It’s also been suggested that on this particular occasion he was fatigued from all of the visiting with the Florida hurricane victims.
Oh for crying out loud!
George HW Bush was hardly what anyone would call a gifted extemporaneous speaker and now, at age 80, he shows no signs of Alzheimer’s. Nor is there any evidence that he was ever a hard drinker.
Could it just possibly be that George W. Bush inherited his father’s inarticulateness, while Jeb Bush got his mother’s somewhat more glib tongue?
Not disease, not trauma, not leftovers from a previous lifestyle. Maybe the guy just has a harder time putting sentences together than some of us do.
That appears to be merely an attempt by Bush supporters to explain his poor performance in last night’s debate.
And I’m less concerned by Bush’s malaprops than I am by his admission that he doesn’t read newspapers…! :eek:
I re-read the OP thinking I might’ve missed something. Nope, no criticism there. Nothing mean, anyway. Just straight forward questions. The answers may be more opinion than fact, which would aim this toward IMHO, but certainly not GD or the Pit. Some responders, in their excitement, push it that way but the OP is just a couple questions.
I also saw part of the debate and noticed that Bush seems to be having more and more trouble with words as time goes on. I sometimes stutter, very little, but noticably, especially when I’m unsure of what I’m saying or can’t remember the exact words. I see Bush do things similar to what I do, such as stop and think or abruptly say the wrong (and often similar) words. I can make myself understood, and so did Bush. I understood perfectly what he had to say. I didn’t agree with much of it, but I did understand it.
And I am quite curiuos about what his problem is.
Some of you need to chill a little, imo. 
Peace,
mangeorge
Although he did sat “fighting so vociferously”, didn’t he? 
The insurgents were yelling at our troops?
That one was a little weird.
kunilou: Could it just possibly be that George W. Bush inherited his father’s inarticulateness
That’s always been my impression; I haven’t heard any of them speak all that often, but the first time I listened to GWB on TV, my immediate reaction was “Gosh, he talks like his dad.”
I’m not a speech/language pathologist or anything like that, but speaking as a rank layperson it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that GHWB does in fact have some kind of mild language disorder, and that his oldest son inherited it.
None of these comments should be interpreted as in any way critical of either man. Many very smart and capable people have language disabilities that interfere with their ability to speak clearly and fluently. Such people may make lousy actors, but there’s no reason they can’t become good political leaders.
I’m not saying that I do consider GWHB or GWB to be very smart or capable or good political leaders, but IMO their odd sort of “verbal dyslexia” has nothing to do with that. If the same sort of linguistic oddities showed up in a politician I liked, I’d probably consider them kind of cute. Certainly harmless.
And what’s this “his heavy drinking till he turned 40 gave him brain damage” business? Is that even medically possible in an otherwise healthy person?
yes, very possible. alcohol is neurotoxic. combine that with the poor nutrition of alcoholics and the potential for long-term adaptation/modification of the brain is high.
partial recovery is a probability, though the extent of it depends on both abstinence and lifestyle changes. if he quit, then began eating right, playing chess 2 hours a day, reading - doing anything to stimulate cognitive processes - and exercising frequently, it can be expected that he would be very close to baseline as of now.
still, if we are talking literally 20 years of heavy drinking then it seems to me there would be some lasting damage, regardless. extreme stress is bound to exacerbate that.
Harriet was right. The October issue of Atlantic’s first letter is from “Joseph M. Price, MD, Carsonville, Mich.” He quotes James Fallow’s article in the July/August Atlantic in which Fallow describes “the striking deciline in his sentence-by-sentence speaking skills,” but concludes that explanations such as a learning disability, a reading problem or dyslexia ignore the fact that Mr. Bush was articulate through his forties.
“Slowly developing cognitive deficits, as demonstrated so clearly by the President,” Price writes, “can reperesent only one diagnosis, and that is ‘presenile dementia’!” [exclamation point Price’s]
He explains that the disease runs the same course as typical senile dementia but has an earlier onset. “Bush’s ‘mangled’ words are a demonstration of what physicians cal ‘confabulation,’ and are almost specific to the diagnosis of a true dementia.” He concludes by suggesting a professional diagnosis and treatment.
As seductive an explanation as the above can be, diagnosing at a distance is always a tricky business, and somehow I doubt the matter could elude the professionals who give the President his annual physical. Someone would spill the beans … wouldn’t they?
Suddenly I’m having flashbacks to James Coburn in “The President’s Analyst.”
The argument “someone would talk, wouldn’t they?” is a weak one:
Did anyone talk when Reagan exhibited the early symptoms of Alzheimer’s? They most certainly HAD to be there. No one develops Alzheimer’s overnight.
Did anyone talk when Michael Jackson first had “sleepovers” for young boys?
What about JFK’s medical problems? Did anyone talk about those?
So for every example you come up with where someone spilled the beans, I could come up with another where being rich or important kept people silent.
Here’s a link to video comparing the ten year difference.
http://www.adbuzz.com/bushbuzz.htm
Now, they claim that the first video of bush is from a 1994 gubenatorial debate, but I can’t figure out why it isn’t a clean feed, and why it has the numbers in front. Later there is a logo, that appears to indicate that it was an actual debate.
But there is a difference, isn’t there? Take a look at a similar clip from Bill Clinton, or nearly any other president. They don’t show this kind of serious degridation in their speaking abilities.
Honestly, I am kind of worried about the man’s health. He postponed his yearly physical until after the election. Just what is going on? And I agree that like Reagan, it woudln’t have to get out. Its amazing how they kept that a secret.
Yeah, but even when he wasn’t yet President? I recall during his first campaign (against Carter), he was addressing a group of Veterans on 9/7. He so graciously drew some parallel between the need to rally togther just like they did on this very day back in Pearl Harbor. He didn’t even blink nor bother to correct himself, but the audience sure did. Ah, Ronnie? That was 12/7! :smack:
Dang, I guess that cue card was upside down, or something… :eek:
- Jinx