NeoCon — will work for pixie dust” might be Perle’s sign, I suppose.
montag @ 36
It was all gonna be SO easy, and SO profitable.
JohnSwifty @ 31
Sam was the dog. Son of Sam (the serial killer) thought that god, speaking to him through the dog, told him to kill.
montag @ 36
I think you’re right. Perle is an viper, but a useful one if he points his particular brand of venom back at his handlers.
David Ehrenstein @ 32
I would have thought signing statements are proclaiming God’s word through the signer, and would come more into the realm of outright, I’m-hearing-voices delusion.
1,337 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND..
marksb:
Our family has an up close and personal experience with “ocd” thru a child that has (thus far) successfully battled a severe eating disorder…the experts and therapists tell us that the “ocd” comes before the addiction(s) and there are some recent studies that indicate there may be a genetic marker for predisposition.
KEEP THE FAITH AND TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER!!
montag @ 36
I don’t know how many friends Chalabi had in Iraq, but for some reason I suspect if he had been put in charge he would have ended up hanging upside down from a lamppost.
MayDaze @ 40
My neighbor’s dog has been saying some particularly interesting things lately…you don’t suppose…???!!!
okay, so at what point does “the power of prayer” become magical thinking?
Sorry about the land mine, so feel free to step around it…
Twisted Martini @ 47
the placebo effect?
Yeah- “we’ll succeed unless we quit” is a perfect example..
It doesn’t matter if there is a plan- or whether it is well thought out- whether the assumptions are accurate- or whether the facts support anything being said—the only thing that matters is the “commitment” to the success of he plan. That’s why the idiot spends no time on planning and all his time on tryin to make people “believe”.
If we all just “believe” then it will come to pass- no matter HOW fuckin stupid it is.
Sparkles the Iguana @ 45
He really did try, though. He first got into the oil ministry, and then, that was folded into and under the finance ministry, and he ended up being high up in that. Which is pretty rich–a convicted embezzler wangles his way into the finance ministry of a failed state occupied by people who think they’re going to steal the country blind… Graham Greene couldn’t have created a better story. :)
JohnSwifty @ 45
LOL. Very good!
Twisted Martini @ 46
That’s a million dollar question. Joseph Campbell spent a lifetime trying to compare mythologies to arive at an answer. Carlos Castenada took an interesting tact to the same question. If you come up with an answer to that one, it might merit its own blog (or at least a direct post).
Twisted Martini @ 46
I was thinking that, too, but then decided, “Not going there…”
But the problems is, take away someone’s Magical Thinking, and what you have left is a marginally functional depressive.
Smoother ride, just doesn’t get you where you want to go.
Twisted Martini @ 47
When you’re AtlasBuggs and you believe you can pray John Bolton into the Presidency.
I’m quite fond of magical thinking, actually — but rational enough to know that it’s insane to use it in foreign policy.
Well Tweety just essentially said that the Iraqis wanted us to invade them and liberate them and now they don’t want to take care of their own country…
nice. Blame the victim.
It was not the people who wanted us in there, it was the Chalabis and other disaffected expats who pushed this along with the neocon imperialists and the oil thieves and corporate warmongers and more…
gah.
Twisted Martini @ 46
The “power of prayer” is adequately explained by Skinnerian Operant Conditioning principle.
_
kristinejoy @ 53
Where do you know me from?
rwcole @ 6
From every literature I’ve read, and from personal experience with a friend, what is known as the alcoholic imaginary believes it can accomplish anything.
So let’s send David Blaine and David Copperfield and every other shitty magician to Iraq. Wtf are we waiting for.
Sparkles the Iguana @ 61
Thanks to the CPA, I would guess that we’ve already seen enough sleight-of-hand there. :)
41 et al sent Baker to Florida in 2000 to do his magic and it worked for them. It seems they think he can do it again. Problem was that the “magic” that happened in 2000 was a 5-4 vote by SCOTUS. No magic there.
Number one on my magical thinking wish list –
Send George Bush and Dick Cheney and Rumsfeld and Rove to Iraq — give them a couple of broke down Humvees with hillbilly armor, loaded with Vietnam era M-16s, and let them clean up their mess.
