I thought the following was worth repeating. Got it from here:
Dear President Bush,
At this time of national crisis, I would like to offer my assistance to you.
As a practicing psychologist for more than thirty years, it has become clear to me that your mental health has been seriously neglected. In the interest of our nation, I would like to offer my services as a psychologist to you on a “pro bono” basis. It would, after all, be for the good of the country.
Of course, it would be presumptuous of me to attempt to diagnose your emotional difficulties without meeting you face to face. However, I believe that I have had sufficient opportunity to observe you to put forth a few hypotheses of “trouble” areas with which you seem to need assistance.
First, and of great concern, is evidence of delusional thinking – a symptom of psychosis. The delusion that seems most evident is that bombing a people into submission is a strong foundation for democracy, and for generating good will in a nation. There is also the delusion that Saddam Hussein poses an imminent threat to the USA. (Or was that just a lie, suggesting psychopathic deviance?)
Another symptom that many people have noted is disorganized and incoherent speech, which, unfortunately, can be another symptom of psychosis. Confused thinking is also a problem for you, as demonstrated by the idea that our reason for going to war is Iraq’s defiance of the UN, yet you are defying the UN by going to war. This suggests rather muddled cognitive functioning.
These symptoms suggest that I would feel that a referral to a psychiatrist for medication might be indicated. However, your history of multiple substance abuse should lead to caution in the use of certain psychotropic medications.
While there are some indicators of psychosis, there are also many signs of
Narcissistic Personality Disorder, which include arrogance and grandiosity, as well as a need for unlimited power. There is also a lack of empathy for others, and, in your case, no regard for them at all if they speak another language. You suffer from an excessive need for admiration and a sense of entitlement. Evidence for that includes your refusal to speak before the European Union unless you could be guaranteed a standing ovation. Your actions regarding attacking Iraq in spite of negative world reaction reveal your arrogance in a clear and obvious way.
Emotional immaturity has been in evidence as well. The tendency toward black and white thinking is one sign of emotional immaturity. Statements that divide the world into good and evil, and “you’re with us or against us” reflect thinking typical of a young child. Emotional growth and development is known to be stunted by substance abuse. Could that be what happened with you?
Problems with the truth are also in evidence, as in such statements as “I am a man of peace”, “I am a uniter (sic) not a divider” and “I’m hopeful that we can avoid a war.” None of these statements enjoy the support of your behavior. While a certain amount of lying is expected from politicians, yours seems to be well in excess of the norm.
Although I have a busy schedule, I am confident that my current patients, in the service of their country, would be willing to change their schedules to accommodate you.
I also need to warn you that I cannot guarantee relief from all the above symptoms, as personality disorders are notoriously difficult to treat. Therefore, in order to pursue your recovery, it might be wise to consider resigning from the stresses of your current position to devote your time to your psychological well being.
Sincerely,
Diana DeVito
Clinical Psychologist

I

Unless you live and care in Portland, Oregon, you probably don

I guess I posted too soon about Kevin Sites new weblog from Iraq. His final post says that he’s been asked to stop blogging for a while. Want to take a guess about who did the asking?

I went for a walk to get away from the sight of Baghdad in flames.
The sun is out here, the sky is a mildly cloudy blue, and the road opens to one pitfall after another. Half a flock of geese cruised overhead — seven of them, one in the lead and the other six making up only one arm of the usual V. Is the glass half full or half empty?
I got home to two messages from cousins informing me that my Uncle Ted had passed away today. He’s 89 and has been in the hospital for almost a month with various infections and Alzheimer’s. The glass is half full and half empty.
The radio newsman says that the nasty Hussein regime is in disarray, its leadership disorganized and confused. An historic city is in shambles. Most assuredly innocent people have died. The glass is half-full of blood.
We leave on Sunday for the funeral. We have to cross the extensive Tappan Zee bridge over the Hudson River. I usually don’t think twice about that. But this is wartime, isn’t it?

