Thanks for your email concerning "Shutdown: To The Rest Of The World The United States Looks Insane Right Now" - http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/10/shutdown-to-rest-of-world-united-states.html
"Conservatives" who currently control The House are insane - at least in the etymological sense of in sanus - Latin for "not well," "not healthy," "not whole." http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=insane
And if they are not clinically insane, they are high-functioning sociopaths, ready, willing and able to wreak national (and planetary) havoc that would trivialize damage done by the entire assemblage of straight-jacketed psychotics should they ever escape restraint.
In effect, we are dealing with an entire party afflicted with Oppositional Defiant Disorder. http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/09/arrested-development-american.html
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"Sanity"
Trappist monk, Fr. Thomas Merton
"One of the most disturbing facts that came out in the [Adolf] Eichmann trial was that a psychiatrist examined him and pronounced him perfectly sane. I do not doubt it at all, and that is precisely why I find it disturbing. . . The sanity of Eichmann is disturbing. We equate sanity with a sense of justice, with humaneness, with prudence, with the capacity to love and understand other people. We rely on the sane people of the world to preserve it from barbarism, madness, destruction. And now it begins to dawn on us that it is precisely the sane ones who are the most dangerous. It is the sane ones, the well-adapted ones, who can without qualms and without nausea aim the missiles and press the buttons that will initiate the great festival of destruction that they, the sane ones, have prepared. What makes us so sure, after all, that the danger comes from a psychotic getting into a position to fire the first shot in a nuclear war? Psychotics will be suspect. The sane ones will keep them far from the button. No one suspects the sane, and the sane ones will have perfectly good reasons, logical, well-adjusted reasons, for firing the shot. They will be obeying sane orders that have come sanely down the chain of command. And because of their sanity they will have no qualms at all. When the missiles take off, then, it will be no mistake."
Thomas Merton. "A Devout Meditation in Memory of Adolf Eichmann" in Raids on the Unspeakable, 1964
Pax on both houses,
Alan
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Republican presidential candidate, Pat Buchanan, the living American who has served longest as a White House senior staff adviser, observed: “The Republican philosophy might be summarized thus: To hell with principle; what matters is power, and that we have it, and that they do not.” “Where the Right Went Wrong"
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Republican presidential candidate, Pat Buchanan, the living American who has served longest as a White House senior staff adviser, observed: “The Republican philosophy might be summarized thus: To hell with principle; what matters is power, and that we have it, and that they do not.” “Where the Right Went Wrong"
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The Daily Show Asks A Real Hostage Negotiator How To Handle The GOP. (Video)
"The Reign of Morons Is Here," Charles P. Pierce, The Atlantic
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"The Reign of Morons Is Here," Charles P. Pierce, The Atlantic
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"A Southerner Explains Tea Party Radicalism: The Civil War Is Not Over"
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Diane Rehm's Brilliant Panel Discussion: "Possible Repercussions Of A U.S. Debt Default At Home And Abroad"
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"The Great Recession Vaporized 40% Of Americas's Net Worth. The Tea Party Intends Worse."
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Diane Rehm's Brilliant Panel Discussion: "Possible Repercussions Of A U.S. Debt Default At Home And Abroad"
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"The Great Recession Vaporized 40% Of Americas's Net Worth. The Tea Party Intends Worse."
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"The Shutdown Is A Republican Civil War" by Ezra Klein
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Republican Rule And Economic Catastrophe: A Lockstep Relationship"
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"Politics and Economics: The 101 Courses You Wish You Had"
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"Republicans for Revolution," A Study In Anarchic Apocalypticism
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"Sarah Palin As The Mad Hatter" (Image)
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"Shocking Development: Republicans Shut Down Prefrontal Cortex"
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"Jon Stewart Nails GOP Demands For Re-Opening Government"
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Republican Rule And Economic Catastrophe: A Lockstep Relationship"
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"Politics and Economics: The 101 Courses You Wish You Had"
"Politics and Economics: The 101 Courses You Wish You Had"
***
"Republicans for Revolution," A Study In Anarchic Apocalypticism
***
"Sarah Palin As The Mad Hatter" (Image)
"Sarah Palin As The Mad Hatter" (Image)
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"Shocking Development: Republicans Shut Down Prefrontal Cortex"
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"Jon Stewart Nails GOP Demands For Re-Opening Government"
On Tue, Oct 15, 2013 at 11:35 AM, Fred Owens <froghospital911@gmail.com> wrote:
By Ezra Klein, Published: October 14, 2013
To the rest of the world, the United States looks insane right now.
That is the mantra, a statement repeated over and over again, until everyone thinks it's true.
--
Fred Owens
cell: 360-739-0214
My blog is Fred Owens
send mail to:
Fred Owens
35 West Main St Suite B #391
Ventura CA 93001
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Dear Fred,
I hear what you're saying.
But, I have also heard you say -- and I agree! -- that "words mean something."
Because "words mean something," I try to avoid politically correct expression.
However, if "insane" is -- as I think -- precisely the word to refer to House Republicans (and their kin), I think we should use the appropriate word.
Personally, I think people can overcome insanity (which is a derangement) more easily than they can overcome meanness, which is a personality trait.
When people come to realize that they are deranged -- a realization that is intrinsically derivative of consensus normalcy), I think that realization itself can be linchpin.
On the other hand, people who are "mean" usually know that they are mean.
We often delight in our traits -- however different they may be from other analogous traits.
Rush Limbaugh is proud of being a sonofabitch asshole. He wishes there were millions more like him!
Here's the crux. Often humans don't realize they're sick until they're diagnosed.
Character description, as distinct from psychological illness, is just that - a description... one of many.
And none (or at least few) of these description are related to an essential norm.
Sexy. Unsexy. Energetic. Lethargic. Graceful. Awkward. Mean. "Bleeding heart."
Descriptive poles are all acceptable. But a diagnosis of disease is powerful motivation to seek a cure.
That said, I just had the following exchange with my high school sweetheart, Nancy Hardies (whom I think you met at UT).
On Tue, Oct 15, 2013 at 2:56 PM, NH wrote:
Yes, they are insane and mean spirited also !Love,Tig
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Dear Tig,
Thanks for your email.
I've noted that the word mean-spirited - which is totally accurate -- has become a code word that "only" preaches to the choir.
I've started to use the word "uncharitable" which, given the nominal "Christianity" of many Republicans, may actually get them thinking.
A generally useful phrase is this: "Whatever these conservatives may be, they are at least uncharitable."
Love
Alan
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Pax
Alan
On Tue, Oct 15, 2013 at 3:06 PM, Fred Owens <froghospital911@gmail.com> wrote:
The problem with accusing them of insanity is the after effect. This crisis will end but insanity lingers and is often incurable. Insanity does not respond to a change of heart. It would be far better to accuse them of being mean, because you can get over mean-ness. You can open your heart.Besides that, I just get kinda suspicious when everyone says the same thing over and over again.
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