News Our President is delusional, does that bother anyone?

[kcballer21]

God told me to invade Iraq, Bush tells Palestinian ministers

Who will be the first one to ask me, "how do you know he doesn't talk to god?" So here are the possibilities, either Bush actually does have casual conversations with God, or he uses God as a political tactic, or he is delusional. I should have started a poll.

Oh, and i know this isn't the first report of god delegating to gw, but it inspires the same disappointment now as it did then.

 

[comwiz72]

Yes, your president is delusional, as is our Prime Minister.

Yeah, I'm sure God would tell Bush to go invade Iraq and kill thousands of innocents and children doing so!

How many people need to die for Bush to stop? His war on terror causes more terror!

 

[Informal Logic]

God told me to invade Iraq, Bush tells Palestinian ministers

Who will be the first one to ask me, "how do you know he doesn't talk to god?" So here are the possibilities, either Bush actually does have casual conversations with God, or he uses God as a political tactic, or he is delusional. I should have started a poll.

Oh, and i know this isn't the first report of god delegating to gw, but it inspires the same disappointment now as it did then.

From the link:

Nabil Shaath says: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, "George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan." And I did, and then God would tell me, "George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq …" And I did. And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, "Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East." And by God I'm going to do it.'"

Since this is corroborated by more than one person, I'll assume it is true that Bush said these things (or something close to it). That there is no reference to "fighting terrorists" in Iraq, but rather to "end tyranny" we can deduce that Bush is at least a lier--if not delusional. Bush did not give a s**t about a Palestinian state until Arafat died and there seemed to be a chance for democracy per the neocon agenda. I would say Bush was being an opportunist--if not delusional. If he truly wanted security for Israel and peace in the Middle East I find his war mongering threats to be an odd approach. His talks with God may be just to appeal to the Rapture people, which is almost more frightening to me. So either he is a lier, an opportunist, a war monger, and cult leader OR he is delusional.

 

[EL]

either Bush actually does have casual conversations with God, or he uses God as a political tactic, or he is delusional.

Well, the first option we can surely rule out. The second is not likely unless he's a very good actor (anyway, what would he gain by appearing delusional?). Left is only the third alternative...

 

[pattylou]

Yeah, it bothers me.

 

[Rabid]

I am suddenly reminded of a scene from the movie Real Genius.
Either that or, well.. David Koresh said he talked to god too.

 

[Hurkyl]

Bush did not [care] about a Palestinian state until Arafat died and there seemed to be a chance for democracy per the neocon agenda.

(edited for content )

I thought the general consensus was that there wasn't hope for any sort of stability in the region as long as Arafat was in power and Israel existed.

 

[Smurf]

I thought the general consensus was that there wasn't hope for any sort of stability in the region as long as Arafat was in power and Israel existed.

Maybe in the states it is... was...

 

[edward]

"God told me to invade Iraq, Bush tells Palestinian ministers"

Actually it was Dick Cheney.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

"God told me to invade Iraq, Bush tells Palestinian ministers"

Actually it was Dick Cheney.

And dad... This was personal and Bush even admitted so when he said, ~"and, well, he [Saddam] did try to kill my dad".

 

[SOS2008]

Published on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
by Helen Thomas:

Bush ignored the volatile Middle East dispute when he first came into the presidency. After 9/11, he called for a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

But it was half-hearted at best, and appeared to be a sop to halt the al-Qaida recruitment of Palestinians who were losing hope of independence.

Every once in a while Bush proudly mentions that he is the only president who has endorsed a two-state solution -- Palestine and Israel -- but on his watch the United States has done nothing. It is too busy trying to occupy Iraq.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1116-26.htm

True that Bush first publicly called for a Palestinian state in October 2001, however in addition to the quote above:

Clinton already laid the groundwork in the last months of his presidency by trying to achieve a peace deal that would have resulted in a Palestinian state.
----------
Clinton outlined the possible concessions each side could make, known today as the "Clinton parameters." For Palestinians, he said, a peace deal would mean "an independent and sovereign state with al Quds [East Jerusalem] as its capital, recognized by all. And for America, it means that we could have new flags flying over new embassies in both these capitals."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/04/AR2005100401410.html

 

[Tsu]

So either he is a lier, an opportunist, a war monger, and cult leader OR he is delusional.

