Confessions Of A Little Man

MHNN (Ann Arbor, MI)- Reliable sources have told the Mental Health News Network (MHNN) that moments after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadenijad concluded his remarks at Columbia University in New York, a call was made to psychiatrist Patricia M Santy of Ann Arbor, She is also the author of Carnival Of The Insanities, the vital link to mental health for millions.


Since the former NASA flight surgeon and organic waste in space specialist left the space agency, she has become a renowned therapist to world political figures and other notables. She has led group sessions with Middle East dictators, Osama bin Laden and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Sources say Dr Sanity was contacted because the Iranian president threw a temper tantrum in the limousine after his remarks about there being 'no gays in Iran' elicited laughter from Ahmadenijad's entourage in addition to laughs from the audience in attendance. According to those sources, the Iranian president had worked himself into a frenzy when the call was made to Dr Sanity.

What follows is a redacted transcript (due to privacy concerns) of Dr Sanity's session with Mahmoud Ahmadenijad.

MA- Hello. Am I taller than you imagined?

PMS- No. We aren't really here to talk about your height, are we?

MA- I like tall women. Would you like to visit my country and speak to the Revolutionary Guard Psychiatric Services?

PMS- We'll see. What brought you here today?

MA- They laughed at me. Do you think they laughed because I'm short?

PMS- Probably not.

MA- Tom Cruise is short, too. They never laugh at him. Do you think they laughed at me because I'm Iranian or Muslim? Why doesn't anyone ever laugh at Mother Teresa? She was short.

PMS- Maybe the Columbia audience and your entourage laughed because of something you said.

MA- You're referring to my remarks about no gays in Iran.

PMS- Yes.

MA- I thought so.

PMS- Mr President, are you gay?

MA- What? What did you just say?

PMS- I asked you if you were gay.

MA- I could have you shot for that remark.

PMS- Well?

MA- Do we have to talk about this? Why can't we talk about the Revolutionary Guard University of Flower Arranging and Hair Styling? We have lots of universities in my country.

PMS- Well?

MA- Look, you tall American bitch, what do you think? Have you ever seen pictures of me with my wife and kids? I wear a three day beard too look manly. The only photos in which I'm smiling are the ones with me hugging and kissing other male dictators. I wear elevator shoes and make up rules about not getting close to other women.

PMS- So why did you say there are no gays in Iran?

MA- Because the minute I admit to gays in Iran, the entire nation will engage in collective laughter and point their ugly non manicured fingers at me, 'Mahmoud the 'Mo' or the 'Persian Prick.' Do you get the picture now, you infidel idiot?

PMS- Actually, I think people might refer to you as the 'Puny Persian Prick.' You could ignore the remarks.

MA- Sure. That makes sense. And as soon as the foreign media finds out that I like to wear Isaac Mizrahi in my down time and photographs me in vertical stripes and pumps, I'd be the laughingstock of the nation. Do you have how hard it is to deal with the short guy, small feet and small hands jokes? If I admitted that there was even a remote possibility that I might be gay, do you have any idea how many people I'd have to have executed?

PMS- You seem overly agitated.

MA- I'm agitated because Mizrahi is a Jew. If you were me, you'd be agitated, too. You know, if Vera Wang had any taste, I'd be wearing her fall collection- but noooo, Mizrahi has me hooked. Damn Jews.

PMS- Do you have any close, uh, 'friends'?

MA- Not really. I have a hard time with my personal relationships. Could you introduce me to Harvey Firestein or Nathan Lane? You must know them, they're famous.

PMS- They are also Jewish.

MA- They are?

PMS- Yes.

MA- Damn Jewish bastards! They have everything I want!

PMS- What's with you and David Duke?

MA- Well, he's pretty cute- and blond! When we're together he puts on those leather pants and see through leather vest, well, that really gets my Persian blood boiling! We have this game we lay, called 'beat the Jew.' He likes that game a lot.

PMS- Do you like the game?

MA- A blond white guy taking an interest in a guy like me? That's heaven, baby! Hell, I'd let him beat my mother!

PMS- Well, our time is up for today. You know, we've barely scratched the surface.

MA- I know. Maybe we can do this again. Is there a Fredrick's around here? I need new garters. There is something very naughty about wearing garters under an Isaac Mizrahi outfit, you know?

PMS- No, I don't know. I'd like you to do something for me.

MA- Can I do it in the nude, wearing just garters?

PMS- Yes. I want you to read Carnival Of The Insanities. Think of this week's edition as your own personal on ramp to sanity.

Learning To Live With The Bomb?

The left is all a twitter because they fear a western effort to make sure Iran doesn’t get the bomb. More than one ‘analyst’ has declared that ‘we can live with’ an Iranian bomb.

It is always astonishing to witness new examples of breathtaking psychopathy and denial.

The Arab world has recently declared war on Israel’s arsenal of 200-300 nuclear weapons, most often citing the ‘imbalance’ and ‘inequality’ of the status quo. Those arguments, always buttressed with expected (and by now, rather dull and unimaginative) deceit only highlight the absurdity of the stated Arab position.

Notwithstanding contrived Arab world hysteria, the fact remains that the Israelis have had nuclear weapons since the mid 1960’s. For over 40 years, the Arab world felt no need to fear those weapons. If they were afraid, they would not have initiated wars, funded and supported terror and kept on repeating their declared intention to eliminate Israel and promise to engage in the whole slaughter of Jews. If the Arabs really feared Israel’s nuclear arsenal, they would not have engaged in such provocative (and stupid) behavior.

Had the Israelis wished wished to use those weapons, they would have. In the same way that the nation of Israel has proved remarkably ineffective at the ‘genocide’ of Palestinians (made even more remarkable by Israeli technological, scientific and economic achievements and successes) , they have proved they are no immediate threat to the region. The Israelis have constantly stated that they will not introduce or initiate nuclear warfare in the region.

Much is made of the Israeli refusal to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.The fact of the matter is that the Israelis are under no obligation to sign the treaty. Neither India or Pakistan signed the treaty. Iran did sign the treaty and then violated the agreement.

The asymmetry between Israel and Iran and the Arab world is a necessary one, at least until current Arab regimes are dismantled. Is the prospect of nuclear weapons in the hands of those for whom ‘religious experiences’ (usually accompanied by an encouragement to commit acts of genocide) and being surrounded by ‘an aura of green light’ on a regular basis, a reassuring one?

It is not the Israelis who have threatened the Arabs or Iran. It is just the opposite. It is the Arabs who constantly threaten the Israelis with extermination. It is the Arabs and Iranians who announce ‘Israel’s destruction is near’ or the ‘fires of hell will engulf the Israelis.’ Those messages are reinforced in media, school curriculum and preached from the pulpit. Other messages, even less obtuse, praise and endorse the idea that Iran and the Arab world must acquire nuclear weapons for ‘balance’- and to endorse their stated foreign and religious policies of extermination.

There is a very big difference between the Israelis and the Iranians and the Arab world when comes to nuclear weapons. For the Israelis, they are real deterrent. For the Iranians, nuclear weapons are hammer, to be used to blackmail the west- or worse.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize Mahmoud Ahmadenijad’s pronouncement of his affection for Jews is suspect when his best friends are proud supporters of racism and genocide. The Iranians are the major political, economic and military backers of Hassan Nasrallah and Hizbollah. Nasrallah, never shy refers to Jews as ’sons of monkeys and pigs’ and has expressed his delight that there are so many Jews in Israel- ‘It will save us the trouble of rounding them up.’ Given the Iranian penchant for supporting Hizbollah, et al, do we really want to take the chance that the Iranians might supply that terrorist organization with a small nuke, to be deployed inside Israel?

If you wonder how much of the Arab and Islamic world would react to such a horrible event, recall the CNN broadcast of of frenzied Palestinians wildly dancing on rooftops and screaming for Saddam Hussein to ‘GAS THE JEWS!’ as SCUDS rained down on Israel during Gulf War One.

Think about the delight and satisfaction there was in much of the Arab and Islamic world after the tragedy of 9/11- much of which goes on to this day. Does anyone believe that the news that a small nuclear weapon detonated in Israel that resulted in the deaths of thousands of Jews would be less enthusiastically received?

For decades, the ‘promise to finish what Hitler started’ has been repeated throughout the region. Racist, bigoted and dysfunctional Arab leaders would find the idea of delivering on that promise just to good to pass up. That should come as no surprise. When emboldened, racists, bigots and psychopaths all push as far as they can. From KKK and Aryan nation violence to Arab world repression, those in charge will get away with whatever they can.

Neither Israel or the west can live with an Iranian or Arab nuclear program under any of the current regimes. The risk is too high and is therefore unacceptable.

The Iranian regime leaders have gone out of their way to conceal, cheat and obfuscate everything that has to do with their nuclear programs. IAEA inspectors have been lied to and deceived on a regular basis and Ahmadenijad himself presented a bald faced lied at Columbia when he stated that the IAEA had declared the Iranian nuclear program ‘a peaceful program.’ In fact, the IAEA has concluded just the opposite.

