A CALIPHATE WORSE THAN DEATH

Two news reports caught my eye today. The first was from the thug who is referred to as the "president" of Iran:

Mr Ahmadinejad called Israel's leaders a "group of terrorists" and appeared to threaten any country that supports it.

Even if we assume the Holocaust is true, then why should the Palestinians pay the price for it

"You imposed a group of terrorists... on the region. It is in your own interest to distance yourself from these criminals... This is an ultimatum. Don't complain tomorrow."

The "ultimatum" was directed at European states in particular.

"We have advised the Europeans that the Americans are far away, but you are the neighbours of the nations in this region," Mr Ahmadinejad said.

And, in other axis of evil news, even as little Kim was supposedly abjectly apologizing to China for conducting a nuclear test:

A North Korean official, meanwhile, defended last week's nuclear test and said Pyongyang would "crush U.S. imperialists' schemes with its self-defensive power."

"No matter how the U.S. imperialists try to stifle and isolate our republic ... victory will be on the side of justice," said Choe Thae Bok, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency's Korean-language report.

Choe made the comments at a rally in the North Korean capital in which tens of thousands of citizens and soldiers cheered the nuclear test, according to KCNA _ the first known celebration directly tied to the explosion.

By now, it should be clear to anyone who is paying attention that the leaders of North Korea and Iran are bad people. Evil, even.

Yes, that involves a value judgement on my part -- the worse of all secular sins in our PC world, where the only value judgement that is allowed goes something like this: on the one hand, all cultures are equally deserving of respect; on the other, Western culture is uniquely destructive and bad.

Variations on the above theme are that the real terrorism in the world emanates not from the mullahs (and their puppet Ahmadinejad) of Iran or the President of North Korea, but from the Bush-Hitler administration.

Those who promote this point of view think that Bush--not Kim and not Ahmadinejad--is the real evil of our time.

Meanwhile, in France:

In Lyon, a car was rammed into a synagogue and set on fire.

In Montpellier, the Jewish religious center was firebombed; so were synagogues in Strasbourg and Marseilles; so was a Jewish school in Creteil — all recently.

A Jewish sports club in Toulouse was attacked with Molotov cocktails, and on the statue of Alfred Dreyfus in Paris, the words “Dirty Jew” were painted. In Bondy, fifteen men beat up members of a Jewish football team with sticks and metal bars. The bus that takes Jewish children to school in Aubervilliers has been attacked three times in the last 14 months.

According to the Police, metropolitan Paris has seen ten to twelve anti-Jewish incidents per day in the past thirty days.

Do you imagine that the chilling words of Ahmadinejad and the duplicitous grandiosity of Kim are evidence of their peaceful intentions and demonstrate what good people they are? Do you imagine that the behavior of those attacking the Jews in France are not enabled and encouraged by the likes of the leaders of Iran and North Korea?

Some clueless imbeciles are more concerned with the supposedly imminent fascist state/ theorcracy/ totalitarian regime about to be imposed by Bush, than they are by what is going on outside the U.S.. Get a grip, people. Such incredibly histrionic behavior is a phenomenon that is defined here.

It is essential to keep one's moral compass in good working order because value judgments require being able to distinguish between "good" and "bad" pretty regularly.

Gagdad Bob discusses the relationship between tradition, or orthodoxy, and progress, or evolution and makes the following statement:

...good people will use technology in a good way, while bad people will use it for bad ends. Nevertheless, there are many idiots who ask the question--I recently saw the idiot Wolf Blitzer ask it of President Bush--”Israel has a nuclear bomb. Why can’t Iran?” Good question, Wolf. Wolf Blitzer has a cable news show. Why can’t a morally insane sociopath have one? Oh, wait a minute.... Olbermann does have one.

But do we really want to have the dissemination of information in the hands of madmen? Well, we do. It’s called wackademia, or the leftist looniversity bin, where parodies of truth are disseminated by parodies of scholarship to a slackjawed but diverse flock of sheep. For the academic left, time stands still no less than it does for the Islamists, except that it is always 1967 instead of 1267.

What we are facing (using a phrase that Bob employs) is a "caliphate worse than death" if we allow ourselves to be confused about who and what are "good" versus who and what are "bad".

Sometimes it's necessary to go back to the beginning; all the way to Atom and Evil in the Garden of Deathly Delights:

THE MANIPULATION OF "NEWS" GOES INTO HYPERDRIVE

This week on The Sanity Squad podcast, Siggy, Neo, Shrink, and I discussed the increasingly prevalent phenomenon of "news" stories whose only purpose seems to be to proclaim loudly and almost hysterically (ok, I added the latter adverb) that there is absolutely, positively NO WAY that the GOP can win in November's elections; or a variation on that theme to the effect that the Republicans are hopelessly conflicted with each other and that various and assorted groups of them will actually vote for...you got it!...Democrats in the coming election!

Sample headlines from just this week (all purporting to be "news" as opposed to opinion):

Republican Woes Lead to Feuding by Conservatives (NYT)

Republican Money Can't Stave Off New Peril in Senate (WSJ)

Opposition to GOP Rises in Ohio, Poll Says(WashPost)

Big Democratic Wins Likely On Election Day MSNBC

GOP'S Hold on Evangelicals Weakening (WashPost)

And, of course, there is also setting up the fall-guys, should the GOP pull it out come November:
In Close Races, GOP Holds Advantage of Funds (WashPost) - subtext: the only reason the GOP could win these races is because of [evil] money money money. Issues have nothing to do with it.

Funding Constrains Democrats (WashPost) - other wise they would WIN!

Moderates in Kansas Decide They're Not in GOP Anymore (WashPost)

New Laws and Machines May Spell Voting Woes NYT

And, of course, concerned Democrats are already beginning to question the security of electronic voting (see here, for example) - we all know that those evil Republicans would surely stoop to election fraud; nevermind that we demanded electronic voting so that they couldn't cheat and not count the chads....

Now, the above was just a sampling that I obtained over the last few days from Memeorandum, and doesn't even count all the giddy lefty bloggers who are busily going about counting their chickens before they are hatched; and who cite wildly erratic polls as if they were absolute objective reality.

Having been a psychiatrist for quite some time; and having specialized in dealing with the masters of emotional manipulation in the personality disordered realm, I can say without any doubt that I know when I am being manipulated.

And the manipulation of this "news"--i.e., the artful and deliberate managing of what are purported to be objective "facts" by the news media--has gone into hyperdrive as the November midterm elections approach.

Can you guess the purpose of this manipulation? There are actually two purposes. The first sets up a clear expectation in the minds of the American population:

There is no way that Republicans can hold onto the House or the Senate. Everyone is abandoning ship. The Republicans are in complete disarray. The polls clearly demonstrate that Republicans are going to lose bigtime.

The second purpose is to deliver the fall-guy and establish blame in advance in case the reality on November 7, 2006 does not go the way the MSM (and the Democrats) planned.

Those RICH Republicans can only win if they spend more money than the POOR Democrats (who by the way, are just like Joe Sixpack and have to struggle every day with money woes because the evil [rich] Republicans only support the rich and oppress the poor; nevermind about millionaires Soros, Kennedy, Kerry, etc. etc. and most of the Hollywood elite who support Dems--they don't count). Oh, and the other reason that Republicans might win is if they CHEAT.

