Brief Politico-Therapies: A Tour of the Psych Bloggers

It is time to once again take a tour of the Psych bloggers, those intrepid bunch of mental health professionals. As we take a look at their take on politics, the human condition and anything else that catches my eye. Our usual bunch of suspects include: Dr. Helen, Dr. Sanity, Shrinkwrapped, neo-neocon, Assistant Village Idiot, One Cosmos (Gagdad Bob), Sigmund, Carl and Alfred, Its About Them, and Dr. John Jay Ray.

Tonight's foray begins with an older post of Dr. John Jay Ray's but one in which the term Liberalism is sliced, diced and par-boiled. The Psychology Underlying "Liberalism" This is a long post, but worth every minute of reading it. Here is a sample regarding "moral equivalence"

The Leftist's ceaseless agitation for equality often makes him/her into a modern day Procrustes. In Ancient Greek mythology, Procrustes was an innkeeper who had beds of only one length so if a wayfarer came in who had legs longer than any of Procrustes' beds, Procrustes would cut off the legs of the wayfarer until they fitted his beds. Similarly today, if anybody is clearly not equal the Leftist is determined to force him to be equal or at least is determined to deny his inequality. Stalin, of course, made Procrustes look like a wimp. Anybody in Russia who looked unequal -- such as the kulaks ("rich" peasants) -- Stalin simply had executed.

Be sure and read it all.

Now, let's head over to Dr. Helen's place. Dr. Helen is a forensic psychologist and the better half of Glenn Reynolds, the Instapundit. Today's selection takes a look at Mens Health and the heart, an interesting post for someone who has had a Heart Attack herself and I can see why she posted about it Be sure and read all of the links too.

Are you a susceptible person? I was, although my heart condition was a bit different. The only way to find out if you are at risk is to ask your doctor if you need tests such as an ECG or EKG and if abnormalities are found, to follow up with an echocardiogram (an ultrasound of the heart) or whatever tests the doc recommends.

If you have gotten this far in the post, don't get paranoid but do take care of your heart health; it's important.

Dr. Helen is one of the best reads on the net, if you don't have her as a favorite, you are missing something for sure.

Next up is my favorite tripartite therapist Sigmund Carl and Alfred. His blog squib is "We talked to your mother, we know everything." Last week I had the pleasure of being on a podcast with Fausta and SC&A and boy, is he smart! Hope I get invited back because I really had a great time (and you can listen to the podcast here) (Heh, how do you like the way I snuck that plug in?) But, I digress, SC&A have a terrific post up on Legacies: Theirs and Ours and the opening paragraphs are ... well, you just have to read the whole thing, but here are the opening two paragraphs:

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?

SC&A have written a MUST READ post. God Bless 'Em!

Turning the corner, we come across neo-neocon's blog and "Dissing the generals and fighting the previous war: the historical underpinnings of MoveOn’s moves (Part II)" (part 1 is linked to also). Neo-neocon takes a hard look at the reception of General Petraeus and to the reactions to the military during the Vietnam war. This is a must read and here is a tidbit:

[...]In many cases, those in charge were considered not just incompetent and/or confused, but purposeful liars, deceivers, and betrayers of the fighting forces under them whose lives were being wasted in a cause already known to be lost.

This press agenda took its full form not in the early days of the war, but after the PR debacle of the Tet offensive and the real debacle of My Lai and the initial investigatory coverup of that terrible event. Tet caused the trusted and avuncular Walter Cronkite to leap over the heretofore rigid boundary between reporting the news into opinion journalism. In Cronkite’s opinion, Vietnam had become a lost cause.

Read both parts for the full impact.

Up in the road ahead, we come to a new favorites, Dr. James Sutton blogging at It's About Them (who by the way makes terrific hand crafted wooden pens, they are available at The Texas Penwright - I own two of them and they are beautiful). In today's choice, Dr. Sutton writes about "Doubt:"

Doubts don’t diminish our humanity; they make it honest. Doubt is a human condition, so what’s wrong with being human?

Abraham Lincoln suffered angst and doubt most every day he was president. Yet he is regarded as one of our greatest leaders and humanitarians of all time. His doubts caused him private pain … not public failure.

Dr. Sutton is another that you should have on your favorites list and if your organization needs an excellent speaker, I've heard him and I highly recommend Dr. Sutton.

Up next? Why, tis none other than our own Dr. Sanity. Doc Sanity posts on the left and their dogmatic insistance that everyone think like them - no diversity of thought for them. THE IMPOSITION OF LEFTIST SHARIA, a little taste:

Definition: Leftist Sharia - the dynamic body of leftist quasi-religious dogma that dictates suitable behavior for everyone...or else.

Read, and follow all of the links. Doc Sanity proves her point!

Gagdad Bob, that oh-so-effervescent punster often gets serious; real serious!. This is one of those times as he takes down the myth of who beat the Depression in "The Redefinition of Liberal Act of 1932:"

We're still discussing the outstanding new book on the Great Depression, The Forgotten Man.

Instead of dealing in reality, the left habitually deals in myth and image, and there is no bigger myth than the idea that FDR rescued the economy from the Great Depression. To the contrary, it is now well understood by mainstream economists that his economic acumen was essentially nil, and that he aggravated the Depression at every turn, causing it to last many years longer than it otherwise would have."

The left won't like this one from Dr. Bob - how dare he pound one of their shibboleths into the ground?

Shrinkwrapped, a regular on the Sanity Squad delves into rites of passage in "Of Boys and Men."

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 Passage 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 abiltity to express what in more simple times have been known as masculine traits."

Shrinkwrapped once again hits the nail on the head, and we as a society, need to figure out which way our rites of passage should go and how will that direction preserve our freedoms.

And last, but never-ever-under-any-circumstances least comes the Assistant Village Idiot. This post takes a look at "Little Boxes" the anti-suburb song of the early 60s and the "Little Folkies." The post is an excellent example of the reflective ability of this terrific blogger. A sample:

Tom Lehrer called "Little Boxes" the most sanctimonious song ever written. I hadn't stated it so bluntly, but the sentiment has been in my mind for some time. The lyrics deplore the sameness of 1962 suburbanites and their houses, which "are all made out of ticky-tacky and they all look just the same."

Be sure and read it all, including the comments especially the one from Dr. Mercury in all his sanctimonius bellyaching, and of course, a number of commenters take "doc" to task for his comment. Superior post, well worth the read!

Posted by GM Roper at September 18, 2007 11:44 AM