Tuesday, February 19, 2008

EVEN AL QAEDA ISN'T AS STUPID AND CLUELESS AS THE POLITICAL LEFT

The BBC thinks that McCain has an ally in Al Qaeda:
Islamic terrorists want war. They want suffering - among others and their own people alike.

They would surely surmise that McCain will give them what they want. Bin Laden himself intervened with what many thought was the effect of keeping President Bush in power in 2004 with that weird tape just before the poll.

I think al-Qaeda would back McCain - that is not an argument for or against America backing him, but it seems to me that the vague assumption that the terrorists would back a lefty is lazy thinking...


Justin Webb, the author of this insane assertion is at least partly correct that Al Qaeda wants war and suffering. There is no doubt about that part of his statement. Anyone who has opened their eyes even briefly since 9/11 should be able to notice that reality (though most on the left still aren't able to grasp it).

But it truly takes a "lazy" mind to imagine that Al Qaeda wants to lose that war. That is just a psychological projection on Webb's part. And, clearly he speaks for many of the lunatics of the left, who desire nothing more than that the U.S. and the West be defeated at the hands of the Islamic fanatics.

Look, Al Qaeda "wants war" no matter who might be elected POTUS. They want to kill us no matter how nice we are to them; or how much 'dialog' Obama initiates with them. They are fanatical jihadists.

But, even Al Qaeda isn't as stupid and clueless as the political left; who are so incredibly desperate to lose to these Islamic barbarians, that they would betray every value, assert any idiocy, and surrender to any terrorist--just so they could cling to their failed ideology for one more day.

Ask yourself what kind of tortured and circuitous logic it takes to get to such a bizarre, psychotic conclusion....then consider what the left hopes to get out of the deal. And, make no mistake, the idiotic lefties are tripping all over each other trying to cut a deal with terrorist regimes, who unfortunately for all the rest of us, are quite a bit smarter and frankly, much better liars than either Obama or the Clintons. And that's really saying something for the latter to be true,

The left is not serious about foreign policy; they are only serious about the acquisition of power. If they conclude that losing a war and collaborating with the enemy Vichy-style would help them obtain the power they desire, then you better believe that they would betray us all in a flash.

RETREATING FROM REALITY !

Speaking of facing reality...my daughter and I got in last night from Tampa. When we left it was 83 degrees. When we arrived back in Ann Arbor, it was lightly snowing and temps were in the low 20's. This morning it is 11 degrees. Brrrrrrr.

No wonder so many people prefer to live in a state of denial! What I can't figure out is why they live in Michigan?

Before we left Tampa, we spent the day at Legends Field, the spring training camp for the NY Yankees (did I mention that we are fanatical Yankee fans?). My daughter was in 7th heaven and was less than ten yards away from her hero, Jorge Posada. We got autographs from Hideki Matsui and Goose Gossage (who was there to help with the pitching staff) and at least 250 pictures of Jorge.

What a blast! Being able to sit in the sun at a baseball park in February is fabulous; and, there was no admission charge! And doing it all with your daughter--priceless.

Excuse me while I go back into the fantasyland in my head for a while....

Monday, February 18, 2008

A CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE

Most family therapists are familiar with the "conspiracy of silence" that occurs in families desperate to avoid an unpleasant realty or painful truth. For example, it can be seen in the unwillingness to talk about a catastrophe or death; to pretend even, that the traumatic event never occurred. The movie Ordinary People showed the destructive power of this kind of silence on one member of a family, which eventually split apart the entire family. The conspiracy can descend when there is sexual abuse going on within the family and other members look away and act like everything is normal, ignoring even the most blatant warning signs. The phrase has also been used to describe the indifference of onlookers when some terrible event is happening to others (e.g., Darfur) and they lift no finger to help.

Elie Wiesel wrote passionately about this sort of conspiracy during the Holocaust. He said, talking about the victims in the concentration camps, "The worse sort of cruelty would have been incapable of breaking the prisoner; it was the silence of those he believed to be his friends—cruelty more cowardly, more subtle—which broke his heart.There was no longer anyone on whom to count … It … poisoned the desire to live… If this is the human society we come from—and are now abandoned by—why seek to return?"

That is why Wiesel believed, "...to remain silent and indifferent is the greatest sin of all...". Yet it is an all too human defense brought to bear when the consequences of facing reality would be overwhelming.

In Civilization and Its Discontents, Freud wrote about an "obtuseness of mind, a gradual stupefying process" that occurs when people desperately try to avoid a reality with which they cannot or do not want to cope. Sometimes it is accompanied by real hysterical blindness; or sometimes just an incredible indifference to truth.

This obtuseness perfectly describes the state of mind of the MSM as they try to come to grips with something that goes counter to their multicultural template; a template where all the left's 'approved' victim groups--such as the poor, oppressed Palestinians and other Islamic terrorist groups--are NEVER the perpetrators of violence, but are always the victims of it.

On any given day, we can scan the latest headlines to find examples of this silent conspiracy that ignores reality. From Mark Steyn at The Corner:

Global warming enflames Danish mob

Not content with killing off the poor Loch Ness Monster, the Global Warming scourge has now crossed from Scotland to Denmark and fired up legions of - what's the word again? - ah, yes, "youth":

Scores of cars and several schools have been vandalized or burned in the past week. Police could give no reason, but said that unusually mild weather and the closure of schools for a winter break might have contributed.

Gotcha. Global warming, and lack of opportunity to sit in classrooms watching An Inconvenient Truth for the umpteenth time. Anything else going on in Denmark?

Police arrested two Tunisians and a Dane of Moroccan descent on Tuesday for planning to kill a cartoonist who drew one of the cartoons printed in a Danish newspaper two years ago that roused a storm of protest in Muslim countries.

Whoops, how did that get into a story about globally overheated "youth"?

Whoops, indeed. "Global warming" is an MSM-approved template within which stories can be framed and good and evil sorted out. It is aThese days, it is useful and multipurpose cause of pretty much anything bad--from killer tornadoes in the US south, to offing the Loch Ness monster in Scotland. Why, it is even a much more serious and imminent threat to humanity than terrorism. Why? Because blame can be placed for it on the designated 'scapegoat' within the human family--the United States and the Bush Administration.

Or, how about this headline, where "vandals" destroyed the Gaza YMCA and burned all the Christian books, setting off explosives (what? you thought they TP'd or spraypainted the structure?). This is the image portrayed by the media's choice of words, even as
Sheik Abu Saqer, leader of Jihadia Salafiya, an Islamic outreach movement that recently announced the opening of a "military wing" to enforce Muslim law in Gaza, told WND the YMCA had Muslim children in its nursery program.

"Gaza is Muslim, more than 99 percent are Muslim," he said. "We don't need any of these missionary institutions. They have only one goal – to convert our sons and daughter to Christianity."


Islamic 'outreach' as in: reach out and bomb someone. That's the kind of tolerance and compassion we've come to expect from the religion of peace.

But still, the code of the conspiracy of silence only permits the MSM to call them "vandals", "militants", "fighters", "activists" or "youths"--any term of endearment that allows them to conceal from awareness the true nature of the terrorist enemy we fight.

Just as in the conspiracy of silence seen in dysfunctional families, these "family secrets" are obvious to everyone outside the family, but never discussed or talked about inside. The evasions and circumspection of the MSM serve the purpose of preventing conscious awareness or acknowledgement of any unacceptable reality that might threaten the family of the political left and its carefully constructed postmodern world of cards.

What happens next is the 'scapegoating' or psychological displacement that therapists often have to deal withh when treating families.