I'm going to have to vote for all of the above.

Not only am I bothered by it, but I am sick to my stomach, sick at heart and scared to death of what he might do next.

 

[Anttech]

I thought the general consensus was that there wasn't hope for any sort of stability in the region as long as Arafat was in power and Israel existed.

With the neo-cons maybe, but not outside that small (and gettings smaller) sphere of influence

 

[Hurkyl]

With the neo-cons maybe, but not outside that small (and gettings smaller) sphere of influence

Oddly, I seem to recal having this impression (that people thought there was little hope for peace while Arafat was in power) long before I ever heard the word "neo-con".

 

[Anttech]

Must be the reason why they gave him the nobel peace price then, if 'general concensus' was he was holding up the peace progress in the ME??

 

[comwiz72]

your all forgeting the fact that god would not ask bush to go kill thousands (possibly millions) of INNOCENT IRAQIS!

its a known fact that HOSPITALS and other civic buildings were deliberatley bombed! how is this "ending tyranny"?

 

[vanesch]

God told me to invade Iraq, Bush tells Palestinian ministers

Who will be the first one to ask me, "how do you know he doesn't talk to god?" So here are the possibilities, either Bush actually does have casual conversations with God,

Well, even if he did in the past, there seems to be noise on the line now

 

[russ_watters]

The Blues Brothers were on a mission from gahd too - as delusions go (if this even qualifies), its a lot thinner than the typical democratic delusions we've discussed before.

Regarding Arafat - it was the general consensus among conservatives, at the very least, that Arafat was an obstruction. The Nobel Peace Prize is a hippie(or the Sweedish equivalent) back-slapping convention with no real meaning, and Arafat and Carter made good bedfellows. Winning the prize has no real meaning, though.

 

[El Hombre Invisible]

Yeah, the Nobel peace prize means nothing. So you're in the company of Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King and Amnesty International. So what? They were just a bunch of goddam hippies!

 

[Anttech]

The Blues Brothers were on a mission from gahd too - as delusions go (if this even qualifies), its a lot thinner than the typical democratic delusions we've discussed before.

Regarding Arafat - it was the general consensus among conservatives, at the very least, that Arafat was an obstruction. The Nobel Peace Prize is a hippie(or the Sweedish equivalent) back-slapping convention with no real meaning, and Arafat and Carter made good bedfellows. Winning the prize has no real meaning, though.

Russ has spoken!

Mother Teresa, what a silly hippy...

 

[Skyhunter]

The Blues Brothers were on a mission from gahd too - as delusions go (if this even qualifies), its a lot thinner than the typical democratic delusions we've discussed before.

Regarding Arafat - it was the general consensus among conservatives, at the very least, that Arafat was an obstruction. The Nobel Peace Prize is a hippie(or the Sweedish equivalent) back-slapping convention with no real meaning, and Arafat and Carter made good bedfellows. Winning the prize has no real meaning, though.

And of course the conservative consensus is all that matters.

This is the same shove it down your throat approach by conservatives that has so divided this country. Their staunch belief that they, and only they know what is right.

I call it the absolutist trap. When you believe in absolutes, you blind yourself to other possibilities.

 

[kcballer21]

The Blues Brothers were on a mission from gahd too - as delusions go (if this even qualifies), its a lot thinner than the typical democratic delusions we've discussed before.

Regarding Arafat - it was the general consensus among conservatives, at the very least, that Arafat was an obstruction. The Nobel Peace Prize is a hippie(or the Sweedish equivalent) back-slapping convention with no real meaning, and Arafat and Carter made good bedfellows. Winning the prize has no real meaning, though.

what could be thinner? and by the way, i don't categorize this as a republican delusion, it is simply a delusion, lots of delusional people have them. i only worry about what god will tell him to do next.

by the way, the white house is denying that bush said these things.

