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.

**NOTE: I am now getting many more submissions than I can possibly include in the weekly Carnival. Please don't be offended if your submission is not used (oh, okay, be as offended as you like) as it only means that for a variety of reasons I wasn't able to fit it into the "flow" as I put together each Carnival.

REMEMBER, THERE ARE SO MANY INSANITIES AND SO LITTLE TIME!!!

1. The world's stupidest fatwas. One of the world's stupidest conspiracy theories. More stupid conspicay theories ... can you spell P.A.R.A.N.O.I.A ?

2. OMG OMG, you can't mean to say they would LIE to us? But at least the Dems will believe everything they say.

3. CAIR vs TNOYF. CAIR vs reality. Yeah, the irony of it all is pretty remarkable. You just have to forget about killer bees and martyrdom mice. Not to mention the spying squirrels.

4. Is the sky blue? Who cares what her politics actually are? ..She gets it.

5. Harry Reid and the Chamber of Idiots. Maybe they inhabit an alternate universe? Where getting worked up about dogs is more important than getting worked up about people? Kerry lied, people died...again.

6. Meanwhile, Ted Kennedy has the sheer gall to cast stones on anyone else's indiscretions? The family reunions have taken an odd turn....

7. Some modest suggestions for the acting president. Oh good, we'll get to find out what she actually thinks she's accomplished. I'm sure it will be a pageturner!

8. "You don't really think I behave more like a man, do you?"

9. Another amazingly obvious sex study. The differences between the genders at a glance.

10. Thanks for the distinction, AP! The MSM is always so helpful and impartial. Tilting at windmills. But technology has the answer!

11. Our long national nightmare is over. But the other one is still going, sadly. Weep, weep for the poor, poor Wilsons. Such a darn pity how they've managed to parlay wealth and notoriety from their personal jihad. Maybe she'll even make CIA Director in a Clinton administration. My how they've all suffered.

12. Dear lord, to what do we deserve this horror?

13. Scarf it up...it was pretty stupid no matter what it was called. Another case of "full-belly" revolutionaries.

14. Can’t we all make money, blog about it and get along? That's my modest utopian dream also. I want to be like these guys!

15. Neither fish nor fowl nor flesh....And where's the beef??

16. Revenge of the veggies.

17. Can human-style citizenship be far behind? Also for the giant, man-eating weasels?

18. One of those "Oh Shit" moments.

19. Something pretty amazing is happening in France.... No "youth" riots recently, either.

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

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MORE IMPORTANT THAN BLOGGING

I'm going to be extremely busy most of the day and won't be blogging.


Unless you live on another planet, you probably know that today is the release date of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the last book in the series. I have been waiting patiently for many years now to find out how it all comes out.

Blogging will return to normal when I finish the book.

By the way, you can still enjoy the Harry Potter books if you haven't kept up with the series. As Tom Robbins has written, "It's never too late to have a happy childhood...."


Click on the links below to catch up (the most recent books in the series are listed first) :




UPDATE: Just finished the book. And all I have to say is "Wow!". Rowling has done a masterful job and I couldn't be more satisfied at how it all turned out. If you have not read this series, then you are missing out on something very special. Like The Lord of the Rings , this is a story that resonates with the difficult times we live in today; where good and evil continue to be in conflict; and where our choices will determine whether the forces of good will ultimately triumph over the forces of evil.

The cynical among us will scoff at that last sentence; but I believe that is what all art and literature--from the most lofty and sublime, to even the simplest children's stories --are meant to do--i.e., to emotionally and psychologically help us to do what is right, rather than what is easy; to choose to stand up for the good; and to fight evil in the world.

REPRISE: The Neo-Marxist Fascism of the Left

John at Power Line makes a startling discovery in the text of the most recent NIE report, recently splashed all over the headlines and leftist blogsphere as "proving" that the Bush Administration has put the US in more danger by its actions in the war on terror:

Remember all those news stories about how a secret report--still secret, I guess--said that we were now in as much danger of terrorist attack as we were prior to September 11? Well, that's not what the NIE says. It says the opposite, in a paragraph that I have yet to see quoted in a newspaper:

We assess that greatly increased worldwide counterterrorism efforts over the past five years have constrained the ability of al-Qa’ida to attack the US Homeland again and have led terrorist groups to perceive the Homeland as a harder target to strike than on 9/11. These measures have helped disrupt known plots against the United States since 9/11.

This is a perfect example of what I hate most about the MSM and the left. As John shows, they deliberately picked ONLY the paragraphs in the report that would support their belief that Bush's actions have created more terrorists and put the US in more danger from them (this is, of course, when they are NOT arguing that there is no threat at all from terrorists and that the US is not in any danger from them).

You simply cannot trust MSM to present any kind of balance, fairness, or perspective. They have an agenda and the news they present to the American public must be carefully shaped to fit that agenda. I have discussed their postmodern, anti-American, socialist agenda many times on this blog.

Thus, I can only suggest that you take the time to read the current NIE yourself here and come to your own conclusions about what it actually says.

In my mind, the single most frightening reality that threatens our freedoms in this country is the virtual stranglehold the political left has on the dissemination of information in this country. It is the "root cause" if you will, of much of the nonsense, the faux scandals, and the ridiculous polls that we are bombarded with on a daily basis. While exhibiting a certain "selectivity" when it comes to what is reported and how, has always been a hallmark of a free press, this tendency to follow an ideological template has always been compensated for by the sheer variety and "diversity" of templates in the past. Never before has there been such a dedicated and persistent effort to ensure that only one template is used; and this is done under the cover of words like "fairness" and "truth".

But there is nothing "fair" about silencing dissent and debate which threatens your ideological agenda; and there is nothing "true" about presenting opinion as facts; or distorting reality by selectively focusing on one aspect of it and excluding anything that threatens your ideological fantasies.

The left and its cadre of neo-marxist fascists harbor the sublime fantasy of imposing their ideological agenda on everyone "for their own good". Make no mistake about it, for all their talk about the Bush Administration's imminent implementation of a theocratic, fascist state; they are the ones who represent the greatest threat to freedom in our society. Psychiatrists refer to the specific tactic of psychological denial used to deflect a hidden agenda by imputing one's own psychological motives to others, as "projection".

While they nibble away at freedom from within, the terrorists--who they insist are not a real threat-- carefully plot to destroy it from without.

I make no claim that the political right is always and at all times on the side of truth, or reason, or reality. Clearly, they are not any more perfect than anyone else. Nevertheless, today they are a beacon of clarity and a pillar of common sense compared with the idiocies promulgated by political left day in and day out. The sinister side of the political spectrum have clearly abandoned common sense and rational thought altogether in their puruit of power. And, along the path to their utopian paradise, they have also lost any sense of proportion, fairness and decency they once might have laid claim to.

WITHOUT A BLINK

Victor Davis Hanson made a very astute observation recently in his Work and Days column at Pajamas Media discussing the nature of our enemies:

Apparently what gives these pre-modern fascist killers a pass from widespread Western censure is their purported impotency—as long as their grotesqueries don’t match 9/11 we have the luxury to blame-game Guantanamo, still puff up about the black hoods at Abu Ghraib, and spout off about Halliburton—while having latte uninterrupted by Ahmed and his suicide vest.

But should the latter be able to penetrate all of cowboy George Bush’s nightmarish anti-constitutional measures like wire-tapping the phones of terrorists, locking them up in Guantanamo, or pursuing them with provisions of the Patriot Act, then these measures will suddenly be reinvented as shockingly too little when all the “intelligence” made it clear that we were in jeopardy. Yes, I think after the next attack the media will go, without a blink, from the dangers of a police state and Gulag-US to the negligence of open borders and poor terrorist tracking.

Interesting to note that what "gives the pre-modern fascist killers a pass" is the post-modern rhetoric and dogma of the left. It is precisely this inherently psychologically dysfunctional cognitive strategy that is able to shift, "without a blink" from one subjective conviction to its exact opposite without a shred of self-awareness or mental dissonance.