There is almost always an identified family 'scapegoat' on whom all the problems of the family can be blamed (and who can be the recipient of all that intense affect and emotion which rightfully should be directed elsewhere were it not for the conspiracy of silence).

In the case of the unspoken conspiracy between the poitical left and those in the media when it come to the issue of terrorism, it has been fairly clear for some time that America and the Bush Administration receive the full force of all the anger, rage, and fear they feel.

Psychologically and personally, the separation of affect and emotion from the real issue and its redirection toward someone or something that is less offensive or threatening in order to avoid the real threat and to maintain the cherished multicultural dogma they are so invested in is quite comforting for a while. The family members can pretend that they are 'loyal' and good people; especially when they persecute and torment the scapegoat.

On a larger scale, this is, of course, the same type of psychodynamic that lead to genocide. And it all begins with a conspiracy of silence and the obsessive avoidance of an uncomfortable truth.

PERFORMANCE PIMPS

When Congress does it, apparently it's OK to use performance-enhancing stimulants....

Sunday, February 17, 2008

CARNIVAL OF THE INSANITIES

Image hosted by Photobucket.com 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. Top 10 Unhappy Valentine's cards.Six reasons we hope you had a safe this Valentine's Day. What's love got to do with it? A compulsory labiaplasty?

2. If you were running a candidate’s local campaign office, what would you put on the wall? The Che Chearleader identified. I wonder who they think the Messiah is? Muzac Messiah? Religious ecstasy or just rock star awe? The PTSD Presidency?

3. Obama's next speech, perhaps? It's not "fear vs hope" as much as it is "ideas vs platitudes". But does he have an achilles heel? Let's Play Osama bingo!

4. Even if Hillary doesn't win, apparently she'll still win. And, she's got an unexpected supporter! She comes to bury Caesar Hillary not to praise her.

5. He'll never forget us! I'm with VDH on this one.

6. Identity politics fun in the Democratic party! If only they had accepted Mao's offer--Hillary would be a shoe-in! Meanwhile, have we already had a Jewish president?

7. An amazing perversion of reality. What else can one expect of the media these days? Scientific enstupidment?

8. Vandals? Or, Muslims? Are you surprised to learn that the IHT is owned by the NYT? There are no boundaries anymore. Free speech holds on by a thread in the west.

9. Bwahahahahaha...it's no mystery! Did they kill many birds with one stone? Sound familiar? Al-Beeb seems confused about what makes a "great leader".

10. The Bishop sipped upon hys tea /And sayed, "an open mind must we /Keep...Asse Hatte, indeed.

11. The vanishing war.....Iraqi parliament steps up, and is ignored by US media. Someone alert the Democrats! No place to move the target? Cuts in military spending have gone too far!

12. This is unbelievably evil, even for a psychiatrist. Reminds me of "The Scarecrow" in Batman Begins. This week in global jihad--all the news that fit to blow up.

13. I don't concur with the diagnosis, but the prognosis may well be correct anyway.

14. Fellow travelers beware!

15. The most famous beagle since Snoopy!

16. Victims of global warming! The horror.... Reading, writing,....and global warming? Uh-huh, yeah right. Just environmental creationism?

17. Art heist? The Ferrari effect?

18. Nothing about dieting is intuitive!

19. Technologically challenged.

20. Spam spam spam spam spam. Can't argue about these irritations!


***************************************
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?

Saturday, February 16, 2008

IN SUNNY FLORIDA

My daughter and I are down in Tampa, Florida for a College Showcase Soccer Tournament. This is for High School age teams and it allows college coaches to take a look at talent they might want to recruit.

The really nice thing is that I left weather in Michigan was in the low 20's when we left, and here it is in the upper 70's here.....ahhhhhhh.

I'm just going to sit around in the sun and enjoy the games. The Carnival will be posted tomorrow morning, but blogging will be light until Tuesday.

Have a great weekend!

THE IMPOTENT, CASTRATED ISLAMIC MALE

Apropos to my post from yesterday, here is a news item that demonstrates the misogynistic pathology that is widespread in Islamic society (hat tips to TigerHawk and The Corner):

Human Rights Watch has appealed to Saudi Arabia to halt the execution of a woman convicted of witchcraft.
In a letter to King Abdullah, the rights group described the trial and conviction of Fawza Falih as a miscarriage of justice.

The illiterate woman was detained by religious police in 2005 and allegedly beaten and forced to fingerprint a confession that she could not read.

Among her accusers was a man who alleged she made him impotent[emphasis mine].

A culture that demonizes female sexuality is a culture where men are overwhelmed with castration anxiety and completely inadequate performing as males of the species. If a woman even looks at them the wrong way, they are in danger of losing control over their sexual identity. Is it any wonder that women and their destructive sexuality must be rigidly and thoroughly controlled?

The very act of beheading, and the almost obsessive need to amputate other body parts represent psychological projections of their own sexual, personal, and societal impotence.

Andy McCarthy suggests that maybe there might be some missile system we could bring 'em around with.... He hits close to the heart of the matter, acutally. I would only add that the bigger and more powerful missiles--the ones possessing the most destructive payloads (i.e., nuclear)-- are exactly the kind of potent phallic symbol these pathetic men are desperately searching for to give their own limp members some standing in the world.

Freud famously cautioned that "sometimes a cigar is only a cigar"; but I suspect he had no idea we would someday be dealing with the likes of Ahmadinejad, the Mullahs, or the Saudis et al, who share a religion based on sexual pathology .

Friday, February 15, 2008

ISLAM'S VICIOUS MISOGYNY

The kiss of death for any leftist politician, whether he be jihadi wanting to implement a universal caliphate under the rule of sharia; or just your average run-of-the-mill socialist running for office in a democracy.

But even with their polls shrinking, the jihadi thugs know they have powerful allies in the useful idiots of the political left. Take for example, the Archbishop of Canterbury's recent descent into multiculti sermonizing; paving the way for Allah the messiah. This story is a few days old, but I can't emphasize enough the extent of the betrayal of western values exhibited by this so-called "leader" of the Anglican church. With intellectual and spiritual leaders like Williams, the congregations should just convert en masse to Islam and be done with it. Why waste time?

Even more amazing was that Williams was simply shocked at the outrage and anger that was then directed at him. He was misunderstood! His intent was only to promote tolerance, understanding and love.

But what he actually was promoting was an anti-human ideology masquerading as a religion, that has at its foundation a horrendous and viscious misogyny.

This article on the Archbishop controversy by Spengler quotes an absolutely incredible exchange between Nicholas Sarkhozy and Tariq Ramadan on the subject of sharia law and its approval for stoning women:
Six million Frenchmen watched Ramadan defend the stoning of women for the crime of adultery in a televised debate with the present President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, then the Interior Minister. As quoted by Paul Berman in The New Republic of June 4, 2007, the transcript reads as follows, Ramadan refuses outright to say that he is against stoning adulteresses:

Sarkozy: A moratorium ... Mr Ramadan, are you serious?

Ramadan: Wait, let me finish.

Sarkozy: A moratorium, that is to say, we should, for a while, hold back from stoning women?

Ramadan: No, no, wait ... What does a moratorium mean? A moratorium would mean that we absolutely end the application of all of those penalties, in order to have a true debate. And my position is that if we arrive at a consensus among Muslims, it will necessarily end. But you cannot, you know, when you are in a community ... Today on television, I can please the French people who are watching by saying, "Me, my own position." But my own position doesn't count. What matters is to bring about an evolution in Muslim mentalities, Mr Sarkozy. It's necessary that you understand ...