Turning to another issue on which the manipulation is only just beginning, I noted in this post that:

Remember the mass hysteria that ensued when Bush described Iraq, North Korea, and Iran as the "Axis of Evil"? Well, with the recent activities of two of the countries in that Axis , many pundits and intellectuals bemoan the fact that by attacking Iraq, the third member of the Axis, we essentially "attacked the wrong country." The context of such remarks is that the U.S. should have gone after North Korea and Kim Jong Il; or after the mullahs of Iran--all people who really really meant us harm-- and not poor, innocent, misunderstood Saddam.

Now they say, we are in deep trouble because we didn't--and it is all Bush's fault, of course.

But you see, if we had say, gone for regime change in North Korea --what they now insist we should have done--then only the names of the dramatis personae (especially the character of "The Oppressed") would have changed in this leftist drama.

Instead of the poor helpless victims of American oppression in Iraq that we hear so much about; we instead would be hearing about the poor, helpless, starving North Koreans -- victims of... American Imperialism/Capitalism!

Well, that meme has already begun, even as the US takes a visible lead in enforcing the UN Security Council's unanimous vote for sanctions on North Korea!

At any rate, look to see any interception as yet another proof of "US imperialism". Pajamas Media notices that the sympathetic portrayal of North Korea has already begun.

The "Human Face" of North Korea: Diane Sawyer interviews a senior North Korean general who asks President Bush to stop humiliating his nation. Former Spook says the message is “They want nothing more than a better life for their children, and to live in peace, yada, yada, yada.”

Expect to see this sort of thing quite a bit in the months to come. We'll be hounded by stories of how our imperialism and desire to "dominate" the world is causing suffering and death in North Korea and Iran (just as the sanctions on Iraq cause so many children supposedly to starve). Expect to see studies published in The Lancet that demonstrate how...evil...diplomatic sanctions (enforced by the US for the international community). Expect to see human interest stories in the MSM about the pitiful plight of the innocents caught up in the machinations of the imperialistic US. Expect to see the wailing and blaming of innumerable "human rights" organizations whose only consistency will be in pointing the finger at the US.

All good poltical theater--in fact, all good political manipulation-- like the above, requires setting up at the beginning of the play the good guys and the bad guys, so that by the climax and denoument the moral of the story is clear. We have been set up for one of two endings in these two dramas:

NOVEMBER ELECTION DRAMA:
Ending #1: The virtuous Democrats have defeated the evil GOP who tried every despicable method in their arsenal as they attempted to thwart the rightful return to power of the Democrats. Good has triumphed over Evil at long last.

Ending #2: The virtuous Democrats were robbed by the evil GOP who used (gasp!) filthy lucre to buy their way to another undeserved victory; and, the Republicans also blatantly cheated and stole the election from the rightful winners. Virtue and Goodness cannot succeed where there is Evil and Corruption.

THE "AMERICA IS ALWAYS EVIL" DRAMA:
Ending #1: The U.S. is responsible for murdering and causing untold suffering of innocents by pursuing a diplomatic policy that oppresses the poor and helpless in countries like North Korea and Iran, who are not imminent threats. We wanted a diplomatic solution, but didn't want anyone to have to suffer!

Ending #2: The U.S. is responsible for murdering and causing untold suffering of innocents by pursuing a military policy that is disproportionate and excessive when you consider that North Korea and Iran have never really been threats to the U.S. We told you we wanted a diplomatic solution! But no, you had to resort to brute force and this is the result of your evil, imperialistic mind-set.

Possibly, there are other acceptable endings for the authors of this little play; but you can count on one common theme : The Bush Administration, Republicans, and/or the U.S. are always--always--the bad guys.

And one overriding plotline: The world, sadly out of kilter; and America, at the beginning of its end, will only be rescued and set back on its proper path when Democrats (read: the political left) regain their rightful place in the hallowed halls of political power.

THE END
(roll credits and...thunderous applause!)

The next day, the MSM will be sure to feature the rave reviews.

UPDATE: Even more!

POLITICAL MASS HYSTERIA AND THE NEO-MARXIST DRAMA

Hysteria is a concept characterized by a wide variety of physical and mental symptoms resulting from dissociating one's cognitive functioning from one's emotion and/or behavior. The psychological defense that makes this happen is known as dissociation.

For the hysteric emotions are primary and are not subject to an objective reality. Historically, this psychological phenomenon has been associated with women (hence the uses of the word "hysteria", indicating an association with the womb), but although the clinical syndromes are more commen in women, men are hardly immune from behaving hysterically (watch any sports event for confirmation of this). The newer term that is often used to get away from female/womb association is "histrionic".

When we speak of someone becoming "hysterical" or "histrionic", we are talking about behavior that exhibits overwhelming or unmanageable emotional excess.

Welcome to the wonderful world of feelings, nothing more than feelings (cue the music), where there really is nothing more than feelings at play.

This is a world where there is no objective reality or truth; a world where, if you believe something is true, then it is. In other words, it is a world where something can be considered "fake but accurate" or where captured enemy combatants in the middle of a war are considered in a "gulag"; or, where a "religion of peace" beheads people; is so terrified of women's sexuality they must "liberate" them by forcing them to wear sacks over their bodies; and which promotes blowing yourself up in a crowd as a devout religious act.

A variety of altered states of consciousness may result from the dissociative process. In one dissociated or hysterical state, sleep-walking (sonambulism), the person appears to be out of contact with his environment, is seemingly unresponsive to external stimuli, and in many cases appears to be living out a vivid, hallucinated drama.

That particular emotional state essentially describes the political left and the marxist/ socialist/communist/pick your utopian fantasy/ dead-enders.

Mass hysteria occurs when large groups of people engage in psychological dissociation; and political mass hysteria is the appropriate name when all the emotional excitability and excess happen to serve a political function or ideological agenda. Most of political theater is histrionic--appealing to the emotions (usually the baser ones -- like envy, greed etc.)

Drama of any sort suits the hysteric's modus operandi extremely well.

One of the most persistent dramatic productions of the last century, which unfortunately is still playing to certain easily amused crowds in this one, is the same old- same old Marxist passion play titled "Oppressor vs. Oppressed" which remains on the billet in spite of the catastrophic reviews it continues to receive.

When Act I of this sad little drama began, the world was about to be saved from the horrible evils of the American Capitalist Oppression of the masses by the brave Soviet Socialist Republic.

Unfortunately for the heroic workers of the Socialist Republic, reality reared its ugly head, and by the time the curtain was about to go up on Act II, the deaths and thorough subjugation of millions under the boot of the heroic utopian Socialist Republic resulted in most of the intelligent members of the audience quickly departing the theater. The incredible economic successes of capitalism and the freedom that fires it, compared to the pathetic lives of most under the yoke of communism, made most people who were not in the grip of some intense emotion realize that Marxism in all it's iterations was a complete dead end--a really bad one act play that deserved a final curtain.

"That's why it's interesting that the neo-Marxists have carefully rewritten the play and are presenting the revival all dressed up in a new postmodern wardrobe. The play's the thing after all--reality be damned! [I described the rewriting and editing process in this post on the four pillars of the socialist revival].

Armed with postmodern philosophy and rhetoric, the neo-Marxists of the left continue to churn out the same message in their revised play. The role of "evil" has been reprised by American Capitalist/Imperialist Oppression. The only differences in the rewrite from the original are the identities of some of the poor, helpless victims of these evil oppressors. The original victims--the "workers of the world" had cleverly invested in the capitalist systen and made managed to make their way out of victimhood status (much to the dismay of their leftist overlords), and pretty much loss interest in revolting against their "evil oppressors" who were making it possible for them to prosper.