 

[TRCSF]

It does sound a little bin Ladenesque, doesn't it.

 

[TRCSF]

The Blues Brothers were on a mission from gahd too - as delusions go (if this even qualifies), its a lot thinner than the typical democratic delusions we've discussed before.

The Blues Brothers saved an orphanage from foreclosure.

Bush is massacreing hundreds of thousands of innocent human beings for fun and profit.

 

[Tarheel]

[SCENE] Dick Cheney sneakily tip-toes through the Oval Office and hides quietly behind the curtains. President Bush enters momnets later [/SCENE]

Cheney: George, this is the Lord speaking. I have a task for you...

Can someone get this on SNL ?

 

[jammieg]

No one does bad willingly, we invaded iraq with our culture before the war, the men there use to have total control over the women for instance, now those ideas are threatened, it would be as stressful for a new culture to come to America that was telling women they should have total control over their men it's a lot of change either way.

Does God approve of killing each other then?

LOL tarheel

 

[Hurkyl]

The Blues Brothers saved an orphanage from foreclosure.

And caused a lot of destruction along the way.

 

[comwiz72]

i don't think the issue is whether the iraqis were being treated poorly before the invasion, but the fact that by invading iraq, nothing is yet any better in the country.

back on topic, bush is delusional, maybe its his dad whispering in his ear instead.

 

[Informal Logic]

...Regarding Arafat - it was the general consensus among conservatives, at the very least, that Arafat was an obstruction. The Nobel Peace Prize is a hippie (or the Sweedish equivalent) back-slapping convention with no real meaning, and Arafat and Carter made good bedfellows. Winning the prize has no real meaning, though.

More from the article by Helen Thomas:

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Arafat was a man of his people

By HELEN THOMAS
HEARST NEWSPAPERS

WASHINGTON -- This is a requiem for Nobel Peace Prize winner Yasser Arafat, the fallen leader of the benighted but unbowed Palestinian people.

He never achieved an independent state for his people or the return of thousands of exiled Palestinians to their homeland, but there was no question he was their unchallenged spiritual and political leader.

To the masses who live under Israeli occupation, Arafat was revered as a Palestinian patriot who represented their national aspirations.

...Throughout his first term, President Bush shunned Arafat while overtly courting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Bush met Sharon some dozen times, mostly at the White House.

Bush also dubbed Sharon "a man of peace," ignoring his militant personal history. That stunned much of the world, and probably some Israelis, too.

The president strongly denounced the Palestinian suicide bombers who took the lives of so many innocent Israelis but he gave the Israelis a pass when they went into Palestinian refugee camps in Gaza with U.S.-supplied tanks, helicopters and planes to put down the revolt against occupation.

The PLO leader virtually had been under house arrest in his besieged compound for two years before he died.

The U.S. government ignored his plight and Bush never criticized the recent Israeli assault on the Gaza refugee camps. Hardly a day goes by without Palestinians being killed.

Once in a while after an outbreak of new violence in what the Israelis sometimes call "the territories," a U.S. spokesman would read a banal statement urging restraint on both sides.

But there was no doubt whose side Washington was on, particularly after the government vetoed seven resolutions in the United Nations condemning Israel.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/199726_thomas16.html

Back to the OP, Bush was not sincere about a Palestinian State, so either was lying or disobeying God. As for the Nobel Peace Prize, it is true standards are not as strict for literature and peace as for science, however the process of selecting candidates is rigorous and involves input from around the world. The Freedom Medal -- now that is laughable. But neo yuppies are too busy getting their piece of the pie to know.

 

[DaveC426913]

Forget about Bush being delusional. The real terrifying aspect of this is that it was carefully contrived. It was contrived to be heard by God-fearing Americans. He is using their beliefs to cement in their own minds that he did the right thing because he did it in God's name.

 

[Art]

Back to the OP, Bush was not sincere about a Palestinian State, so either was lying or disobeying God.

Bush's conversion to supporting an independent Palestinian state was the price he paid for Britain's support in the invasion of Iraq.