Sarkozy: But, Mr Ramadan ...

Ramadan: Let me finish.

Sarkozy: Just one point. I understand you, but Muslims are human beings who live in 2003 in France, since we are speaking about the French community, and you have just said something particularly incredible, which is that the stoning of women, yes, the stoning is a bit shocking, but we should simply declare a moratorium, and then we are going to think about it in order to decide if it is good ... But that's monstrous - to stone a woman because she is an adulterer! It's necessary to condemn it!

Ramadan: Mr Sarkozy, listen well to what I am saying. What I say, my own position, is that the law is not applicable - that's clear. But today, I speak to Muslims around the world and I take part, even in the United States, in the Muslim world ... You should have a pedagogical posture that makes people discuss things. You can decide all by yourself to be a progressive in the communities. That's too easy. Today my position is, that is to say, "We should stop."

Sarkozy: Mr Ramadan, if it is regressive not to want to stone women, I avow that I am a regressive.


"You should have a pedagogical posture that makes people discuss things" such as stoning women, Ramadan insisted, which is to say that were he to condemn violence against women outright, he would be unable to speak to Muslim communities.

That is Williams' source. Coming from the leader of a major Christian denomination, this depth of hypocrisy is satanic, if that word has any meaning at all.


I have written about women and Islam multiple times (see here, here, here or here for example), but it is worth going over the psychodynamics of the sort of vicious misogyny that Tariq Ramadan can't bring himself to condemn, one more time.

In "The Boys of the Taliban", Jamie Glazov wrote about one particular rule (rule 19) of the new Taliban "code of conduct" for its fighters in Afghanistan:
But there is a curious rule that the Western media has typically ignored. Rule No. 19 instructs that Taliban fighters must not take young boys without facial hair into their private quarters....

Aside from the question of what is permitted if a young boy does happen to have facial hair, this new Taliban commandment brings light to a taboo pathology that underlies the structures of militant Islam. And it is crucial to deconstruct the meaning of this rule -- and the horrid reality that it represents -- because it serves as a gateway to understanding the primary causes of Islamic rage and terror.

Rule No. 19 obviously indicates that the sexual abuse of young boys is a prevalent and institutionalized phenomenon among the Taliban and that, for one reason or another, its widespread practice has become a problem.

The fact that Taliban militants’ spare time involves sodomizing young boys should by no means be any kind of surprise or eyebrow raiser. That a mass pathology such as this occurs in a culture which demonizes the female and her sexuality -- and puts her out of mind and sight -- is only to be expected. To be sure, it is a simple given that the religious male fanatic who flies into a violent rage even at the thought of an exposed woman’s ankle will also be, in some other dysfunctional and dark secret compartment of his fractured life, the person who leads some poor helpless young boy into his private chambers.

The key issue here is that the demented sickness that underlies Rule No. 19 is by no means exclusive to the Taliban; it is a widespread phenomenon throughout Islamic-Arab culture and it lies, among other factors, at the root of that culture’s addiction to rage and its lust for violence, terror and suicide.

There is a basic and common sense empirical human reality: wherever humans construct and perpetuate an environment in which females and their sexuality are demonized and are pushed into invisibility, homosexual behaviour among men and the sexual abuse of young boys by older men always increases. Islamic-Arab culture serves as a perfect example of this paradigm, seeing that gender apartheid, fear of female sexuality and a vicious misogyny are the structures on which the whole society functions.


Glazov goes on to argue that Islamist terror can be thought of in part, at least, as a response to sexual rage, frustration, and the humiliation of being connected to a "degraded mother." Thus the men in the culture must constantly assert their masculinity, defend their masculine "honor", and strike out in rage against any who "shame" them.

This is apparent in the sexual mutilation of terror victims who are perceived as "inferior" by the Islamists, and on a par with women of their own culture. It is also seen in the Freudian symbolism of the barbaric act of beheading; as well as in the ubiquitous rape of non-muslim women around the world.

To some extent, such behavior has been seen in all cultures that debase or oppress women. In misogynistic cultures (and individuals) there is usually both the revulsion of the "whore" combined with a perverse obsession with, attraction to, and idealization of "perfection" in a woman (the "madonna" complex). In order to be idealized, women must be stripped of any hint of sexuality.
As a culture, the Arab-Islamic world has perfected this "stripping" to a nightmarish art form of shapeless, individualess, blank nothingness.

Misogyny can be defined as an unreasonable fear or hatred of women. Ever since Eve tempted Adam, women have been reviled in many ways and for many overt reasons around the world and in various cultures. They are hated and feared for their bodies, which tempt men to give into their "base" instincts; They are feared and considered "unclean" because of their monthly cycle of bleeding; they are hated for their unique feminine abilities, which are invariably considered malicious--or worse, evil--by the misogynist individual or culture.

There are three basic motivations underlying why men fear/hate/vilify women (and they are not mutually exclusive, but may exist in various combinations or all at the same time) :
-sexual frustration;
-castration anxiety, and
-resentment and anger at being dependent on women, especially the mother.

The idealization of women, on the other hand, originates from the innate desire of all humans, male or female, to return to the perfect union with the mother that each experienced in the womb.

There are also multiple reasons why women might hate other women on both an individual and societal level, and thus are often complicit in their own subjugation in misogynistic societies.

Many women hate or envy other women whose existence lowers their own status with men, i.e., other women who are more attractive than they are either in looks or accomplishment, depending on the cultural expectations. For example, in one culture a woman might attract men because of her beauty; in another because of her purity or religious devotion. A corollary to this is that the aging woman will increasingly become aware of her diminishing attraction to men or usefulness to a society that only values her reproductive capability. This sets up a dynamic tension between old and young women. In all cultures where female genital mutilation occurs, while it is the male-dominated society that mandates it, the operation itself is performed by older women on younger women; and has the direct effect of decreasing the sexual capabilities/responsiveness of the younger--thus "leveling the playing field" by some accounts. Older--"useless" women--can become societal heroes only by embracing the violence and rage of the sexually frutstrated and fearful men.

Needless to say, the family dynamics in viciously misogynic cultures like those dominated by Islamic extremists, create severely impaired girls and boys. It has been noted by many researchers and observers that children of both sexes are routinely physically and sexually abused by male relatives (indeed there are religious rules in Islam that designate under what circumstances babies may be used for sexual gratification by adults) . The boys are publicly circumcised and the girls clitoridectomized. Since a woman's behavior is the source of all shame and dishonor for the men in Islamic society, women must be ruthlessly controlled. The degree of control is proportional to the degree of sexual repression and frustration (and hence rage) that is mandated by the culture/religion.

In normal societies, the act of "mothering", which is almost always relegated to the female, may be accomplished by either females or males as long as they provide that early and continual nurturing, acceptance and security that a baby needs. The role of "fathering" can also be taken on either by females or males, particularly to the offspring of the same sex and that role usually begins at about the toddler (age 4 give or take). To raise a healthy child, healthy males and females are essential. But in misogynistic societies, the cultural debasement and humiliation of women has a profound impact on both female and male children.

Male children in societies that demonize or debase women must overemphasize their "maleness" in order to separate from the mother. As grown men, far from being able to mitigate the aggressive impulses of a child, such men will encourage these impulses in order to "prove" to the world at large that they (and later, their sons)have not been "feminized". Cultures where women have extremely low status almost always encourage the development of inadequate, "macho" men, who need to prove their manliness and constantly.

