2012 GOP Presidential Primary

On second thought, an intervening post has helped me rethink the term "crazy talk." NM

 

Surprised rimmy didn't call you out for the offensive Juxtaposition of "crazy+sure thing" which can only mean one thing:

Spoiler

Batman

 

gingrich is a disingenuous piece of trash.

says something about the field when conservative "family values" christians are making excuses for his every indescretion...if this was a democrat they would be all over his perceived moral failings.

he lost me forever with his answer to the "open marriage" question:

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Gee basso, if I'm really mentally ill how do I know I'm not a cactus?

My "florid" posting style, you might notice, is a thing of the past. I took about a six month break from the D&D, in which I asked Clutch, a personal friend, to just make it invisible for me by 'banning' me. He obliged but said I could come back whenever I wanted and when I felt calmer I did. Those old posts were made before I was diagnosed and while I was still binge drinking, drugging, unaware of my condition, untreated and unmedicated. I'm sober now and on a mood stabilizer and I spend nearly 40% of my salary on my own care because private insurance companies do not adequately cover mental health issues, so as I said, you might notice my posts are not as "florid" as they once were. I was out of my mind, yeah. That's true. I said and did a lot of things I regret, most of them in 'real life' but some of them here too. But the fact I'm better doesn't mean I won't occasionally take a swipe at you; everybody here thinks you're a dick so I hardly think that's abnormal.

I understand a good bit of the bias against people with mental health issues because the mentally ill often behave in ways that are not acceptable in society. But that doesn't mean they're all delusional. And it's kind of sucky to insinuate that they/we are.

This is the second time my health and personal life has derailed this thread which I so enjoy and wish to continue to participate in, so I'd like to make this the last post in which I do that. But I'd also like to point out that not all crazy people belong in rubber rooms or are necessarily bereft of gifts or self-awareness. My condition is a mood disorder; not a personality disorder.

In a small attempt to bring this post and this derail just a little more on-topic, I point all of you to an excellent book that's gotten a lot of notice recently. It's called A First Rate Madness and it considers the thesis that while in times of stability we do well to have 'sane' leaders, ones with some form of mental health disorder may prove better leaders in times of crisis.

The case studies in the book are of such 'crazy people' as Lincoln, FDR, JFK, Gandhi, MLK, Gen. Sherman, Winston Churchill and others. Gee, I wonder if they knew they weren't a cactus.

Derail over. Sorry y'all.

 

Because everyone knows you're a eucalyptus tree. Duh.

I just read this myself and found it an interesting read. I didn't agree with all of his conclusions (especially regarding Nixon) and I thought he made a number of leaps in logic. But I do think his premise has merit and it will probably inspire additional study.

 

Sounds interesting. Did it suggest at all a correlation between mental illness and outlier-levels of intelligence and creativity?

Anecdotally, it seems to me that there are very few well-adjusted geniuses.

 

It was more of a series of case studies, but it did emphasize two characteristics of depression - heightened empathy and a more realistic assessment of the world (recent studies have indicated that depressed people don't actually see things negatively - rather, non-depressed people are overly and unrealistically optimistic). The author claimed these two characteristics are valuable for leaders in times of crisis.

 

What might end up happening is that Paul will use this leverage to change his party's platform on some of the things that he deems necessary to put the country back on tract.

Personally, if I were any of the other GOP candidates, I would pick Paul for VP if I want any chance of winning against Obama.

 

To be fair, a good sign of mental illness is responding to basso posts.

 

In that case, almost everybody here is insane.

 

Not me.

For those interested in jobs creations versus Jobs creation (the largest lie in terms of pure magnitude last night):

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/25/politics/truth-squad-steve-jobs/index.html

 

you and most female voters far and wide. You should hear my 75 year old mother talk about him. Yikes! And if he's not getting *that* demographic... um...

 

Just curious, but what answer would have played well with you?

Seems like a no-win for Newt.

 

Bob Schiffer just made a good point regarding Gingrich saying that he might not participate in debates where the audience isn't allowed to applaud. The audience isn't allowed to applaud in the general election debates.

The cynical part of me says if Gingrich actually follows through this might be his and the GOP's ticket to give him an honorable exit out of the race.

 

It kind of seems that what a lot of you are saying, with Romney's tax returns, and Newt being Newt...

... nobody will be able to lick santorum ...

(*rimshot* ... oops, I mean, er)

 

I've said it already, and I'll say it again here. Gingrich is going to be the nominee.