(some satire from myrln, in the spirit of a Yippie heart)
George Dubya’s War Prayer
Dear Lord, thank you for he’ping protect the oil fields and get them in the hands of those who rightly should have them, meaning me ‘n’ Dickie.
And Lord, now I ask your he’p in making my subjects…hee-hee-hee…I mean, my people…you know, the electoralites…understand why I had to send their sons and daughters to get killed to secure that oil (and thank you for letting me keep my two little girls safe at home where they oughta be sometimes, I know how partial you are to them, being blonde and all — them, I mean, not you).
And Lord, I hope you understand how I simply had to lie my ass off about Saddam’s nucular weapons and such in order to get folks whipped up in a froth so’s we could get this war on. I mean, it’s not like I really broke any Commandment since Saddam’s not a neighbor of mine (like Mr. Rogers was) and since he ain’t Christian anyway but one of them heathen towelheads we got to deal with cuz you stuck the oil over in that desert ‘steada here in the good ole US of A where it rightly belonged. Not that I’m criticizing or nothing. I know you got a soft spot for that Middle East, what with you sending your own Son there and all and getting him killed the way you done. (But not for oil, heh-heh.)
And Lord, I thank you for giving me this war. It sure beats the shit (oops, sorry) outta anything Jeb’s got or ever will have (‘cepting his Florida thing hanging down at the bottom of the country).
So I guess that’s it for now, Lord. This is George Dubya Bush, your Commander in Chief in common with you, sending along a salute and my best wishes for all you undertake on my behalf (and Dickie’s) now and in the future which I’m sure will suit me ‘n’ mine just fine. Talk to you again soon.

By the end of the 60s, I was married with two little kids and living in the rural town where my husband was teaching. I protested in what meager ways I could, but my heart was with the Yippies. Who were the Yippies? They’re somewhat documented here, and what follows is excerpted from that piece.
The Yippies, who came up with the name first and the acronym “Youth International Party” later, pulled their first famous act at the New York Stock Exchange. They floated down dollar bills and then laughed hysterically as millionaire stockbrokers scrambled madly after the money. They wanted to celebrate the “death of money” and expose the greediness of American society. From then on, the Yippies would put soot bombs at Con Edison Headquarters to warn about pollution, plaster SEE CANADA NOW signs on Army Recruiting Booths and mail 3,000 marijuana joints to random strangers from the phone book. Abbie’s antics made him a media celebrity along with the Yippies’ other leader, Jerry Rubin, best known for dressing in a Revolutionary War outfit and blowing bubbles at a House Un-American Committee hearing. Many groups in the sixties were so earnest and self-righteous that the Yippies provided some of the only examples of radicals with a sense of humor.
Contrary to Abbie often being portrayed as a comic buffoon, … he was a very serious, committed activist who gave away more money than he made. She had met him in New York, when Abbie had opened a “Free Store” for low-income people and set up a place for the homeless to come. He sold goods from cooperatives in the South who were trying to escape poverty.
As the Yippies gained more attention, however, the focus shifted towards pulling off even more outrageous activities rather than setting up “counter institutions” like the Free Store. Media dependency and addiction were setting in. Some began accusing the Yippies of provoking violent confrontations with the police, though others believed the police unleashed the violence. In October of 1967, in what would become one of the most important protests of the 60s, the March on the Pentagon mobilized 100,000 various anti-war activists.
At the protest, the Yippies had declared their intention to “levitate” the Pentagon, and to exorcise it of all the evil spirits that were killing Americans and Vietnamese women and children thousands of miles away. Roz put on the footage of the levitation and I could hear through the phone the chanting of “Ommmmmm.” US marshals surrounding the Pentagon moved in and started arresting demonstrators. One famous photo shows a protester putting a daisy into the gun of a policeman. The March was only the prologue to what would become increasingly more violent confrontations with the police.
I think perhaps that, as much as we enjoyed the efforts of the early Yippies to draw attention to important issues through humor and satire, it became pretty apparent that those tactics were not going to result in real change happening. Frustration led to more confrontational behavior, as is also happening today.
As I sit here watching Baghdad being violently destroyed , live, before of the eyes of the whole world of television, I can’t help see that the confrontation in which the anti-war protestors are engaging to make their points heard is nothing compared to the violence that we are inflicting upon the innocents of Iraq. As an American, I am ashamed of what my country’s leaders are doing in my name. Shock but no awe.

We’re doing it. Right now we’re bombing the hell out of Baghdad. The whole world is watching as we rear our ugly American head.

Thanks to b!X to the link to this image of the police attack on today’s anti-war demonstrators in SF:

Last-Minute Message for a Time Capsule
By Philip Appleman
I have to tell you this, whoever you are:
that on one summer morning here, the ocean
pounded in on tumbledown breakers,
a south wind, bustling along the shore,
whipped the froth into little rainbows,
and a reckless gull swept down the beach
as if to fly were everything it needed.
I thought of your hovering saucers,
looking for clues, and I wanted to write this down,
so it wouldn’t be lost forever —
that once upon a time we had
meadows here, and astonishing things,
swans and frogs and luna moths
and blue skies that could stagger your heart.
We could have had them still,
and welcomed you to earth, but
we also had the righteous ones
who worshipped the True Faith, and Holy War.
When you go home to your shining galaxy,
say that what you learned
from this dead and barren place is
to beware the righteous ones.
from New and Selected Poems,1956-1996
University of Arkansas Press, 1996