In "Where Have All The Mothers Gone?" I commented about a study which demonstrated the power of "good" mothers --i.e., normal, healthy, functioning and unoppressed by their culture-- in overcoming aggression or "bad" behavior in children. Researchers discovered that "good" mothering was able to prevent aggressive and self-destructive behavior in at-risk monkeys. In human terms, "Good" mothering provides a child with respect, love, and security-- the basic aspects of "nurture" that are essential for normal development.

The findings of this and other landmark research clearly suggest that without an early mothering influence children were much more likely to grow up to be aggressive and antisocial.

From a psychological perspective then, the freedom and empowerment of women in society are absolutely critical because women are responsible for the earliest environmental influences on children--influences that will impact the child throughout his or her life. If the society has little respect for women and regularly demonizes, debases or humiliates them, the impact will ripple for generations. This is the primary reason why encouraging and promoting women's rights around the world should be a high priority in US Foreign Policy.

Women subjected to institutionalized, societal abuse (such as what we saw under the Taliban; and what we see to a greater or lesser extent in almost all Islamic countries--where physical abuse is sanctioned; where women are sexually demonized; where they are deprived of education, as well as physical, social, economic and political freedom) are hardly in a psychological position to be able to provide effective "nurturing" to children.

Women whose own aggressive impulses have been savagely constrained by society and who have few options to sublimate those impulses, are at grave risk of encouraging aggressive and violent "acting out" on the part of their children on their behalf-- especially the male child who must be seriously conflicted about his love for and identification with a lowly-regarded woman.

In other words, such women will hardly prevent inappropriate aggression in their offspring, when such aggression vicariously meets their own needs. And the male children will have to assert their separation and distance from the debased female that is their mother, as aggressively and violently as possible. The father, who might undo some of this early pathology is himself also in the grip of the dysfunctional societal demands, and he must constantly deal with subverting his own normal sexual drives which can only find expression through sanctioned deviancy (as exemplified in Rule 19) and aggression toward women who dare to challenge the societal taboos(i.e., unveiled women, "uppity women", or any infidel women).
Is it any wonder sexual impulses become so perverted and directed toward children? Or that child sexual abuse becomes the only societal outlet for sexuality? Or that the residual aggression is expressed in a barbaric, uncivilized manner?

Family dynamics obviously play an extremely important role in the development of personality, especially in providing values and role-models. The dysfunctional family of Middle Eastern Muslims, where women are hidden and oppressed; prevented from ever being able to grow up normally, while the sexually repressed and enraged men must avoid the shame of the feminine and must aggressively defend his honor and manhood by controlling and debasing anyone who threatens it.

Under the Taliban, which arguably is the most malignant iteration of Islam's dysfunction, women were actively oppressed and beaten for any attempt to express themselves. Even today, there are actual "debates" about this.

Sexuality is an essential part of each individual. The double standards of modesty and behavior encouraged by the current practice of Islam are destructive to the normal development of personality in both males and females. Psychopathic traits in males are societally encouraged, while females are conditioned to be their willing victims. (When women seek to "equal" men by blowing themselves up, you know there is some sort of psychopathy at work--as opposed to "gender liberation"). Also, how will a child grow up normally knowing their mother thinks of them in this way?

A culture that is so viciously misogynistic gives rise to both men and women who are severely dysfunctional in almost every sphere of human activity.

Perhaps we should have a 'debate' about that, Mr. Ramadan. Are you and your cowardly co-religionists up for it, do you think?

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

TWO HUDNAS--Or, How to Preserve the Light of Liberty

Great news from Ezra Levant:
Today Syed Soharwardy told the Calgary Herald editorial board that he is withdrawing his human rights complaint against me that he filed two years ago when I published the Danish cartoons of Mohammed. (Seriously, if you haven't done so, you've really got to look at his hand-scrawled complaint here. I know dyslexic ten-year-olds with ADD who are more coherent.)

If he's really withdrawing the complaint, this is the first I've heard about it; and when I spoke with my lawyer this afternoon, the complaint was still proceeding against me.
It might be a lie -- it wouldn't be Soharwardy's first, but then again, lying to an infidel newspaper isn't immoral to someone like Soharwardy. It's called taqqiyah.

But even if Soharwardy withdraws his complaint against me, an identical complaint filed by the Edmonton Muslim Council still proceeds.

So why would Soharwardy do this -- and why now?

The answer lies in another Arabic word: hudna. A hudna isn't a peace treaty. It's a temporary truce called by a Muslim warrior who's losing in battle.


(the left's response to this resounding victory for freedom of speech: see here)

For the second 'hudna' we need to proceed to Berkeley, California, where the 'Peace and social justice' warriors of the left have capitulated.

Like Soharwardy, they simply withdrew because they couldn't deal with the consequences of the 'principled' stance. But they haven't given up their ideological agenda. Far from it. As Don Surber notes:
They called individual Marines “uninvited and unwelcome intruders.”

However, Berkeley refused to apologize.

That’s unacceptable and it means that Berkeley still hates our troops.

Look, it is OK to oppose the war. Hershel “Woody” Williams, one of the Marines who received the Medal of Honor for heroism at Iwo Jima, opposes the war.

But Berkeley went beyond hating the war to hating the Marines.

I say the entire city because it elected that council.

The hatred for the Marines — and the country — is evident. Consider the words of Jodie Evans, a Berkeley yoga studio owner who co-founded Code Pink.

“We want voters to be able to decide … just like they have a say whether a liquor store or porn shop opens near a school,” she told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Except, I am guessing the porn shop would be approved.


These two examples are typical of the two-pronged ideological attack on free speech in the west. The one thing that free people have going for them in this battle, is that the intolerant cowards and pimps who are leading this attack on freedom of speech, also do not want to have to deal with the consequences of their behavior. As one of the intellectually gifted leaders of Code Pink said recently (can't find link, unfortunately so I have to paraphrase),"we are exercising our free speech rights and don't expect to be discriminated against because we believe this way." (UPDATE: thanks to Larry D in the comments, here is the quote I was looking for: from Xanne Joi, "I was under the impression that we have the right of free speech," said Xanne Joi of Code Pink. "To me, I thought free speech meant you get to say what you want without recrimination.")

Obviously a case of "free speech for me, but not for thee"; and at the same time, the very idea that someone should disagree with them and make their little lives the least bit uncomfortable is clearly (to them anyway) a violation of their freedom. Give me a friggin break.

Finally, what is the lesson of these two hudnas which represent a victory for free speech? I think Mark Steyn has it exactly right:
Following the arrests of three Muslims for plotting to kill Kurt Westergaard, the cartoonist who drew Mohammed wearing a bomb turban, the Danish media have today republished the offending illustration.

Good for them. The minute it became clear that violence and intimidation were the response the western press should have said: Okay, you want to kill one of us, you'll have to kill us all. The Danes have now taken an important stand against Islamic encroachments on freedom of expression.

In Canada, by contrast, the state hauled the only publisher of the cartoons, my old boss Ezra Levant, into one of its thought-crime courts at the behest of a raving incoherent imam. And all the jelly-spined squish of a Minister of Justice has done is issue lamely evasive talking points. Nonetheless, the imam has now folded, and is calling (insofar as I can follow him) for the matter to be settled according to Gene Autry's Cowboy Code or some Islamic understanding thereof. Ezra is going on the offensive.

The lesson is, if you face down these bullies, you can win and stop the lights going out on liberty. But you won't get much help from your government. [emphasis mine]


And it doesn't matter if the bully is dressed in pink and call themselves righteous; or if they run around in black and call themselves religious. Stand up to their bullying, and don't let them get away with it.

