Saw the Sunday Morning news shows today. George S. on ABC News is the cat that ate the canary. Boy, Stalin would be envious. In marketing terms, I could say they've got a point of view and a selection of facts and judgments that aren't mine. Makes me appreciate Instapundit; a cursory review of his recent posts would be a counterbalance to Stephanopolous.

Passing over the misundersestimating of G. Bush, the primary topic was how the top two Democratic candidates responded to the hypothetical bombing of 2 American cities. The emphasis was on being appropriately martial but to these people being warlike is the same as being antiwarlike; it's theater. One we've dispensed with the theatrical response, we go back to 'Desperate Housewives.'

A good article in Haaretz. What I like about it is that it presumes a forgiveness.

Dr. Helen has had a couple of recent posts dealing with the tension that ensues when one has a feeling that is not politically correct. I was particularly amused by the direction that the comments took where Dr. Helen said that she would rather be called a 'nappy headed ho' by whomever than "oppressed" by Hillary Clinton. That seemed to be a feeling that made Dr. Helen unsuitable as a psychological expert witness because her feeling was not objectively correct. This also ties into my recent 'Rank and Reality' post. Senator Clinton, somewhat in the tradition of the man from Galilee, has become the 'liberator of oppressed women' and any contradictory data is made null and void in the light of the rank of Senator Clinton who performs the miracle. This, of course, from people who might sneer at the childishness of religion.

Dr. John Meeks said that in family therapy with an adolescent an avenue of progress could be at going to the point where expressiveness could be framed in the form of "I feel that.." with the idea being that, regardless of an underlying truth of an 'allegation,' a person's 'feelings' could be true to the person experiencing them. In my time at university, the editor of the radical paper said that there was no 'objective reporting.' Chaos has not ensued in leftist quarters however because feelings rather than facts have become objectively correct. That makes Dr. Meeks' point of view, that one was allowed one's feelings, old school.

Cho and Psychiatry, the issue of forced treatment

Dr. Helen has thought provoking comments and information about the mental health efforts made in regard to the VT killer. The facts given suggest that in January of 2005, a complaint was made that he had been spurned by 2 ladies that he appeared to be 'stalking' and that he seemed to have taken this very hard and might be dangerous. After review, a psychiatrist I presume seemed to be of the opinion that he had something of a depressive reaction to disappointment. He was given an antidepressant, probably an equivalent to Prozac as he 'got up in the morning and took his medication.' It appears as though a 'rambling composition (or speech)' was missed as a symptom of either a manic or schizophrenic illness, the speech process would likely be somewhat distinct characteristic of one or the other disorder. Also his sense of persecution and rage, exaggerating his ill treatment, were also missed and could have pointed to either illness. Thus he would seem to have been treated for Major Depression when his illness should have been categorized as a bipolar manic or schizophrenic illness.

No investigator, nor the manufacturers of Prozac or the like, have claimed that these drugs are effective in mania or schizophrenia. The serotonin reuptake inhibitors, Prozac etc., might be said to have the general psychological effect of helping a person 'let it go.' They are more effective than other antidepressants where self esteem is an issue because they help a person 'let go' of his self criticism. Mania and schizophrenia would likely have been benefited by the antipsychotic drugs or others with an FDA approved indication for these illnesses. The FDA indication means, at a minimum, that substantial and thorough testing has found the drugs to be effective for the indicated illness, here perhaps either a bipolar manic or schizophrenic illness.

One commenter raised the issue of 'enforcing the gun laws we have' and said that he should not have been able to buy a gun because of his having been committed. I believe that the question on the form is 'Have you ever been committed into a psychiatric hospital?' He would have answered truthfully, 'No' because he was ordered to outpatient treatment. If the symptoms reported after the mass murder had been present and recognized, the 'rambling speech' and unreasonable sense of persecution, during an earlier evaluation, dangerousness to others could have been seen as a potential consequence and a brief hospital stay with the appropriate medications ordered.

Rank and Reality

'Muslim life is in part defined by who gets deference as the one who speaks the truth' (anon). I was thinking about this as I was reading The Quest of the Historical Jesus, and the outrage/ justice preserved story in the Duke non-rape case. One of the questions encountered for a modern reading the Bible is the issue of miracles. I think the 'Muslims' represent an old method of finding truth. In that frame of reference, the higher your rank the more you can define reality such that ultimately being able to define/make reality anything you want should be appropriate to G-d. thus finding miracles in a story about a G-d is like hearing 'Hail to the Chief' at a public ceremony involving the president; it is protocol. I suppose this is also related to why doctors are so 'trusted.' Life and death pass through our hands; so you wouldn't want to mess with us. True enough, clinical experience and science, which we represent, should also be respected. This also probably bears on the National Health Insurance debate. To an extent, the affirmative side seems to represent an insistence on outranking the doctor and other supply and demand forces that impact medical care. A rearrangement of deference is all that seems needed to get desired treatment in what is otherwise a status quo ante situation. Better count on being Jesus; Texas equivalent: 'Who in the Sam Hill do you think you are?' (Is there an etymologist in the house to explain the equivalence?)