Let us consider a recent comment by someone who is routinely annoyed at this blog for suggesting that the left has betrayed any claim it might have once had that it champions the poor and oppressed. He writes with a pathos that comes from his soul:

Why are little ones born only to suffer for the want of immunity or a bowl ofrice?

Well, that is a very good question. Why are they? What are the political forces that keep this little one down? If this commenter really wanted to alleviate the little ones' suffering, you might think he would look at what policies have had the most effect in bringing people out of poverty. You might think he would support such policies. That would be rational. But the sad truth is that he doesn't seem to care about what actually works in the real world. He cares mostly about what make him feel good. He also undoubtedly supports the same vapid policies that assuage his guilt and make him feel righteous and a champion of the poor; but that also guarantee that these little ones--and all the little ones after-- remain in poverty and victimhood their entire life (and, of course, remain dedicated Democrats or leftists).

I'm very sure it makes him feel really good to demonstrate how much he cares. I'm even sure he considers himself a caring and compassionate person -- especially compared to those evil- Republican-neocon-warmongering-hate-filled-bastards-whose-only-goal-is-to-oppress everyone-under-the-yolk-of- the-evil-capitalist-imperialist-United-States.

Gagdad Bob in his post "The Triumph of the Will and the Reign of Nothing" has this to say:

...concrete reality has a way of clearing aside so much abstract intellectual theory. There is a reason why Marxism only exists in universities, and that you will never find a businessman who operates his business along the lines of Marxist doctrine.
[...]
It is one thing for an adult to believe such leftist claptrap. If they want to ruin their lives in their adolescent rebellion against God, that’s fine by me. But to ruin a child’s life by inculcating him with these dysfunctional values is an unforgivable sin. For example, to raise a black child in contemporary America by telling him that this is a racist country, that white people hate him, that he is a victim from the start, and that his efforts will be for naught, is soul murder pure and simple.

Likewise, to brainwash an Arab child into believing that 15 million Jews in the entire world are the cause of a single problem among the world's billion Muslims--let alone all their problems--is a heinous form of abuse, because when you create a victim, you create a nihilist. Why? Because once victim status is secured, then you are no longer burdened by a conscience. You may destroy and kill plentifully, because the order of the cosmos is unfair and illegitimate, and anything you do to set things right is inherently moral, no matter how immoral. One is sanctioned to abandon oneself to one’s most primitive instincts. And the violence will not end until the Old Order is overthrown and the New Man is created, free of the existential categories that define man to begin with.

Meaning has been vanquished. Man is liberated from himself. The Triumph of the Will and the Reign of Nothingness are complete. God and man are dead. Long live the Beast!

As I suggested in mulitple previous posts, the political left acutally believes in nothing. In fact, they have almost reached the natural endpoint of their postmodern intellectual journey and arrived at the core nihilism that animates their belief system. Once reason and reality are finally jettisoned as a basis for human action, one is left only with our passionate feelings and the wonderful postmodern emotional universe.

Let us take a peek at just a small part of the political mass hysteria of today's left as it is applies the plotline of the neo-marxist drama to all events.

Remember the mass hysteria that ensued when Bush described Iraq, North Korea, and Iran as the "Axis of Evil"? Well, with the recent activities of two of the countries in that Axis , many pundits and intellectuals bemoan the fact that by attacking Iraq, the third member of the Axis, we essentially "attacked the wrong country." The context of such remarks is that the U.S. should have gone after North Korea and Kim Jong Il; or after the mullahs of Iran--all people who really really meant us harm-- and not poor, innocent, misunderstood Saddam.

Now they say, we are in deep trouble because we didn't--and it is all Bush's fault, of course.

But you see, if we had say, gone for regime change in North Korea --what they now insist we should have done--then only the names of the dramatis personae (especially the character of "The Oppressed") would have changed in this leftist drama.

Instead of the poor helpless victims of American oppression in Iraq that we hear so much about; we instead would be hearing about the poor, helpless, starving North Koreans -- victims of... American Imperialism/Capitalism! (Good guess)

Even now, we get some glimpses of this meme, which the MSM--the opiate of the leftist masses-- is ready to insert into the psychodrama at a moment's notice. If only the U.S. would negotiate in good faith with Kim Jong Il! The deadlock with North Korea could all have been prevented! All the dear leader wants is to talk directly with the U.S.! Is that too much to ask for? And so on, ad nauseum.

Replay and insert same tragic plot line for Iran, Syria, or any other country that is a potential "victim" of the U.S. Replay and insert any other recognized and established victim group and the storyline is fundamentally unchanged. The sole source of the power of the left comes from convincing anyone who disagrees with them and their agenda must be: a) Islamophobic; b) homophobic; c) sexist; d) racist etc. etc.

That's the beauty of the eternal neo-marxist drama. It does not depend on reality. It does not require truth. It does not even require thought! All it requires is a surplus of emotion spread around to the masses, a few slogans liberally splattered on posterboard, and heaps of self-indulgent and self-righteous nincompoops to buy tickets for the next performance.

Oh, and take a look at what the histrionic Democrats have planned for this country if they win the House in November. This fine example of hysterical political theater is merely the next act in the left's little power play waiting in the wings for the right moment.

I'm sure we can all rest comfortably in our beds knowing that the neo-marxist left (who have become mainstream in the Democratic party) has such a wonderful and coprehensive plan to deal with the imminent threats facing civilization in these troubled times.

The Triumph of the Will and the Reign of Nothingness will be then be complete. Long live the Beast!

UPDATE: Victor Davis Hanson has more to say on the pathological hysteria of the liberal establishment.

A MENTAL HEALTH DAY--Not Mine, But Yours !

I've just been too busy all day to post, and now I'm feeling a bit under the weather. I'm sure all my readers (especially the lefty trolls) are pleased that I've given them a mental-health day.

Back to the blogging grind tomorrow.

If you haven't checked out The Sanity Squad's latest podcast, feel free to do so now!

I CAN QUIT ANYTIME I WANT, YOU KNOW

Blogging will be light today as I have a lot of work to catch up on and a number of meetings to go to. Besides, I can quit any time I want....

IS THIS A FUTURE DSM VI DIAGNOSTIC CLASSIFICATION ??

INTERNET ABUSE: The essential features of the abuse syndrome are:
A maladaptive pattern of internet use causing clinically significant distress or impairment of social or occupational functioning.

Maladaptive use will include high daily internet use, regular heavy weekend internet use, binge internte use(staying online for days, often after periods of abstinence).
One or more of the following must have occurred as a result of recurrent internet use within a 12 month period:
1. failure to fulfill major role obligations e.g. repeated absences or poor work performance related to being on the internet; suspensions, or expulsions from school; neglect of the children or household.
2. exposure to physical hazards e.g. driving an automobile or operating a machine while trying to respond to email.
3. legal problems e.g. arrests for internet-related disorderly conduct.
4. social or interpersonal problems e.g. arguments with partner about consequences of internet use, physical fights while online.
A diagnosis of an abuse syndrome is not made if the person is dependent on the internet or computer.