Tony Blair and his wife Cherie have long been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause to the point where Cherie sparked outrage from the Israelis and their supporters when she said she could understand why some young Palestinians became suicide bombers.

 

[Entropy]

I honestly don't know what to say about Bush. I'm literally paralyzed with awe when I confront that much stupidity and hypocrisy. It isn't Bush alone that bothers me, it's his supporters. It's people like them that make me want to head-butt the wall until I die.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Our President is delusional, does that bother anyone?

In effect it would seem that God is really the President. Now why is that hard to believe?

No wonder Kerry lost... Talk about competition!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

You know, historically, many Christians have had a name for leaders who have such direct access to divine knowledge: False prophets.

 

[jimmie]

In effect it would seem that God is really the President.

And there it "was" folks, effect. Effect was always temporary and thought was effect. There is the point being referred from, then the thought of an action, then the thought of intending to do an action, then the thought of the action being done.

Illusion started immediately after the point being referred from.

He is using their beliefs to cement in their own minds that he did the right thing because he did it in God's name.

All that was going on was one individual trying to cause an effect.

So long as any individual intended to cause any effect, so long as any individual exercised their particular will (as opposed to their universal will/not-action) to do any action that they 'thought' their body did or was about to do, prior to the point of intention, that individual 'pigeon-holed' themself in the world of illusion and their self had fooled them.

Prior to the statement that Bush made that may have fooled many individuals, Bush fooled Bush first.

You 'want' to cause an effect? Do something.
You NEED to cause the cause? Do nothing.

 

[Echo 6 Sierra]

And there it "was" folks, effect. Effect was always temporary and thought was effect. There is the point being referred from, then the thought of an action, then the thought of intending to do an action, then the thought of the action being done.

Illusion started immediately after the point being referred from.



All that was going on was one individual trying to cause an effect.

So long as any individual intended to cause any effect, so long as any individual exercised their particular will (as opposed to their universal will/not-action) to do any action that they 'thought' their body did or was about to do, prior to the point of intention, that individual 'pigeon-holed' themself in the world of illusion and their self had fooled them.

Prior to the statement that Bush made that may have fooled many individuals, Bush fooled Bush first.

You 'want' to cause an effect? Do something.
You NEED to cause the cause? Do nothing.

OMG! I have no idea what you just said.

 

[Brad_1234]

Consider the source of the allegation

In response to post 1, consider the fact that any Palestinian offical or spokesperson claims this. Do you remember a fellow named "Baghdad Bob"? He was the spokesperson for the former Saddam regime, around April 2003 he was reporting that US forces are no where near the Baghdad Airport, they have surrendered and are retreating. Or some such. Is that what took place? No.

Rumor has it that many "liberal" networks like cbs, abc, nbc, comedy central, et seq, wanted to offer "Bob" a job doing standup comedy, or doing his schtick (hyperbolic denial) but that lousy DoD wants to keep him under arrest.

The next point is that the claim is not mainstream. Only fanatics like strung out cult leaders (David Koresh, etc) explicitly claim to hear Gods voice.

Christians in the mainstream claim that the Bible IS the literal word of God, circular logic or not, the Bible claims to be perfect in inspiration (2Tim3:16) so that the words, not the writers, are perfect. A Christian will say he or she is accountable to God and has the Bible to reference. When praying about something it takes advanced discernment to know if its "Gods will" or not.

No mainstream Christian would convey "God told me to topple Iraq... Then God told me to wear a lime popsicle around my neck..."

The White House denies it, and if you know your New Testament Scripture, the Christian is to be prepared to give their testimony and not be ashamed of the gospel at all. President Bush could not deny his faith and be faithful.

Id consider the story a stumbling block for people who are deeply skeptical about the Christian faith. If a person does not believe, or is atheist? Thats a personal choice. You could, if asked, tell someone no, I don't believe but that's my choice based on my experience. Respect my right to choose what to believe as I also respect your right to choose. Please don't insult me for being atheist, as I also don't insult others for not being atheist. I can't answer for you or anyone else how you should see your faith and I try to be careful about others' beliefs, my choice is mine but you should do your own searching...

