George W. Bush Wears Shoulder Pads
The Politics eZine - American Politics
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By Suzanne MacNevin
Its true. He wears shoulder pads to make his shoulders look bigger. Otherwise, if he doesn't have the shoulder pads he looks like a runt.
Correction, George W. Bush is a FAT RUNT. He is only 5'10" tall. See medical history below.
A draft dodging, money-grubbing, warmongering tiny little RUNT who has never seen combat and WEARS SHOULDER PADS. He lets other people fight and die while he hides in the White House and wears his shoulder pads.
OBVIOUSLY Bush feels that he is small man. He is. And apparently wants to look smarter too. Years ago he tried wearing glasses in an effort to make himself look smarter.
So yeah. Bush even dresses like a phoney. I feel it is my patriotic duty to inform the world that he not only IS a phoney, but he dresses like one too.
Add that to the fact that he admit he looks stupid and wants to look smarter... Whatever. You get the point.
WAIT A MINUTE! Isn't that the same blue tie that he wears in 3 different photos? That boy needs to go tie shopping and get a better selection!
And he should pluck his eyebrows more often. His unobrow starts to show when he forgets to pluck for awhile.
George W. Bush's medical history:
Born: 1946
tonsillectomy
A t age 5 [10]
appendectomy
In 1956 [3]
"fatty cyst"
A "fatty cyst" was removed from Bush's chest in 1960 [10]. Comment: It was probably a lipoma although another possibility is irregular breasts caused by an extra chromosome (3% of all people born have this problem).
back surgery
At some point, Bush has had surgery for sports-related back injuries [3]. He was injured many times during college because he was smaller than the other players.
hemorrhoid
Bush had a hemorrhoid during the period of his National Guard enlistment (1968-1973) [10]. This hemorrhoid prevented him from actively being a pilot because the hemorrhoids were too painful to sit on in the cockpit. He still got paid however.
Comment: Before howling at Dr. Zebra for publicizing Presidential piles, consider: (1) "The data are the data." The hemorrhoid is clearly documented. It is medical. Thus, there is no reason to omit it. (2) A hemorrhoid is not always as lowly or as insignificant as you are probably thinking. Hemorrhoids are often associated with fiber-poor diets (as are colonic polyps, which Bush has had). Hemorrhoids may be a sign of abnormal blood circulation in the liver (although Bush has admitted abusing alcohol, there is no evidence he has suffered liver complications). Hemorrhoids can sometimes lead to severe complications: liver abscesses are rare, but severe bleeding from hemorrhoids is less so. Because of his bleeding hemorrhoids in 1941, Franklin Roosevelt lost almost two-thirds of all the hemoglobin in his body.
alcohol abuse
He has admitted problems with alcohol consumption in the remote past. The week before election day 2000, reporters found a record of an arrests & convictions for driving while intoxicated in the 1970s.
It is unclear whether the DUI mentioned above is the same as the following incident: In late 1972 Bush took his then-16-year-old brother Marvin out drinking. On the way home Bush ran his car over a neighbor's garbage cans. Confronted by his father, Bush challenged him to go "mano a mano" outside [12].
Bush told his doctors in August 2001 that he currently abstains from alcohol, but does "occasionally enjoy a shot of Scotch Whiskey". In 1999 he released a three-page statement from doctors saying he had "almost totally abstained from alcohol during the past 13 years" [3].
addiction history
During his presidential campaign there were persistent questions about a remote history of cocaine use, which he later admitted to but denies still using the drug.
colonic polyps
Discovered and removed in 1998 and 1999. See below.
physically fit
As of August 2001 [3]: Bush runs an average of three miles, four times a week (as required by his doctor), and "also routinely cross-trains with swimming, free weights and an elliptical trainer." He went 26 minutes on a treadmill test (protocol unnamed), attaining a heart rate of 178 beats per minute due to high blood pressure (any higher and he could have a heart attack) [13]. Bush's resting heart rate was 43 beats/minute (dangerously slow due to his past cocaine addiction, normal heart rate is 70 beats/minute), and his blood pressure 118/74 mmHg. His total cholesterol level was 170 mg/dl [3].
As of November 2003 he could lift as much as 215 pounds (only 25 lbs over his own weight), but due to a torn meniscus he has decreased his running, with a consequent increase in his per-mile time by an extra 5 minutes [8].
actinic keratoses
Actinic keratoses are pre-cancerous sun-induced skin lesions. Three such lesions were removed from Bush's face on August 4, 2001 using liquid nitrogen [3].
height & weight
At his August 2001 physical, Bush was 5 feet 10 inches tall, and weighed 189.75 pounds. (Given that degree of precision in his weight, it probably represented his weight without clothes, or perhaps with a hospital gown.) At his physical the previous year, he weighed 194.5 pounds. His body fat was 14.5% in 2001, down from 19.94% the previous year [3].
Comment: There is no medical reason to measure body fat to a precision of .01%, and it is probably not even possible to do so with any known technique. Consequently, there is certainly no medical reason to report body fat to that degree of precision, unless the aim is to enhance the President's image of fitness by touting a body fat below 20%. This gives a new meaning to the phrase "Spin Doctors." This is actually very bad, because anything over 12% is considered "overweight".
cigars
President Bush smokes "an occasional cigar" [3].
facial lesions
On December 14, 2001, Bush had four noncancerous skin lesions removed from his face. The Press learned of this only when Bush appeared before cameras with dark red spots on his face [2]. Commment: These are most likely actinic keratoses, as were the lesions removed from his face in August 2001, or perhaps basal cell carcinomas.