Minds under the postmodern spell are simply not capable of appreciating the irrationality; nor are they capable of even appreciating the irony of their contradictory discourses .

There is a common pattern in the lefts childish rantings: a subjectivism and relativism that comes across in one breath; alternating with a dogmatic absolutism in the next. In other words, it is a waste of time to look for sense or logic in their incessant adolescent demands.

In an earlier editorial, Hanson pondered the question: Why radical Islam, and why now?

There is still another reason for the rise of Islamists: They sense a new hesitation in the West. We appear to them paralyzed over oil prices and supplies and fears of terrorism. And so they have also waged a brilliant propaganda war, adopting the role of victims of Western colonialism, imperialism and racism. In turn, much of the world seems to tolerate their ruthlessness in stifling freedom, oppressing women and killing nonbelievers.

If I may offer a medical analogy, there are many diseases that do not manifest themselves unless one or more prerequisite conditions are also present in the individual. For example, Karposi's sarcoma is a deadly malignancy that is extremely rare, but which occurs much more frequently and spreads more rapidly in those individuals who are taking certain drugs to treat AIDS. The drugs suppress the immune system, thus giving a biological carte blanche to the development of the sarcoma.

Radical Islam, like Karposi's sarcoma, has manifested itself today and is spreading rapidly for pretty much the same reason, having been given an ideological carte blanche by the political left. The left's postmodern rhetoric with its political correctness and relativistic multiculural fantasies have managed to suppress and otherwise short-circuit the natural defense mechanisms of Western civilization.

Radical Islamic ideology is itself an unexpected combination of several toxic memes that have come together in ideological harmony over the last 50 years. Several beats of this harmonic confluence are the inherent contradictions of Islam itself--a purportedly "peaceful" religion that is actually historically based on military conquest and coercion of belief through jihad; which has been carefully synchronized with the failed totalitarian ideologies of the last century, communism and socialism.

The totalitarians of the left-- who are the remaining outposts of communism and socialism in the world are thriving in academic and "intellectual" circles in the West; together with the Islamic fanatics of the world, they have created a postmodern symphony whose caucophonous music only facilitates the descent into emotionalism, hysteria and murderous suicidality.

Without a blink, the left switched from their lipservice championing human life and liberty to championing those whose main desire is to suppress it and bring all of humanity into submission. The left labors under the delusion that they are "freedom-fighters" and "reality-based" in the same way that any psychotically disordered brain stands firmly and resolutely against reality.

The psychotic has a biological basis for their delusion. The left has a parallel ideological basis that brings about the same dysfuntion.

Postmodern philosophy and rhetoric that embraces "political correctness" and all the multicultural bull that flows from it, was the "prerequisite condition" that facilitated the rise of the Karposi-like malignancy of radical Islam, and gave it carte blanche to spread and kill.

Appreciating the intellectual and moral rot of the postmodern political left is key to understanding why radical Islam has managed to garner a completely unexpected amount of traction in today's world.

Not only is Iraq an important battlefield in the war on terror, it is also a key front in the philosophical war between those who support reason, reality and truth; and the army of useful idiots who make up today's postmodern political left.

Both fanatical ideologies--the one which underlies the barbarism of the Islamofascists and the one which is the foundation of today's political left-- must be defeated by the forces of good, everywhere they have taken root.

Our first intellectual goal is to make them blink.

TO DREAM THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM

Apparently the differences between Shia and Sunni interpretations of the Quran are not significant enough to preclude their collaboration in planning to kill Jews and other infidels:

One of two known Al Qaeda leadership councils meets regularly in eastern Iran, where the American intelligence community believes dozens of senior Al Qaeda leaders have reconstituted a good part of the terror conglomerate's senior leadership structure.

That is a consensus judgment from a final working draft of a new National Intelligence Estimate, titled "The Terrorist Threat to the U.S. Homeland," on the organization that attacked the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The estimate, which represents the opinion of America's intelligence agencies, is now finished, and unclassified conclusions will be shared today with the public.

When it comes to unifying for the dream of an Islamic caliphate where all the people of the world are under the yoke of a bloodthirsty god, apparently fanatical Muslims can put aside their differences at the prospect of slavery, submission and death.

I suppose it is too much to hope that the Democrats and Republican could put aside their differences in order to stand up for America, liberty, democracy, and life. But that assumes both political parties actually support America, liberty, democracy and life, doesn't it?

SCARY STORY TIME AT THE SLEEPOVER

With every release of good news; with every optimistic appraisal; the Democrats become more and more determined to surrender. Doesn't this haste seem rather unseemly to you?

It sort of reminds me of the Monty Python and The Holy Grail "Bring out Your Dead" skit where the old man keeps saying, "I'm not dead!" while another man keeps insisting he is--or he soon will be; eventually the guy is whacked on the head so that he can be counted as "officially" dead and taken away.

There is nothing that the Democrats would like better than to whack Iraq over the head and officially declare it dead. Their inappropriate and reckless haste to surrender to Al Qaeda in Iraq and declare defeat in order to humiliate Bush and suck up to their lunatic base--in spite of multiple early reports of significant progress and context and the consequences of failure is an act of desperation.

I am not a big fan of John McCain, but this is what he said yesterday in the Senate, and it clearly demonstrates what a statesman he is:

No matter where my colleagues came down in 2003 about the centrality of Iraq to the war on terror, there can simply be no debate that our efforts in Iraq today are critical to the wider struggle against violent Islamic extremism. Already, the terrorists are emboldened, excited that America is talking not about winning in Iraq, but is rather debating when we should lose. Last week, Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s deputy chief, said that the United States is merely delaying our “inevitable” defeat in Iraq, and that “the Mujahideen of Islam in Iraq of the caliphate and jihad are advancing with steady steps towards victory.” He called on Muslims to travel to Iraq to fight Americans, and appealed for Muslims to support the Islamic State in Iraq, a group established by al Qaeda.

General Petraeus has called al Qaeda “the principal short-term threat to Iraq.” What do the supporters of this amendment believe to be the consequences of our leaving the battlefield with al Qaeda in place? If we leave Iraq prematurely, jihadists around the world will interpret the withdrawal as their great victory against our great power. Their movement thrives in an atmosphere of perceived victory; we saw this in the surge of men and money flowing to al Qaeda following the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. If they defeat the United States in Iraq, they will believe that anything is possible, that history is on their side, that they really can bring their terrible rule to lands the world over. Recall the plan laid out in a letter from Zawahiri to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, before his death. That plan is to take shape in four stages: establish a caliphate in Iraq, extend the “jihad wave” to the secular countries neighboring Iraq, clash with Israel – none of which shall commence until the completion of stage one: expel the Americans from Iraq. Mr. President, the terrorists are in this war to win it. The question is: Are we?

The supporters of this amendment respond that they do not by any means intend to cede the battlefield to al Qaeda; on the contrary, their legislation would allow U.S. forces, presumably holed up in forward operating bases, to carry out targeted counterterrorism operations. But our own military commanders say that this approach will not succeed, and that moving in with search and destroy missions to kill and capture terrorists, only to immediately cede the territory to the enemy, is the failed strategy of the past three and a half years….

Those are the likely consequences of a precipitous withdrawal, and I hope that the supporters of such a move will tell us what they believe to be the likely consequences of this course of action. Should their amendment become law, and U.S. troops begin withdrawing, do they believe that Iraq will become more or less stable? That al Qaeda will find it easier to gather, plan, and carry out attacks from Iraqi soil, or that our withdrawal will somehow make this less likely? That the Iraqi people become more or less safe? That genocide becomes a more remote possibility or ever likelier?

Mr. President, this fight is about Iraq but not about Iraq alone. It is greater than that and more important still, about whether America still has the political courage to fight for victory or whether we will settle for defeat, with all of the terrible things that accompany it. We cannot walk away gracefully from defeat in this war.

