…at least with what the No. 2 aQ guy has to say about Bush:
A stopped clock and all that.
This doesn’t surprise me. You’ve often made medical diagnoses on this MB based on the flimsiest of evidence. I believe Bush is a self proclaimed recovering alcoholic (even if he didn’t use that precise term), but I’ve seen no evidence at all that he’s a gambler, or that he has an addictive personality, in general. Are you going to share with us the evidence you used in determining your medical diagnosis?
Are you going to ask the same from Ayman al Zawahiri, John?
Well “addictive personality” is kind of a misnomer because there’s really no such thing. Addiction is not a personality disorder but a genetically derived, biological disorder of the reward system in the brain. If Bush is an alcoholic then he is an addict by definition, regardless of recovery, and all addiction is fundamentally rooted in the same physiological disorder of the brain. It’s very common for addicts to replace one kind of addiction with another (for instance, substituting sex or gambling for alcohol or drugs), in order to relieve the same craving for reward. I think that religion can be an addiction as well.
Now, it looks like you aren’t denying that Bush is an alcoholic (therefore an “addictive personality” in the vernacuar sense), or that he’s a liar, only that there is evidence that he’s a gambler.
I thought the “gambler” accusation was an interesting, perhaps even insightful evaluation of Bush’s actions in Iraq. Everything he’s done there has been a gamble and it could be argued, figuratively, at least, that he’s following the classic gambler’s trajectory of chasing his losses with this latest (extremely ill-advised) push for an escalation of troops. If he is even partially motivated by the thrill seeking/risk taking rewards caused by his addiction disorder, it would have some explanatory power that I hadn’t considered before.
To me the stakes seem pretty high.
I have a friend who, when much younger, had a gambling problem. Then he became a (very successful) stockbroker. He got to gamble with other people’s money. Less risky, and every bit as fun! 
Zawahiri would hate whoever was president of the U.S. I don’t think his insults were based on any deep analysis of Bush’s psychology, but were one off rhetorical flourishes. I’m not sure why they’re particularly interesting.
Well I would, but the dude won’t return my phone calls.
Well, that solves that mystery. You will, no doubt, be receiving the Nobel Prize in medicine for that discovery…? When’s the announcement?
Even if it were “very common”, that doesn’t make it “certain”. You’ve taken quite a leap.
Not in an addictive sense. People can have have problems with alcohol without being “addicted”. That’s how I was using the term-- very losely, in the sense of someone who has chosen to give it up.
Only because it’s a meaningless term-- is there anyone who hasn’t lied and therefore could be called a liar? You might as well say he is a member of the species H. sapiens.
Eh. That’s another stretch of the definition. He might as easily be called “incompetent”, and that would cover it just as well. But “gambler” brings up visions of going to the horse races-- especially since it’s in connection with addictive behavior.
Yeah, as soon as he registers here and begins posting. When will that be?
I somehow find it entirely unsurprising that Dio would ally with questionable people making questionable diagnoses, if they’re critical of Bush.
Wonderful. Is there no depth you will stoop to to piss on Bush? No shit you will swim through? You might want to ask yourself why you would take time out of your day to post your partisan stupidity. If you come up with an answer beyond that you are blinded by your hatred for Bush to such an extent that you are willing to crawl in the sewer with the most vile scum just to deliver another salvo, I’d be curious as to what it is.
In the meantime, this OP says more about you than it does Bush or the al Qaeda #2. Thanks for the education.
Exactly. I’m still trying to figure out what is being pitted here-- is **Dio **pitting himself for agreeing with spurious claims made by religious fanatic and a terrorist?
I’m sure there is one thing among his irrational ramblings that Charles Manson and I agree on. However, I wouldn’t open up a Pit Thread proclaiming “I agree with Charles Manson” because I realize that no matter what merit a single statement he made may have, he was still a ruthless butcher, and citing him as if he held any credibility in a civilized discussion would detract from my argument and make me look like a provocative asshole.
Why would Dio be crawling in the sewer with Bush? I don’t think he even likes him.
what mystery?
What do you think I’m saying that’s new. I’m getting my info from the standard medical literature on the subject. Read this Q&A from Dr. Drew Pinsky (famous for “Loveline” but an Addiction Medicine Specialist in his practice).
I didn’t say 'certain," but it’s plausible. The craving of the reward system is certain.
Then you don’t understand how the term is defined medically. One of the criteria for a diagnosis of addiction is continued use in spite of negative consequences. If you have a “problem” with it, then you are an addict, by the medical definition.
Maybe to you, but that’s only because you don’t seem to have read much about addiction or addictive behavior.
But how can you agree with al Zawahiri if there is no such thing?
We both like the Beatles.
I know what he meant, even if he got the terminology wrong.
Well, it wouldn’t be undeserved, as Pit threads go.
Ad hominem fallacy. Just because al Zawahiri is a fanatic and a terrorist doesn’t mean every claim he makes is necessarily spurious.
Is it really so far-fetched that Bush could be motivated by addictive behaviors? Is it beyond the realm of possibility that an enemy – even a despicable, violent, terrorist nutjob – might be able to show some insight into the personality of our leaders? Ben Franklin said “our enemies show us our faults.”
Just because the aQ guy is evil doesn’t mean he might not have nailed a genuine motivation in Bush’s behavior.