INTERNET DEPENDENCE: The key features of the internet dependence syndrome are:

A maladaptive pattern of computer and internet use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress, as manifested by three (or more) of the following, occurring at any time in the same 12 month period:
1. tolerance, as defined by either:
(a) a need for markedly increased amounts of time on the internet to achieve that "internet or world-wide-web high"
(b) continued use of the same amount of internet time with markedly diminished effect (i.e., not raising your TTLB rankings or traffic)
2. withdrawal, as manifested by two or more of the following occurring after cessation or reduction of heavy prolonged internet browsing:
(a) autonomic hyperactivity such as sweating or heart rate in excess of 100 beats per minute
(b) hand tremor and an intense desire to type rants
(c) nausea or vomiting when re-entering the real world from the virtual
(d) transient visual, auditory, or tactile hallucinations
(e) psychomotor agitation
(f) anxiety that something will happen and YOU WON'T KNOW ABOUT IT!
(g) grand mal seizures or perhaps just tics as you longingly look toward the shut-off computer
3. time on the internet or computer often consumes a longer period than was intended
4. there is a persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts made to cut down or control the amount of time online
5. a great deal of time is spent in activities necessary to connect to the internet, such as finding ways to insure connection when your server is down; having backup computer systems in the event of power failure, etc.
6. important social, occupational or recreational activities are given up or reduced because of time spent on the internet
7. internet or computer use is continued despite a physical or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by being online.

NOTE: IF YOU MEET THESE CRITERIA -- GET HELP FAST! Immediately sign on to the internet and go to www.drsanity.blogspot.com for therapeutic support-- and good, old-fashioned enabling!

THE SANITY SQUAD : Telling It Like It Is!

This week, The Sanity Squad Podcast is sure to offend practically everyone! (We're so proud!)

“The Republicans are… just a bunch of spineless, pathetic, idiots.”
—Dr. Sanity
“The Democrats have as much political creativity as a canned ham.”
—Siggy

As you can see, The Sanity Squad doesn’t hold our domestic breed of politician in much higher regard than a certain “finely coiffed whackjob” from north of the DMZ. This week’s episode covers both topics in the restrained and retiring manner that we’ve come to expect from our group of four highly trained professionals

Check out the latest adventures of Neo-neocon, Dr. Sanity, Shrinkwrapped, and Siggy at Pajamas Media Politics Central!

And be sure to listen to all the previous Sanity Squad podcasts helpfully archived here, for your listening enjoyment. You can now also download them from iTunes.

IT'S CALLED PSYCHOLOGICAL DISPLACEMENT

Displacement:separation of emotion from its real object and redirection of the intense emotion toward someone or something that is less offensive or threatening in order to avoid dealing directly with what is frightening or threatening

MOVED BY PRINCIPLE AND IDEALISM

PJ O'Rourke is completely, thouroughly, and unforgivingly disgusted with the behavior of Republicans, and clearly details all the reasons why. He goes on to say:

I am so moved by principle and idealism, so indignantly high-minded, that I'm changing sides. At least the Democrats aren't hypocritical about being scum. After Gerry Studds was censured for molesting an underaged congressional page, he was reelected six times. Therefore, in the mid term elections, I'm working to get Demo crats into office.

And work it is. There's the problem of putative speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, whose very name summons images of children coming home from day care madly scratching their scalps. Then, when you see Pelosi speak, it's impossible not to think of Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown (ed. note: I guess this image in one's brain is inevitable these days!). I hope her campaign slogan isn't "A New Kick-Off for America."

There is also the problem of issues for the Democrats to run on. You're going to elect Democrats to control government spending? And you're going to marry Angelina Jolie for her brains. The privacy issue--government spying on U.S. citizens--isn't going to work. True, NSA has been collecting all our telephone information, but anyone who's answered the phone during dinner knows that every telemarketer on earth has that information already. Illegal immigration? When the Democrats were in charge, the illegal immigrants were from al Qaeda. And as for Iraq, the best the Democrats have been able to do is make the high school sex promise: "I'll pull out in time, honest."
[...]
No price is too high to pay for principled idealism. And as soon as high-minded indignation has defeated the Republicans, there will be the impoverishment from protectionism, the horror of nuke-wielding petty dictators, and the increased killings by terrorists to prove it. Deep-thinking people will be relieved that Dennis Hastert can no longer cover up misbehavior in the congressional page program.

Gee, I wonder if PJ is being sarcastic or something?

I made much the same arguments in my last two posts. But I wasn't being particularly sarcastic in those posts, and I'm not anywhere near as funny as PJ.

However, like PJ--and most other adults in this country--I generally try to anchor my own principles and idealism (such as they are) to some sort of objective reality.

Hysteria and appeals to emotion are sooooo unbecoming. Just think of Nancy Pelosi.

HOW TO GET PRESS COVERAGE OF THE BOOMING ECONOMY

The closing bell just sounded a little while ago, and the Dow has soared to yet another world record high.

For some peculiar reason (/sarcasm) the good news about the excellent state of the economy doesn't seem to be of much interest to the MSM.... Cartoonist Eric Allie proposes a tried-and-true method to make such uninteresting information more compatible with the MSM news agenda:

ENABLING TERROR - What I Hate Most About the Democrats and Their Leftist Base

A little while back in a comment thread that I had to shut down because of the uncivilized behavior of some determined trolls sent via The Daou Report, a commenter asked me, "Don't you ever get tired of bashing the left?"

"No," I responded, "I see it as my calling in life. But thank you for asking."

I would like to expand on my brief response, because the commenter brings up a very important issue about why I focus so much on the left and their political wing, the Democratic Party.

I am primarily (but not exclusively) concerned in my blog with Islamofascism and the war on terror. September 11th was the defining moment that mobilized me and woke me from a long-time disinterest in things political. Contrary to what most of the trolls who come here assume, I have never been a registered Republican; nor have I ever been a registered Democrat. I am still not.

Many of the posts on this blog deal with what I consider the essential "side-issues" of the war on terror; such as the obstructionist behavior of Democrats with regard to that war; the bias of the mainstream media; the deterioration of academic institutions and postmodern thought; the political left and the remnants of communism and socialism; and modern-day feminists (part of the political left,sadly, but destructive enough in their own right); as well as a variety of other topics as the whim moves me.

Most of these topics are relevant to the rise of Islamofascism and the prosecution of the war on terror.

Since I am a psychiatrist, I try to look at the big picture. In my practice, not only must I address the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of my patients; but I would be professionally remiss if I did not also address those psychosocial issues that I think are important factors enabling, supporting, or facilitating the psychological problems of my patients.

It is my contention that the Democrats, the MSM, the Left (including feminists, communists and socialist dead-enders) and various other assorted groups I choose to comment on do exactly that: wittingly or unwittingly, they enable, support, or facilitate terror and terrorists.

Prior to 9/11, I had mostly ignored these groups because of my libertarian orientation. I never cared one way or the other what such idiots thought as long as they left me and mine alone.

However, in their current toxic iteration; and because they seem to have taken over the previously tolerable Democratic Party, I can no longer ignore them. Their unbelievable behavior over the past 5+ years has consistently provided aid and comfort to an enemy that is simply the greatest threat to civilization in my lifetime. Whether their behavior is conscious or not, I really don't care. The results are the same.

And, if you don't think that their enabling behavior has caused considerable death, destruction and other serious consequences to our country and our military, then you are not looking at the big picture of what is going on in the world today. If you do not understand that all their activity and bluster; all their slogans and hysteria are designed to make the United States lose this war, then you are extremely naiive. Take a look at what they are doing. They have attempted to obstruct the prosecution of this war on every front. They have deliberately and with malice aforethought managed to create the impression that our military forces are composed of brutal thugs; while at the same time they coddle the real brutal thugs we are fighting. Rather than being the "loyal" opposition, they have descended at times, I believe, to actual treasonous behavior. The Democrats, in particular, have shown repeatedly that they hate George Bush and Dick Cheney more than they love this country. The Republicans, as I have said many times are bad enough with their slippery and opportunistic behavior patterns, but the Democrats are completely despicable.

