Sigmund, Carl and Alfred

The latest Sanity Squad podcast is up- and it didn’t take long for the foot soldiers of the Idiot Brigade to show up.

Our scintillating conversation this week centers around the early presidents- Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln and the lasting contributions they made. Profound thinker, hip-hop icon and analyst extraordianiore  Shrinkwrapped, former ballet diva and bad girl Neo (rumored to have danced with either Rudolph Nureyev or one of the flying Wallendas) and big shot former NASA flight surgeon and inventor of flight diapers Dr Sanity make the weekly podcast a must listen.

One noteworthy and magnificent idiot left a comment on PJM that excoriates Lincoln for freeing the slaves- far too offensive an endeavor for real patriotic (Democrat) Americans, like him.

That Abe Lincoln was some bastard. Our commenter notes

In truth, in “saving” the Union, Lincoln destroyed two republics: the one born in 1861, and the one born in 1789.

That is only a whiff of the foul smelling stupidity, an odor rivaled only by Arab world school curriculum’s so dysfunctional that even bad weather and potholes in the sand are blamed on Israel, Jews or Americans.

There is no better argument against public schools and for school vouchers than this idiot com mentor. Like Jared of Subway sandwich fame, he needs to paid and be made the star of the ‘the this is what you end up with when public schools fail‘ roadshow.

Of course, we responded to the very self esteemed idiot in our usual delicate, empathic and gentle manner.

Shrinkwrapped has penned another absolute keeper on abortion.

In Abortion And Vicissitudes, Part II, (see part one here), Shrinkwrapped delicately defines what is all too often for may, an ethereal (and impersonal) concept- the beginning of life:

For a couple who desire a child, life begins before conception. A couple trying to become pregnant find that each month, if the woman has her menses, there is a small feeling of loss; the hoped for and already loved child has not appeared. When, finally, the woman determines she is pregnant, often responding to barely conscious and unconscious bodily signals that herald the changes taking place within, the child begins to take on a reality, a life of its own.

…Contrast this with an unwanted pregnancy. The language and the psychological processes couldn’t be more different. The future abortion is dehumanized from the start. It is a clump of cells or a fetus. It is the repository of all that is rejected and ambivalent in the parents…

SW’s post is an eye opener not so much for new ideas or thoughts, but rather for something far more important. Once and for all, we are offered a crisp and clear definitions, clarification and clear insight into the social, communal and personal impact of abortion.

Yesterday, I recounted my own personal (and unresolved) experience with abortion.

Personally, abortion makes me uncomfortable- actually, it makes me very uncomfortable and angry. I can’t debate the science of conception and I don’t have to. Ask any infertile couple trying to have a child and they will tell you a fetus is not ’tissue.’ That is enough for me.

By the same token, I do believe an individual has a right to choose what is right for them. It may not be what I agree with and I may find immoral, even. But until I’m in that person’s shoes, what right do I have to tell someone what is moral for them? Should not morality come from within and not be imposed? There are people out there that want to do just that- impose a set of values on us that we disagree with. That imposition of morality goes against everything we believe in.

That is not a baseless argument. There are people out there with terminal diseases or in dire need of organs. Despite the desperate situations and the pain and suffering some have to endure, we do not force anyone to donate their bone marrow or organs, even in the event of death (i.e., after death-SC&A). In not doing so, we condemn those people are ill, to death. These individuals are innocent and defenseless. We do not mandate that like it or not, everyone must donate what may be lifesaving to another. Is that moral? I don’t know.

Why is the life of a fetus more important that the life of a kid who needs a new liver?

After my ex had the abortion, for a few years I would consciously drive by the ‘clinic’ on the anniversary of his death (the choice of words is deliberate- I cannot say ‘killing’), as if I were visiting the cemetery. I would drive around the block, over and over and have a conversation with my son. I would tell him how well things were going or how tough they were. I would tell him he was missed and thought of every day (In some small measure, I know exactly how Robert Avrech and his wife feel) and how really, I know he would not want me to feel the burden of pain every day, but I couldn’t forget, even for a day, no matter how hard I tried. I told him about the day his sister was born- and I told him how sorry I was that he never had a real birthday. I tell him I know he would have been a good brother and I tell him his sister would adore him.

I named my son David.

Shrinkwrapped wrote,

…the disavowed infant lives on in the unconscious. When explored, they often become aware of their repressed feelings of loss and sadness. There is often significant guilt involved in such choices…

Abortion doesn’t always liberate.

Read Shrinkwrapped’s post here.

Glenn Reynolds is a nicer guy than I thought. Rather than hold up the fun house mirror that most accurately reflects the wholesale intellectual vacuousness that is Paul Campos, he engages his critic in a calm and rational way. Mr Reynold’s is clearly the master of his own Zen.

When your mother used to say, ‘don’t run with the wrong crowd,’ she knew what she was talking about. Paul Campos is an idiot, for which middle of the road Americans as well as those Americans that are right of the center ought to be grateful. Once and for all, the values of the left are put into crisp focus. When the likes of Paul Campos are held out as the virtues of leftist ideologies, the sharp distinctions cannot be glossed over.

In attempting to excoriate Reynolds for his suggestion that Iran’s leadership and nuclear scientists be targeted for assassination, Campos exposes his own bias and limited understanding of reality and phony piety.

