George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography - Get a Free Blog

or very ill patients; providing a cool and uncluttered environment; and encouraging the
patient to enjoy pleasant music, light television entertainment, and interesting and
relaxing hobbies. [fn 41]
This is hardly a description of the White House situation room.
During the course of this debate, newspapers printed summaries of substances which are
thought to have an influence on thyroid activity. These included germs such as yersinia
enterocolitica, certain types of retrovirus, lithium, iodine, and the so-called goitrogens.
This last category includes chemicals found in vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage.
The New York Times of May 19 carried two letters to the editor on this subject. One,
from Professor Franklin M. Loew, Dean of the Tufts University Veterinary School,
recalled that vegetables of the brassica family, such as brussel sprouts, kale, and broccoli
contain substances that may help to prevent Graves' disease. The other letter reported that
the popular guide, Prescription for Nutritional Healing, recommends plenty of broccoli to
guard against the dangers of the overactive thyroid. All of this once again posed the
question of Bush's outbursts about broccoli, which may have been urged on his by
physicians seeking a way to mitigate some of his symptoms.
Was Operation Desert Storm really Operation Thyroid Storm? On May 20, one of the
most fanatical supporters of war against Iraq had attempted to pre-empt the discussion of
the role of hyperthyroid mental instability in Bush's military decisions. This was William
Safire, who wrote:
Next, with more sinister intent, we can expect this question: To what extent was the
President's uncharacteristically activist mindset after the Iraqi invasion affected by a
hyperthyroid condition? Was he hyper last August 2? Did the overactive gland affect his
decision to launch the air war or the ground war early this year? [fn 43]
Bush himself had been asked to comment about this possibility. He replied that any idea
that his warmongering in the Gulf had been facilitated by his thryoid disorder was "just
plain, old- fashioned malarkey." Before leaving on a visit to St. Paul, Minnesota, Bush
protested that his health was fine. "I'm not wary, you know, wondering what happens
next," he said. It makes me happy everything's okay. They diagnosed it right, treated it
right, and there's nothing more serious to it." Just after he had boarded Air Force One at
Andrews Air Force Base for his trip to the Twin Cities, Bush called reporters together
and declared: "I just want to say everything's fine." Asked about any side effects of the
five medicines he was then taking, Bush answered that his medication "affects my
tummy. But it doesn't affect my willingness and eagerness to get to the office." In an
apparent allusion to Lincoln's celebrated comment on the alleged alcoholism of Gen.
Grant, Bush even suggested that his thryoid excess may have been an advantage: "There's
a great man who suggested, 'If that's your problem, then get more thyroid problems
because it went very well, indeed.'" [fn 44]