And, in solidarity with all those who believe freedom of speech is inviolate:
.

BACTERIAL MOTIVATIONS, TERRORIST SUPERBUGS, LEFTIST DOGMA, AND MULTICELLULAR DIVERSITY

.One of the biggest problems today in medicine is the development of the so-called "superbugs"--the bacteria that have adapted to our antibiotics or mutated to be completely resistant to them. These mutant bacteria, like Staph aureus, are responsible for rapidly progressive, fatal diseases including necrotizing pneumonia, severe sepsis and necrotizing fasciitis. Because treatment is dependent on the ongoing development of new drugs that the bugs are not familiar with; there has also been an emphasis on preventive measures against the rise of the superbug in hospitals and in the community,

These clever, mutating bacteria are an excellent metaphor for describing how terrorists adapt and mutate to any and all countermeasures developed to contain them.

Both strains of bio-organisms are highly toxic and lethal on their march to jihad.

Now, imagine what our lives would be like if we applied the sort of political correctness and multicultural sensitivity that is so fashionable on the political left to the bacterial strains that kill us....

This train of thought brings to mind an old post by the erudite and enigmatic Gagdad Bob describing leftist dogma:
...[I]t is a topdown dogma that is not dictated by what works, but by how liberals would like reality to be. This is why liberalism must be enforced with the mechanism of political correctness, in order to preempt or punish those who deviate from liberal dogma, and see what they are not supposed to see.

It is a mistake to think of this as a problem afflicting only intellectuals. Rather, a moment's reflection reveals that it is a much more pervasive problem that afflicts artists, psychologists, literary types, etc. So what is common to all these folks? Why it's the tyranny of the abstract. All of these types fall in love with their own ideas, and take their ideas to be more real than reality. In fact, for such an individual, reality becomes a defective form of their sacred ought. Instead of "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," the overly abstract thinker says, "In the beginning, reality ought to be the way I want it to be."

Let's face it, if you are a ward of the state, a university professor with the luxury to idly pursue the intellectual life, have it pretty easy. You are living a rather sheltered existence, free from hunger, disease, pain, and want. Therefore, it's pretty easy to forget the violence that made such leisure and abundance possible, in the same way that it's easy to enjoy your health while forgetting that you're only healthy because you have a "primitive" but sophisticated immune system ready to do incredible violence to any foreign invaders who threaten your body's health. For these intellectuals and so-called spiritual types to have contempt for the military is as idiotic as having contempt for your body's immune system. But that doesn't stop elite universities from suing to get the ROTC and military recruiters off their campuses.

Try telling your immune system to be reasonable, to sit down and talk it out with the viruses that want to invade you. Tell your white blood cells to hold conferences to try to understand the root causes of bacterial motivations.

The ideals of abstract thinkers are utopian and unworkable because they forget all about embodied human existence--about reality. It is no coincidence that the great totalitarian movements of the past century--communism, nazism, and now Islamism--were and are the products of intellectuals. On the other hand, Christianity takes seriously the idea that we are unavoidably embodied and imperfectible. As a matter of fact, Judeo-Christian metaphysics solves the otherwise insoluble philosophical stalemate between idealists and materialists, because a logoistic reality means that the Word is made flesh: that the ideal is located in the real, not in some abstract, utopian beyond. The world is neither ethereal nor earthly: it is earthereal.

Abstract ideas are designed to understand and describe reality. But intellectuals turn this around and begin using their abstractions to judge reality. And if reality falls short, they don't abandon their ideals but jettison reality


Try telling your immune system to be reasonable, to sit down and talk it out with the viruses that want to invade you. Tell your white blood cells to hold conferences to try to understand the root causes of bacterial motivations.

For me these two sentences were entirely delightful to read and led me to an incredible epiphany and a deeper understanding and appreciation of political correctness and multicultural, multicellular diversity.

I realized that both bacteria and viruses are members of an oppressed class (or phylum, if you prefer) ; and that they are therefore victims of the imperialistic and violent nature of homo sapiens (particularly conservative ones) !

I now realize that as homo sapiens ascended in the biological cosmos, the poor persecuted bacterial and viral kingdoms have had to endure a shameful and humiliating occupation of space that was once rightfully theirs and which comprised all the air, water, and earth of the entire planet. This sad situation is the result of multicellular fascism with its sadistic capitalistic desire to wipe out all competing biological kingdoms.

This is nothing less than cellucide or microcide or protozoacide or something--perhaps, genuside?

Homo sapiens' multicellular delusions of superiority are completely unjustified due to the uniquely destructive and bad behavior displayed by most of the members of animalia chordata mammalia primata homo sapiens -- particularly those who reside in the United States, the home of the least sapien.

What makes us think that our pathetic little animalia kingdom--and in particular the imperialistic and aggressive chordata phylum-- is better than the EU-bacteria or archaebacteria kingdom? Do bacteria have wars? Do they kill each other? NO! They live quiet lives, of peaceful and communal, self-sacrificing propagation. Their eight phyla are as deserving of life as homo sapiens; in fact they are more deserving and their right to exist predates ours by many millennia, thus their rights supercede any "rights" presumed by the animal kingdom.

And compared to their simple, elegant, and non-material way of life; we greedy, sexist bipeds have a history of wreaking destruction and devastation, ruining every genus, species, phylum, and class with which we come in contact.

Have we even taken the time to try to understand why they behave toward us as they do? Have we tried to understand the despair of the suicide-bacteria, willing to embrace death even as they infect and kill us? Does their heroic martyrdom not demonstrate how desperate they have become under our occupation?

Our ruthless oppression must cease.

HOMO SAPIENS LIED AND STREPTOCOCCI DIED!

IMPEACH THE MAKERS OF PENICILLIN FOR CRIMES AGAINST MICROBIALITY!

Or, as the Archbishop of Canterbury suggested recently:
FREE SHARIA SO THAT WE MAY BE ALLOWED SUBMIT TO IT!

But when you don't have the right antibiotics and don't see the need for developing preventive measures, even to the point that you are willing to facilitate and nurture the jihadist superbug's growth in the body politic, you shouldn't be surprised when the terrorism spreads and eventually kills you.

Those who cannot adapt and change to threats do not survive--whether they are uni- or multi-cellular.

MAY THE BEST MCCAIN WIN


Cartoons by Lisa Benson

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

NARCISSISM IN THE NATIVE RAW...

...and speaking of that phenomenon as I was in the previous post; here is the ever grandiose James Wolcott opining on matters psychological (and the lefties get on MY case about making psychological pronouncements--at least I've got some training in the field) about the reason some conservatives don't like (ok, really really hate) John McCain:

And despite his CPAC speech, it's unlikely that McCain is going to be able to win over the dead-enders in his own party. Pop into the comments sections of some of the more conservative blogs (be sure to get your vaccination shots first though before delving into such fetid waters), and you'll find a sporadic but persistent barrage of references to "John McLame" "John McAmnesty" "John McPain" and similar Algonquin Roundtable witticisms. They're quite happy to cut off their noses to spite their faces because spite is what they live for and on. As for the rightwing talk radio tea-kettle whistles, most of them aren't going to be modulating their tone or changing their tune anytime soon. They have too much invested in their own self-righteous posturing to get with the program now. I haven't listened to much rightwing talk radio in recent years and what struck me from monitoring Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, and such on Sirius' Patriot channel is that their animosity toward McCain is topped only by their own grandiosity. The sort of hacky quacks whose psychotherapeutic blogs appear at Pajamas Media are always drivelling on about liberal Democrats being afflicted with toxic narcissism (this sort of slop), but you don't know what narcissism in the native raw until you've heard Sean Hannity and Mark Levin crow about their unwavering conservative principles and the record of ringing pronouncements they've made and will continue to make as long as the love of Ronald Wilson Reagan beats in their hearts and now we have a call from Connecticut, Mike calling from the car phone, Mike you're on the air--well, we seem to have lost Mike...