 

[loseyourname]

Forget about Bush being delusional. The real terrifying aspect of this is that it was carefully contrived. It was contrived to be heard by God-fearing Americans.

He said this to an Islamic audience outside of the United States. Unless he's in charge of the BBC, he has also made no effort to make these statements known stateside.

 

[Skyhunter]

No one does bad willingly, we invaded iraq with our culture before the war, the men there use to have total control over the women for instance, now those ideas are threatened, it would be as stressful for a new culture to come to America that was telling women they should have total control over their men it's a lot of change either way.

Does God approve of killing each other then?

LOL tarheel

Are you British?

Since that would have been the "we" who invaded Mesopotamia before the US.

 

[Skyhunter]

And caused a lot of destruction along the way.

Comparing the President to character in a movie in an attempt to defend him is worse than invoking Clinton.

(I know you didn't start it Hurkl)

Besides, the White House is denying he ever said it.

I guess calling the Palestinian leaders liars is going to help the peace process.

This moron should just resign and spare us the embarrassment of his presidency.

New poll numbers out.

Bush's poll numbers: How low can he go?
A new http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/10/06/opinion/polls/main924485.shtml hands George W. Bush the lowest approval rating he has ever received. Just 37 percent of Americans approve of the job Bush is doing overall. Only 32 percent of the public approves of his handling of Iraq, another all-time low. While 36 percent say that U.S. troops should stay in Iraq as long as it takes to get the job done, 59 percent say that the troops should come home as soon as possible. And more than 60 percent say that the federal government should cut funding for the war in order to pay for Hurricane Katrina.

The poll was taken before Bush gave his big speech yesterday -- the one in which he informed Americans that Iraq is the "central front" in the war on terror and that "progress" is being made there. On the other hand, it was also taken before Americans got the latest news from Iraq: Six U.S. Marines were killed in bombings Thursday, bringing the U.S. death toll there close to the 1,950 mark.

-- Tim Grieve

 

[Moonbear]

You know, historically, many Christians have had a name for leaders who have such direct access to divine knowledge: False prophets.

Historically-speaking, there have also been other names for such leaders: kings and pharoahs.

 

[pattylou]

New poll numbers out.

Wow! again. Rasmussen still has his approval at 46-47%.

I'm almost starting to feel sorry for the guy. Maybe God *did* speak to him. Maybe God had his own plan, one in which he wanted to teach bush a lesson about humility.

We always assume God would speak to people in order to tell them what to do to make the world/their tribe better off. WHo knows? Maybe God spoke to Bush simply because he thought Bush needed to be taken down a notch.

(heheh, no, I don't really believe that.)

 

[faust9]

Wow! again. Rasmussen still has his approval at 46-47%.

I'm almost starting to feel sorry for the guy. Maybe God *did* speak to him. Maybe God had his own plan, one in which he wanted to teach bush a lesson about humility.

We always assume God would speak to people in order to tell them what to do to make the world/their tribe better off. WHo knows? Maybe God spoke to Bush simply because he thought Bush needed to be taken down a notch.

(heheh, no, I don't really believe that.)

Rasmussen never tells you what "somewhat approve" or "somewhat dissapprove" means. The fact remains that Bush has a 37% Stongly disapprove rating (today at least) versus the 23% stongly approve. That ratio is HUGE.

Rasmussen details the mechanism of their poll; however, weighting and determination of what constitutes the ambigious term "somewhat" is not detailed. For all we know Somewhat means a respondent answered one question with an approving(or disapproving) answer while the rest of the question were either all for or all against Bush. The "somewhat" 40% is a statistical gimmick. In fact, the rasmussen numbers can easily be correlated with the CBS numbers using the stongly approve or disapprove category and the Bush approval numbers from CBS(or any other poll for that matter). The other polls show a very small middle ground meaning they set a higher bar than Rasmussen and as such direct a larger percentage toward approve or disapprove. Smaller middle ground figures usually means a more useable statistic; however, these large middle ground numbers allows Rasmussen to play both sides of the fence.