Meanwhile the cognitively dissonant Democrats (no staggering geniuses there) are charging towrd retreat led by the likes of Harry Reid who one day says "the war is lost" (4/19/07) and the next day that "No one wants us to succeed in Iraq more than the Democrats." (4/20/07).

The truth is that no one wants to lose in Iraq more than the Democrats, and the scariest story they can imagine is that the new strategy in Iraq is successful--and thus the evil Republicans would get political credit.

If they can whack the Iraq war on the head and kill any chance of success now, they believe they will have the advantage.

How short-sighted and stupid is that?

TODAY'S ASSIGNMENT

"The Myths and Realities of the George Bush Presidency"

Read and comment.

UPDATE: link fixed. sorry about that!

THE SEVENTH WONDER OF THE WORLD

Exactly.

How on earth do these people get elected? Today's case in point is the nutcase from Minnesota. Clearly since Cynthia McKinney was swept from office by her disgruntled constituency, tired of her histrionics and pervasive paranoia; there has been a 'paranoia deficit' in Democratic ranks Arguably, the deficit is not much of one, but McKinney's departure from Congress definitely left a tastelessness and crudity gap that Ellison fills very well. See video here.

He could have been a voice for moderate Islam. Instead, he is just another idiot apologist for the poisonous fruitcakes currently manipulating his religion.

Some day in the future, reasonable people will look back on this time in the history of our country and shake their heads in disbelief at the insanity currently being promulgated as mainstream Democratic dogma. Personally I don't think the trend to elect these incompetent morons and surrender experts suggests the end of democracy, as much as it is a harbinger of the collapse of the Democratic Party. This political party has become so narcissistic and dysfunctional it no longer serves any purpose at all except to be a living, breathing suicide note written by the left.

Sadly, the Republicans are only marginally better. Which is why I have always considered myself more of a libertarian/neo-conservative. This morning there is an interesting piece by Randy Barnett in the WSJ that discusses some of the disagreements among libertarians regarding the Iraq war. Suffice it to say, that Ron Paul does not speak for all libertarians.

As a last link, there is a thoughtful article that I actually read last week by Charles Kesler on Iraq and the Neoconservatives which argues the fundamental incompatibility of Bush's alternately Lincolnesque and Wilsonian takes on foreign policy; and the differences between first and second generation neoconservatism. Here is a taste:

The problem is that Bush wants to be both "idealistic" and prudent at the same time. He wants to take credit for proclaiming the lofty, breathtaking, galvanizing moral imperative, which is all of these things precisely because it is stubbornly opposed to the maxims of experience, impatient with the self-love integral to human nature, and insistent that duty requires maximum striving for the impossible dream, precisely because it seems impossible. That's his idealism. In that sense, global democracy is his War on Poverty. But at the same time he wants to be sober, responsible, and popular. He wants to bring democracy to every nation (and culture!) and to end tyranny in our world—but not immediately, and not by our efforts alone, and not at the expense of local customs and traditions, and not at the risk of our authoritarian allies, and not by force except in rare cases. These are all sensible limitations, of course, but what then is left of the original idealistic policy that made the blood race and the head swoon? He really can't have it both ways.

I think Kesler gets to the heart of the matter, which is that the Bush Administration has not been very successful in trying to synthesize the two diametrically opposed perspectives that drive their foreign policy initiatives. Essentially, this dialectic is responsible for the often contradictory actions of the Administration that end up alienating many Republicans who would otherwise be inclined to support Bush.

At any rate, my conclusion is that at least Republicans, libertarians, and neocons have ideas; while the Democrats' thought processes--as evidenced by the likes of Keith Ellison and the other delusional defeatocrats-- have degenerated into a mass of bizarre conspiracy theories and paranoid posturing that, while entertaining for the masses, only highlights their essential moral and intellectual bankruptcy.

Indeed, such foolishness on their part makes them ideal candidates for one of the 'wonders' of the world in the sense that it is a wonder any of them ever got elected in the first place; and it will be truly be astonishing if the American people have become suicidal enough to re-elect any of them in 2008.

WHEN THERE ARE NO WORDS AND SPEAKING FAILS...

..to capture the anguish of parents who awaken one morning to discover that their daughter's murderer is happily smiling on the front page of the New York Times and starring in an HBO special film.

From The Corner, a letter from those parents:

"Today’s New York Times carries a review of a film called “Hot House” that goes inside Israeli prisons and examines the lives of Palestinian prisoners. We’re not recommending the film or the review. But we do want to share our feelings with you about the beaming female face that adorns the article. You can see it here.

The film is produced by HBO. So it’s presumably HBO’s publicity department that was responsible for creating and distributing a glamor-style photograph of a smiling, contented-looking young woman in her twenties to promote the movie.

That female is our child’s murderer. She was sentenced to sixteen life sentences or 320 years which she is serving in an Israeli jail. Fifteen people were killed and more than a hundred maimed and injured by the actions of this attractive person and her associates. The background is here.

Neither the New York Times nor HBO are likely to give even a moment’s attention to the victims of the barbarians who destroyed the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem and the lives of so many victims. So we would be grateful if you would pass along this link to some pictures of our daughter whose name was Malki. She was unable to reach her twenties - Hamas saw to that.

Though she was only fifteen years old when her life was stolen from her and from us, we think Malki was a beautiful young woman, living a beautiful life. We ask your help so that other people - far fewer than the number who will see the New York Times, of course - can know about her. Please ask your friends to look at the pictures - some of the very few we have - of our murdered daughter[ed.note: picture to the right is Malki]

And remind them of what the woman in the Israeli prison - the woman smiling so happily in the New York Times - said last year. “I’m not sorry for what I did. We’ll become free from the occupation and then I will be free from prison.”

With so many voices demanding that Israel release its terrorist prisoners, small wonder she’s smiling.

With greetings from Jerusalem ,
Frimet and Arnold Roth
On behalf of Keren Malki

I pass this letter on, on behalf of Malki--and all the other silent and innocent victims of the insane barbarism and unrestrained hatred that floods the world today; and which many in the world ignore, rationalize, minimize, and excuse: thus further enabling and encouraging its continuation.

The silence often of pure innocence

Persuades when speaking fails.

—William Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale, 1611

OSAMA'S DEAD; BUSH 'S PRESIDENCY IS STILL ALIVE: AND THE DEMOCRATS ARE DESPERATE

Michael Ledeen expresses exactly what I was thinking when the latest video of Bin Laden was shown to be lifted from a 2001 or so appearance by the degenerate Islamic fanatic:

As mentioned, there's an Osama cameo floating around. It seems to be from a video shot in 2001 or 2002. If that is correct, then I would draw two conclusions: first, that it is additional confirmation that he is dead. (If he were alive, they could do a new one, right?) And second, that this is a sign of panic, a poorly manufactured pseudo-blockbuster appearance designed to rally the troops, who must be getting fairly discouraged these days. The war is not going well for them in Iraq or Afghanistan (where the big "spring offensive" didn't happen)or Lebanon or England or over here. The best thing they've got going for them at the moment is (are) the surrender monkeys.

I think Bin Laden has been dead for some time now. If he were not, then the Islamopunks would definitely have used him for propaganda purposes and to rally the demoralized troops. Sorry to say that Dr. Zawahiri has the personality of a stone and is as about as inspiring as one. Bin Laden is not much better, but has a certain mythos surrounding his caveman existence.

I also susupect that President Bush knows that Bin Laden is dead (it is possible there is evidence floating around that confirms it). I also think it is interesting there are reports of the capture of several top Taliban aides close to Mullah Omar.