Even though Levin, classy gent that he is, refers "Hillary Rotten Clinton, Her Thighness," I wonder if he and his litter mates are going to be able to mount the hate-on against her than everyone anticipates. Yes, they hate Hillary, yawn, but they've hated her for so long that they already sound hoarse and their insults tired. As for sliming Obama, yes, I've heard the "Barry Hussein" and "Osama Obama" cracks too, but it'll be harder for them to go outright racist on him because that's truly the no-go zone in talk radio now. Just ask Don Imus, who had his cowboy hat handed to him over the "nappy ho's" slur and now sounds like warm mush whenever the conversation tilts toward skin color. He refers to Hillary as "Satan," but it sounds less like a bladed insult and more like shtick he's too lazy to update.[emphasis mine]

The "slop" that Wolcott references and which stimulated his annoyance is a post by Siggy (another professional in the field) who dares to discuss the fundamental toxic victim mentality and pathological narcissism that defines the today's left as a movement; and Wolcott makes a rather typical sort of mistake when he talks about the idea of "narcissism in the native raw".

Like many laypersons, Wolcott assume that narcissism is always a bad thing.

It isn't.

In fact, as I have pointed out repeatedly, narcissism--when there is a optimal synthesis of both the grandiose elements and the idealistic elements-- is an absolutely essential ingredient for a healthy, functional personality. For healthy narcissism, the essential task of the individual is to combine the grandiose side of the personality-- which is responsible for developing individual ambition and the energy to pursue happiness, as well as a feeling that one has a fundamental right to that life and happiness; with the idealistic side--which provides the ability to to develop values and ideals (see here for a full discussion). An excess of either side leads to dysfunctional, self-serving and often toxic behavior.

By definition, all ambitions, values and ideals are necessarily narcissistically invested. How could it be otherwise? These are the factors that define us as individuals.

The classic pathological narcissist cannot imagine anyone acting from 'unwavering' principles, because to them ideals and values only exist to service the grandiose self and can be adjusted as necessary for the whim of the moment. In other words, such 'narcissists in the raw' are developmentally stuck, and frequently flip-flop between malignant grandiosity and the idealism and values du jour that are felt to service that grandiosity.

Certainly radio personalities, as well as celebrities in general (like most politicians) have an abundance of narcissism. Whether that narcissism is of the pathological type or whether it springs from a healthy synthesis (see here and here) of the two parallel developmental tracks of narcissism can only be assessed by their behavior and the consequences of that behavior. If Wolcott really wants to understand the "drivel" we psychological professionals put out on this topic, he should consider the devastation and innumerable deaths brought about by all those wonderful leftist utopian ideologies of the 20th century. Now there was pathological narcissism in the native raw on a grand scale, the kind the political left can get behind.

At least when Sean Hannity 'cuts off his nose to spite his face' or acts out of spite, his behavior is personal and it has a limited impact. When it comes to that kind of localized behavior high honors must be shared by members of both political parties.

Nevertheless, if Sean Hannity and others want to go down with their conservative principles completely inviolate and not vote for McCain-- that is their choice. I can appreciate and even honor such a principled choice. By the same token, it is also Nancy Pelosi's choice to call Iraq a failure and insist despite all the evidence that the surge is not working.

What 'prinicple' is Pelosi adhering to with unwavering determination? Ask yourself how it benefits Sean Hannity to be correct about McCain not being a true conservative and unworthy of support; versus how it benefits Nancy Pelosi that her country admit defeat and failure at the hands of a terrorist group. In the former case, if Hannity is correct, the Republicans and even Hannity lose. In the latter scenario, America loses but Pelosi and the Democrats win big---really big.

Placing your bets on your country losing a war so that you can win an election is the gamble the entire left has wagered. Contrast Pelosi's stance with McCain's statement that he'd rather 'lose a campaign than lose a war'. Which of the two has a serious narcissistic defect going for them and sees their own needs as first and foremost?

I happen to think Hannity's decision is a bad choice because in politics the 'perfect' is often the enemy of the 'good' and because of the nature of the beast, we voters (who each struggle with their own narcissistic conflicts) are often faced with the option of only voting for the least obnoxious candidate. Yet, Hannity is capable of being convinced to support McCain (I heard him say so last night). Is Pelosi capable of supporting America in a war if a Republican is in the White House? Don't bet on it.

What's really laughable to me is that the leftist pundits can't even figure out what kind of behavioral pathology is going on here: some are moaniing about how the conservatives will "march in ideological lockstep" with party leaders no matter what; while others --like Wolcott-- insist that those same conservatives are too narcissistically invested in 'posturing' about their 'unwavering conservative principles' to vote for the likes of John McCain.

Their confusion can be understood by looking at an example of the 'unwavering principles' of the left found in this story , which shows how the feckless antiwar, antimilitary types who 'speak truth to power' and posture with grandiose flair--can only stick to their principles when it doesn't have any personal consequences for them.

And speaking of "marching in ideological lockstep"--could there be a finer example of goosestepping than the expectation that all blacks or women must be Democrats support Democrat policies--otherwise they are by definition 'traitors' to their gender or race? Isn't the whole 'identity politics' thing a mandate to conform to your group or race or tribe in order to maintain ideological purity?

In point of fact, both of these positions that are attributed to conservatives are actually psychological projections on the left's part, because they represent the only possible positions their rigid dialectical and propagandized brains can imagine. Due to the narcissistic defect that the entire movement suffers from, they are all more or less stuck on either the grandiose or the idealistic narcissistic pole without the ability to synthesize the two extremes of the dialectic. Thus they vascillate between the cold grandiosity inherent in believing they know what's best for all of us; and the utopian idealism that leads them to impose --by force if necessary--those beliefs on everyone else.

Undoubtedly some of those who hate McCain with a passion are motivated by raw narcissism--as are some of those who support him, I would imagine. But that there might be principled opposition on the part of conservatives to John McCain, well 'that sort of slop' is a concept that is beyond the likes of Wolcott and the rest of the wildly unprincipled and intellectually bankrupt political left.

Monday, February 11, 2008

HILLARY AND THE POLITICS OF PERSONAL DESTRUCTION

With the recent primary wins by Obama, things are looking bad for the Clinton campaign. The internal shake-up has begun; and we have already seen the external shake-up--i.e., Hillary in attack mode on her opponent. Right now, Hill is making nice because she can't decide if it would help or hurt her to escalate things between herself and Obama again. But as things get closer to the wire (and boy are they close!) she will not go down without swinging.

We have enough information about Hillary's behavior--particularly her behavior under stress--over the last decade or so to be able to make reasonable predictions about her future behavior.

Let me digress for just a moment. To the extent that a person's behavior is mostly motivated by perceived insults to their self--i.e., their narcissistic core; then the "insult" will usually prompt a typical display of narcissistic rage directed toward the unfortunate individual who threatens them.

Such rage responses are invariably destructive, mean, and petty. Additionally, these rages are generally not beneficial to society-at-large (in fact, such actions often have strong sociopathic or antisocial elements to them) , although the person in the throes of narcissistic rage will often convince themselves that they are behaving perfectly appropriately and even for "the good" of others.