Double Binds and the Way to True Peace

The double bind that Britain is being offered: the British should admit that they had violated Iranian space and their sailors will be released. You can have peace but only on condition of violating your perception of reality. The upshot of that is though that you have now acceded to the mullahs as they who specify what is real. This is a painful spot for cultural relativists, non "racists" in common speak, who here go from respect for others to collapse of their own ego/autonomy. The solution in the West so far has been to bend our perceptions without acknowledging that we have done so except perhaps in displacement. Muslims appear as earnest students and then fly planes into buildings killing 3000, and our chant becomes 'Bush lied; people died.' Newt Gingrich suggests a gasoline blockade and damaging Iran's only gas refinery pending the release of the sailors.

There is a stunning difference in good sense between the articles in the journal Commentary, Jewish I believe, and Commonweal, Catholic, over the issue of Iraq. The article in Commentary is here, from the WSJ free site Opinion Journal.

In music, I sure have enjoyed Kenny Davern. On the death of Davern, Terry Teachout, WSJ reporter recommended the album he did with Dick Wellstood as his best. That is in the blog About Last Night cited in the left margin. A high school friend who went to Loyola NO was a clarinet player, don't know that he took the locale opportunity to do any jazz work, should have. We joined the band together and played in a loft of an old building. The flute was free or $15; so I played it. I don't know that I've been as honored, though also a bit guilty, as when I left and Mr. Holman the old band/ orchestra director said, publicly as I was leaving with the band there, 'Where would the United States be if, like you, the soldiers had left George Washington?' It must have been February; I was going to run track with Frank Joyce, who would die a year and a half later of Addison's disease. I will always remember the brown mottled color it gave to his shins. If he had gotten more sick before the end of the school year, I do think my father would have visited and diagnosed him. I do wish I could have continued the flute, run track, and not been in denial about the potential seriousness of Frank's illness.

Things that I thought were notable in journalism this last week. Commonweal continues on some parallel universe to me. They had their lead article on Darwin. The fact that intelligent design was never mentioned must make them some kind of intellectual. It was about Darwin the standard British imperialist really; I sent the editors this note commenting also on their Iraq editorial (I think you can see Commonweal with a simple registration):

Christ spoke correctly of the Darwinian success of humanity when he said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall inherit the earth." Man almost uniquely has the capability of seeing the stranger in himself. The 'poor in spirit' see themselves as one among others. Your article was of interest to me as an amateur historian who prefers to see the war disaster of the twentieth century as due, first of all, to the defense of the British Empire which had as a consequence preventing German competition by, firstly, preventing German military movement by a constraining web of alliances. Thus, when the Kaiser went to confront terrorism in Serbia, World War I started. As has oft been said, the failure, the European wars in the West, has led to a self hatred. In Iraq, the U.S. does not seek dominion; there are only 50 American troops in the Kurdish sector. We are in Iraq as police. Police are necessary when an individual or group grossly violates the principle of seeing others as equivalent to themselves. Catholics are correct in seeing that even especially for the police it is necessary to be "poor in spirit."

I was glad to see that Piestewa's parents and children got the house she dreamed to give them (article in the LA Times). Her friend Spc. Lynch, the young woman injured and rescued in the first weeks of the Iraq War, asked Extreme Makeover Home Edition to provide it; ABC did. Piwestra, a young woman from a reservation, you may not recall was with Lynch and killed. Instapundit connects to some funny/awesome pictures and videos from the line 'the troops prepare to be defunded.' See 'the British' link in comments. I liked the British 'On the way to Amarillo' and the 'mercenary sniper' video noted in column right on the British video page.

Libby Guilty!

Well, I'm terribly sad about that. One of my patients said to me that it 'was poetic justice,' fits the Bush lied theme. Have previously posted on aspects related to that idea. The jury near to conviction wore their Valentine's Day love you shirts. I can believe in hangings but wearing a Valentine's shirt and treat the victim like a cockroach just shows a depth of contempt for a Republican that was trying to help his country that shocks me. Valentine's can be a dangerous holiday; a day of oral sadism.

One of the posters on Just One Minute, JOM, which I have been visiting frequently on the Libby trial says:

'The jury bought Fitzgerald's premise that ALL OF THESE WITNESSES couldn't be wrong. Even though each witness individually was a zero, the jury added all the zeros together and came to Guilty.

Each witness was allowed to have a bad memory but Libby's own bad memory was enough to vote guilty on, according to the jury.'

Another poster:
'Dare I say this? Some of the blame for this ridiculous trial and verdict must go to the White House - that's President Bush - for requiring that everyone completely cooperate with the "investigation" (a.k.a. "witch hunt") or risk being fired (and deemed "guilty" by implication). By exhibiting such naivete, Bush painted a big red bulls-eye on his entire administration.' The ground was shifting a bit under his feet. Bush, used to being liked at that point, reached to his enemies to maintain his status; his staff must have failed him. Somebody(s) really failed Libby.

There is a call for a pardon. I believe Libby is a victim of the war on terror, a 'friendly fire' victim if you will. At this point, the most important thing to preserve is honor. I think the president could best do that by sending a memo to the director of the Arlington National Cemetery that when the time comes, I. Lewis Libby, if he wishes, should be buried, with honors, there. The press secretary should announce this having been done.

Jon Allen gave a psychiatry lecture recently on 'mentalizing' as a basis of therapy. Some books on the subject. Fonagy is a key author.