[edit]I'd also like to add that many Rasmussen polls ask 4 level question(excellent, good, fair, poor). Adding a fifth level gives respondents a chance to choose the middle ground or sway toward one extreme or the other i.e "From 1 to 5 where 1 is poor and 5 is excellent: how is president Bush doing as President?" would be a more reliable approach because it SHOWS a dividing line. Respondents can CHOOSE a middle ground or sway instead of getting caught up in an ambigious "somewhat" category.

Look at this one: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/2005/Perspectives%20on%20Iraq_September%2029.htm

There is only one negative category versus three positive catagories. The same goes with the Bush approval poll. There is only one negative category and three levels of positive response with no explanation of how a respondent gets grouped into a category.

 

[BobG]

No one does bad willingly, we invaded iraq with our culture before the war, the men there use to have total control over the women for instance, now those ideas are threatened, it would be as stressful for a new culture to come to America that was telling women they should have total control over their men it's a lot of change either way.

Does God approve of killing each other then?

LOL tarheel

You might be confusing Afghanistan and Iraq (unless you're talking decades ago). Hussein's oppression of Kurds and Shi'ites was horrible. None the less, Iraq was a secular government with quite modern ideas about men's and women's equality. Iraq's proposed constitution will reduce women's rights - not the other way around.

Are you British?

Since that would have been the "we" who invaded Mesopotamia before the US.

I think he meant 'culture' as in western products and western thinking, not military and political control. This was something willingly encouraged by Hussein (prior to his invasion of Kuwait, at least), but it is a source of friction now.

Western influence wasn't something appreciated by some Sunni or Shi'ite religious groups and is definitely part of the motivation of the Islamic fundamentalist groups in both the Sunni triangle and the Shi'ite regions.

 

[loseyourname]

You might be confusing Afghanistan and Iraq (unless you're talking decades ago). Hussein's oppression of Kurds and Shi'ites was horrible. None the less, Iraq was a secular government with quite modern ideas about men's and women's equality. Iraq's proposed constitution will reduce women's rights - not the other way around.

I think his point was that the actual people of Iraq were descended from a tradition of Islamic fundamentalism and Saddam was imposing western secularism upon them.

 

[SOS2008]

Some may recall a thread on the topic of whether Bush really believes he is doing God's work. I provided this link to Bill Moyers (who wrote an article on the subject as well):

http://www.pbs.org/now/commentary/moyers15.html

Other sources:

Bush's References to God Defended by Speechwriter

Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 12, 2004; Page A06

KEY WEST, Fla. -- Like many evangelical Christians, President Bush believes that God is at work in his life.
----------
Gerson, who has crafted almost all of Bush's major speeches since 2000 but has rarely spoken to the media, defended the president's religious rhetoric.
----------
Bush's references to God have drawn criticism both at home and abroad, particularly in the context of the war in Iraq. Boston Globe columnist James Carroll, for example, has argued on the basis of Bush's statements that "the war on which America has embarked is essentially religious," a contention often echoed by commentators in the Middle East.
---------
Gerson acknowledged some rhetorical missteps, such as Bush's remark five days after Sept. 11, 2001, that the United States had begun a "crusade" against terrorism. Gerson said it was an unscripted comment…

But on the whole, the speechwriter argued, Bush's references to the role of providence in human affairs have been carefully calibrated and fully within the tradition of American civic religion.

About 20 reporters from major newspapers, television and radio networks attended the session, part of a two-day conference on religion and politics organized by the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a Washington think tank. Some participants closely questioned Gerson on Bush's frequently repeated line that "freedom is not America's gift to the world, it's the almighty God's gift to all humanity."

Gerson said the president wrote those words.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57915-2004Dec11.html

Heaven Sent
Does God endorse George Bush?
Slate/MSN
By Steven Waldman
Posted Monday, Sept. 13, 2004, at 8:29 AM PT

After 9/11, the sense among his supporters that God had chosen him increased. "I think that God picked the right man at the right time for the right purpose," said popular Christian broadcaster Janet Parshall. Gen. William "Jerry" Boykin, who got in trouble for derogatory comments about Islam, argued that it must have been God who selected Bush, since a plurality of voters hadn't. "Why is this man in the White House? The majority of America did not vote for him. He's in the White House because God put him there for a time such as this." (Boykin still has his job.)