Ledeen is also absolutely correct about the surrender monkey part of the post. Al Qaeda's secret weapon; the Jihadi's "aces-in-the-hole "are none other than the pathetic leadership of the Democratic Party and their dysfunctional puppet-masters on the left, who are absolutely desperate to make sure that America officially loses; because in America's defeat and humiliation, they sense victory for their petty political agenda. They hope to finally succeed (they think) in discrediting George W. Bush, their hated enemy, for all time.

But I think Bush has several nasty (at least for them) surprises in store before the end of his term of office. Whatever you think about the President, he is a man who means what he says; and he acts on what he says. You can disagree vehemently with his agenda, but he will not be deflected by negative polls or lack of popularity.

And, thank God for that.

Forget the leaks and the speculation, President George W. Bush is not looking for a way out of the surge and the Iraq war. In a session with about ten conservative journalists Friday afternoon, a confident and determined president made it clear that he is going to see the surge through, and will rely on General David Petraeus’s advice on how to proceed come September, regardless of the political climate in Washington....
“The ideal world,” he adds, “is that there would be some bipartisan consensus at some point in time to be there for a while. Can we achieve that? I don’t know. It’s worth trying. It’s worth talking to people about it.” But referring back to his statements in support of the surge, he said, with emphasis in his voice, “It’s very important for you all to understand that that’s exactly what I mean.”....

He says he has four audiences when he broadcasts his commitment to the mission in Iraq: the American public; the American military and their families; the Iraqis (“because there are a lot of people who doubt America’s resolve”); and the enemy (“the enemy thinks that we are weak — they’re sophisticated people, and they listen to the debate”). As for that last audience, “I really think the additional forces into Iraq surprised them—a lot.”

Over and over again I have said on this blog that, particularly when it comes to the war on terror, Bush means it:

He has had a lot to deal with over the course of his presidency and, to say the least not everything has been handled with extreme competence. But we are a nation at war and I expect major mistakes will be made. Most of the emotionalism of the left and the media has focused on issues that frankly are trivial or irrelevant to me as a voter. I could care less about their rage toward Gonzales; I think Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame should go to jail for their self-aggrandizing and utterly deceitful behavior. They are just two pitiful clowns who history will erase from serious concern. I could go on about the manufactured "scandals" but you catch my drift.

No, if there is one thing I have to take issue with the President for, it is that he has chosen to "rise above it all" and not aggressively defend himself against all the deliberate falsehoods and malicious attacks that have come his way. As one of my friends has put it, "The man has a Christian martyr complex!"

I suppose he figures that history will ultimately judge him well (I think it will for all the missteps); or perhaps he feels that it is enough to help this country change course and go on the offensive against Islamofascism. Contrary to what meatheads like John Edwards think, the war on terror is quite a bit more than a bumper sticker.

At any rate, President Bush is still the man he always was: imperfect and human. You may not agree with him, but he says what he means and acts on it. WYSIWYG.

He will always be himself, honestly.

Bill Kristol has this to say:

I suppose I'll merely expose myself to harmless ridicule if I make the following assertion: George W. Bush's presidency will probably be a successful one.

Let's step back from the unnecessary mistakes and the self-inflicted wounds that have characterized the Bush administration. Let's look at the broad forest rather than the often unlovely trees. What do we see? First, no second terrorist attack on U.S. soil -- not something we could have taken for granted. Second, a strong economy -- also something that wasn't inevitable.

And third, and most important, a war in Iraq that has been very difficult, but where -- despite some confusion engendered by an almost meaningless "benchmark" report last week -- we now seem to be on course to a successful outcome.

When it comes to Iraq and the war on terror, Like Kristol, I will go out on a limb and say that this Presidency will be judged well by history for his actions--however imperfect--in the war against Islamic fascism. It is amazing what he has been able to accomplish militarily with so little loss of life (despite all the hysteria, troop fatalities are historically low in this war). And, perhaps even more significant, Bush has significantly changed the status quo in the Middle East. He has set forces in motion that had been static and perpetually stalled on the side of despotism. Some will argue that the stasis was a good thing, but I don't see it that way. If nothing else, the world has now had a good taste of what the jihadis have been plotting for the last few decades and have begun to appreciate the potential danger to freedom and Western civilization inherent in Islamic political ideology.

Thus, I will continue to support this imperfect President (and what President,pray tell, has been even close to perfect?); the troops fighting the war; and America.

As always.

UPDATE: A vote of confidence for Bush from the markets.

BE AN IMAM ! (And Make Others Do the Martyrdom Schtick)

In honor of Osama's pseudoreturn, I offer up this song tribute to his enduring malignancy (whether he's dead or not--but see next post for more discussion of that):

BE AN IMAM !

(This song is from a new musical, The Little Cave of Horrors, home of jihadi theater; and the favorite hangout of one badass alien lifeform known as OBL. It is sung to the tune of "Be A Dentist" from Little Shop of Horrors)

[OBL]
When I was younger, just a bad little kid,
My mama noticed funny things I did,
Like beheading puppies with a very sharp knife
I'd poison my sisters, and my brother's wife
I'd find an infidel and bash in its head
That's when my mama said

[ZAWAHIRI, NASRALLAH, AHMADINEJAD]
What did she say?

[OBL]
She said, "My boy, I think someday
You'll find a way
To make your natural tendencies pay!
You'll be an Imam
You have a talent for causin' things pain;
Son, be an Imam
Allah'll rewards those who are inhumane.
Your temperament's just right for this religion
And Islam's already a mess...
Son, be a Imam
You'll be a success!

[ZAWAHIRI, NASRALLAH, AHMADINEJAD]
Now here he is, folks, the leader of Al Qaeda!
Watch him as he channels Darth Vader!
Allah be praised!
He's an Imam and he needs lots of martyrs
To blow people up and act piously crazed!

[FUTURE MARTYR]
Will it hurt? What about virgins?

[OBL]
Oh, shut up. Quit whinin'. Be happy you've been chosen to serve.
Let me do the opinin'...

I enjoy the career that I picked
As an Imam
And I get off on all the pain I inflict
I get off when I cut off a head.
It's swell though they tell me I'm maladjusted
But it sure don't cause me no distress
'Cause I never have to clean up the mess.
And, somewhere in heaven above me
I know, I just know, that my mama's proud of me !
'Cause I'm an Imam and I'm a success .



Say Allah!

[FUTURE MARTYR]
Allah!

[OBL]
Say Allah!

[FUTURE MARTYR]
Allah!

[OBL]
Say Allah!

[FUTURE MARTYR]
Allah!

[OBL]
Now blow!

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.

**NOTE: I am now getting many more submissions than I can possibly include in the weekly Carnival. Please don't be offended if your submission is not used (oh, okay, be as offended as you like) as it only means that for a variety of reasons I wasn't able to fit it into the "flow" as I put together each Carnival.

REMEMBER, THERE ARE SO MANY INSANITIES AND SO LITTLE TIME!!!

1. Lazy, stupid, or just willfully ignorant? I vote for all three.

2. I'm sure a few well-worded UN resolutions will solve everything!

3. How inconsiderate! They just don't appreciate the care they received. It's simply amazing how peaceful and tolerant the people of the Middle East are! Just part of the brotherhood of man!

4. My Cherie Amour Sharia Law

5. A sex party in Tehran? I guess this leader had some similar parties in Gaza. Would he have been inspired by this photo? And, then there's the sexually sadistic jihadis. Didn't I say once that they are obsessed with sex?

6. A summer of sequels. What a bunch of amateurs.

7. Not exactly a humanitarian crisis if they can ban Jewish fruits and vegetables...you know, they're probably poisoned anyway, right? Let them eat cake! Clearly there is a misunderstanding in cross-cultural communication. Suffering from Jewstalgia ?

8. That's right. Prove your moral authority. Stay calm. Don't lose your head. Oh wait ...

9. Stick to those benchmarks! Because the whole world is watching.

10. Gimme that old time religion! It's good enough for votes..

11. NASA standards continue to decline. The War on Poverty is definitely a quagmire. We should redeploy to Bill Gates' place.