While they give the Iraqis what for, the rest of our troops can get out. The magic codpiece of death is all of the protection Commander Clusterfuck needs, so why not put it to good use?
OT – Rahm Emanuel on CNN
twolf1 @ 65
Thanks for reminding me to turn the TV off
Re going big, we can’t. We are already overextended and we don’t have sufficient troops in any number anywhere to make any difference.
Re going long, I think this is the general staff’s preferred strategy because it avoids an acknowledgment of defeat. It fulfills to some extent the neocon dream of permanent basing. And it proposes training the Iraq army and using our power in country to keep the civil war at its current murderous level. This view embodies the “can do” attitude of the military that I like so much to warn about. It is based on the fallacy that there is an Iraq army to be trained and not just a group of militias in disguise. It continues to fail to address all the issues I have brought up before with regard to the Iraq army: its lack of command and control, logistics, heavy weapons, discipline, esprit de corps, or allegiance. Also for this kind of training to work under the best conditions, we would need to commit significantly more troops with Iraqi units and these would have to be our highest quality, experienced soldiers and they would still need language and culture training. In other words, these troops don’t exist either at the moment and even if and when they do, they will represent a sizable drain on our own military’s professional core.
The idea of reducing troop numbers raises too the question of what exactly this means. There is something of a contradiction if on the one hand you are deploying more Americans into the field with Iraqi units and at the same time you are saying you are redeploying troops to more defensible super bases. Which is it? And how much are you increasing the chances that American trainers will be captured by insurgents? A few stories of American troops taken hostage because Iraqi troops ran out on them and you can kiss this whole plan good-bye.
Re going home, why not? A phased withdrawal, over the horizon forces for some projection of power back into Iraq, managing the chaos regionally. This is the Murtha plan. Conditions in Iraq will get worse but they are already doing so. They will if we leave now or in 6 months or in a year. The difference is American ground forces will not be in the line of fire. And then we will have to deal with whatever happens. That is just the way these things go.
MayDaze @ 58
Perhaps my magical mirror. It alternates by showing me either what a failure I am compared to most “normal” people, or the sheer operatic majesty of my magic new perspective.
Not everybody’s voices sing.
dead last @ 21
That is a good article.
Then, after the initial military success in Iraq, the administration produced its single most ill-advised bit of rodomontade when Bush appeared in May 2003 beneath a “Mission Accomplished” banner aboard the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln. (With the wisdom of hindsight, the White House must wish that it had gone with something more noncommittal, such as, “Way to Go.”)
Hee. Or how about something like “So Far So Good.”
twolf1 @ 65
On the commercial break, selling used cars during the House recess, I would guess.
montag @ 62
Last week the Beeb did a piece on Iraqi reconstruction and the CPA.
The head of reconstruction for the CPA was a retired US Navy submarine commander. The beeb reporter asked the good swabby about the missing $8.8 billion. The guy said it didn’t matter. The reporter asked again and the answer was that the missing money was not important. The arrogance of the guy was unbelievable… if you didn’t know the type of people in charge of the CPA.
Talk about magical thinking they just willed away the theft of nearly $9,000,000,000.
Who needs David Copperfield when you can make 9 Billion disappear into thin air?
Hugh @ 66
The elephant in the room that makes the entire concept of staying insane. Also why we don’t dare provide better arms to the “Iraqi military”.
angie @ 56
MORE magical thinking. My experience with people in business—and media—that live a life of magical delusional thinking is that they create their own reality every single moment they are awake, and that reality changes from moment to moment. But they believe in themselves, and their reality, with a huge amount of energy and so blow away most of the ‘normal’ folks around them. Most of us have a nice color-coordinated bag full of the usual self doubts and ‘does this make me look fat’ questions. The magical believers just roll right over us and take command. It takes a lot of experience in order to recognize these people and to counter their power moves.
marksb @ 74
Einstein once said that “reality is an illusion, albeit a persistent one.”
Tweety has been consistently against the Iraq war- from the beginning. To his favor I would say- he tries to spin the story to blast both parties- that’s his schtick.
rwcole @ 76
I would say that his fawning over Bush strutting on the deck of the carrier pretty much invalidated any presumed objectivity on Mr. Tweety’s part….