As one commenter put it: the Republicans suck like Hoover vacuum cleaners, but the Democrats are a veritable bleeding black hole of corruption, opportunism, and malignant narcissism.

Just as it is not enough for a psychiatrist to focus on just the drinking of an alcoholic, a good therapist must also deal with the environment of the alcoholic and people in that environment(the psychosocial supports) that enable that alcoholic--i.e., who buy him the alcohol, who encourage him to drink it etc. If you and the patient fail to address these issues, then the intervention is usually in vain.

We are in a war! The Democrats, the left, and the MSM would have you believe that it is all a figment of GWB's imagination. That he created it in order to consolidate power and institute a Christian theocracy, fascist state [insert suitable leftist slogan here]. Bush=Hitler; Iraq=Vietnam; Listening to terrorist communications=violation of our fundamental free speech rights; Making terrorists uncomfortable=torture; and so on, ad infinitum.

I'm fed up with such insane moral equivalence.

I have a patient who comes in depressed and feeling victimized because her "ex-boyfried" won't stay "ex". It turns out that she regularly phones him, picks him up from work,lets him come to her apartment, buys him things and so on--but she simply can't understand why he would think that she still wants to be with him. Why, indeed.

How does one deal with a situation like the above? Well, you try to get the patient to look within and take responsibility for their own behavior; and to recognize that their behavior has consequences.

And, make no mistake, the irresponsible and frequently hysterical behavior of today's Democrats and their lunatic left base; combined with the provocative and hostile journalism of the MSM--all have serious consequences that the parties refuse to even acknowledge.

They already carry the responsibility for enabling the deaths of many by giving the barbarians a cheerleading/apologist section on the world stage.

As a result of their continued thoughtless and malevolent facilitation of terror and terrorists, many, many more will ultimately die.

And, as long as the Democrats and the left continue to engage in enabling behavior for terrorists, I will continue to unreservedly and unabashedly bash them.

THE REAL QUESTION FOR NOVEMBER

The voices of Republican October angst grow louder each day as we approach the November mid-term elections. Fred Barnes notes:

If politics were fair, Democrats would be in as much trouble as Republicans. And they'd be just as vulnerable. They've been obstructionist, anti-tax-cut, soft on terrorism, and generally obnoxious. On top of that, Pelosi is the most unpopular national politician in America. But in the sixth year of the Bush presidency, with a GOP-run Congress, Democrats aren't the issue. Republicans are.

But the truth is that the sport of politics is not fair, and emotion often rules, rather than common sense. It is entirely possible that the Democrats, who have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams in making sure their vapid and empty talking points are constantly highlighted in the press will get their majority in the House and Speaker Pelosi will be a noxious reality.

If they do win, then we can count on pretty much everything getting worse both here at home and around the world; even as we are fed reports to the contrary. They loudly trumpet the ushering in of a new age of peace and prosperity and propagandize how wonderful everything is--as they did through what we now see was the "Clueless 90's" under St. Clinton and Gore.

Just two examples of Democrat distortion and bias:
The first is captured by this blogger and (reported in The Weekly Standard)who noted a headline in the Chicago Tribune about the new record high for the Dow Jones Industrial average. The headline read: "As Dow Surges, Many Left Behind". She then did a lexus search to see how the same kind of news of surging stocks in the Dow was handled back in 2000 under St. Bill, and found the following headline: "Bull Market Spreading the Wealth in America."
The second example of distortion and bias can be found today in this op-ed piece, masquerading as a "news" article that trumpets: "Bush Keeps Revising War Justification".

Despite the fact--the FACT--that the justification for the Iraqi war was made in this Joint Resolution (Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq) in 2002; and lists a plethora of reasons for war with Iraq, it somehow has never penetrated the consciousness of the Democrats, even those who voted enthusiastically for it at the time. The one lone Democrat that has stood by his guns...well, you can see how the Party of Nothing rewards him for his principles.

And all the distortion and bias cannot erase the one critically important reality for me, which I wrote in this post:

Al Qaeda's fortunes have sunk so low in the Moslem world that he is being mocked, via jokes about his demise.

Thank you George W. Bush. Thank you, Dick Cheney. Thank you, Donald Rumsfeld. Thank you, men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces. Thank you for these last 5 years. Keep up the good work; and faster, please. No thanks on my behalf will go out to the left or to the Democratic leadership, who have all done their best to impede, undermine, obstruct, demoralize, and otherwise obscure this remarkable achievement.

Think back for a moment and remember that no one--NO ONE--imagined for even a brief moment after 9/11 that there would not be more attacks on this country that would be even worse than what occurred on that September day in 2001.

No matter what happens in the days and months to come, the policies of the Bush Administration--however imperfect, and including invading Iraq--have resulted in no attacks on U.S. soil since that day.

And for me that is the bottom line.

Regarding the outcome of November, 2006, I have a strong optimistic bent that continues to believe in the common sense of most Americans, but having watched the insanity of the Democrats and their lunatic left base for the last 6 years or so, I realize that anything is possible. Even the worse case scenario.

Let me say that I think the Republicans in both Houses are a bunch of pathetic, spineless idiots.

The real question for me isn't "Does the GOP deserve to lose in November?"--there are many reasons why they do (read the three linked articles at the beginning of this post for specifics if you need them); the real question is: "Do the Democrats deserve to win?"

And, the answer to that is what I have been writing about for the last two years (see here, here, here, and here, for a sampling). Nothing in the recent behavior--either moral or intellectual--of the Republicans has raised my esteem for them as a group in the slightest, and it never was very high to begin with. They are hypocritical, arrogant, petty and downright stupid at times.

But today's Democrats and the leftist base that drives them have Republicans beat by a wide margin in all the aforementioned areas.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but in my humble opinion, today's Democrats are completely intellectually bankrupt and have nothing to offer this country except the consistent appeasement of evil and the willing betrayal of American values.

But sometimes, things just have to get much worse before they get better.

The upside (or rather the "upside-down side") of a Democratic win in 2006 is, I predict, that having the lunatic left dictating policy during these dangerous times will finally wake-up certain portions of this country as 9/11 failed to do.

And in the long-run, that will be a good thing for everyone--except, of course, for the Democrats themselves.

CARNIVAL OF THE INSANITIES

Time for the weekly insanity update, where the insane, the bizarre, the ridiculous, and the completely absurd are highlighted for all to see! This has been a week of rare idiocy (as always!). So, if you want to remain sane, the best thing is to poke some fun at the more egregious absurdities.

Send all entries for next week's carnival to Dr. Sanity by 8 pm ET on Saturday for Sunday's Carnival. Only one post entry weekly per blogger, please. And you might read this before submitting an entry.

Thanks for all the submissions. I try to use as many as possible! SO MANY INSANITIES! SO LITTLE TIME!!!

1. Somehow, this doesn't surprise me. Do you think the MSM has noticed? They haven't noticed this, that's for sure.

2. You gotta admit he was consistent.

3. Godless...Souless...Clueless? What do liberals believe these days anyway? Another liberal myth bites the dust. It explains the decline of neighborliness! Have they become the unreality based community? Whatever it takes to get elected, I guess.

4. If this is true then the Committee is completely insane. And yet another Nobel wannabe? They are insane!

5. Ultimate definition of "shock troops"? Maybe we should just watch the temperature of their naughty bits (instead of the whites of their eyes, I guess).

