Major Announcement. . .

Fellow citizens, after deep reflection and consideration, but without consulting with any of my supporters, I have come to the conclusion that I will not be running for President of the United States this election cycle.  I reach this decision with a heavy heart, but feel that it is the best course of action at this time.

I was going to mount a campaign with the slogan "Make America Sane Again", which preliminary market studies showed to have a certain appeal to the American public.  A second slogan would have been "Dave Olson for President:  At least he's on his meds."

I know this will be received by many of you with great disappointment.  And I understand, but still, the toll this would have taken on my family and me was just too great.

I do believe that my experience with being bipolar would have made me well suited for the Presidency.  For example, my own experience is that taking Lamictal is an effective remedy for the highs and lows that are too often experienced.  This is exactly what the stock market needs.  Wild swings up and down are not beneficial to the nation's economy.  I have a solution.  Lamictal.  Or lithium, if need be.

Some feel our nation is headed towards a depression.  There you have it, another issue with which I am uniquely equipped and experienced to handle.

I have also learned fiscal responsibility.  Although when it comes to the federal budget and allocating trillions of dollars of resources it might be necessary to go off my meds for a spell.  Bipolar people in a manic phase are quite adept at the task of spending vast amounts of money.  Debt is also something we have personal experience with.  Bipolar people are like that.  My solution for the national debt is that we will accept an unlimited amount of promotional credit cards and continually transfer funds back and forth to maintain zero interest on the balance.  This would save us lots of money.

I would have led us back to a time when we were a kinder, gentler, nation.  Our theme song would have been "Its a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor, would you be mine."  Part of this emphasis would require all drivers to wave at each other, like they do in the farming communities of the midwest.

I believe that we need to respond to the humanitarian crisis of immigrants at our southern border.  And yet, I also believe that we need a means of restricting entrance to the country to those who really want to be here and need to be here because of dire necessity.  A simple solution can be found in my Norwegian American background (and by the way, I will be doing a genetic test to prove that I am of Norwegian descent).  What we would have done is to welcome these immigrants and asylum seekers and provide them with lutefisk to eat for their first year in the country.  This would have reduced the amount of people seeking entrance to the country to those who truly need to come here.

One of the questions asked during campaigns is the phone call at 3 am question.  Who do you want taking that call?  Hey, I'm up at 3 am anyway.  No big deal.

I am somewhat disappointed to come to this conclusion.  Being bipolar I could have brought both the melancholy of Abraham Lincoln and vast ambition of FDR back to the White House.

Some of you are rolling your eyes and saying "Dave, you're just not smart enough to be President."  True.  But this is my belief.  (And for the first time in this piece of satire, I'm being dead serious.)  The job of the President is to surround himself or herself with people far smarter than they, to the end that they are the dumbest person in the room.  Their job as President is not to be the smartest, but to pray instead for wisdom.  And this is my prayer, that as we as a nation enter the next election cycle we will seek out and find a candidate that may not be the most experienced, nor the most intelligent, nor the most charismatic, and certainly not the richest, but rather simply wise.

Mental Health and the Presidency

Dear Mister President,
You could make it a little easier here.  Life is difficult enough for a person living with a mental disorder.  You're not helping.

Let me say first that I'm not in a position to diagnose you, though there are others who are venturing a guess.  I've heard of one prominent mental health professional who is convinced you are suffering from "Malignant Narcissism".  I had to check that out.  Psychology Today had an article which described it as:

"Fromm called such people 'malignant narcissists,' people out of touch with reality, who exhibit more and more extreme behaviors as the pressures of living up to their delusion of perfection mount, and as they inevitably become exposed to scrutiny and criticism. All too often, enraged by challenges to their fantasy of omnipotence, they lead their followers on to acts of violence, against others or even against themselves. In cults, we have the examples of this horrific violence in the Manson Family, Heaven’s Gate, Jim Jones, and many, many others. When it comes to political leaders, the history of the 20th century, the extreme nationalistic narcissism that proclaims the exclusive validity of one nation and the right to deny life and freedom to members of another; the mass murders perpetrated by its dictators—this horrific, tragic history is still being written, and still being perpetrated."

Let me say first, that I would suppose that a certain degree of narcissism is probably an occupational hazard of being President.  In order to even function in that job, there has got to be a bit of "He-man" in one's psyche,  "I have the power!"  I sense that in you over the last few weeks.  

What concerns me, based on my own experience of a person with a mental illness, is that there is a fine line between living with a manageable disorder, and slipping into behaviors that are simply bat ass crazy.  From what I've seen and heard from you and your supporters I'm particularly concerned about what Fromm describes as "nationalistic narcissism".  You see, it begins with a statement like "America First.  Only America First."  That sounds eerily similar to "Deutchland Uber Alles".  When its reported that at one point you said, "we have nukes, why can't we use them?", these concerns skyrocket.  (Maybe that's not an accurate report, but that people jumped all over it shows their concern.)

My own experience is that a mentally ill person cannot, while in a active state, have any sense of their own health.  We live in a world of an altered reality.  Our perceptions appear to us as being valid, while the rest of the world seems crazy.  Usually this persists until a point at which we become so dysfunctional that we can no longer defend ourselves and resist the interventions that our loved ones attempt.  I once saw a sign in a psychiatrist's office that said "Your assertion that you are sane and the rest the world is crazy may be true, but at least they are functioning."

Personally, were I President, I think that a psychiatrist would have a prominent place in my medical team.  (In my manic moods, I actually think about being president.  And in a manic phase I am capable of some incredible, really incredible things.  The irony is that if I allowed myself to be treated for my mania, I probably wouldn't be able to do all the things I would envision doing if I were President.)

What I find curious, and concerning, is that there are many professions, my own included, that require a full psychological evaluation as a condition of serving.  All you have to be is a United State's citizen that is 35 years old.  I understand that there are some provisions in our governing documents that allow for the removal of a president if their health, physical or mental, prevents them from functioning.  But things have to get pretty bad for that to happen.  Some of us wonder if President Reagan was already in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease while he was still president.  And how bad would it have to have been for someone to declare him unable to continue serving.  

What am I getting at?

I believe that anyone who is President ought to, for the sake of the country, submit themselves to thorough psychiatric evaluations, along with their medical checkups, and be constantly monitoring their emotional and psychological health.  When I returned to ministry, after a period of being on disability, I made that commitment.  

What would make life easier for all people living with mental illness this:  That there might be examples, role models if you will, of people who are committed not only to treating known mental health conditions, but doing everything to insure and maintain a healthy psychological state.  I think of all the publicity that living "heart healthy" gets, e.g., many restaurants even mark 'heart healthy' options on their menus, and I wonder why don't we have the same emphasis for mental health.  

As far as being the President goes, my concern is this.  The pressures of being the leader of the "free world" are such that it could drive even the most sane person into a state of being bat ass crazy.  One need only study the history of the world to find many examples of this.  

Our country has its checks and balances that are supposed to keep us safe from individuals that are out of control.  But they have been compromised.  It used to be that congress had to authorize  military intervention with a declaration of war.  Now, a President can easily get us thoroughly involved in military actions without prior authorization from anyone.  The risks are high.  

It would be a great comfort to the nation and the world to know, that the President's mental health was a high priority to maintain as a matter of national security.  

This is not a partisan issue.  Though I am personally a liberal Democrat, I can and have accepted the leadership from moderate and conservative Republicans.  I live in Idaho, after all.  My desire is not that a President be Democrat or Republican, but that the whole country can be assured that they are well cared for so that they are always functioning from a state of mental health and stability.  

I hope that you will commit yourself to this task, and take care of your own health and stability.