Imagine being a black person in a neighborhood where you are surrounded by KKK members who for decades have promised to lynch you. They have no problem stating what is they have in store for you and they teach those lessons to their kids in neighborhood schools and in summer camps and and even in churches. Parents display their pride as their children play games like ’slaughter the nigger!’ and express their desire from a young age to participate in the killing of blacks.

One can only imagine the scenario if the Iranian and Arab world nuclear ‘imbalance’ and ‘inequality’ of nuclear programs were allowed to be addressed. If histor tends to repeat itself, we have plenty to consider.

Prior to WWII, Hitler broke the Treaty of Versailles, rearmed Germany to the extreme, beat the drums of war and put that nation on a war footing. The Europeans, loathe to fight another war, recalling the horrors of WWII, did everything they could to avoid another conflagration, even turning a blind eye after Hitler waltzed into Czechoslovakia and took the Sudetenland. They believed him when he said ‘that was all he wanted, to correct past injustices suffered by the German ethnic minority.’

(Does that ring a bell yet?)

Chamberlain, the gold medal champion of European denial and psychopathy, went to Berlin and met with ‘civilized’ Hitler to much newsreel fanfare. He returned home to an adoring crowd, waving a piece of paper ’signed by Herr Hitler.’ There was to be no war, Chamberlain assured a nervous nation and continent. In fact, he soothed European fears and declared, ‘There will be peace in our time.’

European reticence to deal with Adolph Hitler and the Nazi party firmly and definitively was to cost the world fifty million lives.

Mahmoud Ahmadenijad’s assurances that Iran will not pursue a nuclear weapons program are about as credible as his assertions that there are no gays in Iran and Adolph Hitler’s promises.

Welcome to reality.

For more on Middle East political, psychological and moral realities, see the following:

Birth Of A Nation, A Garden Blooms

Temptations And Choices

The Poison

The Promise

The Third Rail Of Palestinan Failure

'We'd Like To Teach The World To Sing'

Mahmoud Ahmadenijad believes the root of all evil in the Middle East is Israel and the world would be a Utopia if the Jewish state ceased to exist. The Arab League 'sets conditions' for the success of the upcoming peace talks. Those conditions fall on the Israelis (meaning the Arab League wants to facilitate the killing of Jews).

Yesiree, the only thing in the way of world peace, the end of terror and the entire world singing 'I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing...' is Israel.

Osama bin Laden and his merry band of murderous lunatics will abandon their need and desire for a new Caliphate if the Palestinians were to be the beneficiaries of a destroyed Israel.

Hassan Nasrallah and others of his ilk in Lebanon will embrace their Christian brethren and Christian women and girls will be able walk through all parts of Beirut in safety if Israel were destroyed. He will abandon his well known and documented anti Semitism and embrace Jews as beloved believers.

Syria, under the able and wise leadership of Bashar Assad will release all political prisoners and become a bastion of democratic expression just as soon as Israel ceases to exist and their Palestinian brothers have taken their rightful place on the world stage.

With the elimination of Israel, the Arab world will become an economic powerhouse and the fabled corruption of Arab leaders will fade away, replaced by open and equal opportunity for all.

With the eradication of Israel, world class Arab anti Semitism will fade away, no longer taught in schools, broadcast in media or preached from the pulpit. In it's place tolerance for all faiths would arise and Christians, Jews, Baha'i and Buddhists would be respected and honored. Non Muslim Houses of Worship and shrines would be treated with the same dignity as those of their Muslim brethren.

The Jewish state, replaced by a Palestinian nation would mean that the few Jews left in Arab countries will be able to secure passports and travel at will. They will be afforded full rights, access to higher education and would no longer be subjected to onerous taxes of have their propety appropriated- a practise that has been going on for over a century. Their identity cards will no longer identify them as Jews, subject to mistreatment and limited rights.

With the Palestinians state that replaces Israel, the Arab world will have regained it's dignity. Israel on the other hand, has made onerous demands on the Palestinians and Arab nations- demands so cruel and demeanin that they cannot possibly be met.

What exactly are those demands?

• Cessation of violence.
• Diplomatic recognonition.
• Secure borders.
• 
  

Who are the Palestinians, really, and what have they become under their leadership? What is it they stand for that so inspires the Arab world, for decades under the influence of dysfunctional Arab leaders? What values have the Palestinians and Arab world come to hold so dear?

Let's look at the facts on the ground, from the Palestinian and Arab perspectives.

1. WOMEN

There is no such thing as Mothers Day. No worry about cards, gifts, and expensive meals. There is no honor in being a woman in our culture, so there is no reason to devote a day to her. If Dad suspects that Mom spoke to a strange man in the street, he gets to kill her to preserve the family honor! If that nice girl from across the street (or my cousin, for that matter) refuses my advances or attempt to 'take,' well, the whore deserves everything that comes her way.

2. WEAPONS

Every child, from the time he can grasp an object, is trained to feel comfortable with a rifle, pistol or suicide belt detonator in his hand. Of course, since every Palestinian has a weapon- a gun, a rocket launcher, a pound of C-4- well, they have to be used. What good are hands if they aren’t used to kill?

3. HATE

Boy, we love to hate. Hate is the very basis and foundation of our culture. From the time a child is old enough to understand language, we teach him to hate. Actually, we don't even need to be old enough to understand language. We sing our kids to sleep with lullaby's that extol hate. The idea is clear: hate Jews, hate the West, hate our fellow man, and most of all, hate ourselves. We have no love songs, we do not preach love, the word love does not appear anywhere in our society. Hate is the fuel that runs our motors. Then we tell you, 'Really, we are just like you.'

4. DEATH

The moment a Palestinian Arab child is born, his parents begin to plan his death. How will he die? Will he be struck by an Israeli bullet while being used as a human shield by Palestinian gunmen? Will he get shot while throwing rocks at Jewish soldiers? Will he be packed with explosives and sent to blow himself up, killing others? Or will he merely be one of the many Palestinians murdered by other Palestinians in the normal course of daily life in the death-culture of the Palestinian Arabs. To which militia will he belong? Hamas? Al Aqsa? Islamic Jihad? Who knows? That’s part of the thrill. Whether it's summary executions in the streets or the deliberate murder of children of political enemies, well, we share your values.

5. UNEMPLOYMENT

Palestinians used to have jobs, working in Israel. But then, our leaders had a brilliant idea: suicide bombings! Not for their kids, of course, but for everyone else's kids. For their own protection, Israel had to close its borders, preventing Palestinians from going to their jobs, so they could sit around unemployed and blame the Jews for it. Then those same Jew bastards built a fence to keep our bomber outs! What great fun to be your own worst enemy!

6. MARTYRDOM

Now, no one in their right mind wants to be a martyr. In a civilized society and among normal people, a culture and society that embraces and elevates the martyr complex is considered an immature, narcissistic and dysfunctional society and culture. With us, it’s the central syndrome of our society! Of course, we have redefined 'martyr.' We include killing innocents to be a central part of 'martyrdom.' Hey, look at me, I’m gonna kill myself. A few women, children and old people and become admired! And then, when we do kill ourselves, instead of being considered pathetic, we DO get admired! It’s a whole complete cycle of sickness! American kids collect baseball cards; Palestinian kids collect martyr cards (really! no joke!).

7. ENTITLEMENT

When Israel came into being, we declared war. We lost. We fought again. We lost. We fought again. We lost. If those stupid Jews had half a brain, they would have killed us Israel (we sure would kill all of them if we got the chance). Instead, they made the mistake of behaving in a civilized fashion. But we can’t leave that alone. We will exploit heir weaknesses. We have to claim entitlement to live on land that we lost in 6 wars. It matters nothing that the Israelis gave us indoor plumbing, schools, health care, electricity and Since when does the loser of a war get to claim the land he fought over? They don’t. But we do. Not only that, but we happily kill our kids over it!

8. USELESSNESS

The Jews have won more Nobel Prizes than all other ethnic groups combined. It should come as no surprise that the Israelis are somewhat of 'over achievers.' Their contributions to science, art, literature and the humanities are far out of proportion to their population. What have Palestinians produced? Nothing! Not a thing. We don’t do anything productive. We’re too busy rioting and killing and chanting and screaming and calling for everyone’s death. And we blame the Jews for it, as though the Jews stop us from being productive. Thankfully, our not to smart leftist friends believe that drivel, hook line and sinker.

9. FRIENDS

We Palestinian people sure know how to pick ‘em. Saddam Hussein. The Taliban. Adolf Hitler. You name a psychopath, and we embrace him. And look who our supporters are! The American Nazi Party. The KKK. Stalin, Mao, Castro and Che, the butchers. Constitution busters like Hugo Chavez. Every evil, dysfunctional despot in the world. Just check their websites and see how they stand in solidarity with us. When you support the Palestinian 'cause,' you’re in real good company. Bring your white sheet!