6. This probably violates at least a thousand different laws under shar'ia. This OTOH is acceptable. As is this.

7. "Jihad Against the Crusaders" goes platinum? Somehow you gotta figure this crosses a line. Has DC Comics crossed the line too? How about this?

8. Announcement of glorious nuclear achievement to gangster stooges of blogsphere!

9. But she was saving kittens! That's why it's inappropriate to make fun of her, Satire makes people pay attention! See the advertisement here.

10. The "Whoops" factor. If you're cynical and you know it, clap your hands! Dividing everything into its component Democratic or Republican essence.

11. Foleyed out. Surely everyone is Kerryed out, too? Please? Please?

12. Air America's listener is interviewed.

13. Is it her, or does this sound completely fair to you, too?

14. This does NOT sound like true love.

15. This may be in poor taste, but at least it's funny.

16. Another Friday the 13th come and gone.

17. School madness?

18. Indeed, being wealthy solves a host of problems, doesn't it?

19. Another poor victim of a pants-stuffing youth...


Carnival of the Insanities can also be found at The Truth Laid Bear's ÜberCarnival and at the BlogCarnival.

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If you would like to Join the insanity, and add the Carnival of the Insanities button to your sidebar (clicking on it will always take you to the latest update of the Carnival), click on "Word of Blog" below the button to obtain the html code:

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DIPLOMACY: The Light at the End of the Tunnel?

SHARP INTAKES OF BREATH AND STRONGLY WORDED COMMUNIQUES

Gerard Baker wonders how the world has come to the scary place where states like North Korea and Iran have nuclear weapons:

Of course the world’s pundits are sure it is all America’s fault. The US has failed to be sufficiently engaged. The refusal to talk directly to Pyongyang and to focus all its efforts on Iraq have allowed North Korea to cruise unmolested to nuclear status.

This is, essentially, drivel. The problem with North Korea has not been an insufficiency of multilateralist diplomacy in the past ten years but an overabundance. Beginning in 1994, the Clinton Administration started the US down a course of an engagement with Pyongyang that was all carrots and no sticks. Every time the North Koreans thumbed their noses at the US and its allies, they were punished with — what? Sharp intakes of breath and shakes of the head.

Not only was the US unwilling to make good on its threats, but effective multilateral action also required serious efforts by other countries with real leverage over North Korea to do something. But for the past six years China has been playing a dangerous double game. It never wanted North Korea to become a nuclear power but it was quite happy that its ally kept the US, Japan and South Korea off balance with its burgeoning ambitions.

The same story of hand-wringing futility has been played out with Iran. Russia and China have both placed short-term diplomatic and commercial gain over long-term stability. The Europeans were, well, European.

As for Iraq, I don’t recall the Russians, Chinese or Europeans urging the US to divert its regime-changing attentions to North Korea. They wanted the US to perform the same foot-dragging, futile, pointless dance with Baghdad that they were pursuing over Pyongyang. Would that have been any better? Now, belatedly, the talk is of tough UN sanctions against Iran and North Korea. But it is too late.

Not only is it too late, but it ain't gonna happen, late or not. The international community (i.e., the UN) could not deal with Iraq; it isn't dealing with Darfur; it won't deal with Iran--why should it deal decisively with North Korea? There is no reason for either China or Russia to support and sanctions that would be effective, precisely because of the game they are playing with regard to Iran--that is, they don't want sanctions on Iran, so why should they set a precedent with North Korea? No, they still believe it is to their national advantage to oppose the US on this issue.

And, why would we have any confidence that, even if the world got its act together, that sanctions would work? What does Kim Jong Il care if his starving population continues to starve? Any sanctions that might be imposed won't last for long due to "humanitarian" concerns.

Meanwhile, this action might blow some sand in the face of the bully Kim, but is far from altering the reality of his nuclear weapons capability.

The world is indeed scary as Baker suggests. But not because of current US policy toward either North Korea or Iran. Previous administrations have brought us to this point in time and it was already too late when US diplomats over two decades believed that North Korea could be stopped by words and promises (see here).

Diplomacy has not and will not work with regimes like North Korea or Iran--unless such diplomacy is backed up by credible threats that personally threaten the power of their megalomaniac leaders. These guys are way too good at splitting and manipulating. They will exploit even the tiniest of loopholes in any agreement and when there are none, they will outright lie because they think it is their perogative to do so.

The game currently being played by both North Korea and Iran with the international community is not much different from the trickery and haplessnes that characterized Lucy and Charlie Brown from the old Peanuts comic.



Charlie Brown, dupe that he is, believes Lucy every time she promises that next time it will be different. So, he keeps going back for more only to discover that, no matter what the promises, Lucy does not change her behavior.

I always felt sorry for poor Charlie Brown. He was, after all, a kid; and kids have a hard time learning this sort of life lesson.

Still, the supposed adults of the west should know better. Lucy is persuasive in her maliciousness; and I have doubts that Charlie Browns in the UN or the Democratic party in this country will ever grow up or learn from past experiences and betrayals. That would require some self-reflection and insight--psychological characteristics they are not strong on; as well as requiring the courage to confront a difficult and messy reality.

As Baker suggests, it is far easier to blame the current US administration for the short-sighted and incredibly delusional and counterproductive behavior of previous administrations and the entire world community.

"Lucy" has the ball set up for us to try to kick yet again.... When Kim and Ahmadinejad laughingly pull the ball away again will we once again react with a sharp intake of breath and more strongly worded communiques? Engage in the hand-wringing and blaming with endless whining that the Charlie Brown Democrats are particular good at these days?

Or will we finally face the reality of who and what we are dealing with, and act accordingly?

IRAQ AND THE NOT-READY-FOR-PRIME-TIME-PLAYERS

Two excellent analytical posts by Siggy regarding Iraq that should read be read. This is his area of expertise and he does it so well. In "From Green to Yellow: Is it Time To Reconsider Iraq", he evaluates reality and concludes:

By their actions- or lack thereof- Iraqis will in the end, clearly define themselves and the kind of nation they want for themselves. If they will not act in their own best interests, we cannot force democracy where it is clearly not valued.

If democracy is of little value to the Iraqis, we need to leave. That will result in tragedy and great suffering, of course, but the blood of Americans and coalition forces cannot continue to be used to purchase democracy for Iraq.

The people of Eastern Europe did not need to be convinced of the merits of free societies over tyrannies. We must be prepared to face the reality that much of the Arab world will remain backward for a very long time, incapable of understanding how free governments are always better than oppressive ones. While there is nothing we can do about that, we can hope that the next generation, or the one after that, will see more clearly.

The tragedy is that yet another generation of Arabs will be lost to dysfunction and neglect. The greater tragedy is that most of them don’t even know it. That said, we must always remind them that America and the free world will be there for them when they call.

Then in his next post he goes on:

We are not submitting that the goals of this administration are flawed. As we have noted, they are not. The real issue is whether or not the Iraqis are even capable of digesting democracy. When allied troops liberated the Nazi death camps in 1945, it became clear almost immediately that over feeding the wretched starving and emaciated inmates was a death sentence. After the horrors they had survived, it became clear they needed to be nursed back to health, slowly. Notwithstanding the instincts of every allied soldier to to give up all their own rations to alleviate the suffering if these walking skeletons, that would only have exacerbated the situation.