12. Good luck with that. Why not give all of NYC to the Jews?

13. Oh no! The horror of global coldening is upon us.

14. They should come to Ann Arbor. There are a lot of them here.

15. This is what Paul Wolfowitz accomplished before he was forced to resign. This is the kind of thing the World Bank does now that he is gone....

16. Queer thoughts. Deepish thoughts. Completely unhinged thoughts.

17. Sorry but I don't think you're patriotic either (see unhinged directly above). And another case in point. Yeah yeah its free speech and "speaking truth to power" and all...but you simply can't stand it when someone disagrees with you, can you? So this must come as a complete shock.

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

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:

Heard the Word of Blog?

PARANOIA TO THE NTH DEGREE

Iranians arrest 14 squirrels for spying
Islamic Republic's intelligence agents allege rodents were carrying advanced Western spy gear

Iranian intelligence operatives recently detained over a dozen squirrels found within the nation's borders, claiming the rodents were serving as spies for Western powers determined to undermine the Islamic Republic.

"In recent weeks, intelligence operatives have arrested 14 squirrels within Iran's borders," state-sponsored news agency IRNA reported. "The squirrels were carrying spy gear of foreign agencies, and were stopped before they could act, thanks to the alertness of our intelligence services."

It's difficult to make up stuff like this. A normal human mind cannot wrap itself around a paranoid fantasy so bizarre, let alone create it.

I mean, who knew that squirrels could be supporters of the Jewish/Zionst conspiracy? But there you have it. I guess if a culture believes that it is a crime to place cucumbers and tomatoes next to each other because they are different genders, there's no telling how out-to-lunch their thought processes could be or what realms of fantasy and delusion they might be subject to.

Remember, the Iranians think the Holocaust, which actually happened, is a Western urban legend.

Auguries of Paranoia
(with apologies to William Blake)

All of delusion in a tiny squirrel
And projection in holocaust denial;
A psychosis encompassing all the world;
Where tomatoes and cukes are on trial.

The human soul within a cage
Does not put Allah in a rage.

He loves his women clad in veils
Those shapeless burqas stifle wails;
And children strapped to a suicide bomb
Will leave this life without 'salaam'

A headless body on the path
Is testament to Islam's wrath.
Each outcry from a soul enslaved
A document of god depraved.

Arrest all squirrels for espionage;
Your reasons cannot camouflage
Paranoia to the nth degree--
It's visible for all to see.

And when you hear that Allahu yell
A jihadi's found his way to hell.

All of delusion in a tiny squirrel
And projection in holocaust denial;
A psychosis encompassing all the world;
Where tomatoes and cukes are on trial.

UPDATE: I just had to steal this from The Corner:

THE PALESTINIAN DELUSION AND THE VICTIMHOOD PIMPS OF THE LEFT

The World Bank has accused Israel of destroying the Palestinian economy (hat tip: Larwyn). You will have to read the article to believe it. Of particular note is the World Bank's acting Director's comments:

“The pillars of Gaza’s economy have weakened over the years. Now, with a sustained closure on this current scale, they would be at risk of virtually irreversible collapse,” said Faris Hadad-Zervos, the acting director for the World Bank in the Palestinian Authority territories.

Hadad-Zervos told participants at a closed-door meeting of private-sector organizations and aid groups that “A solution must be reached very soon, if not immediately…Otherwise, Gaza’s dependence on humanitarian assistance could become a long-term and comprehensive situation.” (emphasis mine)

Too late, I'm afraid. It has already lasted for half a century, and it couldn't get more culturally and societally "comprehensive" than it already is. The Palestinian "economy" has been based for decades on the creation and export of two fundamental products: (1) terrorism and (2) victimhood. Far from "creating the conditions for an 'irreversible' economic collapse in Hamas-controlled Gaza, the Israelis have made a herculean effort to assist the Palestinians over the years, particularly to support the development of a Palestinian middle-class.

Sadly, they have been thwarted in those efforts by the two precious Palestinian commodities that have been marketed for decades by the dysfunctional Palestinian leaders.

These leaders manipulate Palestinian "victimhood at the hands of Israeli oppression" so convincingly and with such great gusto, that they have conned the international community into believing that Palestinians have absolutely no responsibility whatsoever for the garbage dump their society has evolved into. The poor, oppressed suicide bombers of Palestine have become the "opiate" of the leftist masses.

In a series of posts about Palestinian psychopathology, Siggy has this to say:

The Palestinians, as a group and as a society, have failed. Unlike other Arabs in the region, they live in close proximity to a vibrant and free society. They know and see the benefits of what living in a free society means. They also know to acknowledge Israel’s successes, they have to acknowledge their own failures. Culturally, that is too high a price to pay.

The cycle of violence is not simply destined to perpetuate itself- the cycle of violence is reinforced and ever escalating. Dysfunctional behaviors that were unknown or unheard before have become commonplace.The self destructive behavior of the Palestinians comes about as the result of the integration of exaggerated love and exaggerated hate into a fused single exaggerated emotion. What distinguishes the two becomes no more than a blurred idea. Thus, violence directed at each other is a appropriate as violence directed at the Israelis.

This kind diseased thinking is not just about violence. Even the wildest conspiracy theories, widely welcomed and accepted, become a reflection of a dysfunctional defense mechanism and absurdity. As Arab religious and political leaders whip crowds into a wild frenzy, warning of ‘Jewish plots’ to control the world, these same religious and political leaders have no trouble promising that ‘Muslims all over the world will work together to control the world’ and that the ‘flag of Islam will fly over the White House’ and the British Parliament. Those who resist will be destroyed.

These kinds of projections are used by religious and political leaders to control and feed the fantasy with the intoxication of absolute power....

There is a difference between backward societies and failed ones. Backward societies are unaware of the possibilities in front of them. Failed societies have squandered the opportunities that have been afforded them.

In the escalating and seemingly endless psychopathology of the Palestinians you can begin to see and understand the core premises and abnormal psychology that fuels the terrorist/jihadist vision, which is based on a hatred so consuming, it has not only destoyed the very soul of the Palestinian people, but it threatens to envelop the entire world with its madness.

For every professional victim, there are hordes of victimhood pimps urging them on to even greater heights of victimhood in order for the pimps to bask in a glow of moral righteousness and virtue. You can see this in the adoption of the Palestinians as "global chic" by the morally bankrupt and mindless intellectual elite of the left, as they glorify and worship Palestinian dysfunction and pathology.

The reason why the critics of Israel always seem to ignore Palestinian atrocities and give them a free pass on having any responsibility for the lack of any progress or civilized behavior in their present-day culture is clear. I wrote in that earlier piece:

The West for the most part has the attitude that somehow, allowing the Palestinians to suffer the consequences of their choices and behavior would be "punishing them". A typical proponent of this attitude, for example, is former President Carter, who has consistently and regularly advocates that Israel's actions should be punished, but that the Palestinians must be given a free pass by civilization.

Carter blithely discusses the "devastating consequences" of Israel or American actions, but I have yet to see him--or any others who put forth the same compassionate view-- grapple with the "devastating consequences" of the Hamas charter. Or of suicide bombers. Or of the intent, stated repeatedly by the leaders of the Palestinians and sanctioned by the Palestinian people who voted to elect Hamas, to destroy Israel.

Carter and the other terrorist enablers of the West ignore Palestinian behavior with the cultivated cognitive dissonance of today's postmodern left. The obsession of the West with the eternal victimhood cult of the Palestininas has been the single biggest psychological impediment toward peace in that region.

Why should the Palestinians' behavior ever change? What could possibly motivate them to be civilized? Or deal honestly with Israel? They have every reason to believe that the Carters of the world will always let them off the hook--and bail them out--no matter what they do or how badly they behave.

When it comes to seeking peace; or establishing a civil and productive society the Palestinians have shown themselves to be completely hopeless and only focused on war.

