SHOOT IT DOWN

Shoot it down...and then bomb the site where it was launched.

It will be a twofer.

Remember, Iran will be watching how we handle North Korea very very carefully.

DRIVING BACK

We'll be driving back to Ann Arbor from Traverse City today. More later!

THE DEMOCRAT'S MAGIC SCHOOL BUS

You have to read this article to understand how hapless the Democrats are when it comes to the big issues like Iraq and the war on terror. It's sad, but they just can't seem to find their position on Iraq (i.e, agree on what position will get them the most votes).

But, that is the problem with operating on the basis of opportunism, instead of having any fundamental principles to guide you. As far as I can tell, the only principle guiding these kids is "we hate Bush, so vote for us." The party of nothing, has nothing to offer in these dangerous times--only antiwar platitudes and self-serving behavior.

Once again we see the absolute lack of integrity, honesty, and the unending opportunism of Democrats who are currently more interested in regaining power than they are in protecting and defending the U.S.

There are very real issues--both nationally and internationally-- that require the goodwill and common sense efforts of both Democrats and Republicans. Disagreements are expected and spirited debate has always been an important part of our heritage. Republicans are certainly no saints; but the Democrat's behavior regarding the Iraq war and the War on Terror in general, simply cannot be justified; and demonstrate neither goodwill nor common sense.

This is symptomatic of the PC cancer eating at the soul of the left--and it reveals a fundamental anti-Americanism; so irrational; and so distorted by Bush hatred that it is willing to sacrifice America and all it stands for to the barbarians we are fighting.

American citizens possess a lot of common sense when it comes right down to it. They may not like the situation in Iraq or the world--or even think that Bush is not handling these issues particularly well. Yet, anyone with common sense would look at the alternative(s) offered by the Democrats, and then vote for the Republican.

The Magic School Bus's Miss Frizzle would say to the childish Democrats: "Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!"

In other words, think outside your ideological box--and grow up and do what's right--even if it's not popular.

THE STRUGGLE TO MAKE EVERYONE THINK WE'RE SWELL

If you want to understand the psychological consequences of political correctness and how they distract, impede, and prevent us from being able to defeat Islamofascism, then you should read Diane West's latest column, "It's An Islamic Jihad, Stupid":

This mindset may explain why the United States exhausts itself trying to disclaim a connection between Islam and jihad, opening Islamic centers on U.S. military bases (most recently at Quantico at the behest of a Wahhabi-educated cleric). Thus, as Paul Sperry writes at frontpagemag.com, "facilitating the study of the holy texts the enemy uses, heretically or not, as their manual of war"; treating those same holy texts reverentially by military order at Guantanamo Bay; and even sending in the Marines to donate prayer rugs to an Iraqi mosque.

Such tactics suggest we no longer seek a military triumph over Islamic jihad -- if we ever did. Had we prosecuted such a war, it would be over by now. The president would have directed the military to eradicate, freeze or neutralize jihadi threats where they exist, from Iran to Syria, from Gaza to Fallujah. Concurrently, we would have closed our own borders as a post-Sept. 11 security precaution, and implemented an immigration policy designed to avoid repeating the European example of Islamization through massive Muslim immigration or, as some are calling it, "reverse colonization."

But no. Such a war on terror long ago gave way to the Struggle to Make Everyone Think We're Swell. In this no-win fight, we must watch what we say -- as when the government "distances" itself from an official's frank characterization of three suicides at Guantanamo Bay as a jihadi "PR stunt." And we must watch what we do -- as when we repeatedly send our military on dangerous house-to-house missions with restrictive rules of engagement rather than using air power. In a war in which an interrogation could save a city, we rewrite our interrogation rules to make sure that it won't. "If this debate were limited to what's best for interrogation purposes, the decision (about whether to soften interrogation techniques) would be pretty easy," a senior Defense Department official told The New York Times. "But then you have to look at what we lose diplomatically.'"

The enemy has no need to waste their time on psyops directed against us--they can always count on those who run the MSM and Democratic Party stars like Murtha and Kerry to spread their message of doom and gloom and hopelessness.

The facts of the matter are unimportant. Failure is the only option the Democratic stars can envision that will improve their politial capital.

A politically correct cancer has been slowly eating away at our society for several decades now, and the left side of the patient is already paralyzed and dysfunctional because of it.

Let us either wage a real war and fight to win; or come slinking home, tail between our legs, and abandon all we stand for--just as Democrats desperately desire. If they really cared for the troops; if they really understood the motivation of those who enlist and reenlist to server their country; if they really wanted to support them--they would do everything in their power to WIN--not surrender. Our military is not made up of poor helpless, drafted children, who must be protected by Democrats from being put in harm's way; or from any risk when they defend our country. Their service is THEIR CHOICE. And by and large, they are the best professionals in the world and excellent at what they do. Let them do it. Let them take the risks (which they are well aware of) and honor them for their courage and sacrifice. They do not deserve the shame and dishonor heaped upon them by Sheehan and other disgruntled family members--who always seem to be spotlighted by 21st century "Tokyo Rose" news media.

