The time has come. In fact, it’s past due.
Vice President Dick Cheney is self-certifiably no longer connected to reality.
The following are clear signs of his mental pathology:
“On Sunday, Vice President Dick Cheney did not express any regret for predicting in the days before the invasion that U.S. troops would be greeted as liberators or his assessment 10 months ago that the insurgency was in its ‘last throes.’ On the contrary, he said the optimistic statements ‘were basically accurate, reflect reality.'”
Individuals who lie constantly are often labeled pathological, although such a diagnosis is not in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. However, chronic liars are often manifesting anti-social personality disorder, conduct disorder or sociopathy.
So, does Dick Cheney:
* fail to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors?
* deceive, as indicated by repeated lying or conning others for personal profit or pleasure?
* fail to plan ahead ?
* exhibit irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults ?
* recklessly disregard for safety of self or others?
* exhibit a lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated another
To date, departing the position of vice-president has taken place due to death, resignation or assuming the presidency. A fourth reason has now become apparent: mental pathology. It is transparent that he no longer is secure in his ability to discharge the power and duties of his office.
For those of you who deem Cheney’s behavior not as an illness, who ‘defend’ him as a brazen, advertent liar–that may have been so at some point but it has assumed pathological proportions and moved far past doing so intentionally.
Still not convinced? Try and tell the difference between Cheney’s statements and behavior and that of the Saturday Night Live character Tommy Flanagan (Jon Lovitz):
“Hello, my name is Tommy Flanagan, and I’m a member of Pathological Liars Anonymous. In fact…I’m the president of the organization! I didn’t always lie. No, when I was a kid, I told the truth. But then one day, I got caught stealing money out of my mother’s purse. I lied. I told her it was homework–that my teacher told me to do it. And she got fired! Yeah, that’s what happened! After that, lying was easy for me. I lied about my age and joined the army. I was thirteen at the time. Yeah…I went to Vietnam, and I was injured catching a mortar shell in my teeth. And they made me a three-star general! And then I got a job in journalism, writing for the National Enquire.. er, Geographic! Yeah…I was making twenty thousand a ye…month! In fact, I won the Pulitzer Prize that year! Yeah, that’s the ticket.
And then my cousin died – Joe Louis–and I took it hard. Maybe too hard–I tried to kill myself. Yeahh…I did kill myself! Sure! I was medically dead for a week and a half! It was a woman that brought me out of it–Indira Gandhi! Yeah, right…And she told me about Pathological Liars Anonymous. Oh, you’d be surprised how many famous people belong. In fact…at one of the meetings I met my wife–Morgan Fairchild! Yes, I’m a changed man now, and all because of Pathological Liars Anonymous. Why, I – I even have my picture on the cover of Newsweek magazine. Yeah…that’s the ticket! Yeah, you betcha.”
See.