In fact, they are so committed to war; so determined to continue on their path homicidal violence for violence' sake, that they are indoctrinating the next generation into the cult of death (and they don't even need Mickey Mouse to do it).

Western leaders are amazingly slow learners. They have been excusing the Palestinians and vilifying Israel for decades now, and yet they wonder why peace is so elusive in that part of the world.

The Palestinian Con is one of the greatest deceptions in the history of the world.

And the Western world, which is the actual victim of the con seems bent on never calling these flim-flam artist to account for undermining every peace process; breaking every truce; squandering every chance; and worshipping death. It is truly amazing how the West, instead of understanding the con, are willing accessories to it and instead view the con artist as the victim and constantly act to protect and defend him. What would you say to a victimized senior citizen who delusionally protects the perpetrators of a scam who have robbed him of all his savings? You would rightfully think he is out of his mind and feel pity at how the ravages of age have compromised his cognitive functioning.

If you have any doubts about the power and sanctity that can be yours if victimhood status can be officially confered upon you; or of the endless moral benefits of being "oppressed"; just consider the central Palestinian role in the quasi-religious cult of victimhood that is part of today's pervasive leftist dogma.

In the holy book of leftist belief, "victimhood" is the most celebrated quality deserving of attention and pity. This is in part because many on the political left have a pathologically narcissistic need to see themselves as "champions of the oppressed", hence the constant need to find and maintain an oppressed class of people to champion. But it also dovetails nicely into the the Marxist dialectic that underlies that ideology. The world is divided up into two groups, you see: the oppressors (i.e., white, male,heterosexual, Republican, Americans or Israelis) and the oppressed (everyone else).

The Palestinians are probably one of the most underserving victim groups in history. With the help of their own leaders, in connivance with the enabling behavior of the international political left, they have evolved into a homicidal mob that is more of a death cult than a society.

With every invitation to rejoin the civilized world that has been offered up to them, the Palestinians have instead chosen cultural suicide. They would much rather kill Jews than work to create a life for their children.

In fact, they'd rather their children kill Jews, too.

In Dr. Sanity's Practical Guide to Victimhood, I singled the Palestinians out for a good reason:
As you can see, there are many paths to Victimhood. Keep your head up and really look around for opportunities. One group in particular deserves special mention for their unfailing and extraordinary efforts at maintaining and feeding their Victimhood for decades. I am speaking of course, about the Palestinians. Through their previous president, Yasser Arafat, they creatively resisted worldwide attempts to ease them gently from their role of victim. Their efforts have inspired many others --especially people and nations in the Middle East. But the Palestinians are, without a doubt the Gold Medal Winner of our WorldWide Victimhood, Inc. Annual Awards. Note how, their current president has just provided lifetime benefits to those lucky enought to be members of the family of a suicide bomber! This deserves its own unique award as it represents extraordinarily creative efforts in the annals of victimhoodology.

Palestinian pretensions to virtue and culture have been fully exposed as a fraud; and the death-worshipping cult of hatred they "elected" to govern themselves only pulls them deeper into the gutter of pathos and decay.

Living in a fantasy world where everything is the fault of the Jews, they have hopelessly degenerated into self-delusion, denial and paranoia and have chosen to embrace hate and violence rather than making a better life either for themselves or their children. They are more concerned with avoiding shame rather than behaving honorably.

One of the most important expressions of a shame culture (as well as shame-avoidant and grandiose persons in general) is the rampant psychological projection and refusal to accept responsibility for any inappropriate behavior--up to and including the most disgusting of atrocities. It is always someone else's fault (for the Palestinians, it is always the Israelis/Jews).

In this way the shame-avoidant culture of the Palestinians continues to act irresponsibly and even flaunts its grandiose entitlement. They perceive nothing wrong with their barbaric and malignant behavior and are encouraged in their delusional beliefs by their fellow Arabs and Muslims and the intellectual elites of the left.

Unable to create the institutions necessary for a civilized society--despite the billions of dollars in aid from the rest of the world-- they are simply too preoccupied with their unbridled envy and loathing of their more successful cousins, the Jews to be able to move forward. In their perverted world, it is shameful if you do not desire to murder Jews and do not want your children to blow themselves up; but not at all shameful to be a member of an ignorant, medieval death-cult.

Just as alcoholics are addicted to ethanol, the Palestinians are addicted to their Jew-hatred and will not miss any opportunity to overindulge. Their intoxication has been continuous for over half a century now. If they did abstain--even for a moment--delirium engulfs them and they focus their obsessive lethal destructiveness on each other.

The psychologically inebriated members of Hamas actually believe that they can continue to mouth the same old pathetic and stale shibboleths that have sunk the region into a bottomless quagmire of sadistic violence and death.

“We will never recognize Israel. There is nothing called Israel, neither in reality nor in the imagination.”

And then, with a practiced histrionic flair, they extend their hands demanding more money for their obsession; more encouragement, and more admiration from that the rest of the world; sure in their limitless narcissism that they will be treated kindly and with all the due deference they feel they deserve.

Victimhood pimps like the World Bank can always be counted on to aid and abet the Palestinian delusion.

KILLING GEORGE BUSH....FOR THE SAKE OF "PEACE"

Yesterday she said it in front of an audience in Dallas, Texas and the audience there gave her a standing ovation:

Nobel Peace Prize winner Betty Williams of Ireland apologized Thursday after telling a Dallas audience a day earlier that she “could kill George Bush.”

This awful human being who actually won a Nobel Peace prize (but then, so did Yasser Arafat) then abjectly apologized. But somehow I think that her apology wasn't really very sincere, because she's been saying the same thing for over a year now.

A year ago, I reported that she told a group of young children she would like to kill George Bush:

NOBEL peace laureate Betty Williams displayed a flash of her feisty Irish spirit yesterday, lashing out at US President George W.Bush during a speech to hundreds of schoolchildren.
Campaigning on the rights of young people at the Earth Dialogues forum, being held in Brisbane, Ms Williams spoke passionately about the deaths of innocent children during wartime, particularly in the Middle East, and lambasted Mr Bush.

"I have a very hard time with this word 'non-violence', because I don't believe that I am non-violent," said Ms Williams, 64.

"Right now, I would love to kill George Bush." Her young audience at the Brisbane City Hall clapped and cheered.

I used her as a perfect example of the malignant narcissism of today's political left. She represents the type of sociopath who disguises her sociopathy under a veil of sweet selflessness. At that time I wrote:

If we go back to our understanding of healthy narcissistic development, we appreciate that the pervasive appearance of the GS [grandiose self] and the IO [idealized object] in adults is a result of the failure of narcissistic synthesis. The developmental process that should lead to a healthy self is broken; or fractured; or poisoned.

This can happen under many and varied circumstances--some of which can be prevented and some of which cannot (but that is for another post). We see it happening to the Palestinian children, taught from birth to hate the other/Jew; taught to die for the IDEAL. We see it in college students who are encouraged by their malignantly narcissistic professors to reject traditional moral values; embrace nihilism, and transform the world according to the professor's utopian fantasy. We see it in the postmodern rhetoric of the socialists who still dream of a universal socialist utopia, no matter how many people they have to kill to make it happen.

We see glimpses of it, in fact, in a Nobel Peace Laureate who is so concerned for the IDEAL of some abstract "suffering children" that she is willing to poison the minds of the very real children right in front of her with her own undiluted ideology--knowing full well those minds aren't capable of mature judgment and analysis. She is so unswervingly sure that the source of all suffering children must be…George Bush. How is she different from the Imams of Islam who preach hate --but in the name of some universal Islamic "good".

She doesn't want to face the truth, you see, that it is one variation or another of HER beliefs; HER ideology; HER behavior that is behind most of the unnecessary suffering of--not only children--but all human beings.

She, and many of the others that have been referred to as "useful idiots", has made herself into a willing agent of the malignant narcissism of the Idealized object. They are actually worse than idiots; they are true co-conspirators with the enemies of life itself.