Montag–he’s not objective- not at all- he’s just against the war- (and he likes to say controversial things to improve his ratings. )
marksb @
31
The situation with a recovering alcoholic is (in my experience) a strong tendency to depression. I think that AA works (when it does) because it helps deal with the loss of the crutch of alcohol for dealing with every situation – good or bad.
Many do not care for the “higher power” aspect of the AA program, but the company of a variety of happy and interesting “recovering” people certainly helps. Another factor is seeing someone “fall off the wagon” – the change in that person is often astonishing. It becomes clear to a recovering alcoholic that a “slip” leads to a total loss of control.
An AA meeting can be very much like this blog – Some one gives a short talk, then you get your say, others get theirs, there is feedback, humor, rancor, info, and there are pointers to other sources of help.
A recovering alcoholic in a powerful position would be much more likely to use the loyalty of subordinates as an alcohol substitute. Power certainly is addictive and any doubt would be poisonous to the security of the fantasy wherein you become your own “higher power”.
hpschd
There’s been lots of discussion about W. and his problem with the drink. I think the general consensus is that he is a dry drunk. Still has all of the problems and characteristics without any form of recovery which in essence means he has all of the addictive character flaws without the chemicals.
Just as delusional. Just as dangerous.
Someone mentioned last night that ultimately what prompted the end of Vietnam fiasco was congress ending funding. If so, I want that old magicical thinking on top of Hague thinking and complete black listing (and prosecutions wherever possible) of the neo-theo cabal enablers.
Until that day arrives I think I will double up on lotto tickets.
rwcole @ 78
For someone against the war, he sure seems to be on the dark side of the issue….
Cheers.
Haig Thinking?
Shrub has engaged in a lot of magical thinking from the beginning. There were a lot of complaints from Republicans in Congress that he didn’t bother to come over do any politicking for his proposals, he just announced them as if he thought that was all that was necessary — “This will be done.” (The “pledging $X million dollars for AIDS in Africa” was a prominent example.) At the time, it tended to get be described as a “L’Etat, c’est moi” attitude, but I thought even at the time that it was more like magical thinking; he actually seemed to believe that all he had to do was declare that something would happen, and it would.
OT (well, maybe not really since we’re talking about “magical thinking”):
Christine Jennings (FL Congressional District 13) going to court seeking a new election.
http://pewresearch.org/obdeck/?ObDeckID=91
Link to interesting discussion of the election results and exit polls at Pew.
Twisted Martini @ 83
He’s on my black list..)
And of course, calling for louder clapping is an inevitable precursor to “you didn’t clap loud enough, Tinkerbell is dead!” (aka “Stab in the Back.”)
The 18,000 missing votes in the Florida election deserves a lot of press. Dems need to call attention to it as a national issue. Lou Dobbs has been banging on this issue for a year or so- 18,000 missing votes might convince people that somethins pretty fucked up out there.
Dry drunk? Maybe six years ago. These days, it seems pretty clear that he’s a drunk drunk.
Redshift @ 88
Princess Springsummerwinterfall did it.
Flash
Miltie Friedman still dead
rwcole @ 92
A necessary corrective to a surplus of economists in the system.
The magic of the marketplace.
There is evidence that GW Clusterfuck has never stopped drinking. The whole “conversion story” was a convenient bit of mythology that got him off the hook from decades of God awful behavior observed by thousands- and lubed the tight and delightful relationship with the snake handlers at the same time- a twofer…
After what we now know about Clusterfuck, though, he would see no reason to actually QUIT drinking- that would be a whole different issue.
way late – Christy, the horses by and large love the cold, hate the grass going away. The don’t do ambivalence well, though, so are either celebrating or complaining. *g*
beth meacham @ 90
Well, maybe not regularly enough to notice an obvious regular heavy drinking. With his complexion, the broken veins and bruises and such really stand out. If he were really pounding it down, he’d have gin blossoms on his cheeks so big and bright the press corps would think they were interviewing a Raggedy Andy doll. (Some probably do, already. :) )
Patrick– yeah homeostasis–self correcting mechanisms– spooky shit!!!!
Niall Ferguson has a pretty interesting article in today’s LA Times on Friedman and monetarism.
Mark–agree- read it over breakfast.
So the “magic hand” of the marketplace comes out of no-where and strikes excessive economists DEAD.