10. FREEDOM

The biggest laugh in the world is when people call us "freedom fighters" or they say we’re fighting for our freedom. Take a look at all 22 Arab countries. Do you see any freedom there? Well, that’s what our country will be like if we ever get one. It will be a dictatorship run by armed, masked thugs who will kill anyone who dissents. Just like we are now. Freedom???? The word doesn’t even exist in our language. Hey, just like George Orwell said: "Freedom is slavery. Long live big brother!" And Remember: Israel is bad! Its existence keeps reminding us what a bunch of losers we are.

There is more, here. You need to read this, too. Why? Because, in the pursuit of the truth, sometimes you have to take a stand against prevailing and popular opinion.

That is correctly referred to as 'character.'

This made the rounds a while back and we have discussed each of these 'pillars' in depth.

Cinnamon Stilwell, Rachel Ehrenfeld

At 9 PM tonight, Fausta will interview both Cinnamon Stilwell and Rachel Ehrenfeld on BlogTalk Radio. Fausta has kindly asked us to participate. We will be talking about libel tourism, the euphemistic term used to describe the intimidation and censorship of journalists and writers via friendly courts.

Stilwell is a highly regarded columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle Online (see her piece on libel tourism). If that weren't enough, she is also the northern California representative for Campus Watch. Her columns and reports are must reads.

Stilwell has been a consistent been source of crisp writing, excellent research and most importantly, she has proved herself to be a capable analyst, sifting through the tsunami of mindless prattle only to recognize and understand what is relevant.

Dr Rachel Ehrenfeld knows all about libel tourism- she has had a judgment levied against her by a British court. Her book, Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It looks dispenses with the rhetorical drivel predictably dispensed by the the terrorist fodder class. Ehrenfeld follows the money and connects the dots- and that has made a lot of terror supporters very, very nervous.

The US government takes Ehrenfeld's work seriously. She has consulted with various US government agencies and has also testified before the European Parliament.

Her website, The American Center For Democracy is an important contribution to reality in a society where that particular commodity is under assault.

This podcast of Fausta's BlogTalk Radio is an important one. Don't miss it.

Bollinger, Sanity, Reality

From Breath Of The Beast:

...Bollinger, like most of the rest of the academic elite, reacts to the Islamist threat with much the same visceral sense of disorientation and threat that had my little classmate Deborah in 6th grade so worked up. In fact, the Caliphate fanaticism of people like Ahmadinejad is so disruptive to the western psyche and world view, that when we come up against a true fanatic like Ahmadinejad, those of us who do not understand that not all human beings have the same training, are unable to cope with the disorientation. This is why otherwise highly intelligent and accomplished people like Bollinger become such easily manipulated dupes; and he stepped right into full “dupe-hood” in the instant that he began addressing Ahmadinejad. Like much of the left, Bollinger is subject to extreme anxiety about the emotions and reasons of those who are self-proclaimed enemies of the west. He says to Ahmadinejad accusingly, “Do you plan on wiping us off the map, too?”

He asks a litany of plaintive “whys”-

Why have women, members of the Baha'i faith, homosexuals and so many of our academic colleagues become targets of persecution in your country?

Why in a letter last week to the secretary general of the U.N. did Akbar Gangi, Iran's leading political dissident, and over 300 public intellectuals, writers and Nobel Laureates express such grave concern that your inflamed dispute with the West is distracting the world's attention from the intolerable conditions your regime has created within Iran? In particular, the use of the Press Law to ban writers for criticizing the ruling system.

Why are you so afraid of Iranian citizens expressing their opinions for change?
Why do you support well-documented terrorist organizations that continue to strike at peace and democracy in the Middle East, destroying lives and civil society in the region?

Can you tell them and us why Iran is fighting a proxy war in Iraq by arming Shi'a militia targeting and killing U.S. troops?

Anyone who has followed Ahmadinejad’s career and speeches already knows the answers to those questions. He has told the world what he believes but very few have listened to him. He is a Caliphate Muslim who believes the advent of the Mahdi is imminent. His vision of the Mahdi is apocalyptical and involves the slaughter and subjugation of all non-believers. He sees himself as a catalyst, or even, an instigator of this process. Bollinger didn’t break any new ground. He didn’t challenge Ahmadinejad’s religious mania. He just indulged the perennial leftist preoccupation with “Why do they hate us?”

They (the left) find Islamist rage, lying, prevarication and violence so unsettling to their infantile sense of what makes the world safe that their first priority is to attempt to regain some feeling of safety and control. Under such stress, people are often reduced to infantile and irrational behavior (why do you hate us? , but why, why?).

And now, the money shots, from Dr Sanity. First, from Children of Postmodern Nihilism:

These are the children of postmodernism; steeped in the nihilism of our day. They believe in nothing and stand for nothing. They utter the same old tired and worn self-serving platitudes of a defunct and dangerous world view, but anyone can see that the fire has gone out of their movement. They are losing, and they know it. But they are so narcissistically invested in that world view, that they tremble in fear whenever the real world presents them with something that contradicts their religiously held beliefs.

They are in a great deal of terror at the moment. Not, of course from Jihadis (which would be rational) but because their world view is under attack whenever a George W. Bush is elected; or a Sarkozy or Merkel, for that matter. They cling to the Hugo Chavez types for dear life; and pray that thugs like Ahmadinejad and Zawahiri are able to humiliate and defeat their real enemy, which is America and all it stands for.

These children were raised on postmodern milk; and their brain development has reached a point of no return and is functioning now for the sole purpose of blocking out the real world; rather than trying to understand it. Reality, truth and reason are far too dangerous for their childish beliefs and behaviors.

If you can convince children that objective reality is an illusion; that A does not equal A; that black is white; and that good is bad; if you can make them accept that everything is subjective and relative; then you own them. They will believe any drivel. Through the appropriate manipulation of language, everything can be distorted, without the messy need to resort to facts, logic, or reason.

Without a rational metaphysics–or worldview–that explains the nature of existence and reality; and without an epistemology that says our minds are able to acquire knowledge of that reality; then it is easy to enforce conformity, totalitarian thinking, and political passivity.

Ethics, or the study of how man should behave in the world–or, what is good and what is evil–is totally dependent on both metaphysics and epistemology, because it is impossible to make choices withoug knowledge; just as it is impossible to have knowledge without a reality that can be known by our minds.

What matters in the postmodernist’s convoluted thinking is not truth or falsity–only the effectiveness of the language used. Lies, distortions, ad hominem attacks; attempts to silence opposing views–all are strategies that are perfectly satisfactory if they achieve the desired effect. Ideas and reason must make way for reification of feelings; and freedom is replaced by thought control.

If you wonder why they exhibit so much animosity and emotional hysteria directed against traditional values and ideas; and against Republicans, neocons, Christians, Males etc. etc.; then understand the nature of the postmodern nihilism that defines and sustains them. The pervasive and unrelenting trickle down of postmodern theories and thinking in education, art, politics and all the social areas of life has resulted in a crop of humans who are opposed to thinking because it is far to dangerous to their secular religious beliefs. Even science has not been immune from the nihilism and anti-reason, anti-reality agenda of the postmodernists.

If you want to understand why nothing seems to make sense and the most blatant contradictions and relativistic meanderings are presented as absolute truth; why language is abused and words don’t seem to have the same definitions anymore; and can sometimes even mean the opposite of what they used to; why photographs can lie; why contradictory discourses and distortion of truth; and ad hominem attacks and a distinct reluctance to face reality are all a part of the “reality-based” community–you need look no further than postmodernism.

And finally, if you want to understand why that which is truly evil –embracing death, slavery, and nihilism–is now presented and even trumpeted as the “good” while the good is dismissed, denigrated and mocked; then you would do well to understand the psychology and ideology of the covert enemies of America and of civilization–the adult children of postmodern nihilism.

Now, Dr Sanity, in Postmodern Leftist Tripe,

Well, there are two reasons we are being subjected to this kind of propaganda. The first is that historical revisionism is not something that is confined to psychotic regimes in the Middle East who convene “scientific” conferences to “prove” that the Holocaust did not even happen (I’ll bet a Gallup poll in Iran, or anywhere in the muslim world for that matter, would have even more than 54% of the population agree that it didn’t. Are we supposed to believe that such a poll has anything to do with reality?).

The second reason is that in our lovely postmodern world, where reality and truth are only relative and anybody’s “reality” is as good as anybody else’s; is is just a matter of a poll or two, constructed along ideological lines to fit a particular template; that can somehow determine today, what history will say many tomorrows from now. With enough repetition and passion, “history” can be set in stone in the temporal present…

For them, popularity will always trump truth and reality. They will never acknowledge, let alone take responsibility for the millions that their ideology killed in the last century and the unbelievable depths of human misery their ideas wrought. They will only continue their con, protected by the fog of postmodernism.

