Political Pathology 101
Undernews Extract From Prorev.com Editor Sam Smith
Given that so many politicians lie, equivocate, exaggerate or change their positions, it is difficult sometimes to
diagnose a truly sick pol. But as with other psychopaths, there are a few clues. One is the way they explain themselves
when they're caught. Normal politicians may apologize and ask that we move on or they may say that new factors had
entered the equation and so forth. But a truly psychopathic politician will give an explanation devoid of intellectual
of moral justification because it is enough for them that their new position helps them do what they want to do. It
doesn't occur to them that morality has anything to do with it.
In other words, ask a psychopath why he murdered a woman and he might say, "Because she wouldn't give me her purse." The
justification is entirely self centered.
Bearing this in mind, read this by Helene Cooper of the NY Times: |||| Senators Joe Biden and Chris Dodd voted against
it. Senator Barack Obama said he would have voted against it if he had voted. Former Senator John Edwards implied he
would have voted against it if he could vote.
And Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton? She voted in favor of the measure in question, which asked the Bush administration
to declare Iran's 125,000-member Revolutionary Guard Corps a foreign terrorist organization. Such a move - more hawkish
than even most of the Bush administration has been willing to venture so far - would intensify America's continuing
confrontation with Iran, many foreign policy experts say.
Part of the reason for Mrs. Clinton's vote, some of her backers say privately, is that she has already shifted from
primary mode, when she needs to guard against critics from the left, to general election mode, when she must guard
against critics from the right. That means she is trying to shore up her national security credentials versus Republican
candidates like Rudolph Giuliani and Mitt Romney, and is trying to reassure voters that she would be a tough-minded
commander in chief. By supporting the bill - sponsored by Senators Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Jon Kyl of
Arizona - Mrs. Clinton is also solidifying crucial support from the pro-Israel lobby.
||||
In other words, we might end up in World War III because President HR Clinton was trying to shore up her rightwing
support as she moved from primary to general election mode. It doesn't get much more psychopathic than that.
H.R. Clinton Willing To Wage Illegal War Against Iran
SUZANNE GOLDENBERG, GUARDIAN - Hillary Clinton moved to secure her position as the most hawkish Democrat in the 2008
presidential race, saying she would consider the use of force to compel Iran to abandon its nuclear program. In an
article for Foreign Affairs magazine intended as a blueprint for the foreign policy of a future Clinton White House, the
Democratic frontrunner argues that Iran poses a long term strategic challenge to American and its allies, and that it
must not be permitted to build or acquire nuclear weapons. Article continues "If Iran does not comply with its own
commitments and the will of the international community, all options must remain on the table," Ms Clinton said.
Elsewhere, Ms Clinton took the edge off her steely posture by saying she would abandon the Bush administration's policy
of isolating its enemies, and would deploy diplomacy. "True statesmanship requires that we engage with our adversaries,
not for the sake of talking but because robust diplomacy is a prerequisite to achieving our aims."
She says she would even consider offering incentives to Iran in return for a pledge to disarm. However, she sets out a
series of stringent conditions that are virtually identical to current White House policy.
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FROM UNDERNEWS
FROM THE PROGRESSIVE REVIEW
EDITED BY SAM SMITH
Since 1964, Washington's most unofficial source
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