Let us treat the enemy as the enemy--not as our dear friends and colleagues who should enjoy the benefits and perks of our free society-- and accord them only the rights and priveleges due within the absolute letter of the law--and not one iota more. If they desire the protection of the Geneva Convention, then let the enemy sign the treaty. Otherwise, no quarter. We owe them nothing--especially not Korans and certainly no respect for their beliefs.

Let us stop being suicidally politically correct; let us call a spade a spade; a terrorist, a jihadist; let us, in other words, fight a goddamn war, and stop pussyfooting around trying to please those who will never be pleased; and who both secretly (and not so secretly) desire our failure anyway.

Think we will hear any outrage expressed about this? No, the defeatists and all the don't-question-their-patriotism patriots will just use it as yet another justification to surrender. How quaint.

This is not a game of make-believe and their partisan maneuvering--which enables and encourages the enemy--is as deadly as a dozen IED attacks.

DELUSIONS DIE HARD

But...but...but...WE'RE LOSING!! It's a quagmire! It's Vietnam! (It Has to Be).

UPDATE: Here's the reality.

FAR FAR OUT

Truthout uses the "fake but accurate" defense. This defense, combined with "getting too far out in front of the news cycle" excuse makes them just the sort of news organization where a bunch of far out pathetic liars and con artists can feel comfortable.

Indeed, they have gone where no postmodern anti-truth-seeking, agenda-driven news organization has ever gone before--reporting news stories before they even happen, and then courageously questioning reality itself when it doesn't conform to their fiction.

One can only be amazed at the incredible appropriateness of their organization's chosen name.

A FEW OF MY LEAST FAVORITE THINGS

Bombs on Zarqawi and al Qaeda hideouts
Nancy Pelosi in one of her big pouts
Loud angry leftists with Che on their frock
These are a few of the things that I mock

Democrat leaders who froth and who blather
MSM marxists and Mapes and Dan Rather
Moonbats who fly like those monkeys with wings
These are a few of my least favorite things

Murtha and Kerry and Gore in his green dress
Postmodern delusions make me ill, I confess
Moveon's George Soros who pulls the left's strings
These are a few of my least favorite things

When what's real bites
When the truth stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my least favorite things
'Cause nothing is quite...as bad!

Sheesh! Everyone's a songwriter now! (hat tip: OBH) And they're all better than me!

SOME WORTHWHILE BITS

The family has been traveling all day and we are now in beautiful Traverse City in the northern part of the lower Michigan penninsula. I have a talk to give here tomorrow, so we decided to take a few days off and enjoy the beach.

Blogging will be a bit lighter than usual, but I will be posting if I find something worthwhile. For example, here are a few links that seemed very interesting to me:

- The economy is still going gangbusters, though the MSM and Democrats would rather be boiled in oil that to acknowledge that fact:

More than two years ago, when President Bush announced his aim to cut the federal budget deficit in half by 2009, many critics guffawed. They called the goal an impossibility, a naïve and futile effort that would be undermined by the fat-cat Republican tax cuts.
[...}
In that AP article, Sen. Kent Conrad, the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, was quoted deriding Bush’s plan: “It’s like so much with this administration in respect to fiscal matters, it’s all spin, all the time.” Former Congressional Budget Office director Robert Reischauer called the proposal “fanciful.” To Democrats, the AP reported, Bush’s goal was simply “laughable.”

But the critics are no longer laughing. Driven by a surging national economy, tax revenues are increasing and the deficit is rapidly shrinking. The president’s deficit-reduction plan looks like it will not only succeed, but will do so years ahead of schedule.

-The Party of Retreat and Defeat is at it again:

As the fall elections approach, the Democrats have formally unveiled their platform for the war in Iraq: snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

At the very moment that documents captured from the Zarqawi death site indicate that Al Qaeda feels it is losing its war against the Iraqi future and has become so desperate that its only hope to prevail is by embroiling the U.S. in war with Iran; at the very moment Iraq’s democratically elected government is establishing itself as a functioning regime, and its increasingly capable military becomes more successfully engaged against the insurgents —at this critical moment for the future of Iraq and the Middle East, more than three quarters of the House Democrats have voted against a resolution to “complete the mission.”

For the first time in American history, a major political party wants America to run from a war we are winning.

Of course, they can are unable to see this fundamental truth, probably because they read the NY Times and other MSM news sources on a regular basis. John Murtha even cites Somalia as an example of a "good" US intervention (no, I am not making this up). The man has not simply "jumped the shark", he's fallen into the looney bin (right next to the shark tank).