In your memory, Mr. Friedman….
‘ere!
A dry-drunk is a miserable person.
Bush, in front of a crowd (of carefully selected supporters) is higher than a kite. He’ll say anything, promise anything he perceives as sucking more love, respect, adulation from the crowd. That’s the high – not actually doing any of those things.
“You like me, you really like me!”
Behind closed doors he might be a dry-drunk, but he often appears to me as having the time of his life.
Twisted Martini @ 83
Hague Thinking for the lot of them.
Seems like monetarism as a core philosophy of economic policy has given way to….magical thinking!
Obama smokes CIGARETTES!!!!
That’ll be the end of him!
Some cities tryin ta make cigarette smoking a capital offense.
Patrick 4/4 @ 93
I’ve always thought that Milton Friedman was the personification of John Kenneth Galbraith’s dictum: “The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.”
Ha!
OJ book CANCELED! MSNBC….
kristinejoy @ 101
You rang?
:-)
rwcole @ 100
Sometimes you have to spend more economists than you have in order to stimulate growth.
Sometimes I think when Nixon said “We’re all Keynesians now” it was a very dark euphemism for “we’re all gonna die.”
Dr. Bong @ 108
Ask not for who the bowl tolls…
Hey—balance the federal deficit with a tax on Mary Jane–pretty good argument..
Personally- I hate the stuff- prefer a Margarita- but if it balances the budget–I’m for it!!!!
Cozumel @ 106
Oh no!!!!!!! How is Judith Regan ever going to get closure now??
Patrick- funny stuff- you’ve got a good stand up act goin there!
OT – Barack Obama interview live on CNN
Mortars are lobbed between Sunni and Shiite neighborhoods.
What I’ve read and heard is that “ethnic cleansing” in Baghdad through killings and/or relocation has segregated Sunni and Shiite by neighborhood, where previously they had lived intermingled throughout the capital. Now it is possible to drop bombs on the people you hate because you know their neighborhoods.
So, de facto, Iraq is being divided into Sunni, Shiite, and Kurd confederations. Oh, yeah, and you can bet there will be a TexacoMobilExxonBP confederation, as well.
*CNBC Reports – Fox Cancels Publication Of OJ Simpson Book And Cancels Interview
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcont…..3.htm&
montag @ 106
Moral issue one: Why are we all randy?
Moral issue two: Why are we all Randians?
Moral issue three: Where do I get more Krugerrands?
twolf
Is he smoking?
rwcole @ 113
With a really limited audience…
kristinejoy @ 101
Good one! I’ve always thought that a reality-based political system would have figured this out long ago. Thanks for the link, I’ve never seen that before.
rwcole @ 111
Yes, please! A sane drug policy that enhances the position of the Fed Treas!
Patrick 4/4 @ 116
#1: Tax cuts for the wealthy and powerful.
#2: Tax cuts for the wealthy and powerful.
#3: After those tax cuts, see your metals dealer, or Henry Kissinger….
Sparkles the Iguana @ 112
Book and interview, canceled. My link is in moderation ; )
The OJ book/interview idea was a good idea- but not a GREAT idea (to quote a former co-worker).
There is so much more to 12 steps and how it can change personalities over time than these posts can give credence to.
One of the most effective aspects of the 12 step program is a shift in paradigm from outward in, to inward out. That is, the alcoholic blames life outside of him for the drinking. Circumstances will him to drink.
Once an alcoholic gets some recovery they understand that the desire to drink comes from within and that focusing on how one is reacting to life decreases the need to medicate.
No longer does anxiety come from “war times” or “taxes” or “wife” but now comes from the things we say to ourself about those things.
The concept of a higher power allows us to get rid of our obsession on controlling others, alcohol, anxiety. It suggests that there are forces outside of ourselves that we cannot control. Therefore, we need to spend our time reacting more effectively to the way life is, rather than fighting reality. Bush and Rove have put incredible energy into altering reality. This is in part why alcoholics are such charismatic and fascinating people. They hone this ability because their disease depends on their ability to keep people from making them responsible for the mess they are in.