Today’s political left might have a few transient moments of glory left in them, but the perfidy and nihilism that is destroying civilization and which is relentlessly promoted by their mindless minions through the irrational postmodern rhetoric we’ve come to expect from the MSM has now been fully exposed.

The left deeply fears neoconservatism and the economic and political freedom that it supports, and will stop at nothing to discredit its ideas. But they cannot do it using reason, reality, and truth; so these impediments they must abandon.

As we have noted, psychopathy can be measured by to what lengths people will go to deny reality.

The Iranian Stain

He came, he spoke, he left.

In the end, the Mahmoud Ahmadenijad confirmed the bigotry, hate and brutality that he, the regime he represents. More importantly, those who even remotely support his ideologies and beliefs have been exposed for what they are.

Let’s look at some of those beliefs and ideologies.

The Iranian leader wants continued academic study on the Holocaust. This self proclaimed ’scientist’ and ‘academic’ has made clear his academic bona fides by appointing David Duke and other, similarly credentialed individuals as a honored guests at the Holocaust Conference in Iran.

Ahmadenijad has embraced those who continue to be proponents of ugly racist ideologies. The leftists who embrace Ahmadenijad and turn a blind eye to his support of anti Semitic ideologues need to consider a few realities. The support of oppressive and dysfunctional Middle East regimes for whom anti Semitism is mothers milk, is also an expression of support for the purveyors of other kinds of hate. When the left, via Mahmoud Ahmadenijad gives David Duke a free pass on Jew hatred, they are willingly aligning themselves with Duke’s other ugly ideologies. Embrace Ahmadenijad and you are embracing David Duke.

Let’s put it this way. There are those who are willing to turn a blind eye to the evil directed against the Jews in World War Two. Denying that Holocaust is to deny the evil committed against the Gypsies, homosexuals, mentally ill, terminally ill and physically deformed individuals.
Have you ever noticed how those that deny the Holocaust are the same people who think racial or religious holocausts are a good idea?

While David Duke and an assortment of renowned racists and anti semites are Mahmoud Ahmadenijad’s idea of ‘academics,’ it bears noting that there were none from the more traditional Halls of Academia, either here or in academia. The idea promulgated by the Iranian leader that academics are ‘intimidated’ in the west is absurd. American universities are replete with fringe professors and teachers who are advocates for all kinds of ideas, including anti Semitic and anti Israel causes. Professors who regularly promote deceit, advocate violence and even genocide are tolerated on American and European campuses.

The left has embraced the likes Ahmadenijad, the man who welcomed David Duke and other racists and bigots with open arms. Their moral, political and ethical ideologies speak as to who they really are.

Ahmadenijad’s absurd assertion that there are no gays in Iran just like saying there is no persecution of women, Jews, Bahai’s and Christians in that nation. His psychopathic remarks fly in the face of reality. If he can look at the audience at Columbia and shamelessly make such ridiculous remarks, to believe his other remarks speaks to the stupidity of those who find him credible.

There were those in the audience at Columbia who applauded the Iranian leader when he took umbrage when called on the persecution of woman, gays and Baha’i in Iran.
They applauded Ahmadenijad’s response when he said Bolliger was ‘rude’ to do so.

Newsflash! Addressing the persecution of minorities in Iran (something Ahmadenijad did not explicitly refute) or anywhere is more important than diplomatic niceties. For two decades, the slaughter in Sudan that has resulted in the death of over 2 million has been the result of diplomatic niceties.

Mahmoud Ahmadenijad also declared that he ‘loves’ the Jewish people.

If that were true, why would he surround himself with racists, bigots and anti Semities? You are indeed known by the company you keep. Ahmadenijad has aligned himself with bigots like Hassan Nasrallah (’let the Jews gather in Israel. It will save us the trouble of rounding them up’ ) who regularly refers to Jews as descendants of apes and pigs’ and Syria’s Bashar Assad, where references to Jewish blood libels and other forms of vile hate are an integral part of state sponsored media and educational curriculum.

Like all the other dysfunctional and tyrannical leaders in the Middle East, Mahmoud Ahmadenijad ran like a cockroach in the night when the lights came on. He and others like him, are like the pedophiles who say they love children.

The nation of Iran does have a great history and culture- and it is an outrage that the likes of Mahmoud Ahmadenijad and the mullahs have hijacked and shamed thousands of years of that history and culture. Ahmadenijad, declaring himself the guardian of Iranian culture is like David Duke declaring himself the guardian of American culture or Adolph Hitler declaring himself the representative of German culture. Ahmadenijad and the mullahs that pull his strings are no more a representative of Iranian and Persian history, heritage and culture that Arafat, Osama bin Laden and every single dysfunctional Arab leader are representative of Arab and Muslim culture.

It is an outrage that the likes of Ahmadenijad and the mullahs have denigrated the culture and history of Iran.

Ahmadenijad and the mullahs have shamed the Iranians on the world stage. There will be a time when the Iranians will give Ahmadenijad and the mullahs exactly what they deserve.

Spontaneous Insight

Due to a local heavy equipment rodeo, local connection and technical difficulties are resulting in spotty internet connections on the grounds of the world famous SC&A Institute.

While deprivation of our collected wit, wisdom and brilliance may be difficult for many of you, we want you to know that we will not be thinking of you in the least.

In the event that in our absence there are readers who out of the ether and are able to discern reality from fantasy or are able to distinguish between political rhetoric and the usual level of incompetence in Washington, DC, Europe and Middle East, we will be the first to drop to our knees and give thanks for the spontaneous healing.

In the even that in our absence there are readers who are consumed why flames of an unknown origin, we will be the first to drop to our knees and give thanks for a really finally succumbing to spontaneous combustion.

In the meantime, visit NASA organic waste in space expert Dr Sanity (be sure to check out Carnival of the Insanities), the brilliant and under appreciated Shrinkwrapped, the Margaret Atwood of mental health counselors who made Nureyev and Barynishkov look like really lousy shag dancers, Neo-neocon, and of course, the assistant Master of the Universe, Gagdad Bob, who when not divining the Mind of God or examining the human potential, engages in a series of ongoing battles with Petey, reputedly owner of a ladder that reaches skyward.

Check out the Anchoress, Fausta, Gates of Vienna and Weekly Scheiss, too. You'll benefit from spontaneous insight.

Pigs And Lipstick, Free Will And Prayers

As Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmahdenijad gets 'ready for his closeup' at Columbia University, a few realities need be addressed.

For years, the Iranian regime has said they had 'no problem with Jews.' Thy claim they are tolerant and respectful of Judaism, noting they take issue with Zionists. Sounds reasonable, right?

Garbage.

Let's be clear- there are well documented examples of the 'tolerant' Iranian regime persecuting the Baha'i and other religious minorities- including Christians for decades. Those for whom the death penalty is so abhorrent ought to be aware of the regime's track record in executing women, gays and children. There is also the matter of public floggings and the stoning of women to death.

How can the leader of a regime that not only encourages such activities, but endorses and demands such behavior as religiously mandated, be taken seriously? How stupid does someone have to be to be satisfied with such drivel?

How on earth can anyone take the message of 'religious tolerance' from the leader of a regime for whom religious intolerance and persecution of individuals are part and parcel of an ideology of hate? If rewards for the execution of those who offend or disagree with Islam are commonplace, is anyone stupid enough to really believe that Jews in Iran are free to speak their mind? Iranian students are persecuted, arrested and sometimes murdered for their beliefs. Does this sound like the behavior of a religiously tolerant regime?

In Choices... Dr Sanity rightly speaks of Lee Bollinger, the idiot president of Columbia who extended the invitation to Ahmadenijad:

Indeed, the Iranian President must be rolling on the floor laughing along with the mullahs about the incredible victory handed to them by the morally bankrupt Bollinger, a man who symbolizes all that is most nauseating about the political left today.

Finally, we are republishing a post in which we discuss Neo-neocon's treatment the bigoted and tyrannical Iranian president's cause celebre, Holocaust denial.

Neo-neocon has a terrific post, Holocaust denial: it's catching, in which she gives us her insight on the Iranian president's outrageous and outlandish display of antiSemitism.

Oh, I know; it's become downright fashionable these days to compare all sorts of world leaders to Hitler--particularly President Bush. But Ahmadinejad really does exhibit parallels with Hitler, at least in his rhetoric, if not in his ability to fulfill that rhetoric by acquiring the vast territory Hitler conquered.

In what is elegant understatement, Neo-neocon's reader, Ymarsker, corrals the sublime, in a comment:

But they are wrong, as wrong as Hitler was. Because it is not the Jews they should fear taking over the world, it is America and our focus not on purity of the soul or of blood, but on the consistency of human nature. That is what they should fear if their core beliefs were correct.

We believe in the free will of humanity, and our enemies are nothing more than the implements which shall bind humanity in darkness forevermore.

The Muslims are as near-sighted as Hitler. Makes sense, they believe in the same retarded philosophy.

We shall show them the true meaning of strength.

