Ian is as unapologetic about being anti-Bush but after all it is his country, too. But was I the last guy to know what he wrote today?
Our friend Josh Shenk has a cover story for the Atlantic Monthly right now (as well as a fabulously well-reviewed book) about Abraham Lincoln's clinical depression, and how it made him better served to get our country through a time of crisis. He conjectured that Lincoln's melancholy allowed him access to creativity, humility, empathy, and a theological relativism... that puts him squarely at odds with Bush, who is said to be HEAVILY medicated for depression.I think the day is long past when anyone but extreme Bush supporters are all shocked about the validity of statements about the weakness of this presidency. Adding a moon project at over 100 billion is just another nail in the coffin of his history from a fiscal point of view. Adding a sub-Elvis regime may not quite be Nancy and Ron at the astrologist overing over the Ouiji board - yet - but it certainly would eat away at any notion of the model Dad-leader living the "values-based" lifestyle.Granted, the Bush-antidepressant rumor is still filed under "worst-kept secret in Washington," but only a cocktail of SSRIs - like say, Prozac and Zoloft with a Welbutrin chaser - could make a man so visibly unaffected by massive human suffering, and make a President seemingly vacuous and indecisive when we need him most. And listen, if he's NOT on antidepressants, it makes his behavior even worse.
Comments
Mike - September 20, 2005 10:58 AM
No, I was the last. Interesting, re: Lincoln.
Churchill, too, had his bouts with depression. He refered to these episodes as 'the black dog', as in, the black dog would come and sit by his side. It is believed that this was a dysthymia or Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) syndrome for Churchill. He found palliatives not in alcohol as some uninformed types might suggest but in sunlight and warm places such as the south of France or Morroco ~ and, outdoors in warm, sunny places, he would paint which was also certainly a great help to him (although surely not all of his painting was related to this; it was his great pastime in its own right). I cannot say, but I would guess that the depressive periods could have been helpful to him in the same ways they were said to help Lincoln.
Churchill's daughter, Lady Soames, wrote: "A lot has been made of the depressive side of his character by psychiatrists who were never in the same room with him. He himself talks of his black dog, and he did have times of great depression, but marriage to my mother very largely kennelled the black dog. Of course, if you have a black dog it lurks somewhere in your nature and you never quite banish it; but I never saw him disarmed by depression. I'm not talking about the depression of his much later years, because surely that is a sad feature of old age which afflicts a great many people who have led a very active life."
Alan - September 20, 2005 11:04 AM
I thought he called it the black dog because a sound came from his head when he was down which was then later picked up by Jimmy Page...but then again I know nuttin.
portland - September 20, 2005 12:37 PM
he's not heavily medicated. look in his eyes and you can see right to the back of his head. he believes. i'm getting so sick of the left taking him on based on conjectures on what's the master plan and how nuts are they? hey, how's he gonna pay for everything? that alone should be enough to sink him. and i think the black dog was originally dr. johnson's term.
Alan - September 20, 2005 12:39 PM
What's this <i>the left</i> thing everyone is talking about?
portland - September 20, 2005 12:41 PM
it's all your grannie's pals.