-Did we need any further proof that Al Gore is a complete ass? Perhaps not, but I find this tidbit of information shines a spotlight on his character. And the view is not a pleasant one.

-Shadi Hamid wants muslims to "stop saying crazy things." Good luck with that. He might want to seriously consider the possibility that it is now far beyond the point where the sane and sensible muslims (i.e., those who are willing to live in peace with their neighbors as they quietly practice their religion) can rein in the insanity that has taken hold of their religion. As I noted in the previous post, the mass delusion and paranoia that afflicts Islam is spreading.

-Fausta notes how little it takes these days to get a faculty position at a major American university. I suspect that Yale is already positioning itself to offer Ahmadinejad a key professorship as soon as he steps down in Iran (I understand that he's just too busy to accept one now, as he's intent on bringing about the apocolypse first--but his resume looks good).

- Last but not least, Bill Whittle of Eject, Eject, Eject has some excerpts up of his new book An American Civilization--soon to be released.

That should keep you all busy for a while!

MASS DELUSIONS

Do you want to know what happens when an entire country embraces a psychotic and paranoid delusional system? You get comments from their leaders like these:

-'Historically, there are many accusations against the Jews. For example, it was said that they were the source for such deadly disease as the plague and typhus. This is because the Jews are very filthy people. For a time people also said that they poisoned water wells belonging to Christians and thus killed them,' Ramin said.

-'When the Islamic Revolution of Iran succeeded and attracted many people around the world, including Christians, the AIDS epidemic came about, and fear again overtook the world. After the September 11 attacks, the deadly epidermic broke out, which was destroyed when the U.S. invaded Afghanistan. On the eve of the invasion of Iran, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) illness broke out, but disappeared after the invasion,' he said."

-'Nobody Asks How a Bird That had the Flu Could Fly From Australia to Siberia'

-Ramin also claimed that the spread of bird flu was a conspiracy plot cause[d] by the failure of America, Israel and Britain in the Middle East.

-And repeating the president’s claims about the Holocaust, he presented four theories that are presented in its support.

"The first is that in order to deny the Germans the ability to increase their power, 'the British and Americans present them as a human-burning nation.' The second theory is that the Americans and the British have cocked up this story with the Zionists, so as to create the state of Israel in the middle of the Islamic world and thus control the Islamic world on the Holocaust pretext, and getting rid of the Jews from Europe. The third hypothesis relates to the traditional animosity between Christians and the Jews. 'The U.S., Britain with the cooperation of France, Russia and Germany, and because of their Christian leanings and its animosity with the Jews, launched the idea of the Holocaust after the Second World War to scare off the Jews and sent them to what is now Israel in order to get rid of them in Europe and America,' he said. He further said that the movement that created Israel is in fact against the Jews. The fourth theory relates to covering up the crimes of the U.S. and Britain. He claimed that Britain had killed some 100 million red Indians in the last 300 years and the U.S. had leveled Hiroshima, which he said were the real Holocausts."

-Claiming that the Holocaust was the principal reason why Palestine was occupied while Israel was the main cause of crises and catastrophe in the Middle East. 'So long as Israel exists in the region there will never be peace and security in the Middle East,' he said adding, 'So the resolution of the Holocaust issue will end in the destruction of Israel.'

In this last statement you begin to see why the Iranian leadership has been insisting that the Holocaust never happened. In their deluded minds, denying the Holocaust means they will have eradicated any justification for creating the state of Israel.

The logic of the paranoid is clear. The Jews are "filthy"; they are behind most of the plots of history; they are responsible for AIDS, SARS, Bird Flu--just as they were responsible for the Plague and typhus. Americans and the British cooked up the idea of the Holocaust as a way to get rid of the Jews in Europe and foist them on the poor innocent people of the middle east. The Jews (with the help of America and Britain) are responsible for everything that is bad in the world, but specifically what is bad in the middle east.

All these accusations are made with a straight face and a firm, unshakeable belief. The people who believe these things are not joking. Humor is not one of the prominent aspects of paranoia. The person who said all these ridiculous things is perfectly serious. As is the audience who believed him.

If, as you read this guy's speech at the link above you start to have the niggling sense that the man is going into all sorts of mental contortions and gymnastics to explain, but that his explanations don't make any sense at all---well, welcome to the world of the paranoid. No explanation is too bizarre or too complicated-- if it supports your fundamental premise.

And that fundamental premise shines through loud and clear from the collection of societal delusions vomited out by the Iranian spokesman.

And, it takes no great leap to understand that if someone actually believed the fundamental premise--that the Jews are behind all the problems of the world-- then what follows is perfectly logical from the paranoid's perspective. In fact, you will feel completely justified in doing almost anything to get rid of the "problem" as you have described it.

Even wiping them off the map.

