Democracy Has Prevailed.

October 12, 2004

Disturbing Video Clip

I found a link to this video on Daily Kos. As described by "ChicagoBruce":

"This is the footage that started the story that first appeared in the Atlantic - George Bush from ten years ago - dramatically different than the Bush you're used to.

The big story - "a striking decline in his sentence-by-sentence speaking skills." The reason? One doctor says "presenile dementia" a catch-all term for earlier-than-normal cognitive declines (probably "dry-drunk syndrome"). This video intercuts footage from 10 years ago with recent footage - the difference is dramatic and disturbing. And obvious."
You can view the video for yourself here:

http://home.comcast.net/~blogitics/BushTenYrs4MB.mov

There's much discussion at Kos as to exactly what this video demonstrates -- various riffs on Korsakoff's syndrome, Alzheimer's, etc., as well as suggestions that Bush is on everything form coke to antidepressants now. Others suggest that the '94 clip just shows Bush on a good day while he was having a bad day during the debate.

I don't pretend to know how to account for the extreme disparity in the two performances, but anyone viewing the clips can see that it's like watching two entirely different people. I can't help but think that President Bush is suffering from something that has significantly decreased his mental capacity.

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