With the acknowledgement of free will, Ymarsker hits on the nerve that singular truth that deflates reflexive hatreds. No matter how hard we might try, free will is a part of the human condition. It requires great effort, from an early age, to instill those real, reflexive and most profound of hatreds- and even that is no guarantee, as the brainwashed children of the Hitler Youth proved. When confronted with the truth and magnitude of their crimes, they too, cried in shame- and that stains the German nation, still.

As it is our legacy to eradicate racism and inequity where it exists in this country, so to it is the legacy of Germans to eradicate a different kind of racism. Someday, it will be the legacy of the Muslim Ummah, to address their sins, and be watchful for those who might make the same mistakes.

It was a choice of the Palestinians and German Baader Meinhof gang that hijacked the Air France 139 Airbus, to land in Entebbe, Uganda, and separate the Jews from the non Jews and threaten their lives. It was also the exercise of free will when the French airline captain and his entire crew, refused to abandon the terrified Jews. 'Upon the announcement by the hijackers that the airline crew and non-Israeli/non-Jewish passengers would be released and put on another Air France plane that had been brought to Entebbe for that purpose, Flight 139's Captain Michel Bacos announced to the hijackers that all passengers, including the remaining ones, were his responsibility, and that he would not leave them behind. Bacos' entire crew, down to the most junior flight attendant, followed suit.' In one room, at one time, good and evil were clear.

Good and evil are easy to distinguish when put side by side. It is when they are apart that the moral relativism begins- and it is when they are not side by side that we must be most vigilant and strong in our convictions, and our capacity to distinguish good from evil- and especially evil committed in the name of good.

Neo-neocon's post is important. It is, in her understated way, a prayer. She is not asking any particular deity for a miracle- rather, she has turned around and faces the congregation, and reminds us that what precedes our hubris, is the truth that we were created in God's image. Whether you believe that in a literal or metaphorical way, we can only hope that Neo's prayer is answered.

God, literally or metaphorically, would be only too pleased to forgo our mea culpas and heartfelt grief that might come after the fact.

Neo-neocon's post can be found here. Read it, think about it, and pass it on.

Mahomoud Ahmadenijad is trying to camouflage his hate and deceit on the Columbia stage. As we noted, "Good and evil are easy to distinguish when put side by side."

With Mahomoud Ahmadenijad and Lee Bollinger in one room at the same time, trying to put lipstick on a pig, one can only hope that at Columbia, good- and reality will eventually make an appearance.

Podcast As Slugfest

Last night's podcast with Fausta, the Baron and Dymphna of the Gates of Vienna and ourselves turned into a virtual slugfest.

OK, it wasn't really a slugfest, but things did get kind of heated, in a good way.

As promised, we circled the political globe, all of us waxing eloquent.

All that changed when the discussion turned illegal immigration, subsidies for education and opposing political policies that converge.

You'll have to listen to the podcast (as do most heads of state, global business leaders and some of the world's most beautiful women) to hear how- and why- our conversation became very provocative, very quickly.

Arguing, discussing, challenging and debating with the Baron and Dymphna is a most highly recommended and satisfying endeavor. They offer up thoughtful, insightful and well reasoned arguments.

Were all such debates and exchanges so productive.

We also have it on good authority that just as the debate was going our way, the power mysteriously went out and the last few minutes of our spirited debate was left unrecorded.

That's just as well. Fausta, the Baron and Dymphna and ourselves are too modest and humble to have our collective brilliance usurp the political news makers of the day.

That said, look for a rematch soon.

The slugfest, er, podcast, can be found here.

Jihadi Jane Hamsher, Karl Rove And The New Caliphate

Jane Hamsher, author of the blog Firedog Lake and best known as the author of Joe Lieberman's political victory over Ned Lamont in Connecticut, cannot retire her role as 'political consultant.'

Notwithstanding the Hamsher engineered debacle that led to Lamont's spectacular decline and subsequent thrashing at the polls, it appears as if Ms Hamsher is determined to mainstream Arab world style politics into Democrat electoral races.

Hamsher is still at a loss as to why voters in Connecticut and elsewhere were offended by her style of politicking (constantly referring to Joe Lieberman as 'pig' didn't sit well with most voters). While the 'hit and run' style of personal attacks is an election staple, the Clinton-era style of sustained 'politics of personal destruction' as an acceptable form of political expression is repugnant to most Americans. After blowing through wads of Lamont's dough, one might think that is a lesson she learned.You'd be wrong.

In Note To Elizabeth Edwards: Lay Off Move On, Hamsher castigated Ms Edwards for decrying the MoveOn ad that referred to General David Petraeous as a traitor, or agent of betrayal:

So here’s the rule. You never repeat right wing talking points to attack your own, ever. You never enter that echo chamber as a participant. Ever. You never give them a hammer to beat the left with. Just. Don’t. Do. It.

...When offered the opportunity to cudgel your own side, you pivot and attack.

What Jane Hamsher cannot understand is that elections campaigns are not a Jihad, satisfied only with the spilling of blood . Election campaigns are an expression of democracy and the democratic process.

Elizabeth Edwards remarks were addressed to the nation- the voters whose support she seeks. Notwithstanding her and her husbands political views and ideologies, it is clear she understands what Jane Hamsher does not- that the office of the presidency encompasses all Americans, not just those that might vote for her husband. The MoveOn ad was as offensive as Arab media broadcasting anti Semitic slurs. That MoveOn, Hamsher, et al, refuse to say, 'maybe we went too far' is reminiscent of Iranian and Arab world justification of of their anti Semitism and Holocaust denial. That there are those who offer up 'attaboys' and others, like Hamsher who say, 'well, maybe they went to far, but...' subvert the ethics they proudly claim as their own. Only the hypocrisy is visible.

There is no room in this nation or in any democracy for a Jihad that installs one leader standing on the bloodied corpses of others.

Surrounded by supporters and believers, Hamsher is preaching to choir that is unaware they are singing off key. After the last mid term elections, Hamsher, et al, declared a 'mandate.' With congressional approval hovering at a lofty 11%, the message should be clear. There is no 'mandate,' there won't be a 'mandate' and the political Jihad she endorses is unacceptable to the vast majority of Americans.

There is plenty of room for argument and disagreement. There is plenty of room for vigorous campaigning and spirited debate. What there is no room for is the kind of politics Jane Hamsher espouses- and that is the lesson Hamsher refuses to learn, despite the strong message sent her way by the voters of Connecticut.

Along those very lines, Hamsher attempts to rewrite history. She says nothing of Connecticut voters rejecting her brand of vicious Jihadi politics: Taking her cue from the Jihadi notebook, she shifts the blame onto the media and Connecticut voters:

We already know that Ned Lamont would win if the election were held today, but the reason he didn’t win THEN is because the media swallowed Joe’s big load of bs about nobody wanting to bring the troops home more than him and other assorted boldfaced lies without question.

Any Connecticut resident so inspired to let their local media know that Connecticut voters have once again been rolled, feel free to use the “spotlight” function at the end of the post and do so. Helpful contact information abounds.

The Lamont/Lieberman election was Lamont's to lose and with Hamsher's help, that is exactly what happened. In the end, Lamont could not overcome the Jihadi Jane Hamsher painted image of the vicious wild Jihadi, ready to do battle with the infidels, led by George Bush and all the other non believers in Washington and the nation.

The voters of Connecticut might have been ready for Ned Lamont. They were not ready for Jihad Jane and the new caliphate. They were not ready to elect the candidate that would install Jihadi Jane Hamsher in the Washington halls of power.

Maybe Jane Hamsher really does work for Karl Rove, after all.

Better Than Imus

Tonight at 9:00 PM, Fausta will host the Baron and Dymphna of the Gates of Vienna and ourselves in a prime time BlogTalk Radio podcast.

We will discuss campaign politics, national politics, the surreal world inhabited by leftists and of course, the Middle East- the one subject so many clueless idiots are so passionately determined to make themselves heard.

Don't miss the 9:00 PM podcast. The Baron and Dymphna will absolutely make you smarter.

Missiles, Mullahs And Mirrors

In the Spielberg film Schindler's List, Amon Goth, (the notorious commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, played by Ralph Feinnes) was struck by a remark made by Oscar Schindler at a party. Schindler tells a drunken Goth that 'anyone can kill. Real power comes from the ability to forgive and pardon.'

The following morning, in what is a chilling and mesmerizing scene in film, a slovenly and hung over Amon Goth looks into a mirror and says, 'I pardon you,' over and over. He repeats the remarks over and over, with various gestures, seeking the right 'look' for his supposed largesse, in which he can appear grand, magnanimous and humble, all the same time.

There is very little that is different between Amon Goth and Mahmoud Ahmadenijad and those who support them and share their ideas.

Both Goth and Ahmadenijad have come to represent an idea that that their imaginary 'pardons' of those they have aggrieved, somehow absolved them of the bestial crimes they committed and the repugnant and evil ideologies to which they have committed themselves.