Here’s the deal.

Diplomacy only works when the parties involved shared like minded values. Diplomacy effects compromise, which is easy to come by when dealing with Australia, Luxembourg or Canada.

Political and military opponents are adversaries with whom we share fundamental values. We may have a disagreements with them and at times even go to war, but in the end, that is usually the result of a dysfunctional government or leaders.

An enemy, as opposed to an opponent, is a very different creature.

An enemy is someone with whom we, as individuals and as a community, have fundamental differences. An enemy has values and beliefs, that are very different than out own. An enemy wants to deprive us of our beliefs and values, because that enemy finds our beliefs repulsive or threatening to their own. Enemies will fight to the death, should they choose to engage us or we choose to engage them.

That is a bitter lesson.

Had we bombed Berlin and rid the Germans of Adolph Hitler and the Nazi political leadership, 50 million lives would have been spared.

Had we assassinated the likes of Josef Mengele and other Nazi ’scientists’ and ‘doctors,’  untold horror and tragedy would have been averted and tens of thousands of ‘medical experiments’- many thousands of which the German ‘doctors’ meticulously noted were done without anesthesia, would never have taken place. The wholesale slaughter of Jews, Gypsies, gays, and ‘mental defects’ would never have occurred.
There are people who believe that enemies are opponents- that is, they can reasoned with and rationalized with and common ground can be had. Believing that an enemy can be an opponent is what led much of Europe to appease Hitler, in the beginning. Herr Hitler, it was believed, was after all a European. Surely he could be reasoned with. Surely he would respond to the rational idea that war was catastrophic.

The world watched and listened as Germany stated her objectives and prepared for war- and remained in denial about the obvious German intentions. The Germans could never be enemies, they believed. They might be opponents- but never enemies.

They were wrong.

Reynolds is absolutely right. If we do not deal with the mullahs and other racist, bigoted and dysfunctional leaders in Tehran and the Arab world, we and our allies will pay dearly. The conflict will not be limited to Africa or other far away places that the media can ignore. We are facing a confrontation in our own back yard.

This kind of denial and moral bankruptcy from the left is not surprising. They have not stood up against any slaughters or tragedies. Stalin, Pol Pot, post war Vietnam,  Che, Darfur, Rwanda, Sierra Leonne, Mauritania and Algeria are only a few places of the the left saw fit not care about. The truth is, the only victims the left have consistently proved to care about are themselves.

We recently asked,

‘What will the left fight for?’

The governing regimes in Tehran and Ramallah are no different than the Nazi regime upon which their ideologies and stated intentions are based. They make no secret of their admiration of Adolph Hitler and the Third Reich, nor do they make secret of their desire to ‘finish what Hitler started.’

Dr Sanity remarks

The left pretends their behavior is motivated from” love” or “peace” or “patriotism“; but these are only words they use to rationalize to themselves their actions, which demonstrate exactly the opposite. Their self-deception and denial is simply stunning in its sweeping grandiosity and self-righteousness betrayal of the good.

In fact, disagree with them and you are evil, or racist, or a fascist. It matters little to the left the vile nature, character, racist, homophobic or stated intentions of those who threaten this nation.
Paul Campos is the hero of the day for the left, but in the end, he will be forgotten, in the same way Bill Clinton was forgotten after his infamous interview on Fox News, in which he pointed his finger at Chris Wallace and looked directly into the camera. Everybody knows that when Bill Clinton leans forward and points his finger, he’s lying.

In speaking of Bill Clinton’s infamous interview with Chris Wallace 0f Fox News, we wrote,

This week, Bill Clinton went down in flames- nobly, of course. The MSM and the left are all a twitter, because Bill Clinton, beautifully and articulately lied his pants off. It didn’t matter that Mr Clinton wasn’t telling the truth- the proud moment was achieved because he lied with polish, poise and earnestness. The MSM and left are so proud!

Rather than be ashamed of a former President of the United States boldly lying on national television, much of the MSM and the left believe they can finally touch themselves in public, for a change. It matters little to them that a former president has annointed himself with credibility equal to that of Robert Mugabe, Hugo Chavez and Bashar Assad. Clinton lied, with panache and style and so, he’s a hero to many.

Of course, Mr Clinton is a very smart man. Mr Clinton knew his record would be examined and he also knew that record would not bear him out- and it is precisely because of that, he felt compelled to lie.

Mr Clinton will not leave the legacy he so desperately wants to leave. His image will not be chiseled onto Mount Rushmore, awarded that lofty status by a national groundswell of love and admiration.

In lieu of that, Mr Clinton has chosen to be victim- the perfect victim. He wants to be seen as hounded by the right and Fox News, and denied his destiny by the evil of his persecutors. It doesn’t matter that he lied, to the nation, a Grand Jury, or Chris Wallace. Mr Clinton meant well, and that is enough. We do not need an honest president- we just need one who means well, defined as anyone that adopts an agenda of the left and articulates any disagreement as persecution.

The MSM and left are perfectly happy with those arrangements.

Paul Campos too, attempted to tug on the heartstrings of the nation. He too will be forgotten after a brief moment in the sun, having crashed and burned in his own deceit and fraud.

See the light, see the road that needs to be taken.