The strength of the program is it’s focus on acceptance of reality. It’s no accident that Bush jr is having trouble accepting reality. It is a symptom of his disease. Black and white thinking, rigidity all fit this pattern. The authoritarian personality has trouble dealing with their weaknesses in a pattern of black and white thinking. If they are good there is no bad and if they are bad there can be no good. Often times the personality exists before the addiction. This is also the pattern for ocd and many other addictions. The foundation of all mental illness is a cognitive disorder that prevents the acceptance of reality.
Bush has been obviously impaired since the beginning. The problem is that a certain percent of america is impaired right along with him. But we only went along as far as our own collective sickness would allow. Hopefully, we will learn to distinguish black and white rigid thinking and understand it to be symptom. Not reality.
Cozumel @ 122
But the hunt for the real killers goes on.
I’m successfully avoiding work by preparing a longish piece for my blog about fighting back against winter depression. Will let you know when it’s fully cooked.
I’m successfully avoiding work by not having any.
rwcole @ 124
Or ill-considered ; )
“I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project,” said Rupert Murdoch
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200….._interview
rwcole @ 126
Holy crap. This means I am successful at something.
Or is it just magical thinking?
And just wait to see what Turkey and Iran do when the Kurds get their slice. Ain’t seen nuthin yet.
mc @
115
This conversaion is very interesting. Not only in light of what Bush is doing or thinking, but to my personal situation. As many here know, my son lost his wife earlier this year and his son had a terrible brain injury, now healing.
He sank quickly into an old nemisis of alcohol and recently came from a 30 day treatment facility. He is not drinking but very depressed, and certainly into magical thinking. So, we take care of him as best we can and hope that reality comes soon.
I wonder if anyone is telling Bush the truth these days.
kristinejoy @ 129
Only if you get an imaginary paycheck every week…. :)
Kristine- just work hard on the little things- like brushing and flossing- do em REALLY WELL!
I’m successfully avoiding work by being retired.
I only do work if it drops into my lap- and stays there after I stand up.
egregious @ 126
I’m sorta working. ;)
rwcole @ 135
So, tell me, how’s the velcro business these days? :)
montag- terrible- thank God!!
new thread
Not working, is er um hard work. The imaginary banks require two forms of id to cash the imaginary checks, and sadly “Jesus Christ” is not the name on my birth certificate.
Working is so last century
Cozumel @ 141
Years from now, that will be the pre-Bushian era.
kristinejoy @ 140
Well, maybe if he could co-sign? :)
rwcole @
128
Ditto
katie Jensen @ 123
Brilliant. Thank you.
The last paragraph
is unbelievable. It’s hard enough to think any grown-up could utter them to anyone over the age of twelve; let alone to another grown-up who’s been paying attention for the last three years. Hello?
If only there weren’t gravity, we could jump up in the air and really change the dynamics around here!
General Caldwell: not only is this primitive behavioral cycle incredibly predictable to anyone who’s ever watched an evening news report on Israel-Palestine (or, say, Serbia-Croatia-Bosnia); you should know that there are people specifically planning, every day, for these “sensational events”. These events are neither a random force of nature, nor simply a phase we’ll soon pass through. It’s a cycle of provocation being driven by people who, right now, are outsmarting you.
There is a real world out there, outside of all the Inside the Beltway posturing about whether to go long or whether to go big, but certainly not to go home. In that real world, people go away and die and never come back. Don’t miss Chris Ware’s stunning, mournful meditation on war and memory on the (four) cover(s) of this week’s Thanksgiving New Yorker and in the longer narrative on their website, which is so evocative of that larger, real world.
ah Professor-once again you organize the chaos in my mind into simple, clear statements.
GrandmaJ @
132
But Bush would not recognize the truth anyway.
Hope you son and grandson are doing better. My thoughts are with you.
Interesting thoughts about Bush and his drinking..also about AA. I’ve been an addiction nurse and lived around drunks all my lfe..so often the case. Bush is definately high on something at times. His complexion looks like booze. If you have ever seen videos of his running for gov. That looks like the dry drunk time. I think there is something else going on with him and his dad. Being drunk does not always mean meaning and syntax are so mangled in speech. The closest thing I can think of is “word salad.” It is a characteristic of schizophrenia. There are different levels of mental illness and some people are pretty high functioning. Bush isn’t one of them.Addictions often go hand in hand as self medication.
http://www.LouDobbs4President.com Petition