Mahmoud Ahmadenijad's threat of unleashing the missiles upon Israel and American forces and interests in Iraq- only if attacked, of course- is no more a gesture of Iran's inherent 'reasonableness' than were Adolph Hitler's displays of affection for his dog- and it is important that we understand that. While the evil and ugly Nazi regime is gone, the self professed heirs apparent to those dreams are now suggesting that their 'reasonableness' merits us allowing them an honored seat at the table of civilized nations, notwithstanding their hate, bigotry and racism. The Iranians are shrewdly playing to an audience that finds even necessary confrontation and self defense repugnant.

Iran relies on the denialists and psychopaths in free nations for whom blatant antisemitism, Holocaust denial and promises of 'We will finish what Hitler started,'are not enough to disqualify those purveyors of hate and bigotry from being portrayed as 'helpless victims,' or 'misunderstood.' In fact, all that is necessary for these moral degenerates to remain worthy of leftist love is to adopt an anti American, anti Israel and anti Semitic postures and all will be forgiven. The persecution and oppression of their own populations, the denigrations of women and children and the support of terror can all be overlooked and forgiven as long as the hate is 'correctly' focused.

When all is said and done, that is why the left cares little for the Darfurese. As long as the Bashir government and Arab Janjaweed are sufficiently anti American and anti democracy, the butcher, rape and slaughter can continue. The two million dead in Sudan over the last two decades are irrelevant.

When Israel was founded in 1948, that nation was the darling of the left. Many of that country's founders were communists and socialists (that is why the first nation to cast an affirmative ballot in the UN vote for the partition of Palestine was the Soviet Union. They fully expected that Israel would be an important Soviet asset in the Middle East). When the rubber met the road however, the Israelis proved that once given a choice, people will always choose freedom over tyranny. The left was stung and hasn't gotten over their bitter disappointment. Leftist support for Israel eroded and became real hate for the Jewish state that dared embrace real democratic values. This lesson hasn't been lost by the Palestinians.Were they to adopt a truly democratic and pluralistic ideology, the left would drop them in a minute.

Citizens of free nations need to look inward, at the values and beliefs that have come to define us and we need to be able to recognize those other values and beliefs that are the gospel of those for whom freedom and democracy are abhorrent.

Dr Sanity once noted,

There is an inner courage required to look at one’s self in the mirror of insight and truly know the person looking back. All of us are capable of the most horrible behavior; just as we are capable of finding ways to rationalize it and cover it up or blame others for it. Psychological health requires that we look into that mirror frequently and understand our own motivations and behaviors and not flinch in recognizing the truth about ourselves.

…individuals and societies go off careening off in all the wrong directions–directions that will never lead to the recognition or acceptance of reality, and so can never lead to effective solutions.

It does take courage to look into oneself. It takes courage to look at one's nation and without the tumult of the ideologues rants, to see where that nation gets it right- or gets it wrong.

It also takes courage to look at other nations and to see what is really there. More often than not, their actions and words paint the most accurate of images that define their nation. While we may want to see something different, no amount of closing our eyes and clicking our heels together three times can change reality.

Aldous Huxley noted that “Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”

There is a difference between nations who value freedom versus those who would destroy freedom and oppress others. The failed legacies of those who wish that were not so and refuse to see the truth of their own failures are spectacular. Those legacies are drenched in the bright red blood of innocents and the billions that are still living under the tyrants boot.

We have reached a point where many would sooner believe absurd conspiracy theories or flights of fancy, rather than face the facts that would upend their perceptions of what reality must be, so as to validate their beliefs and biases.

Like Mahmoud Ahmadenijad and his supporters, apologists and like the Arab nations in the Middle East, facts and reality must be recreated and redefined, made to fit so as to support bias and outright hate. There are no limits to the number of lies, distortions or reinterpretations of reality there needs to be.

Aldous Huxley, once more:

That all men are equal is a proposition which, at ordinary times, no sane individual has ever given his assent.

That we are all born as equal in worth, is not in question. That we are all endowed with the same potential, is yet another truth. Nevertheless, it is only in a democracy, all men are equal under the law. In a free society we are we each able to optimize our potential.

In the end, it is the actions, values and beliefs that will determine the relative equality of all men.

Oppressors, and those who support them, are not the same as those who fight for freedom and those who support that fight.

In Mahmoud Ahmadenijajad's psychopathic mind, it is perfectly reasonable that he be allowed a nuclear power program (that has been hidden, lied about and denied) and to enrich uranium, continue to threaten Israel and the west. That there are those who believe we can 'negotiate' with the mullahs is as absurd as celebrating Neville Chamberlain's silly announcement that all would be well in Europe as he waved a piece of paper for the media 'upon which is Herr Hitler's signature.'

Indeed. Chamberlain's appeasement, his 'diplomatic success,' was to result in an entire continent thrust into darkness for a generation, and a world that sacrificed some of the best they had to offer. Those who believe that evil can be dealt with, rationalized with or bargained with, have learned little from history. There are no examples of regimes being 'talked out of' their evil or hate. In fact, as a rule, the less we had to do with regimes for whom bigotry, racism and hate were their calling card, the sooner those evil regimes dissipated into nothingness.

There are those who will regard regard Mahmoud Ahmadenijad as a 'statesman' and 'diplomat.' These are the same people regard him a legitimate leader and the leader of a nation that is a moral equal to our own and other free western nations. So what if he wants to wipe some nations off the map? So what if he demands we change our policies so that they are more in line and understanding with his own policies of repression, bigotry and hate of Jews Baha'i and Zoroastrians, for starters. So what if he oversees brigades of volunteers that threaten suicide bombings that target Americans and Israelis?

Once more, Dr Sanity:

As psychological defense mechanisms go, displacement is a nice neurotic one that--for the user anyway--keeps all that distressing psychological conflict at bay. The rest of us, however, must continue to live and deal with the reality they are denying.

The image that comes to mind is that of a lifeguard attempting to rescue a drowning person; but the person drowning is so frightened and irrational as they hysterically thrash about that they end up thwarting all attempts to save them; and, even worse, their hysteria threatens to drag their rescuer down to the depths with them.

Recently, the Arab League refused an invitation to a peace summit in Israel, after supposedly extending a hand in peace to that beleaguered nation, 'with no preconditions.'

They demanded that before they would even consider regional peace talks, Israel comply with all the demands made by the Arab League and Saudi Initiative- the initiative with 'no preconditions.' In the same week, Arab world television and media broadcast the regularly scheduled and requisite antisemitic and anti American bigotry and hate.

There is very little that differentiates Mahmoud Ahmadenijad and Amon Goth- in reality or in the mirrors they look into.

Music For The Mind

Time to embrace the music that lifts the soul. There are small, nuanced passages and there are the 'big music' pieces as well.

What happen when the arguments against God are hollow, or can’t be made at all? There are those who employ a ’shoot the messenger’ mentality to buttress an ideology. The Anchoress looks at the numbers and the emperor’s wardrobe.

Thus fully informed on the mind and life of Benedict XVI, the press is as prepared as a pea shooter against field artillery for what happens whenever Benedict actually, you know, says something. So, for instance, when he released his first encyclical Deus Caritas Est, the bafflement was palpable…[the press] is constantly astounded to find that their caricature of him is not true and, with truly childlike reasoning, concludes that Benedict must have “grown.”

Reality and clarity can be so pesky.

The Anchoress also wrote one of the more important posts of this political season, Immigration Debacle: All Or Nothingism Begat Nothing:

The illegal immigration hardliners demanded “all or nothing at all,” from President Bush and the GOP leadership. And now, they have nothing, and no political power to do much of anything. Illegal immigrants are still entering the nation mostly unchecked. The useless NIS is no closer to being reformed and retooled into something useful. There are no plans to design as sort of Ellis Island West, to actually process potential citizen immigrants “the way my grandfather came into New York - legally!” as the hardliner crows. Nothing is being done. But hey…at least the folks with the high, strong principals can sleep at night knowing they didn’t compromise!

A long time ago I wrote that the blood of many may well rest on the heads of those who would not get serious about the War on Terror. By the same token, I think it would not be completely unfair to state that the increases and excesses of illegal immigrants - and whatever political fall-out or legislative impotence comes from once more refusing to deal realistically with an issue that has been ignored for decades - will rest on the heads on those who took a hard, uncompromising line; those who managed to drop-kick the first president to try to effect positive change, and further weaken his entire presidency, while still getting nothing done. This issue was not well-played, folks. And just because the only ones still talking about it are the one-noters in internet forums doesn’t mean the issue is put to bed. Far from it. The reckoning - and the issue itself - has simply been kicked down the road for the time being, launched by a tantrum of “conservative anger”, which sent it nowhere good.

Partisan politics are not only only pointless, they are destructive. Be it inflexible (and unrealistic) immigration attitudes or the MoveOn.org character assassinations and threats, partisan politics does nothing but further marginalize the extremists for whom extremism is a meal ticket.

