<<To summarize, George W. Bush manifests all the classic patterns of what alcoholics in recovery call "the dry drunk." His behavior is consistent with barely noticeable but meaningful brain damage brought on by years of heavy drinking and possible cocaine use. All the classic patterns of addictive thinking that are spelled out in my book are here:

the tendency to go to extremes (leading America into a massive 100 billion dollar strike-first war);

* a "kill or be killed mentality;" the tunnel vision;
* "I" as opposed to "we" thinking;
* the black and white polarized thought processes (good versus evil, all or nothing thinking).
* His drive to finish his father's battles is o...

<<To summarize, George W. Bush manifests all the classic patterns of what alcoholics in recovery call "the dry drunk." His behavior is consistent with barely noticeable but meaningful brain damage brought on by years of heavy drinking and possible cocaine use. All the classic patterns of addictive thinking that are spelled out in my book are here:

the tendency to go to extremes (leading America into a massive 100 billion dollar strike-first war);

* a "kill or be killed mentality;" the tunnel vision;
* "I" as opposed to "we" thinking;
* the black and white polarized thought processes (good versus evil, all or nothing thinking).
* His drive to finish his father's battles is of no small significance, psychologically.

If the public (and politicians) could only see what Fulbright noted as the pathology in the politics. One day, sadly, they will.>>

I was reluctant to clip this because, firstly, the concept of the 'dry drunk' is not universally recognised, is most associated with Alcoholics Anonymous (whose own disease concept is not universally recognised); secondly there is a danger that perpetuating the concept will lead, as ever, to its use as a battering ram - sometimes by those in recovery themselves as a way of beating themselves up, or those around them. Lastly, most importantly, the key characteristics of simpifying extremely complex situations into polarised opposites of good/bad, them/us etc. are, sadly, also characteristic of a broad population of those seeking a short cut to emotional stability, a release for inherent anger...

I was reluctant to clip this because, firstly, the concept of the 'dry drunk' is not universally recognised, is most associated with Alcoholics Anonymous (whose own disease concept is not universally recognised); secondly there is a danger that perpetuating the concept will lead, as ever, to its use as a battering ram - sometimes by those in recovery themselves as a way of beating themselves up, or those around them. Lastly, most importantly, the key characteristics of simpifying extremely complex situations into polarised opposites of good/bad, them/us etc. are, sadly, also characteristic of a broad population of those seeking a short cut to emotional stability, a release for inherent anger and the universal urge to identity security in a threatening universe. I went ahead and clipped it with the fragile hope - such hope is always fragile - that it may be a small contribution to unravelling and interrogating some of the myriad recesses of the human mind beneath the public masks of propriety. One last point: it may be that the reason Bush and others are voted in is a reflection on the thinking styles of millions of his supporters, drunk, dry drunk and tee total alike.