It is the same in Iraq. It has become clear that notwithstanding the feast that is democracy, the Iraqis might simply be unable to digest the richness. After decades of deprivation and oppression, it is quite clear- and understandable- that they are stil too timid and weak to stand up for themselves. That may change in decades or it may change in a few months- we do not know. No one does- and only a fool bets on a lame horse. Simply stated, the Iraqis are not yet ready for prime time.

Indeed, all of the above is why I find this post at The Belmont Club about a federal Iraq rather interesting.

We must not ignore the reality that some--actually many--of the power players in Iraq do not share our democratic values, however much simpler that would make things. We do already know that the Kurds have taken the democracy ball and run with it (and are doing very well, thank you very much). They have been successful because the U.S. was able to give them breathing space from oppression so that they could develop the necessary institutions for a free society. They have done smashingly well over the last decade, and indeed have become "the other Iraq"--the one we don't hear much about in the news.

I can't say whether federalism would be a good thing or not in the long-run for all of Iraq; but the idea, as Wretchard reminds us, is not a new one; but is already a part of the Iraqi constitution as ratified in 2005. That means that there may be ways around the current situation in Baghdad that involve giving more autonomy to provinces joined together into regions that would hold considerable self-rule powers, as in Kurdistan.

Baghdad with Sadr's Shia militia and the Sunnis and all the outside terrorists would remain the not-ready-for-prime-time-players while other areas of the country could possibly follow the lead of Kurdistan.

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL BANKRUPTCY OF TODAY'S LEFT

Some time ago I wrote the following in a post discussing the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of the left:

At this very moment, every issue supported by the Left, and almost all of the behavior exhibited by the Left is completely antithetical to classical liberal philosophies. There is no longer a commitment to personal liberty or to freedom. The Left is far too busy to promote freedom for the common man or woman, because their time is taken up advocating freedom for tyrants who oppress the common man; terrorists who kill the common man; and religious fanatics who subjugate the common woman.

The intellectuals who once promoted the IDEA of freedom, now are ensnared in an IDEOLOGY that depends for its very existence on the silencing of speech; the suppression of ideas; and the persecution of those who dare to refute its tenets.

What we have witnessed over the 30- 45 years since the Left ascended to dominate political thought in the mid 20th century, is its rapid and unprecedented decline into wholesale intellectual and moral bankruptcy. The noble values and ideals they once claimed they stood for have been completely abandoned; and almost as if a surreal cosmic joke was being played on them, they have—without even noticing!-- embraced the exact opposite.

Peggy Noonan details several recent exapmples of their contradictory and deeply disturbing behavior, including the aggressive silencing of speakers at Columbia; the "outrage" that views they don't agree with should be aired on TV; and the usual narcissistic prattlings of overpaid, undertalented, and extremely entitled Hollywood superstars.

She doesn't even mention this little piece of totalitarian fantasy, which undoubtedly expresses the true feelings of the global-warming-is-caused-by-evil-humans crowd. Although the statement has now been "retracted", you can be sure that the sentiment hasn't been.

What is so amusing about all this is that in all these examples, the people involved believe, without any doubts whatsoever, that they hold the moral high ground. They truly believe that they are champions of freedom!

In fact, they even believe that they are part of some "reality"-based community.

The problem is that none of them would recognize reality even if it smacked them on the side of the head (which reality often does).

The one thing you can say for the left as it has transformed itself into a vehicle enabling for the implementation of evil throughout the world, is that at least they are consistent.

They consistently trounce on freedom of speech (except their own, of course); they consistently support dictators and thugs; they consistently denigrate any attempt to confront or deal with said dictators and thugs; they consistently are unable to see how their ideological positions are in direct conflict with fundamental human rights; human freedom; or even human dignity--even as they shrilly proclaim that their contradictory behavior supports such noble ideas.

The left has degenerated into a movement that has not only abandoned reality, they have jettisoned reason and critical thinking. They prefer to hold onto the dogmatic axioms of their secular religion; shout the mantras and slogans of that religion; and refuse to acknowledge the catastrophic consequences of their behavior in the real world.

The mind of the left has turned to mush. All they have left are the inchoate--but quite passionate- emotions that help them to feel warm and glowing about their own superior intellectual and moral righteousness. A superiority, they have concluded, that entitles them to rule over all the rest of us lesser mortals.

And, make no mistake, that is what it is all about now for these bleeding narcissists. They don't care about human freedom. They don't really care much about human rights or dignity. Their desire is very simple: they want to rule.

No wonder they can identify with and reflexly support--consistently--every dictator and tyrant in the world.

OUR SURVEY SAYS !

From Cox and Forkum, and apropos with the last post:

A VOICE OF REASON SPEAKS

Dr. Wafa Sultan, who you might remember from this video here (and who I wrote about here) was recently interviewed by Ynet:

In a special interview with Ynet, Dr. Sultan described her life in Syria as 32 years lived in fear, “32 years stolen from me by fanatic Islam.”

In the March TV debate, Sultan called on Muslims to learn from the example of the Jews, who endured the tragedy of the Holocaust and forced the world to respect them for their knowledge and not by terrorism.

“By their hard work – not with crying and shrieking,” she said. “Only Muslims defend their religion by burning churches, killing people and bombing embassies. The Muslims need to ask themselves what they can do for the human race before they demand the human race to respect them,” she added.

Since the televised interview, she has been barred from Arab television networks, but she manages to penetrate the Arab and Muslim world through her website and with daily emails she sends to her supporters.

“You may not see an immediate effect to what I do, but I believe it will be possible to see it in two to three generations. In 300 years, the Muslim world will remember the name Wafa Sultan,” she is convinced.

Sultan cannot return to Syria, as she is certain she would be arrested on the spot. She would like to visit Israel, though, and expects to do so soon, she told Ynet.

Dr. Sultan escaped her confinement from within the prison of Islam. In completely unambiguous terms, she represents a voice of reason and moderation sorely needed in that backward culture.

It is typical that they cannot bear to hear what she is saying. See the entire interview here.

SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS GOES BOINK, Part II

Gagdad Bob imagines how Palestinian psychiatry would work:

Imagine a Palestinian going to a Palestinian psychiatrist and free associating. “You know, I’ve been having these weird thoughts.... I don’t think that Jews are responsible for all my problems.... In fact, I’m starting to think that they’re an admirable people, and that we should be imitating them instead of murdering them.... Let’s be honest, Doc, Arabs have contributed nothing to the world, but just by being in proximity to Israel we were the most prosperous Arab ecomomy, but we stupidly destroyed all of that with the meaningless intifada. We actually cheered when those planes went into the Twin Towers, but now I’m starting to have second thoughts, Doc. Am I crazy?”

“Yes. Not just crazy but evil. As a way of curing you, I am recommending that you be hung by your ankles from the nearest lamp post and be disemboweled by an angry mob.”

Do you think this is far-fetched, and that he is exaggerating? Let me reiterate what he says earlier in the same post: "...science, properly understood, can only exist in a free society."

Remember Soviet Psychiatry, which I wrote about here? Or, how about another example of Islamic science--like the time they demonstrated how Neil Armstrong "proved" that Mecca was the center of the universe?

Truthfully, I think that Bob is being way too restrained about how "Palestinian" psychiatry--or any psychological science in the backwaters of the Middle East-- would warp and distort science.

Don't get me wrong. There are some very unscientific activities that go on even in free societies; but it is only in the kind of collectivist/totalitarian societies that the very basic principles of science are manipulated to conform to the ideology of the state.

