Bush Derangement Syndrome: Difference between revisions

Bush Derangement Syndrome (BDS) is a political term coined by the American conservative political columnist Charles Krauthammer in a 2003 column. The term has been used in newspaper columns and editorials, on talk radio, by commentators in the mainstream press, including The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Fox News Channel, and in the conservative and liberal blogosphere.

Meaning of term

The term BDS has been used in the political arena to describe a tendency by some American liberals to blame President George W. Bush for virtually every ill in the world. Another facet is a merely reflexive opposition to any position advocated by Bush for no other reason than that Bush happens to be advocating it.

Krauthammer defined BDS as "the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency — nay — the very existence of George W. Bush". While Krauthammer's column was somewhat tongue-in-cheek (eg., "What is worrying epidemiologists about the Dean incident, however, is that heretofore no case had been reported in Vermont, or any other dairy state"), the term reflects a belief that some extreme criticisms of President Bush — for example, a description of him as the greatest current threat to American lives — are of emotional origins rather than based on facts or logic.

Pundit Andrew Sullivan has reversed the intended meaning, suggesting that the real derangement is in the minds of Bush's supporters.

Examples

• Eugene Robinson, Rage of Reason Washington Post, 9/11/2007
• Bob Beckel, Leslie Sanchez, Stephanie Miller, Sean Hannity (September 15, 2006). Hannity & Colmes. United States: Fox News Channel. {{cite AV media}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |people= (help) (Edited transcript)
• ""Dim Moral Clarity"". Editorial, Investor's Business Daily. September 20, 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
• Jed Babbin (October 30, 2006). "Loose Canons: Pre-Election SGO". The American Spectator. Retrieved 2007-05-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Andrew C. McCarthy (August 21, 2007). "More FISA Fear-Mongering". National Review. Retrieved 2007-08-22. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |author= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
• William Kristol (September 10, 2007). "Kill the Die-in". Weekly Standard. Retrieved 2007-09-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Craige McMillan (September 8, 2005). "Bush Derangement Syndrome". WorldNetDaily. Retrieved 2007-09-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |author= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
• Paul Krugman (July 20, 2007). "All the President's Enablers". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-09-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• "Bush Derangement Syndrome and Iran". Editorial. The Washington Examiner. December 6, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

External links

• "The choice of anger", blog post at "The American Thinker", January 5, 2004 — a supporting view
• "As election season heats up, pseudo-psychology and "anti-American" rhetoric bring debate down", Ben Fritz, spinsanity.org, January 22, 2004
• "Bush-Hating Nation: Anatomy of an epithet", Steve Rendall, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, May/June 2006 — a skeptical view
• Charles Krauthammer, "Bush Derangement Syndrome, Cheney Variant", RealClearPolitics, March 16 2007 — Krauthammer develops the idea further
• "Let's Discuss Bush Derangement Syndrome again", "Dr Sanity" Blog, 12 November 2005