This is the origins of "sociopathic selfishness and "sociopathic selflessness" I have discussed elsewhere.

Far too often, narcissistically flawed individuals are hopelessly attracted by the grandiose opportunities of the political arena (as well as the Hollywood arena) like moths to a flame. Their sense of self is starkly invested in the desire for power over others (always, of course, "for their own good") , constant admiration and adulation and grandiose ambitions. This makes them remarkably adept at what is called the "politics of personal destruction".

Certainly, both sides of the political aisle suffer from excesses of narcissism. But I think it is reasonable to predict that we will see no "Mitt-Romney-for-the-good-of-the-party" moment from Hillary, when and if she is eclipsed by Barack.

For the narcissist it is always a zero-sum game she plays with other individuals. From the perspective of the narcissist, if someone else "wins", the narcissist "loses". It cannot be otherwise, since on some level they know that their own talent and skills are way overblown. Hence, they cannot hope to "win" based on those talents alone. Thus, the behavior of the classic narcissist is mostly directed toward making others lose so they can win by default. To that end, there is no behavior or tactic that is considered out -of-bounds or over-the-top.

Hence the current state of political discourse and the ubiquitous personal attacks that have become the trademark of all political campaigns in both the Republican and Democrat parties.

If you want to understand why political campaigns have become so virulent and personally vicious you need not look any farther that this sad truth. While politics still occasionally brings out those who have strong personal integrity and values; often it is the people of no demonstrable integrity and elastic values who are obsessively attracted to the field and who triumph--and that is true on both sides of the political spectrum.

By that, I mean that those who would actually make the best leaders generally opt out of the process, because they tend to be too healthy to generate the continual rall-consuming age necessary to destroy all opponents; or they lack the required-- and mostly distorted --sense of personal "perfection" and grandiosity that drives the power-hungry.

Clearly, there can be other conflicts that motivate people in politics other than a broken sense of self--John McCain is probably a good example. It is not that McCain lacks narcissism--there is no candidate in the political arena who lacks grandiosity and self-serving behavior, after all; but McCain's identity does not get re-invented regularly to please people; nor does he want to be POTUS if doing so he violates his own sense of personal honor and integrity. Yes, such a committment to values is indeed narcissism--but it is the healthy kind, the kind that generates values and ideals. We can safely assume that anyone who could say, " I'd rather lose a campaign than lose a war", and defiantly maintain his support for an unpopular war though that attitude once sunk his popularity, is someone who has principles; not a pathological narcisssist whose only principle is himself.

I am frequently reminded that it is hopelessly naive these days to expect the electorate to vote for a person based on what that person actually stands for; instead, these days most people respond to the negative campaign ads that slice and dice the other guy; and are mainly influenced by botoxed faces and Hollywood-packaged good-looks rather than the content of any candidate's character. The less they know of that character, the better!

Do you imagine that a Golda Meir or a Margaret Thatcher would have a chance to become the first woman president of the US. Not these days, for sure.

Real personal integrity and character comes from having a consistent set of values and exhibiting behavior driven by those values. Today's classic narcissistically-driven politicians like both Hillary and Bill can only flutter in the political winds, and zelig-like easily take on whatever characteristics their public care to project onto them.

It is easy to be tough and ruthless with political adversaries in the US political battlefield. The kind of threat political adversaries pose is hardly life-threatening (though in other, less civilized nations it may well be). Political bullies like the Clintons, for example, feel perfectly safe in viciously attacking and denigrating those who oppose them. And, when it happens occasionally that a political adversary unexpectedly shoots back and won't go away, the bully easily falls back on the "victim" role and whines about "vast right-wing conspiracies" or sheds a few tears on cue and such.

This is not the kind of person who can face real threats in the real world very effectively because this is not the kind of person who can effectively deal with threats they do not perceive as personal--why should they care much about any other kind, unless the polls indicate they should?.

Hillary Clinton did not get where she is today by being a person of integrity, honesty and courage--she got there by riding on the coattails of her charismatic husband; and by shrewdly altering her opinions to accommodate the prevailing political winds. And, oh yes, by ruthlessly destroying whoever got in her way. And even her base is able to recognize this about her, although she is extremely careful never to dirty her own hands. Like the Hamas and Hezbollah gunmen who shield themselves with innocent women and children, Hillary and her spouse have always had a ready supply of useful fall-guys (recall Vince Foster's suicide or Sandy Berger's archival exploits, for example) to take responsibility for their misdeeds.

That is why candidates like Obama are so attractive: because this same voting base that once adored Hillary now find her too too obvious and coarse, and have swung over to the unknown, tabula rasa candidate on whom they are able to project their own fantasies without any intrusion by harsh reality.

We have already witnessed Round 1 of Hilary's attack on her opponent. Her grandiosity and ambition match that of her philandering husband ounce for ounce; and she will lash out unmercifully toward anyone who threatens her political ambitions, or send Bill to do it. The only reality you can count on is that she will definitely not lash out at Islamic Jihadists --unless it happens to be politically expedient and popular to do so. As the campaign progresses, her views will move ever leftward to accommodate whomsoever she decides she needs to co-opt in order to achieve her ambitions.

Right now, it is smart for her to play both sides--to speak toughly, and carry a little stick, so to speak, which is the "mommy" alternative, I suppose, to politically incorrect paternalism. She can let Bill do much of the dirtier work and then blame him if it backfires on her.

The best leaders are not obsessed with themselves; with polls; or with accumulating power by pandering to all sides. Those leaders may, in truth, have many other personal flaws--but not particularly of the dangerously narcissistic variety. Whatever those flaws (and we all possess them), they are characterologically able to be more concerned about dealing with external reality; rather than in preserving a distorted and fragile internal one. Avenging petty slights and insults is not a high priority to a psychologically healthy person. Those healthy individuals are far more likely to direct their psychological energy toward dealing with real-world geopolitical threats that endanger both their country and the people they have the responsibility to protect; rather than using that country or the power of their office to counter threats to their endangered self and act on their grandiose fantasies about themselves.

The latter is the same psychological pathology that is rampant among dictators and dictator wannabes of all stripes. Their concern about others in their group/nation is purely of the “l’état c’est moi” variety. Look at Saddam's behavioral legacy. Observe the recent behaviors of Ahmadinejad or Chavez or Kim Jong Il -- or any of the other despots and thugs that somehow claw their way up to the top of the food chain in their respective countries.

That the needs of the nation, or the people they serve, might be different from their own; or that doing the right thing is often different from doing the popular thing, are foreign and dangerous concepts. The only reality they know--or care about--is the one inside themselves.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

CARNIVAL OF THE INSANITIES

Image hosted by Photobucket.com 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. Gadahn missing! Call an Amber Alert! Or, maybe a car swarm. We can hope.

2. It's bad for the tunnel business!

3. Mad? No, the Archbishop of Canterbury is an ass. So is Randi Rhodes. It's the same disease afflicting both of them, strangely. A sort of leprosy--but of the mind...

4. Actually, it's all the sun's fault! They say warming, the Earth says Brrrrrr. Too bad the environment just won't cooperate with them....But perhaps they are addicted to their emotions about it? Or else they're just a bunch of idiots and despots.

5. At least God is contrite about the damage.

6. Wow! Who knew this syndrome would have such an unintended effect? What will we do when he's gone? No wonder the ayatollahs wants him beheaded! It's a financial priority for them.

7. Berkeley surrenders, and Toledo attacks, so the Global War on Stupidity continues. Maybe it's time to take out the trash? Wholly Toledo!