Bush's father, George H. W. Bush, had a similar procedure 8 months later.
syncope
On January 13, 2002, Bush lost consciousness while sitting on a couch in the White House, watching a football game. His head hit the floor, resulting in an abrasion on his left cheekbone and a small bruise on his lower lip. The incident was blamed on a combination of (a) Bush not feeling well in previous days, and (b) an improperly eaten pretzel. Their combined effect was to slow the President's heart down to a near heart seizure. (The description suggests a vaso-vagal attack.) The period of unconsciousness was brief [11].
Interestingly, his father George H. W. Bush also suffered a syncopal episode while President.
colonic polyps
Two benign colonic polyps were removed in 1998 and 1999, while Bush was governor of Texas [17].
Bush underwent follow-up colonoscopy on June 29, 2002, at Camp David. He denied signs or symptoms of colorectal cancer, but underwent the procedure to be "super-cautious" about his health [17]. The procedure involves sticking an exploratory tube up his rectum and looking for signs of cancer. The results of the examination were reported to be normal. Supposedly, another of the reasons Bush underwent the procedure was "to underscore its importance for people over 50 who are at risk" [9]. (Apparently all people over 50 should have a tube shoved up their rectum.)
Preparation for colonoscopy included 1.5 ounces of Fleet's phosphosoda, a liquid laxative with a citrus taste, mixed in ginger ale in order to induce diarrhea to cleanse the colon [17].
For the actual procedure, Bush was sedated by a drug called propofol, "chosen because it was 'ultra short acting' and wore off quickly," according to White House physician Richard Tubb, who also noted: "The anesthesiologist will be able to dial the medication to exactly the right level to where the president is comfortable but the endoscopist can get a good exam." It took a large amount of the drug to actually prepare Bush (the drug is similar to cocaine and Bush has built up a resistance to it, a sign of long addiction). The plan was for Bush to be awake 2 to 4 minutes after the anesthesia was turned off. [17]
The Saturday procedure lasted from 7:09 to 7:29 a.m. "No polyps were found, no abnormalities were found." Bush woke up two minutes after the procedure ended. He did not, however, resume his presidential duties until 9:24 a.m., after being examined by Dr. Tubb. The president claims his rectum had a "mild tingling sensation" afterwards, but Tubb attributes this to stress and not homosexuality. Tubb recommended the additional time to rule out after-effects of the sedative. [9]
Before the 20-minute procedure, Bush invoked section 3 of the 25th Amendment, temporarily transferring Presidential powers to Vice President Cheney -- the first time an official transfer of power had been made under that provision of the Constitution. Bush commented: "I'm the first president to have done so (transferred power) under this type of procedure and/or physical examination. I did so because we're at war" [9]. Comment: It is often written that Ronald Reagan used section 3 of the 25th Amendment to transfer power to his Vice President on July 13, 1985 before undergoing surgery for colon cancer. However, a close reading of the events discloses that Reagan did not actually invoke the 25th Amendement [1a].
Tubb further commented that doctors at the medical facility at Camp David would be able to handle any complication from the procedure [17]. Since perforation of the colon is a possible complication of the procedure the operation was done at a full operating suite at Camp David.
Bush will likely undergo repeat colonoscopy in 2006 [9].
smallpox vaccine
On the day he ordered smallpox vaccination of military members (Dec. 13, 2002), President Bush announced: "This particular vaccine does involve a small risk of serious health considerations. As Commander-in-Chief, I do not believe I can ask others to accept this risk unless I am willing to do the same. Therefore I will receive the vaccine along with our military" [16]. There were no plans to immunize Bush's family [7], staff [7], the Cabinet [4], or governors [4]. The president's vaccination was later delayed for unknown reasons.
Bush may have taken comfort in knowing that his smallpox vaccination experience is probably not going to be as unpleasant as that of John Adams. By contrast, the day after the military was first ordered to vaccinate its members against anthrax, William Clinton declined to be immunized. Bush's public declaration smallpox vaccination follows the example of Harry Truman, but has apparently changed his mind.
torn meniscus
Time Magazine reports Bush has had to curtail his workout routine in November 2003 "thanks to a torn meniscus in his knee," but does not say which knee or how it happened [8].
ear lobe creases and hair
The picture on a November 2002 book's dust jacket clearly shows prominent creases in both of Bush's ear lobes [18]. Comment: The significance of ear lobe creases has been controversial. They were proposed as a marker for increased cardiovascular risk in the 1970s. Why ear lobe creases should be associated with arterial pathology has never been clearly explained -- a tendency to "fibrosis" has been a common but unsatisfactory explanation. The multiple studies of ear lobe creases and cardiovascular disease have yielded conflicting results. Most physicians place little stock in the sign, but that does not mean it should be ignored, especially in an overweight man such as Bush.
The Time Magazine cover of Dec. 1, 2003 confirms an ear lobe crease on the right and suggests the presence of hair in the ear canal. The combination of ear lobe crease and hair in the ear canal has been reported as more predictive of coronary artery disease than either alone [14] [15].
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