I have seen the same perversely resolute determination in many paranoid patients over the years, as they gird their loins to confront the boogeman behind their most frightening delusions. One patient in particular stands out in my mind. This individual became convinced that his psychiatrist--a colleague of mine--was the root cause of his failure in life. Of course in his mind it was a lot more complicated than that. He had traced her influence in his life back to his birth (when the psychiatrist would have been only 5 years old) and constructed a theory with her at the center to explain every setback he'd had over the years. He regaled everyone he met with the details of that theory. One evening, he waited at the door to her office; and when she left to go home, he shot her dead.

As he explained to the police afterwards, why should anyone be upset at his actions? He had finally taken action to solve the problems in his life, and in doing so he had solved the world's problems and should be considered a hero! He was duly found guilty of premeditated murder.

Now, take this kind of individual paranoia and imagine a nation of paranoids, all who share the same delusion. Everyone is familiar with the concept of "mass hysteria", a condition in which a large group of people exhibit the same state of violent mental agitation. The countries of the middle east suffer from mass delusions.

And Israel and the Jews are at the heart of their delusional system. If Israel didn't exist, the paranoid residents of the middle east would have to invent it--otherwise how could they possibly explain their own economic, political, and social backwardness without experiencing overwhelming shame?

It must be a conspiracy.

A NATION GROWS IN IRAQ

Despite the violence; despite the unrelenting negativity of the MSM; despite the "cut and run" Democratic chickenchickens -- something is growing in the Iraqi desert.... (hat tip: JAJ)



From Prickly City.

REPENT YE SINNERS !

Throughout human history there have always been shamans and other elite high priests or priestesses in every primitive culture. Their job has been remarkably consistent down through the ages--to provide a religion du jour explanation for events in the real world which the primitive mind could not comprehend. Usually that explanation, even in modern times is a variant of the following: "You have sinned and brought these evils upon yourself! God/Allah/Other is very displeased! Repent, or you will die/the world will end/bad things will happen."

This kind of explanation is actually fairly comforting to many, because it assumes that you have within your control the ability to prevent all sorts of horrible things from happening --like devastating natural disasters;weather-related phenomena; and many other assorted "acts of god".

Now, there is no question that human behavior has an impact on events in the real world. The problem with the religious fanatic is that this explanation focuses primarily on the "sins" the believer, and on satisfying that believer's need for redemption and salvation; rather than on the use of human reason and logic to solve the problem.

Most savvy and well-trained representatives of the religion are are able to insure that their believers understand that the cause of any disaster that has befallen the people is directly associated with their own imperfections and lack of true faith in the respective religion. Therefore, the solution to such crises is always to have more faith; more love; more perfection; and, of course, even more dedication to the words of the prophetic shaman or witch doctor.

This strategy works on several levels for the shaman; just as it works for the larger population:
- It provides a readily understandable cause for the disaster and
- It suggests a specific behavior change on their part can prevent future disasters
- It gives people a sense of control over uncontrollable forces
- It intrinsically explains all future disasters (the victims lacked faith)
- It conveys enormous power to the priest/priestess/shaman

On the downside, it doesn't usually generate any useful strategies that will have significant impact in the real world.

We see the shamans and priests at their work today; whenever someone claims that a tsunami or a hurricane or earthquake that takes a terrible toll on human life is actually a divine judgment or punishment for the sins of the victims.

True believers in any religious cult are susceptible to this sort of psychological manipulation; and it usually energizes the survivors and puts them more in thrall to the dictates of the all-knowing shaman.

True believers in non-religious cults are just as susceptible--if not more so because they have real faith that their religion is based on science. What usually goes unnoticed is the fact that reason, logic and science can just as easily be brought into the service of the irrational. In psychiatry, we see this phenomenon all the time; and it is known as paranoia.

As an example, look at today's typical leftist environmental fanatic. For them, it is always mankind's sins that have brought the curse upon him. Repent your evil ways, and you/the environment/the earth will all be saved!

Such movements can gain momentum under the guidance of a really talented shaman, intent on consolidating power, even as they disguise themselves as selfless, doomsaying prophets.

Cox and Forkum have identified for us one of the most recent witch doctors, practicing his voodoo on the gullible masses.

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

1. Feline Fuehrers. And a deck of cards made up of "furr-eners"

2. Jedi breakfast.

3. The left's next t-shirt icon---Che doesn't do it for them anymore. And Castro weighs in against...barbarity! HAHAHA

4. Are Republican's destroying the solar system? Here's a reality check for a certain ex-Presidential candidate. I expect he won't pay much attention. He thinks he's Yoda.

5. Canada is provoking the terrorists? How? They actually have the audacity to prevent them from carrying out their murderous plans! That's crap (artistically speaking, of course) !