Anyone can distort science and the scientific method; but it takes a fanatical totalitarian state (and it doesn't matter if it is secular or religious--as long as they have absolute power over others) to mount an all out assault on truth, reason, and reality and ensure that none of those three can have a negative impact on their delusions.

UPDATE: Omar of Iraq the Model demonstrates how, in a free society, one is able to counter science whose goal is, not knowledge or even truth, but political ideology. And, let's say you happen to think the researchers in the article are honorable scientists...well, you should have listened to their interview yesterday when they blatantly admitted that they wanted their "study" to be published before the mid-term elections in the US so they would have an impact. That is very scientific of them, you must admit. The Lancet, once a reputable medical journal, seems determined to publish political fluff these days to advance their editors' political agenda. Sadly, this is getting all too common, even in the West.

Instapundit has a round-up of appropriate skepticism of their scientific probably ideological claims.

THE CLEVER PSYCHOLOGICAL DISGUISES OF THE LEFT

I found this post on liberal paranoia at The Corner interesting:

In response to today's column, a reader writes:

What scares me the most is that throughout my life whatever the Left
says the Right is going to do, is exactly what they try when they have
the power and the opportunity. In psychological terms it is projection.
The louder they shout these things, the more I become a "broken glass
Republican"

Me: I think there's an important point here. So much of the demonization of conservatives from liberals in the last fifty years has worked on a formula which goes something like this: "I want use the state to impose my dreamy good intentions. Conservatives are evil. So, if they get ahold of government they will use government to do evil in the same way that we would do good."

The column in question, written by Jonah Goldberg discusses the fears (read: paranoia) of the left about a variety of things that make no sense to anyone with a firm foundation in reality. For example, the idea promulgated energetically by the left that an imminent Christian theocracy is about to be imposed on America.

As Goldberg says, "One is tempted to invoke Orwell’s dictum that some things are so stupid, only an intellectual could believe them. But, the truth is, lots of otherwise normal people believe this stuff."

Paranoia in American society indeed strikes deep--in recent years particularly so. And, the person quoted in The Corner has identified the correct psychological mechanism at work here.

First, let's get one thing out of the way. There is no evidence that a Christian theocracy is about to be imposed on the American people. In fact, the religious rhetoric of this administration is not significantly different from that of any other previous admministration in the last 100 years or so. You would have to go back to the Founding Fathers and that era in American life to see real religious preoccupation (why they even used the word "God" quite liberally in writing important American documents--what in God's name were they thinking??)

I wrote in this post:

A definition of Christianophobia or Christianity Derangement Syndrome (CDS), could be formulated thusly:

"The excacerbation of acute and severe paranoia about the imminent imposition of a Christian theocracy in the U.S.; in an individual already suffering from Bush Derangement Syndrome as a reaction to the very existence of (1) the Christian religion; (2) the practitioners of Christianity; and (3) symbols of Christianity anywhere within the culture; while simultaneously completely ignoring and dismissing any threat from the religious fanatics of Islam who repeatedly and clearly have stated that their goal is the imposition of a world-wide Islamic theocracy (or "Caliphate")."

So, as a result of this interesting disorder, here we are in a war with Islamic fundamentalism, and many on the left seem to think that the U.S. is at risk in having a Christian theocracy imposed and that the Bushitler is more dangerous than Bin Laden.

During the 2004 Presidential campaign, one of my friends was so pre-occupied by this issue, she literally could not understand why I would vote for Bush, since it was clear to her that he intended to usher in a religious state.

Since that time, I can't help but have noticed that all the women of my acquaintance are now wearing nun habits; that holy communion is being forced down the throats of unrepentant leftists; and that there has been a dramatic decline in sexually explicit material everywhere as the purveyors of same have been rounded up and summarily executed by the religious police.

Why, last week I (a professed, unrepentant agnostic) was forced to enter a church to obtain sustenance (they were having a bake sale).

And I wondered then-- as I do regularly about the lunatic left and its fears that now infect some otherwise reasonably normal people--how does a person make sense of symptoms of paranoia so bizarre? So....displaced....from the real threat?

If you read that post, you will see that the psychological displacement of affect from the real threat of barbaric Islamic fascism onto Christianity, which poses no threat at all in modern times, is a way of dealing with intense anxiety.

By and large, displacement is a merely neurotic psychological defense mechanism. With a little insight and self-awareness, it is possible to easily come back in touch with reality as time goes on and the evidence before your eyes becomes more obvious.

But projection (which is the basis of paranoia)is far more primitive, and what it defends against is usually a devastating aspect of reality--one that is threatening to the very foundation of one's sense of self.

And that is what is at stake should the left come to grips with their paranoia and projection--the carefully constructed reality bubble they have created in their minds would come crashing down around them.

The left's paranoid style develops new strategies for concealment every day.

Psychologically, it is very difficult to abandon paranoia once it is taken on by a particular group, since it--and the accompanying delusions that it generates-- serves the purpose of accounting for an unacceptable status quo. Without a scapegoat who is considered to be racially, sexually, physically, or intellectually inferior, onto which your own fears can be projected; it would be horrifying and untenable to look inside one's own heart and soul for the source of the fear.

This is the nature of projection and paranoia. The unacceptable thoughts or feelings are denied ("not owned") by the person experiencing them, and instead are projected onto another individual or--as in this case--a group. Thus, the person who originally had the offensive thought or feeling becomes the helpless victim of the evil "other" and they do not have to cope with the fact that the evil lies within themselves. This is the origin of almost all acts of racism, sexism, anti-semitism, etc. It is the source of most prejudice in the world; and certain prejudices that become socially acceptable--like the casual anti-semitism of the Middle East; or the causal anti-Republicanism adopted by the intellectual "elite" of this country.

The commenter on Jonah's column above is exactly correct. The left believes that Republicans are imminently going to impose their belief system on the American public because that is exactly what they would do--and did--when they were in power. That is their modus operandi. They don't want their ideas adopted by reasoned debate or even by democrat majority rule.

They are the one's who constantly seek to impose their values on others by fiat or judicial decree. They are the ones who claim that all morality is relative, except for their ideas, which represent absolute truth. They are the ones who, to put it bluntly, wish to impose their religion of multicultural diversity and political correctness upon America, and have been doing so at every level of society for decades. Just try to violate the dogma of their religion and see the outrage that is generated, if you have any doubts about their level of committment to free speech and thought.

Projection is never a good long-term psychological strategy--nor is it healthy--in an adult; and using such a defense mechanism represents a primitive attempt to shirk the responsibility for one's own feelings, thoughts, and actions. It causes and has caused much human misery, death, destruction and some of the most horrific acts that humans are capable of. When entire countries subscribe to a projected delusion (e.g., the "Jews" are to blame; the "Blacks" are the cause of all of our problems; "Republicans" are evil; Bush=Hitler) it can lead to genocide and other behaviors that are paranoid and psychotically delusional. Full-blown paranoia occurs when one's mind severs the connection with reality entirely.

The recent altercations at Columbia are just one example on how far and how violent the left is willing to go to protect themselves from the knowledge that they are the totalitarians; they are the fascists; they are the racists; and they are the tyrants who seek control over others. And through the years, they have developed many clever psychological disguises and behavioral manipulations to keep themselves ignorant of this reality.

Christianity hasn't been much of a problem for over thousand years. The left, however, has been at the forefront of thought control, supression of speech, and enslavement of the individual for the "good" of their utopian societies for the last hundred.

Just remember this old psychiatric maxim when dealing with the real threat to freedom in our time: you aren't paranoid if they really are out to get you.