The Bush Administration is Sociopathic

When Donald Rumsfeld was recently questioned by an American soldier regarding the shortage of armor to protect the troops in Iraq, his insensitive response seemed to suggest, among other reprehensible things, that armor is for sissies ("even armored humvees can explode").

The lack of compassion and empathy demonstrated by his response reinforced my belief that the Bush administration consistently displays clear signs of collective sociopathic behavior.

Let's take a look at some of the characteristics of sociopathic behavior, as defined by the American Psychiatric Association, and see how they fit:

1. Callousness, lack of empathy, irresponsibility, and reckless disregard for the safety of others: In addition to Rumsfeld's most recent display of callousness and disregard, President Bush has routinely exhibited these symptoms throughout his life. Childhood friends have described how the young George W. Bush would attach firecrackers to frogs and blow them up. Decades later, as governor of Texas, Bush mocked and ridiculed convicted murderer Karla Fae Tucker's desperate plea for her life. His non-response for days following the Indonesian tsunami disaster, followed by being forced to up his aid ante, is the most recent display of the President's lack of empathy. Bush sends our young men and women to Iraq to fight an out-of-control war based on fabrications and exaggerations, enables his CEO friends (who contribute thousands of dollars to his campaign and inauguration) to export American workers' jobs overseas, recklessly runs up the national budget deficit, and sets out to put Social Security into the hands (and pockets) of Wall Street brokers, with apparently no consideration for how these actions will affect average Americans. By virtue of his family's wealth, he and those closest to him remain safely removed from the reality that their actions create.

2. Glibness and superficial charm: George W. Bush garnered votes with his casual, down-home style. He won the support of the heartland's soccer moms and NASCAR dads by coming across as a regular guy. At the height of the 2004 campaign, when asked which candidate they would rather have a beer with, 43 percent responded that they would rather have a beer with President Bush, compared with 25.1 percent for John Kerry. But Bush's smirk betrays a glibness that tells us that his underlying agenda does not include buying a round at the local saloon for the common folk, and not just because he claims to be alcohol-free for decades.

3. Deceitfulness: George H. W. Bush deceived the nation when he said, "Read my lips: no new taxes." But that lie did not cost thousands of innocent lives. His son has sent our soldiers to fight a war based on false allegations; among them weapons of mass destruction, ties to al-Qaeda, and a "grave and gathering threat" to America. Dick Cheney to this day still clings to these stories, and Condoleeza Rice tapdanced around the truth in her testimony before the 9/11 Commission. This administration does not let facts get in the way of their agenda.

4. Grandiose sense of self: Having won re-election with 51 percent of the vote (hardly a landslide), George W. Bush described his victory as a "mandate." He claimed to have earned "political capital" during the campaign, which he now intends "to spend". The other 49 percent of the voting public will just have to accept it. After all, as Bush told an Amish group in July of 2004, "God speaks through me."

5. Aggressiveness and failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors: The Bush administration displays these tendencies on a grand and global scale. Perhaps nothing illustrates this better than the war in Iraq, launched in defiance of international law and the U.N. Charter and replete with war crimes, including torture, the use of indiscriminate weapons against civilian targets and the blatant and calculated skirting of the Geneva Conventions.

6. Impulsivity and failure to plan ahead: The war in Iraq was not a response to a direct attack. Contrary to the all-too-common myth that Iraq was involved in 9/11, Saddam Hussein was contained and posed no immediate threat to the U.S. Nevertheless, the Bush administration chose to divert troops from their search in Afghanistan for the real threat -- Osama bin Laden -- and launch a poorly planned war in Iraq with inadequate supplies and no real exit strategy.

7. Lack of remorse or guilt, and failure to accept responsibility for one's actions: Despite all this, George W. Bush still refuses to admit to any mistakes. Administration officials continue to assure the American people that everything is going just fine in Iraq. The most disconcerting part is that Bush seems to actually believe his own version of reality. And perhaps that's why so many voters believe it too, despite all the evidence to the contrary.

Cult experts have observed that many cult leaders tend to exhibit many of the characteristics of sociopathic behavior as they charm and seduce their followers into sometimes dangerous situations.

Is it possible that the U.S. turning into a cult of mindless, trusting subservience to the right-wing agenda?

I would welcome dissenting, discerning, cogent opinions.