6. The MSM and Al Qaeda agree: It's just a flesh wound !

7. Zarqawi's formative years....And the Z-man's successor: It ain't me babe!

8. Channeling the inner moonbat. And Face 2 Face with one!

9. Bigger boobs on Broadway are not a virtue! Now who could have guessed that?

10. It's all in the name! Or, how to start a charitable organization.

11. Voting against victory. Exposed! This means that 93 out of 100 senators are obviously "out of the mainstream". Mr. "cut and run" cuts and runs again.

12. Essential (and welcome!) nutritional news!

13. CheChe's sob story. Everything you wanted to know about The Angry Left. Tears of shame? Or a brilliant parody?

14. Reactions to the Fitzmas that never was.

15. What would we do without international think tanks?

16. 70 year old woman in unlawful seclusion with a male. Now, which culture is it that has sex on the brain?

17. The Madden Curse?

18. When you can't say something nice...you might be a pollster!

19. Hurricane hype: Alberto's devastation ! Bloggers get the real scoop!

20. Building a bridge to the 20th century.


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

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Wicked Blogging

We're going to see Wicked today in downtown Detroit. Blogging will be light until later this evening. Have a great day!

THE COUNCIL HAS SPOKEN !

This week's winners in the Watcher's Council are now posted at the Watcher of Weasels . Every week the Council nominates posts from the blogs of the Council members, and posts from around the blogsphere. The Council then votes to select the "Best" of all these posts.

BEST COUNCIL POSTS:

First Place

Spinning Their Way to Defeat in November Right Wing Nut House

Second Place (a two-way tie!)

Outer Darkness Gates of Vienna

Hix Nix Chix Done With Mirrors

BEST NON-COUNCIL POSTS:

First Place

One Liberal’s Argument for Still Staying in Iraq A Newer World

Second Place

Malloch Brown's Message to America The Belmont Club

Be sure to check out all the winners at the Watcher's site. Great weekend reading.

ALL BECAUSE OF ZARQAWI'S ADDRESS BOOK

Here is some interesting information from StrategyPage that should definitely annoy those who are desperate to maintain the fiction that the death of al-Zarqawi has little or no impact on the Iraq war or on the overall war on terror:

Al Qaeda in Iraq has been virtually wiped out by the loss of an address book. The death of al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi was not as important as the capture of his address book and other planning documents in the wake of the June 7th bombing. U.S. troops are trained to quickly search for names and addresses when they stage a raid, pass that data on to a special intelligence cell, which then quickly sorts out which of the addresses should be raided immediately, before the enemy there can be warned that their identity has been compromised. More information is obtained in those raids, and that generates more raids. So far, the June 7th strike has led to over 500 more raids. There have been so many raids, that there are not enough U.S. troops to handle it, and over 30 percent of the raids have been carried by Iraqi troops or police, with no U.S. involvement. Nearly a thousand terrorist suspects have been killed or captured. The amount of information captured has overwhelmed intelligence organizations in Iraq, and more translators and analysts are assisting, via satellite link, from the United States and other locations.

Future Al-Qaeda Enabler Nursery Rhyme:

For want of a safe safehouse, Zarqawi was lost
For want of Zarqawi, the addres book was lost
For want of the address book, more safehouses were lost,
For want of a safehouse, al Qaeda was lost.
For want of al Qaeda, the jihad was lost.
For want of a jihad the caliphate was lost.
And all because of Zarqawi's address book!

THE COMFORTS OF PARANOIA

Michael Barone comments on the non-indictment of Karl Rove, and it is worth quoting at some length:

It is hard in retrospect to understand why the left put so much psychic energy into the notion that Mr. Rove would be indicted.
[...]
In all this a key role was played by the press. Cries went up early for the appointment of a special prosecutor: Patrick Fitzgerald would be another Archibald Cox or Leon Jaworski. Eager to bring down another Republican administration, the editorialists of the New York Times evidently failed to realize that the case could not be pursued without asking reporters to reveal the names of sources who had been promised confidentiality. America's newsrooms are populated largely by liberals who regard the Vietnam and Watergate stories as the great achievements of their profession. The peak of their ambition is to achieve the fame and wealth of great reporters like David Halberstam and Bob Woodward. But this time it was not Republican administration officials who went to prison. It was Judith Miller, then of the New York Times itself.

Interestingly, Bob Woodward himself contradicted Mr. Fitzgerald's statement, made the day that he announced the one indictment he has obtained, of former vice presidential chief of staff Scooter Libby, that Mr. Libby was the first to disclose Ms. Plame's name to a reporter. The press reaction was to turn on Mr. Woodward, who has been covering this administration as a new story rather than as a reprise of Vietnam and Watergate.