Like it or not, most Americans get along with each other and will continue to do just that- and that is what fuels partisan politics. When Americans compromise, extremists lose. Thus the desperate and ever escalating extremism- and that is the truth the Anchoress highlights.

Gagdad Bob, enhancing reception and clarity of another sort:

I remember when I purchased my first CD player in early 1990’s. I was a holdout in the digital revolution, and continued listening to vinyl exclusively long after CDs were available. I eventually purchased a good CD player, and yet, when I brought it home I was very disappointed with the sound. To my ears the music sounded superficially accurate, but it was flat, dull, lifeless, and lacking in warmth. It had a palpably hollow and somewhat shrill metallic edge and was missing a certain dimension of depth or presence that analogue brings out. (Just try listening to one of the first generation unremastered CDs that came out in 1985 or 1987, and you’ll hear what I mean. They sound horrible.)

To try to address the problem, I purchased a pair of decent aftermarket cables to connect the CD player to my amp and replace the cheap ones that came with the unit. Voila! Suddenly there was an added dimension of warmth and presence — of life — that was lacking before.

Now, number-crunching engineers will assure you that this is impossible, that a cable is a cable is a cable. In fact, it is the official policy of magazines like Consumer Reports that there is essentially no difference in sound quality between one CD player and another. It’s scientifically impossible, you see. You may think that you’re hearing something different, but science says you can’t be. If it cannot be measured by an objective test, then it doesn’t exist. You are fooling yourself.

Sound familiar? This is a perennial debate in psychology as well. For example, science knows that the unconscious cannot possibly exist, and that Freud’s ideas about it have been thoroughly debunked. But if you lie (in both senses of the term) on ShrinkWrapped’s threadbare couch and aimlessly ramble for a few moments about this and that, he claims the ability to peer into your very soul and understand all sorts of secrets that you’ve been keeping from yourself. Just like the music lover, he will experience another dimension to your communications which entirely escapes the methods of science. Unless, like me and my expensive aftermarket cables, he’s just pulling the wool over his own ears and charging his sheep for the fleece.

It is true Gagdad Bob makes some people uncomfortable. That is a good thing. In another post he examines revelation and repentance and sees a continuum.

Revelation is like an intellectual cathedral that mirrors the hierarchical dimension of the vertical on this side of the manifestivus — it is “heaven on earth,” so to speak. But spiritual growth is not an object. Rather, it is a “motion” or movement — an expansion. As a matter of fact, it is the leading edge of the cosmos.

In my book I attempted to describe the algorithm of this movement with a set of abstract symbols that apply to any spiritual practice and all spiritual growth. To a large extent those symbols are descriptive rather than prescriptive, providing some hints but leaving the exact “how to” to the individual aspirant, who must combine “know how” with “be who.” [See the SC&A review of One Cosmos Under God]

…most anyone on a spiritual path requires some equivalent of psychotherapy in order to gain insight into the adversary within. The mind parasites don’t really care if you go spiritual on them, so long as you don’t leave them behind. A moment’s glance at the history of religion shows this to be true. Religion has almost been ruined by mind parasites, and it is perfectly understandable if a sophisticated modern person were to reject it on that basis alone.

We are fallen beings. Or, if you prefer, we are more or less exwholed and exiled from the vertical; we are strangers in this world, wandering in the desert of the horizontal, trying to find our way home. We go through books, experiences, teachers, trying to find Truth or Freedom or Happiness. Sometimes we catch a glimpse, only to see it recede into darkness, like a dream that fades upon awakening.

…you have to derail your life. You have to repent, which literally means to “turn around” or change course. Now, many people who come to a spiritual practice do so because their life has been derailed for them. They are probably the lucky ones. They have achieved a state of spiritual blankruptcy. They are no longer moving, but at least they have stopped moving in the wrong direction. Now, instead of pushing themselves toward the wrong destination, they will have the opportunity to be lured into the heart of the right one.

3:10 To Integrity

Shrinkwrapped's Of Boy's And Men is a kind of 'full circle' look at American culture and society and the influences that shaped how we have come to define ourselves.

Every culture has its own unique Rites of Passage. These Rites demarcate childhood from adulthood, separating boys from men and girls from women. As with most sexually differentiated behavior, male Rites of Passage tend to be more dramatic and well defined than the Rites of Passage for girls. Typically, the demarcation of boys and men invovles the full expression of male aggressivity, channeled into socially acceptable and necessary channels. Most male Rites of Passage invovle fighting enemies or a derivative. As we have managed our way to become more civilized, the murderous nature of male Rites has been tempered, so that often such Rites are only distant derivatives of such primitive aggression. Rites of Passgae also become the basis for the culture's evocation of heroism. For example, a society that honors the warrior as the greatest ideal to which a boy can aspire can be sure to contain Rites of Passage that glorify aggression.

This creates a problem for pacifist societies. Since the role of the Rite is to enable the boy to channel his aggression in socially acceptable ways, societies that eschew aggression in all spheres will often find themselves celebrating feminized men who lack the ability to express what in more simple times have been known as masculine traits.

Shrinkwrapped goes on to discuss the film, 3:10 to Yuma (with more than a bit of Jungian examination of the symbolism):

The American western is the genre that captures the quintessence of what it means to be an American. The American cowboy at his best has always represented an updated version of Medieval chivalry. The lone Knight/cowboy dispenses rough but fair justice, protecting the weak and defenseless, especially the women and children who otherwise would be left to the mercy of the bad guys. This is an archetypal story and 3:10 to Yuma does a brilliant job, evoking nothing less than High Noon, perhaps the most compelling and emblematic of the kind. Yet the differences between the two movies could not be more telling...

The discussion is more than interesting. Shrinkwrapped looks at how we look at ourselves and why.

He opines on a Whitney Museum exhibition he attended the same weekend he saw the film, 3:10 to Yuma.

Mild embarrassment was my initial reaction. The exhibit documented a time and place that was ultimately unserious to the extreme. By that I mean that the counterculture was all about prolonging childhood rather than finding new and improved ways to be come adults. For a brief moment, it seemed that growing up had become optional, that the longstanding connection between cause and effect in human affairs had been severed. The free expression of our impulses without consequences was the hallmark of the times...

The 60s of the "Summer of Love" and the "Psychedelic Era" were many things, most of them profoundly trivial, but they were not a heroic time in which boys could learn to be men; they were a time when boys were encouraged to inhibit their aggression and continue to play. Too many who grew up in that time now act as if they need to continue behaving like rebels against a constricting universe in order to feel that their immaturity actually represents a deeper maturity. (How often do we hear from those who claim to "speak truth to power" how courageous they are, when in reality they risk nothing, since they are an integral part of the very establishment they claim to decry?)

The Beatles sang "Love is all you need" but the fatuity of that sentiment should be obvious in a world in which vile misogynistic, racist, anti-Semites would like nothing more than to kill those who "Love" so mindlessly.

Utopian grandiosity is an expectable affectation for adolescents. We expect it and might worry if our adolescents didn't dream of saving the world.

Shrinkwrapped's remarks seem to be deliberately opaque- and for good reason. He wants his readers to connect the dots and embrace the truth and reality that what we see on the screen, what we read in modern day literature and what we are spoon fed as 'relevant' news are the results of 1960's ideologies.

There is little in our culture today that promotes accountability and responsibility- just the opposite, in fact (See Mamacita, for a look at what happens when children are not held accountable and how that affects your kids).

When it's all said and done, 'love is not all you need.' Cultures, societies and nations are defined by the behavior and character of the individuals that make up those cultures and societies.

This nation was created by those for whom responsibility, accountability, honor and decency were more than just words that are entries in a dictionary. Those words were lived by and held in great esteem. The merits of those qualities were taught in schools and preached from both religious and secular pulpits. An individuals politics were always secondary to hard earned integrity and credibility. Our founding fathers may not have been perfect, to be sure, but this nation grew and matured as we learned the lessons and values they embraced.

There are those who might argue but in the end, there are no lines for Cuban, Chinese, Syrian or Palestinian visas. There are lines for visa at western embassies and consulates.

Maybe that's why leftist's worship relativism and why for them, political identity is paramount. It's a whole lot easier than defining, defending and embracing decency and the moral values that define freedom and serve as the foundations for civilized societies.

Read Shrinkwrapped's Of Boy's And Men for a lesson in why responsibility really does matter.

Yup, It’s Monday

No doubt about it, Mondays are...Mondays.

Last year in Mobile County, 4,629 new cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis were reported -- enough instances of the sexually transmitted diseases to account for one out of every 87 people, according to a Press-Register review of state and federal statistics.

That was about three times the rate in New York City and more than twice as high as Washington, D.C...

In Alabama public schools, students are taught abstinence-based sex education as part of a half credit of health education in high school. Students learn that "abstinence is the only protection against pregnancy, HIV/AIDs and STDs," said state Department of Education spokeswoman Edith Parten.

Maybe it's time to rethink what is and isn't taught in sex ed.