8. A choice, a voice...rejoice? Don't you understand? He can do no wrong and can't be criticized.... Except maybe in Iran.

9. The Russians are a bit...slow... on the uptake.

10. The unraveling. It's cryin' time again! How she learned to stop worrying and love...John McCain? Well, it is a little like walking on eggshells. The real reasons Rush & Ann hate him. You have to admit, it wasn't the speech we expected! Maybe a grizzly bear would be a better nominee?

11. Does this go against the grain? Inequitous equity?

12. Marriage: It's only going to get worse, so find your therapist now, while you can!

13. Intentional flatulence? Of course it should be banned! Along with intentional burping.

14. Policemen have a well-developed sense of humor. I guess they have to in order to survive.

15. Blogging isn't rocket science! Here's a post you can sink your teeth into: Harshing the mellow.

16. Has another Teutonic sprite brought down a football fuehrer? Is she a Gothic Lolita, perhaps?

17. Bus art, Animal crackers and getting waxed.

18. Guess which collectivist said it! Take the quiz.

***************************************
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?

Saturday, February 09, 2008

HELP, HELP ! I'M BEING OPPRESSED !

I'm covering for another doctor today and have to work. So, blogging will be lite. May get a post up later this afternoon or evening; and The Carnival of the Insanities will be up early tomorrow because my daughter has a soccer game early in the am. If this is not oppression, then I don't know what is!

HELP!

(You know, if I didn't have to work, I could blog full time! Feel free to donate using the Paypal or Amazon buttons in my sidebar )



Friday, February 08, 2008

THE REAL AGENDA OF THE FASCIST ENVIRONMENTALISTS

Now we come to the real agenda of the environmentalists (via Jonah Goldberg):
Liberal democracy is sweet and addictive and indeed in the most extreme case, the USA, unbridled individual liberty overwhelms many of the collective needs of the citizens. The subject is almost sacrosanct and those who indulge in criticism are labeled as Marxists, socialists, fundamentalists and worse. These labels are used because alternatives to democracy cannot be perceived! Support for Western democracy is messianic as proselytised by a President leading a flawed democracy

There must be open minds to look critically at liberal democracy. Reform must involve the adoption of structures to act quickly regardless of some perceived liberties....

We are going to have to look how authoritarian decisions based on consensus science can be implemented to contain greenhouse emissions [emphasis mine].

Wow. If you disagree with the authors, then you are smearing them with the label of "Marxists, socialists, fundamentalists and worse" ! How awful. And just plain mean.

Not to mention, accurate.

If you wade through the artlicle you will see the high praise--even awe--given to the Chinese (the world's worst polluters) because of their inherent ability to 'order' and control their population and force them to behave properly:
Let us return to the plastic bags. The ban in China will save importation and use of five million tons of oil used in plastic bag manufacture, only a drop in the ocean of the world oil well. But the importance in the decision lies in the fact that China can do it by edict and close the factories. They don’t have to worry about loss of political donations or temporarily unemployed workers. They have made a judgment that their action favours the needs of Chinese society as a whole.

China has become, or is just about to become, the world’s greatest emitter of greenhouse emissions. Its economic growth suggests that it may soon emit as much as the rest of the world put together. Its environment is in a deplorable state, with heavily polluted rivers and drinking water, serious air pollution, both of which have a heavy burden of illness. Pollution and climate change are reducing productive land in the face of an increasing population which is compelled to import some of its foodstuffs. Its population centres will be candidates for early inundation by sea level rise and the melting of Himalayan glaciers will reduce its water supply.

All this suggests that the savvy Chinese rulers may be first out of the blocks to assuage greenhouse emissions and they will succeed by delivering orders. They will recognise that the alternative is famine and social disorder


My goodness, how 'savvy' of them! After causing half the problem, they just happen to have the authoritarian bona fides to deal with the mess they created--unlike those whimpy democracies which use (ughhh) voluntary cooperation.

Does anyone else find this perspective rather disgusting? Not to mention a bit disingenuous?

In "The Four Pillars of the Socialist Revival", I wrote:
Multiculturalism and political correctness are two of the fundamental pseudo-intellectual, quasi-religious tenets-- along with a third: radical environmentalism--that have been widely disseminated by intellectuals unable to abandon socialism even after its crushing failures in the 20th century. These tenets have been slowly, but relentlessly absorbed at all levels of Western culture in the last decade or so--but primarily since the end of the Cold War.

All three have been incorporated into most K-12 curricula and all other learning environments. They have been at the forefront of attempts by leading academics and academic institutions to rewrite most of history and undo thousands of years of Western cultural advancement. And further, as the culture has been completely saturated with this toxic brew, any attempt to question the tenets' validity or to contest their value is met with hysterical accusations of racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia, imperialism, bigotry, or--worse of all --intolerance or insensitivity.

It just so happens, that these tenets represent three of the four pillars that are the foundation of an evolving epistemological, ethical and political strategy that the socialist remnants in the world have developed and are using to prevent their ideology from entering the dustbin of history.


This leftist/radical environmentalism is nothing more than one of the rhetorical strategies that are being used to undermine democracy and capitalism and promote socialism/communism and fascism. Rarely do you see the agenda so openly discussed as it is in this article. Instead of creating the 'dictatorship of the proletariat' the neo-marxists among us have settled on the 'dictatorship of the scientific elite'.

In reality, they always intended for a few intellectual 'elites'(they mean themselves, actually) to have the power to run things. but at least they hid that agenda behind the 'power to the people' bullshit rhetoric.

Now, they don't even bother to disguise their agenda. Or, even bother to deny that it was the same kind of marxist/socialist/communist--i.e., LEFTIST, policies that have most polluted the environment and destroyed the planet.

The devastation they have wrought to both the human population and the precious planet are only unintended consequences of their scientifically 'proven' methods. These utopian (and I count the radical environmentalist among the worst of the lot) always know what's best for us hapless humans because they are so much smarter and wiser than we are. They mean well, after all. It isn't their fault that a little thing like reality gets in the way of their implementation of utopian policies!

It isn't their fault that the environment is a complex system! They only mean the best for us.

For most of the 20th century these fascists have sought to escape responsibility for the condequences of their utopian fantasies. The world is littered with the corpses and awash in the tears of the people who they have "helped". Fantasy environmentalism is only the most recent strategies they have adopted as they attempt reassert their socialist ideology under the guise of "saving the planet", while they chain all of humanity. Ask yourself how it has come to be that Al Gore's environmental obsession has become required classroom reading. And how our children are being indoctrinated right this moment in the K-12 classrooms into the holy rituals of the environmental histrionics.

Consider for a moment the call to imprison those who ignore climate 'science'. The very essence of free scientific inquiry is open discussion and high levels of skepticism; but the fascist 'elites' must carefully contain any speech or any attitude that questions their own interpretation of environmental science.

Clearly, this is not scientific inquiry, it is an inquisition. It is not science, it is religious dogma. And if you do not believe, you are in danger of committing the horrific sin of apostasy.

You begin to see how much in common these neo-marxist, fascist 'elites' have with the imams of radical Islam. Both suffer from an unquenchable desire for power over others. Either submit to their authority, or else....

If you have time, check out this and this(hat tip: OBH)--they may shake you out of the programmed rigidity and mindless conformity to this agenda. I also highly recommend the earlier link to Michael Crighton's talk on complexity.

UPDATE: If you live by idiosynchratic weather, should you die by it? (hat tip: Instapundit)