Historians may regard it as a curious thing that the left and the press have been so determined to fit current events into templates based on events that occurred 30 to 40 years ago. The people who effectively framed the issues raised by Vietnam and Watergate did something like the opposite; they insisted that Vietnam was not a reprise of World War II or Korea and that Watergate was something different from the operations J. Edgar Hoover conducted for Franklin Roosevelt or John Kennedy. Journalists in the 1940s, '50s and early '60s tended to believe they had a duty to buttress Americans' faith in their leaders and their government. Journalists since Vietnam and Watergate have tended to believe that they have a duty to undermine such faith, especially when the wrong party is in office.

That belief has its perils for journalism, as the Fitzgerald investigation has shown. The peril that the press may find itself in the hot seat, but even more the peril that it will get the story wrong. The visible slavering over the prospect of a Rove indictment is just another item in the list of reasons why the credibility of the "mainstream media" has been plunging. There's also a peril for the political left. Vietnam and Watergate were arguably triumphs for honest reporting. But they were also defeats for America--and for millions of freedom-loving people in the world. They ushered in an era when the political opposition and much of the press have sought not just to defeat administrations but to delegitimize them. The pursuit of Karl Rove by the left and the press has been just the latest episode in the attempted criminalization of political differences. Is there any hope that it might turn out to be the last?

It is worth recalling that during Vietnam, the media; academics, intellectuals, many public figures, entertainers, and the antiwar protesters of the time consistently and stubbornly refused to see Communism for what it really was. They steadfastly ignored the millions of deaths in the Soviet Union and elsewhere and instead focused their attention on the United States as the center of all evil in the world.

Today we have the very same people and their intellectual descendents consistently and adamantly refusing to acknowledge Islam and the Jihadis for what they are. Again, this group are extremely adept at ignoring a barbaric ideology that promotes enslavement and death; while actively undermining the premier international symbol of freedom and the sanctity of an individual's life.

With tedious and infinitely repetitive talking points, they again subscribe to the comforting notion that the US is the cause of the mayhem and butchery and ignore the real butchers.

In other words, the MSM's Vietnam "template" is actually nothing more than that primitive and immature psychological defense mechanism known as DENIAL.

In two major wars, the Left has consistently perceived America as the threat to the world, and ignored to the point of complete hysterical blindness the real oppressors of human freedom and dignity. During Vietnam they deluded themselves into thinking that Communism was benign (some even believed it to be superior to a free society) as long as you didn't provoke it.

And now they prefer the same delusion about Iraq and the homicide bombers of the religion of peace.

They were wrong then, and they are wrong now.

After 9/11, Bush faced a terribly unpleasant truth. He understood that if America ignored or minimized the reality of that day, we could easily maintain the false sense of security that characterized the previous decade--even as the very real and deadly threat coalesced and took substantial form. We could ignore it--or we could confront it decisively now.

Many in this country would prefer to pretend that 9/11 didn't really happen. Or to pretend that the U.S. caused the attacks; or that if Bush hadn't been the President, the attacks would never have happened. All these fantasies have one thing in common. They deny the reality for the purpose of maintaining a sense of control over events whose implications are horrendous.

For some, it is so much better to believe in the fantasy of control because then the solution would be simple: get rid of Bush and it will all go away--just like a bad dream!

In their denial and subsequent paranoia, they are ready to embrace the fantasy that somehow Christianity or Judeo-Christian values are the real threat. Witness all those who claim that Bush is imminently going to impose a Christian theocracy here; the complete hysteria over Christian "symbols" and the denial of a Judeo-Christian heritage. This is the same kind of psychological displacement that can be seen in the phenomenon of Bush Derangement Syndrome. If Bush is the cause of all the evil in the world, these same people see Christianity (or Judaism--any religion but Islam) as the greatest threat to the utopia in their mind.

The intellectual "Vietnamizing" of every event in Iraq and the failure to see Iraq's importance in the War on Terror and consequently for the long-term security of America, completely denies the Islamofascist threat to civilization.

In a world where the Democratic Party leadership was anchored to reality, the debate with Republicans would be how to fight the war on terror better; and the American public would not be constantly subjected to the constant whining--by Kerry and others of his gormless ilk-- about how we shouldn't have gone to Iraq in the first place. Or the increasingly petulant demands to simply cut and run because everything is not going perfectly.

The proponents of doom and gloom in the reality-based community insist that it is Bush who is in denial (or people like me), even as they twist and turn every major victory in the war into more evidence in their own minds that we are losing. Instead of national rejoicing at the death of one of the enemy's leaders; as we recommit ourselves to the fight, we instead witness the spectacle of Democrats pushing for surrender.

My patience with this kind of political denial, and the concomitant paranoid delusional system promulgated by the left, ended on 9/11. Their political insanity has become a threat that no rational person can afford to ignore because they put not only themselves in danger, but everyone else in this country.