Indeed, Ms. Williams is as malignant as she ever was. You might be forgiven for expecting that someone as exalted as a Nobel Prize winner should be able to come up with an original thought and not be limited to the usual Bush Derangement rhetoric, but Williams keeps on spouting the same mindless drivel year after year.


Think about it for a moment. By her words it is clear that this Nobel Peace Prize winner is not actually opposed to killing at all. Specifically, she wants to kill the President of the United States. She has said so multiple times, and because she is a Nobel Prize winner, people and children cheer her, instead of calling her a hatemonger; or arresting her; or admitting her to a psych ward.

She is as you will note, very specific in her homicidal tendencies. Does she want to kill Bin Laden or Zawahiri, mass murdererers who exhort thier followers to indiscrimately kill innocents?

She has never said so.

Does she want to kill the al Qaeda terrorists who recently baked a child in an oven and served him to his parents? Or those who indiscriminantly massacred women and beheaded children?

She hasn't commented on the report or expressed her compassionate outrage that such things could happen in a civilized world.

No, this lovely peace activist--like so many others-- wants to kill the one world leader who has done the most to put the Al Qaeda chefs out of business.

This bizarre fantasy of Williams would make me laugh if it weren't so horribly twisted; so incredibly perverted and so utterly the opposite of what someone who genuinely desired peace would want. And if there weren't so many who cheered her on in her homicidal ideation out of the delusion that it makes them loving and peaceful champions of the oppressed. She and her audience suffer from a 21st century mass hysteria, sharing the delusion that somehow they are morally superior intellects.

If Williams really were a champion of peace, she would be denouncing the true threats to peace in the world and saving her vitriolic rhetoric to oppose Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist jihadi groups that believe it is OK and even a moral necessity to rid the world of Jews and infidels. But she has nothing to say about these fanatics whose standard operating procedures cruelly and deliberately target the innocent without remorse or conscience.

Being the brave peace prize winner that she is, she will demonstrate how tolerant and compassionate and virtuous she is by voicing her hatred of George Bush, who, whatever his faults, has taken a principled and bold stand against the savage and uncivilized beasts who use religion and terror interchangeably to impose their will.

Is it possible that a Nobel Prize winner could be unaware of the irony? Of the intellectual and moral bankruptcy she exhibits? Of the sheer, unadulterated stupidity of her position? Could she be that clueless and out of touch with her own aggression and fear?

I hereby declare her the winner of this year's Nobel Prize in PSYCHOLOGICAL DENIAL and MALIGNANT NARCISSISM. And yes, I know there isn't a Nobel awarded for this kind of spectacular psychological achievement, but obviously there should be.

THAT WHICH MUST NOT BE NAMED

Hey! Terrorism is NO BIG DEAL! "The 9/11 attack was a crisis that has largely passed"! By calling it a global war on terror we've only helped that which must not be named and hurt ourselves!

Yeah, if we pretend it doesn't exist, it will definitely go away.

To put it in complicated psychiatric terms, fear can make people stupid. The issue is, of course, who among the fearful is more stupid? Those who are so incredibly afraid of terrorism that they have to pretend it doesn't even exist? Or those who admit to a rational fear of the Jihadists and choose to face it and fight?

Go see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for further details on how well this strategy works.

GOD IS A WINDOW INTO OUR HUMANITY

One of the issues I wrestle with on a regular basis is faith and belief in God. I go back and forth in my own mind about His existence. Though I alternately harbor grave doubts about and grandiose detachment from the Almighty; I am also very aware of an almost desperate desire on my part to want God to be real.

Because it seems to me that, only if He is real do the concepts of justice or truth live up to their meaning; and only then does the universe make sense. Only if God is real does the meaning of life take on a dimension that is worthy of the human mind.

The search for God is nothing more and nothing less than a search for and understanding of one's own self. Siggy has this to say in a recent post that struck a chord in me:

Firstly, to be human, by definition, is to be something other than God. That means that we cannot be expected to always understand God or His intent. By design, God may exclude or preclude us from ever ‘getting it.’

When we accept our ‘humaness,’ we are accepting our imperfections. As humans, we are not blessed with perfection. We are blessed with something far greater- free will. And, we are blessed with doubt.

Doubt is indeed a blessing, perhaps the greatest of God’s gifts to His Creation, because every time we overcome that doubt and behave in a way that honors God, we have chosen to honor both Him and us. Only those that have experienced darkness can experience and appreciate light and the ability to see both the beauty and the dangers of our surroundings. In fact, if we do not acknowledge that darkness even exists, we can never see and appreciate the light.

We are supposed to struggle with faith and even tire of the struggle. It is the burden of that struggle that makes us whole and makes us complete. When we experience the doubt, the pain, and the despair of our search for God and meaning, we are not in violation of spirituality- just the opposite, really. When we are dealing with our doubts and pains, we begin to approach the final spirituality of acceptance.

I have had periods of my life when I was fairly religious; other times when I scorned the very idea of God; and I have been at practically every point in between those two extremes at one time or another.

I think Siggy is right. The search for God; the struggle with faith is a search for meaning; a search for understanding one's place in the universe; a way to create order out of chaos and light out of darkness.


The conviction that the author of SC&A has about the struggle for faith and the role of God in a rational person's life is one of the many reasons I admire him. His own conviction and his faith are compelling.

Ultimately, the only purpose served when the very human need to connect with the Infinite is mocked and ridiculed, is the dehumanization of mankind--a process that eliminates the spirit of the divine that exists within us all and which separates us and elevates us compared to all other animals on the earth.


As a psychiatrist I have traveled too deeply into the despair and pain of a human soul. Sometimes the journey has made me fear for my own sanity and that I might lose who I am. But I have always been aware, in the distance, of a light that marks the path back to my own self, and have always managed to find my way back. I cannot decide if that luminous signpost is simply a part of me...or if it is the God I find comfort in believing in.


In the end, perhaps the distinction does not matter.


TELEMACHUS IN SEARCH OF HIS FATHER

Long has he traveled and far;
Into shadowed nights with never a dawn;
Through groaning cities, dying in despair;
Searching for a man he has never known.

And who will tell him that his search can have no end?
That he pursues a memory soon to fade?
That frustration and pain are the gifts reserved for those whose dream is life?
Who will tell him?

He has traveled long and far;
Made his way through darkness desperate for light;
Survived cities without tears without sinking into despair;
And always searched.
Because the memory will not fade
And life is his to live....
Because the man that must be found
Is himself.

And anyway, he will not listen.

HARRY POTTER SIGHTING

July is a fabulous month for Harry--the movie of Order of the Phoenix opened last night; and the final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows comes out later this month. I have written before on the parallels between Harry's world and our own--particularly in the appeasement of evil that characterizes both (see here and here, for example).

Lisa Schiffren at The Corner has sighted the Cornelius Fudge of our world:

The struggle between good and evil, freedom and enslavement is, of course, an eternal literary theme. Still, one can't help but notice the astonishing manner in which Gordon Brown has taken a page directly from Harry Potter — and the just released film of Book Seven, at that. Specifically, Brown's strong desire not to call Islamic terrorism by name echoes the insistence of the head of the Wizard government, the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge — to refer to their mortal enemy, Voldemort, as "he who must not be named."
So, even greater kudos to J.K. Rowling, who understood back in the 90's that the world's youth needed a rousing tale of heroism in the face of evil. Whatever her politics — and I believe she has not indulged in a discussion of them — she has made the point again and again in her books, that, in the face of the gravest threats to freedom, government is more likely to temporize and play down the severity than to act boldly. It is a rare leader who will look evil straight in the face, call it by name and respond appropriately, even at the cost of his own life. If that hasn't been the case in England and the U.S. for the past six years, well, times are changing.(emphasis mine)

There is a reason JK Rowling's Potter series has become the metaphor for our times in much the same way that JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings was a metaphor for World War II--and still has enormous relevance for today's conflict with the Islamofascist barbarians.

