George Bush is an idiot

Disclaimer: This is just a debate, no offense is intended towards the former president of the United States of America. Thank you so much Roy for the opportunity to debate this intriguing topic with a debater as skilled and distinguished as yourself. I hope that this will be a fun, informative, instructive and perhaps somewhat humorous debate where we can discuss the quirks and foibles of this well-known public figure without dwelling too much on politics. At the risk of offending his many faithful followers, supporters and family members I am compelled to affirm the resolution: Former president George Bush Jr. or George W Bush is indeed an idiot. ___________ I will begin this debate by examining the fine definitions supplied by my opponent from the Merriam-Webster dictionary and will build my case as I go. Idiot: 1 usually offensive : a person affected with extreme mental retardation OK I'm not going to claim that Bush was born with an extreme subnormal mental capacity which is indeed the true primary definition of an idiot because I don't believe that's true. I WILL discuss the possibility that the dementia that many people (including health professionals) have tentatively diagnosed in Mr. Bush could perhaps qualify as "extreme mental retardation" but this will NOT be the crux of my argument. I think the qualifier of "usually offensive" before the definition is very significant here. Like most offensive terms used in everyday language, the term idiot is not generally intended in a purely literal sense. If we hear someone call another person a d*ckhead we don't assume they literally have a phallus emerging from their forehead. If someone says "b*tch" we don't assume they are addressing a female dog and homosexual slurs are freely addressed towards confirmed heterosexuals with no element of irony. Similarly when people refer to George Jr. as an idiot we don't mean it in the literal sense of extreme retardation but rather the colloquial sense represented by our second definition. Idiot: 2 : a foolish or stupid person Note that the primary trait of this our core definition is not actual stupidity but rather foolishness and this is what I intend to prove in this debate. __________ George Bush is a fool. A foolish person is essentially a figure of ridicule and fun as in the traditional sense of a court jester [1] being titled "Fool" (as in Shakespeare's King Lear [2]) and I don't think there is any disputing the status George Bush has achieved in this regard, most notably here, on what he might call "the internets". [3] The sheer volume of humorous material regarding George Bush is phenomenal. Satire, parody, video, audio, de-motivational posters[4] all exist in abundance and the reason for this is clearly the man's personality, most notably the difficulties he has had constructing complete, coherent and relevant sentences when speaking in public. I have provided a few of my favourite examples of foolish gaffes by Mr. Bush in the videos at the top of this post and I think it is clear that he fits the criteria of a foolish person in terms of being an entertaining and comedic figure of fun and mockery. The other common definition of a fool is "a person lacking in judgment or prudence" [5] and I believe this can also be applied to the former president. I won't go into details about Bush's sometimes rash and poorly thought out military, domestic, diplomatic and economic decisions (at least not in this round anyway) because Roy has articulated that he wants the debate to focus on "mental capacity" rather than policy. I do think though that some of the decisions Bush has made [6] as well as his poor judgement in choosing the right thing to say at public engagements (see videos again) is good evidence of his foolishness in this regard. ______________ Extreme mental retardation. Many people over the years who have been dumbfounded by the former president's inarticulacy and apparent lack of cognition have suggested all sorts of medical explanations. Conditions from dyslexia [7] to alcohol withdrawal [8] and the after-effects of drugs [9] have all been posited as reasons for George's difficulties. Perhaps the most reasonable and well-qualified assessment however is that Mr. Bush could be suffering from pre-senile dementia [10] the main symptoms of which are forgetfulness and impaired speech [11]. It is clear that the negative mental effects of this condition are extreme and that it would support the first definition of an idiot. A letter from medical doctor Joseph M. Price to The Atlantic gave a clear diagnosis which is worth quoting from at length: "Slowly developing cognitive deficits, as demonstrated so clearly by the President, can represent only one diagnosis, and that is "presenile dementia"! Presenile dementia is best described to nonmedical persons as a fairly typical Alzheimer's situation that develops significantly earlier in life, well before what is usually considered old age. It runs about the same course as typical senile dementias, such as classical Alzheimer's--to incapacitation and, eventually, death, as with President Ronald Reagan, but at a relatively earlier age. President Bush's "mangled" words are a demonstration of what physicians call "confabulation," and are almost specific to the diagnosis of a true dementia. Bush should immediately be given the advantage of a considered professional diagnosis, and started on drugs that offer the possibility of retarding the slow but inexorable course of the disease." [12] _____________ My opponent has described the resolution as both "outrageous" and "extraordinary" but I think I have demonstrated how it is an entirely reasonable statement in many respects. I believe I have presented overwhelming evidence that George Bush qualifies as "a foolish person" in terms of being regarded as a comedy figure ripe for mockery and mickey-taking. I think I have also made a compelling case for him being "foolish" in terms of often lacking good judgement and making rash decisions. Lastly I have shown there is a distinct possibility that he may actually be suffering from a serious medical condition that has severely retarded his mental faculties. In short, the man is an idiot. Thank you. [1] "Fool 2 a : a retainer formerly kept in great households to provide casual entertainment and commonly dressed in motley with cap, bells, and bauble" http://www.merriam-webster.com... [2] http://www.shakespeare-online.com... [3] http://en.wikipedia.org... [4] http://www.motivatedphotos.com... [5] Fool 1 http://www.merriam-webster.com... [6] http://www.top10list.com... [7] http://www.iol.co.za... [8] http://en.wikipedia.org... [9] http://www.tomflocco.com... [10] http://priory.com... [11] http://www.ehow.com... [12] http://www.susanohanian.org... http://www.youtube.com... http://www.youtube.com... http://www.youtube.com...