Time magazine reported, "Privately, Bush talked of being chosen by the grace of God to lead at that moment." World Magazine, a conservative Christian publication, quoted White House official Tim Goeglein as saying, "I think President Bush is God's man at this hour, and I say this with a great sense of humility."

Even former President George H.W. Bush speculated that perhaps he needed to be defeated so that his son could become president: "If I'd won that election in 1992, my oldest son would not be president of the United States of America," he said. "I think the Lord works in mysterious ways."

Are the White House and the Bush campaign actively encouraging the idea that Bush has been put there by God? Bush has been careful to never say anything close to that in public. And yet the combination of passages in carefully vetted speeches and quotes from close friends or supporters indicate that this is the understanding.

http://slate.msn.com/id/2106590

Another link on the topic:

http://www.globalpublicmedia.com/DOCS/2004/10/NewYorkTimesMagazine.WithoutaDoubt.Suskind.20041017.htm

As concluded in the previous thread, IMO Bush believes he's doing God’s work, but of course they are careful not to say this straight out. Anyway, whether he does or doesn't, that so many fundamentalists believe it is really what matters, right?

 

[Gokul43201]

In response to post 1, consider the fact that any Palestinian offical or spokesperson claims this.

...

The next point is that the claim is not mainstream. Only fanatics like strung out cult leaders (David Koresh, etc) explicitly claim to hear Gods voice.

...

From USAToday, April 2003 : http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-04-01-bush-cover_x.htm

Bush believes he was called by God to lead the nation at this time, says Commerce Secretary Don Evans, a close friend who talks with Bush every day.

Slate article by Stephen Waldman,editor in chief of beliefnet.com , Sept 2004 : http://slate.msn.com/id/2106590

Several sympathetic books about Bush and his faith make a big deal of his deciding to run for president after hearing a Texas minister named Rev. Mark Craig preach about how Moses had been called to service by God. Bush's mother reportedly turned to her son after the sermon and said, "He was talking to you."

Stephen Mansfield, author of The Faith of George W. Bush, goes on to say: "Not long after, Bush called James Robison (a prominent minister) and told him, 'I've heard the call. I believe God wants me to run for President.' " Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention heard Bush say something similar: "Among the things he said to us was: I believe that God wants me to be president, but if that doesn't happen, it's OK.' "

From Beliefnet : http://www.beliefnet.com/story/121/story_12112_3.html

After Bush's September 20, 2001, speech to Congress, Bush speechwriter Mike Gerson called the President and said: "Mr. President, when I saw you on television, I thought--God wanted you there." "He wants us all here, Gerson," the President responded.

Richard Land recalls being part of a group of about a dozen people who met after Bush's second inauguration as Texas governor in 1999. At the time, everyone in Texas was talking about Bush's potential to become the next President. During the meeting, Land says, Bush said, "I believe God wants me to be President, but if that doesn't happen, it's OK."

From a local Pennsylvania newspaper about GW's visit to an Amish community near Lancaster, Pa. (quoted part not available online) July 2004.

http://local.lancasteronline.com/6/7565

The Amish told the president that not all members of the church vote but they would pray for him.

Bush had tears in his eyes when he replied. He said the president needs their prayers. He also said that having a strong belief in God is the only way he can do his job. . . .

At the end of the session, Bush reportedly told the group, “I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn't do my job.”

I'll end with a slightly, though often, misquoted statement attributed to Professor of Psychiatry, Thomas Szasz.

When you talk to God, you’re praying; if God talks to you, you have schizophrenia.
–Thomas Szasz, M.D.

 

[arildno]

George Bush is not delusional, he is a liar.

 

[Astronuc]

Change Our President is delusional to "the president is deranged".

arildno - he's not lying - he is so detached from reality that his words are simply fantasy fiction.

 

[arildno]

Change Our President is delusional to "the president is deranged".

Isn't that equivalent to being a Republican?