Cornelius Fudge and those who refuse to acknowledge that the evil was rising and gaining momentum in their world is only one analogy. Their denial of the obvious was striking, just as is the psychological denial engaged in by today's left and the Democrats in Washington; as well as leftists all over the world (Gordon Brown's ridiculous comments definitely qualify.)

At the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie, Dumbledore says to Harry, "Dark and difficult times lay ahead. Soon we will have to decide between doing what is easy and what is right." [In the book, Dumbledore tells all the Hogwarts students: "Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right, and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because, he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."

In our own world, there are many people like Cedric Diggory who innocently strayed across the path of the Islamist fanatics and died because we are dealing with a barbaric and ancient evil that thrives on human intolerance and hate.

There have been many opportunities to make the right choices in dealing with this evil, instead of the easy choices in the last couple of years. From what I have observed, Congress, the political left and its minions, and much of the international community is almost desperate to appease it and/or pretend it doesn't even exist--rather than confront it.

How best to wage this war is up for debate. But no sane person can still be debating on whether to wage it. Yet every day we witness those in denial debating those in frank delusion. The bodies of the Cedric Diggories --in Paris, Germany, England, Indonesia, Africa, Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan-- are all around us and the voices of the Cornelius Fudges grow louder and louder. Fudge would rather blame those who choose to fight in the mistaken belief that such blindness on his part will make the bad stuff all go away.

The evil we are confronting in the world is not going to go quietly away. Thousands and perhaps millions (if Zawahiri and Bin Laden have their way) of innocent people will continue to stray into the path of this evil and they will suffer and die because of it.

It would be easy to pretend that this danger to life; to peace; to civilization did not exist.

Dark and difficult times lay ahead. I hope we will choose what is right.

More Dumbledorian leaders leaders, please; and ditch the Fudge.

ALL TREES AND NO FOREST: The Legacy of Postmodern Thought

No generalization is worth a damn, including this one. - Oliver Wendall Holmes

There is a long philosophical tradition that has claimed that universality and abstractness have no legitimate basis in our experience of reality. This is usually called the "problem of universals" and it derives from the fact that we humans experience objects in the real world as discrete, concrete and individual. Yet, this is contrasted to our thoughts, which experience and know about objects in more general and abstract, or universal ways.

As an illustration, cars and houses--and many objects in the world-- may be "green", and we can understand that "green" is a more general property of things, or rather, a universal. "Green" is also an abstract concept which can be thought of without connection to a particular object, but it does not actually exist separately from a particular object. The philosophical conundrum that puzzled philosophers is trying to understand how such universal and abstract aspects of real things exist, when our experience in the real world is only of specific, individual objects?

Two prominent philosophers who considered this problem and concluded that universals/generalities and abstractness were not legitimately derived from empirical experience were Hume and Kant. Over the next several hundred years, their positions were further refined and expanded on in this area.

Hah! I know what you are thinking--who cares about such an esoteric concept?

Well, let me tell you that this particular philosophical problem is not abstract at all, but one which pops up all the time in current discussions--even on this blog. How you deal with the concept of universals turns out to be extremely important, particularly in rational discourse, where objective reality and truth are necessary.

Consider this: if there is no way to account for generalizations or universals through empirical experience, then all such attributions may be considered subjective and hence, invalid.

How many times on this blog have you heard the trolls scream repeatedly about how I lump all people of a certain political belief into the category of "the left"; or how I generalize the behavior of a "small" group of deranged Muslims as "Islamic". No, no, no! they all cry--this is unfair; this is totally subjective on your part, Dr. Sanity; this is completely invalid!

Though a generalization, I think the above fairly sums up their attitude. The Kantians reading this will have to forgive me for making such a universal and rather abstract conclusion, I guess. But, my essential point is that not only is this the way I happen to think, it is the nature of human consciousness itself to perform this function. By trashing this aspect of human consciousness, the result is no more and no less than severing the human brain from reality.

Let me go one step further in my universalizing tendency. The underlying assumption of these trolls--another generalized concept, I admit, though I am sure that trolls that they are, they couldn't be bothered to consider it abstractly--happens to be one of the basic and crucial foundations of Postmodern thought (discussed here , here and here if you don't know what Postmodern philosophy is all about) : by making universals and generalizations completely subjective , they have successfully invalidated anyone's attempts to understand reality and truth.

As an example of the very different philosophical and moral universe the Postmodernists occupy; as well as the havoc they are wreaking in both the ability to engage in rational discourse and effectively deal with the real world, let's consider something written by Victor Davis Hanson a while back:

Maybe the rise of specialization in the university causes us to stress the exception rather than the rule. Or perhaps the rise of personal anecdote in lieu of analysis, common in our therapeutic society, explains why we shy away from generalization.

It is certainly true that the emergence of minority rights and grievances has chastised Americans from making generalizations that are valid in the majority of cases, but ridiculed because there are occasional exceptions. If one were to conclude that Swedes were dour, prone to drink, large, and sometimes moody, based on what I have seen of my family, I would tend to agree as a rule—with the qualifier I have met many who were sunny, tiny, and abstainers. But nevertheless that stereotyped portrait remains a good enough truism.

I raise this with exasperation since lately we are told that various radical Islamic groups—Hezbollah, Hamas, Al Qaeda, or the Muslim Brotherhood—are not all alike. But who is? And what does it matter if their generic hatred of the West and the United States in particular is predicated on the West Bank, Lebanon, Afghanistan, or our failure, according to Dr. Zawhiri, to sign the Kyoto accords? I’m sure our grandfathers did not resent the insensitive lumping together of Mussolini with Hitler and Tojo because there were undeniable differences between Bushido, National Socialism, and Fascism.

Indeed, this fear to generalize has gotten so bad that we cannot speak of “Arabs” as generic people, even though they themselves, in perfect Pan-Arabic fashion, do so, and, of course, speak of Americans as a predictable cadre. I have visited Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait Libya, Palestine, and Tunisia and most there I met seem to entertain real antipathy for Israel, express a strange simultaneous attraction for, and anger with, the United States, share certain ideas about the role of women, religious tolerance, Islam, Western culture, and the role of family patriarchs. And while there are obviously many who resent such a characterization, it is all the same a valid generalization.

Indeed, as Hanson suggests, it is extremely exasperating to live in a world that is held to be "all trees and no forest."

How is it surprising that rhetoric in today's world has decended into vicious ad hominem attacks--such attacks are inevitable when you can only talk about individual trees and not the forest in which they dwell. Why do you suppose that effective policies can never seem to be formulated or implemented to deal with pressing problems (no matter who is in charge) --when problems can only be conceptualized as inescapably subjective, and therefore limited in scope?

Let me end by quoting the invaluable Stephen Hicks:

Suppose a thinker argued the following: "I am an advocate of freedom for women. Options and the power to choose among them are crucial toour human dignity. And I am wholeheartedly an advocate of women's human dignity. But we must understand that a scope of womans's choice is confined to the kitchen. Beyond the kitchen's door she must not attempt to exercise choice. Within the kitchen, however, she has a whole feast of choices--whether to cook or clean, whether to cook rice or potatoes, whether to decorate in blue or yellow. She is sovereign and autonomous. And the mark of a good woman is a well-organized and tidy kitchen." No one would mistake such a thinker for an advocate of woman's freedom. Anyone would point out that there is a whole world beyond the kitchen and that freedom is essentially about exercising choice about defining and creating one's place in the world as a whole....The point for any advocate of reason is that there is a whole world outside our skulls and reason is essentially about knowing it.

Thus by insisting that the mind is only capable of evaluating the "trees"; by invalidating any attempts to see the "forest", Postmodernism has successfully isolated our minds from objective reality and truth.

And, if that is too much of a generalization for you, too bad.