In a previous post on the subject of denial, I mentioned a rather remarkable patient with a relatively rare neurological diagnosis. This patient had suffered a stroke and one of his symptoms was that he did not acknowledge that the entire left side of his body was physically a part of him. It was an astonishing conversation our team had with him. "Is this your arm," the neurologist would ask him, pointing to the patient's left arm. "No, it's not mine," would be the reply. The neurologist would then take the man's arm and show him how it was connected with the rest of his body. The man would watch this, then shake his head and emphatically tell us, "No! I see that it is connected. Someone must have connected it when I wasn't looking. But it isn't my arm."

The evidence that it was his arm was before him. In this patient's case, the physical damage to his brain prevented him from being able to be convinced that his own arm belonged to him.

This clinical case parallels the present psychological denial of the left; as they are increasingly unconvinced by attempts to point out the obvious. They may not have suffered any real physical damage to their brains, but they suffer from a self-inflicted brain disorder that is the result of a complete ideological hardening of the arteries.

For the left, Fitzgerald's always imminent indictment of Karl Rove--Bush's "brain" --was the ultimate "proof" that in fact their elaborate system of denial and distortion about Iraq and the War on Terror was "reality-based". Their not-so-hidden message is: "SEE!! WE ARE THE REAL PATRIOTS! IT IS BUSH / THE REPUBLICANS WHO ARE THE TRAITORS UNDERMINING OUR COUNTRY!!!"

Or, to put it another way, "No, that isn't my arm--it must be yours!"

They see that the arm is actually connected to them--but someone must have connected it when they weren't looking. It is not theirs. It must be Bush's. They remain the real patriots, defending the nation from the evil BushRovian's outing of Valerie Plame. Outing Plame is seen as an incredible moral outrage; outing the NSA surveillance program required courage and was necessary for truth and justice and the American way.

The "reality-based" community continues to enjoy wallowing in this sort of psychological denial because they have developed a foolproof method to prevent any insight or self-awareness. Even as, one by one, the the holy foundations of their denial are toppled by reality, they simply adapt their intricate and increasingly complex delusional system to accommodate any inconvenient truth--distorting that truth until it is unrecognizable and fits into their ideological template.

The paranoia of the left is thus effortlessly self-reinforcing and infinitely comforting to true believers.

COULD THEY SHOW A LITTLE RESTRAINT?

Every mental health professional is aware of the phenomenon of "copycat suicides" that occur after a well-publicized suicide--particularly among more impressionable young people. It's hard to imagine, but the idea of going down in a blaze of glory spectacular enough to make the evening news is attractive and romantic to some.

That's why this news is hardly shocking.

In many real-life situations where there is a fear of copycat suicides, the local media will voluntarily suppress any stories that might trigger the copycats. I know this because I have worked with reporters and editors about this very thing. When lives are at stake, the media used to be reasonable and not want to romaticize or overly dramatize these kinds of tragedies. In such cases, the news outlets don't generally want to benefit circulation at the expense of human life - a worthy and honorable position.

Yet, that is exactly what they are doing in this war, whether they admit it to themselves or not.

Perhaps now that there is objective data to show them, it will be possible for them to exercise a little restraint; and even if they report on a particular terrorist attack and give the details of it, they might actually refrain from blatantly showing their admiration for the terrorists and/or editorializing about how hopeless it is to fight against such tactics.

Maybe.

AL QAEDA STRATEGIC PLANNING

Speaking of a "treasure trove"of documents, here we have some significant concerns identified by Al Qaeda corporate strategic planners in Iraq; and it outlines the strategy they planned to use in order to counter their worsening position there (hat tip: The Corner):

However, here in Iraq, time is now beginning to be of service to the American forces and harmful to the resistance for the following reasons:

1. By allowing the American forces to form the forces of the National Guard, to reinforce them and enable them to undertake military operations against the resistance.

2. By undertaking massive arrest operations, invading regions that have an impact on the resistance, and hence causing the resistance to lose many of its elements.

3. By undertaking a media campaign against the resistance resulting in weakening its influence inside the country and presenting its work as harmful to the population rather than being beneficial to the population.

4. By tightening the resistance's financial outlets, restricting its moral options and by confiscating its ammunition and weapons.

5. By creating a big division among the ranks of the resistance and jeopardizing its attack operations, it has weakened its influence and internal support of its elements, thus resulting in a decline of the resistance's assaults.

6. By allowing an increase in the number of countries and elements supporting the occupation or at least allowing to become neutral in their stand toward us in contrast to their previous stand or refusal of the occupation.

7. By taking advantage of the resistance's mistakes and magnifying them in order to misinform.

Based on the above points, it became necessary that these matters should be treated one by one:

1. To improve the image of the resistance in society, increase the number of supporters who are refusing occupation and show the clash of interest between society and the occupation and its collaborators. To use the media for spreading an effective and creative image of the resistance.

2. To assist some of the people of the resistance to infiltrate the ranks of the National Guard in order to spy on them for the purpose of weakening the ranks of the National Guard when necessary, and to be able to use their modern weapons.