More news appropriate for a Monday:

Everybody in this little mountain community knew that Timothy Carl Chandler had been arrested on child pornography charges. It was in the newspaper and all over the TV news...

Two of Chandler's neighbors decided to do something about it, police say. They're accused of trying to scare him off by setting fire to his tiny house tucked away in a hardscrabble Appalachian hollow.

Chandler, 53, escaped from the flames. But his wife was killed in what authorities are calling an example of vigilante justice.

Of course, not all Monday news is bad.

John Ubele wants you to put him in the statehouse. He wants to take state Rep. John Legg's job. He promises good things: Lower homeowner's insurance. Order in the classroom. Less money for politicians, more for vocational training. His official platform veers toward mainstream conservatism.

But Ubele has another platform, one he doesn't mention on his candidate Web site, and here is the short of it:

He wants to build a national pro-white political party.

Ubele, 29, is a window cleaner by trade...

Ubele filed his candidate papers July 2. This is not his first run for office. Last November, after saying that black Americans who complain about discrimination should go back to Africa, he came in last among six candidates for Pasco's Mosquito Control Board. He got barely 3 percent of the vote.

Let's repeat that. Last in a six way race for a seat on the Mosquito Control Board.

There are losers and then there are losers that aren't happy being losers until everyone knows they are losers.

Legacies: Theirs And Ours

No matter how current events play themselves out, in the Middle East and elsewhere, only America will stand with her head unbowed. Those nations and individuals who fiercely oppose the efforts to bring freedom to others will eventually hang their heads in shame. Every effort and national policy that impedes the American efforts in liberating a nation and people from tyranny result in unnecessary loss of life, hope and dignity.

Do those nations and individuals that have benefited from the blessings of a free society, take their own freedom for granted so much, that to delay freedom for others means nothing to them? Does the Would those nations, if oppressed, appreciate a delay in our efforts to liberate them? Would they appreciate our decision to refuse to become involved?

For two centuries, America has been the standard bearer for freedom the world over. This nation, more multi cultural than any other on earth, however imperfect, has always supported the highest ideals of the human endeavor. We are forever examining ourselves, our past and our present, so that we may always find new ways for the lofty and highest ideals and expressions of free men. We have brought freedom to many nations and countless other nations look to us as an example as they define freedom for themselves. As Colin Powell once noted, we have ‘asked for nothing more than a place to bury our dead.’

It is no great honor when America must make the case to bring freedom and democracy to an oppressed people by herself.

It is even a greater disgrace when nations that have benefited from American efforts and contributions to their own freedom seek their glory in opposing the American effort to bring freedom to others, wherever they might be.

There are nations and individuals that refuse to stand up to tyranny to satisfy their own selfish short term interests and needs. They excoriate America and Americans because we will stand up and we will do that which is asked of us. In so doing, we highlight the difference between ourselves and those who choose to do nothing- and that is why we are hated.

We are everything they are not and they hate the reflection in the mirror. They have abandoned the principal and moral truth that all are deserving of freedom, and not just when it is politically expedient. Their shameful behavior will be a scarlet letter, always visible and forever remembered, no matter how many times history might be rewritten.

As nations are remembered for their noble deeds, so too are citizens as they make their own contributions to the elevation of man. It not just America the nation that will be remembered for her stand in defense and support of freedom. Individual Americans too, will be remembered and honored for their stand against tyranny. The defeat of Fascism and Nazism in Europe is claimed by the nations that declared war on tyranny. Those great victories can be claimed by anyone that wore a uniform, by every Rosie the Riveter, by every individual that bought a war bond and by everyone who uttered a prayer for those who would bring freedom and for those who suffered unspeakable horrors.

Of course, not all of mankind’s efforts have been so noble. As the physicists note, for action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

The other side of the coin is the legacy of modern Islam, a political virus that and entity that has infected a religion. That political virus, camouflaged as religion, wishes deprive it’s adherents of the oxygen that is democracy, and to replace it with a choking gas of oppression. Clearly, that legacy is one of waste, degradation and hollowness, in every sense of the word. It would not matter if Islam had not had a more noble past. Poison makes no distinction. Of course, there is no way now to avoid the contrast. The Arab world themselves mark the difference. Under the influence of that political virus, they seek a return to ‘past glories’, even as they engage in medieval barbarism. In what is a true mass delusion, they believe that genocide, mayhem and ruthlessness are the path that will lead them to moral equality with western, civilized states. The poison the Arab world has absorbed has deleterious effects.They cannot see the absurdity of those beliefs.

Those who propose the continual adversarial relationship between Islam and the west has already resulted in what is nothing less than a conflict that has correctly identified as the ‘Clash of Civilizations’. Over and over, Islamic leaders have told us that the only way to accommodation is through genocide. Over and over, we see those words as real and not mere rhetoric. Islamic atrocities in Sudan, Algeria, Mauritania, Nigeria and Pakistan are considered ‘business as usual’, with not a peep from Islamic nations.

When they promise genocide, they mean it.

The Arab nations chase nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, so that they too, might be counted among ‘the mighty’ nations. It is clear that these countries do not realize that to be a ‘mighty nation’, is to be a society and culture that embraces arts and letters, pluralism, science and education. It is a clear truth that there are no longer such cultures in the Arab world. The UN puts the Arab world level of education just above the bottom of the barrel, with Mein Kampf and The Protocols as perennial best sellers within a society that barely publishes and translates books.

While the Arab world wants to prove ‘equality’ with the western world and assert herself militarily, her warriors are illiterate and without finer sensibilities. Burning books and claiming that the murder of innocents is in service to the ‘Glory of Islam’, does not make the Arab Islamic world equal to the rest of the world. There will be no great Islamic legacy as long as children are taught to hate and worship violence. There will be no great Islamic legacy as long as atrocities go unchecked and are even encouraged, with genocide endorsed in media, school curriculum’s and from religious pulpits, preached by ‘religious authorities’ paid by the regimes they serve, not the people they lead.

The Arab populations demand power, even though they don’t understand what power really is. Power is the ability to change current realities.

The Arab world sees power and mistakes it for great might. They do not see that power is derived first and foremost from great societies, educated and always in the pursuit of knowledge, willing and wanting to adapt to the world around them. This is not a rejection of treasured or sacred values. Adaptation is bringing those values forward, to make them meaningful and relevant.

The Arab world, already decades (if not a century) behind, sees knowledge and the acquisition of knowledge as a confrontational process. They respond with suspicion- they really are afraid of the empowering effect knowledge might have on each and every individual. Deceived by their ‘leaders,’ they have come to believe that knowledge and insight are for the few privileged. They have been so beaten down, they believe that God wants everyone else to be no different than a cow.

Free people cherish learning and the free exchange of ideas, the source of all real power. That free exchange is a life long pursuit, a true passion. That free exchange of ideas defines us- indeed, it is at the core of our being. We are free to pursue as much knowledge as we wish, without being impeded in our efforts. A powerful nation is one where all citizens benefit and profit from learning and achievements.

That is why much the Islamic world hates what the west really represents- the freedoms and power that are shared and the belief that each individual is entitled to pursue his or her own potential to the best of their ability and in the manner they see fit for themselves and to seek out and acquire knowledge. Today, masses of Arab Muslims remain illiterate. So called Arab institutions of higher learning fear outsiders, and so they close their doors to the free exchange of new ideas and thoughts fearing an infection that might weaken the hold of the despots.

The damage done to Arab nations, societies and cultures by dysfunctional and tyrannical leaders will take generations to repair. Those societies will have pay for the hubris and evil that is perpetrated in their name. In fact, they are paying for that hubris and evil now. Those once great nations are seen as barbarous and evil that seek only to plunder wealth and live by the sword or the constant threat of violence.

In time, Muslims will ask themselves to what end their beliefs- and leaders- have served them. They will want to know why they are pariahs, not ever really taken seriously on the world stage or by those in the west. The honest among them will point to this time, and to the likes of Osama bin Laden and Yasser Arafat as large part of the reason the Arab world suffered so great a downfall. As the 20th century was winding down, many oppressed nations and peoples reached for freedom. The Arab world chose the opposite- they embraced and worshiped more tyranny. It was those tyrants that were to destroy any hopes of Arabs that were desirous of shedding the yoke of oppression.

The legacy of current day Islam will prove the fears and weaknesses of modern day Islam. Rather than engage in debate, there is the need to destroy those who question and seek answers. Of course, there can be no winning debate that justifies tyranny over freedom. The Arab world may find sympathy among the uninformed and the dishonest, but that is all. They can never influence free and educated peoples.

Their legacy of the modern day Arab world was assured long ago, when tyrants were forced to destroy bodies, in the hope that ideas of freedom and justice would die with right along with those who championed those truths. There was never any real hope that they might convert those people and societies free to their ideas- and darkness.

The entire world can see the legacy of the modern Arab world exactly for what it is.

It is also very evident which nations have chosen to stand up for those who have been oppressed and poisoned with hate, racism and bigotry for far too long.