3. To reorganize for recruiting new elements for the resistance.

4. To establish centers and factories to produce and manufacture and improve on weapons and to produce new ones.

5. To unify the ranks of the resistance, to prevent controversies and prejudice and to adhere to piety and follow the leadership.

6. To create division and strife between American and other countries and among the elements disagreeing with it.

7. To avoid mistakes that will blemish the image of the resistance and show it as the enemy of the nation. (emphasis mine)

Time apparently, is on the side of the Americans. This translated document would seem to support the "stay the course" position--particularly now with the momentum generated by Zarqawi's death--rather than the "cut and run" contingent.

You can easily see in the highlighted sentences how the international MSM and our very own surrender puppies in the Democratic Party fit neatly into the enemies strategic plan.

They must be very proud. John Kerry, who has some experience in dealing with the enemy should arrange to meet them somewhere to cut a deal. John Murtha should accompany Kerry to make sure that we surrender with a smile on our face.

***And, to those commenters who think I am being too hard on some of those poor Democrats who pander to the lunatic base of their party--quite frankly, I don't think it is possible to be too hard on treasonous scum who are prepared to give up our national interests to an enemy whose stated goal is our destruction. Disagree all you want with Bush or Rumsfeld and any particular strategy/tactic in the GWOT; but if you have no alternative plan other than to blame America for the muslim fanatics who want to forcibly spread their faith or die trying; or if you aren't even capable of realizing that we are at war with an implacable enemy--then you are beyond reason.

SO WHERE'S THE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR WHEN YOU NEED HIM?

John Eastman's prepared remarks to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on May 26, 2006 (and you should read the entire piece):

Over the past six months, we have witnessed the publication of several pieces of classified information that appear to be extraordinarily sensitive, and extremely important tactical components of our ongoing effort to protect American citizens and property from additional terrorist attacks: The New York Times revelation last December of the NSA program conducting surveillance on Al Qaeda communications into or out of the United States, which the Times itself characterized as our "most closely guarded secret"; the USA Today disclosure earlier this month that several telephone companies were turning over databases of information about numbers called--so-called pen registers; and the Washington Post's story that some terrorists captured by U.S. forces were being held by the CIA in undisclosed locations in allied countries.

No one contests that in each instance, classified information was illegally provided to these media outlets and then subsequently published by them. And to my knowledge, no one seriously contends that the individuals who leaked the information are not subject to prosecution for violating the Espionage Act (or even subject to prosecution for treason if it could be proved that their intent in leaking the classified information was to undermine our war effort and thereby give aid and comfort to the enemy). Even those who would seek to bestow on the leaker the protected status of "whistle-blower" surely will acknowledge that the whistle-blower statute requires that the allegedly illegal activities be reported internally, through a certain specified administrative route, rather than shouted to the world from the front pages of our nation's major newspapers.
Otherwise, the whistle-blower statute would permit every government employee to be a classified information law unto himself, determining what should or should not be secret. The devastating consequences to our national security, and also to individual privacy, of such a flawed interpretation should be manifest. The question you are considering today is not the potential criminal liability of the leaker, of course, but of those in the institutional media who publish the classified information provided by the leaker.

That poses interesting constitutional questions if we assume, as I shall do, that classified information was leaked and subsequently published, and that the leaker himself, should his identity become known, is subject to criminal prosecution under the Espionage Act, among other things, for that illegal disclosure. Earlier this month, Bill Keller, Executive Editor of the New York Times, published an important letter to the editors of The Wall Street Journal challenging the notion "that when presidents declare that secrecy is in the national interest, reporters should take that at face value." Implicit in his rejection of that proposition is the view that reporters generally, and perhaps the editors of the New York Times in particular, are free to ignore the laws regarding publication of classified information when, in their view, the benefit to the public from gaining access to the information would outweigh any harm that might flow from its disclosure.

Eastman is the Henry Salvatori Professor of Law and Community Service at Chapman University School of Law; and is the director of the Claremont Institute Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence.

Now that the special prosecutor in the Plame case has stopped futzing around with Karl Rove and leading the delusional left further down the paranoid path --and there are even rumors that the lame case he has put together against Scooter Libby may be falling apart--is it perhaps too much to ask that someone take the investigative lead in a case that has far more serious repercussions for this country; and which has already done lasting damage to our national intelligence gathering in a time of war?

Or, will the usual suspects (i.e., the MSM and their leftist enablers) continue to pretend that when people with their particular ideological bent leak classified information it's obviously a courageous and proper thing to do?

And, I guess how you answer that question depends entirely upon who you consider to be the real enemy our nation faces in this century.

I suggest a little reality-testing.

THEY'D SURRENDER

I'd say this captures the basic Democratic Party message when it comes to Iraq and the War on Terror...