Also posted on the Policy think site at http://www.jaygaskill.com/WhatWillObamaBecome.htm

This article follows, “Who is Obama?” at http://www.jaygaskill.com/WhoIsObama.htm .

A piece in the UK Telegraph, “Does Obama want to win in 2012?” (21 August, 2010, by Toby Harnden) makes the case that our POTUS of the moment is an intractable ideologue, unwilling to bend now in order to get reelected in 2012.

Here is the link:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/7958031/Does-Barack-Obama-want-to-be-re-elected-in-2012.html

And here are three pull quotes:

Posted by U2RGood at 03:40 PM | Permalink

Observations and Analysis - by

Jay B Gaskill

Attorney at Law

Acting out of frustration with lax federal border enforcement, the State of Arizona enacted legislation designed to enlist local police in the effort to catch and detain illegal-status persons within its borders whenever they otherwise brought themselves to the attention of the authorities.  This measure, borne of desperation (kidnappings, thefts, robberies and shootings along the Arizona – Mexico border have become a security nightmare), was immensely popular in Arizona and enjoys powerful popular support across the USA.

But not within the current administration.

Here is some key language from the Arizona law:

No official or agency of this state or a county, city, town or other political subdivision of this state may limit or restrict the enforcement of federal immigration laws to less than the full extent permitted by federal law.

 

For any lawful contact stop, detention or arrest made by a law enforcement official or a law enforcement agency of this state or a law enforcement official or a law enforcement agency of a county, city, town or other political subdivision of this state in the enforcement of any other law or ordinance of a county, city or town or this state where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who and is unlawfully present in the united states, a reasonable attempt shall be made, when practicable, to determine the immigration status of the person, except if the determination may hinder or obstruct an investigation.

Today U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton gutted the new Arizona law (SB 1070) by blocking the enforcement of provisions that makes it a crime not to carry immigration registration papers, for a person of illegal status to seek or perform work.  Bolton’s injunction also means Arizona will not be able to require police officers to determine the immigration status of anyone they stop or arrest.

Judge Bolton’s decision was framed as a temporary measure, but in reality the Arizona law is effectively dead until the US Supreme court gets the case, probably no earlier than 2011.

One argument, advanced by the administration and the ACLU, was that federal resources were inadequate to handle the food of illegals who would be detained.  Judge Bolton agreed, finding – at least temporarily – that the federal law (largely identical with Arizona’s) has presumptively preempted the field.  Thus federal, i.e., administration, policy of inaction trumps Arizona’s action.

This leaves the southern border states at the mercy of the federal government’s inability and  - frankly also – unwillingness to enforce border security, by effectively forbidding any meaningful independent state action to accomplish the same end.

I should not neglect a related story.

AP 7-26-10 / Ivan Moreno 

Here’s the deal. 

We are seeing the last stages of an epic conflict between a naïvely altruistic “we are all brothers and sisters” political-moral ideology, with which our country’s governing intelligentsia has become infatuated, and a ruggedly practical “protect the home-front” ethos, that has constituted the popular majority for as long as these things have been measured. 

In the former view, national boundaries are inhumane constructs; therefore, the illegal status of someone living here is an irrelevant, even “improper” consideration, because – after all - we are all brothers and sisters.  

The irony is palpable:

No other country in the world has allowed such lax immigration policies to persist for so long.  The country to our south is at risk of falling into the failed state category, barely able to contain the depredations of its drug lords, yet Mexico has far more stringent immigration enforcement policies on its southern border than the most restrictive Arizona sheriff has ever contemplated.   

If Mexico actually fails as a state, we will be forced to close the southern border in self defense.

Posted by U2RGood at 11:19 AM | Permalink

Here’s what I said (in part) in my Blog entry, David Brooks, The Oil Plume and The Incompetence Thing --  LINK

http://jaygaskill.com/blog-mt2/mt.fcgi?__mode=view&_type=entry&id=493&blog_id=2  

Why support Israel?
Michael Filozof speaks for me.

By

Jay B Gaskill

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/06/israel_the_worlds_dirty_harry.html

LINK: http://www.jaygaskill.com/FirstPrayforIsrael.htm

http://www.jaygaskill.com/NeverAgainvsNotMyProblem.htm

http://jaygaskill.com/blog3/2009/01/why_do_so_many_liberals_waffle.html

Yes there was a holocaust and the Iranian president wants one more... http://jaygaskill.com/blog2/2009/09/yes_there_was_a_holocaust_and.html

 http://jaygaskill.com/MakingSenseOfIsrael.htm

Moral clarity – Murderous Mullahs -- http://jaygaskill.com/MoralClarityMurderousMulahs.html

http://jaygaskill.com/CommonWisdomAndOutOfTouchElites.htm

Posted by U2RGood at 05:45 AM | Permalink

Welcome to the Policy Think Site: http://www.jaygaskill.com

As Posted On--

The Human Conspiracy Blog: http://www.jaygaskill.com/blog3

All contents, unless otherwise indicated are --

Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 & 2010 by Jay B. Gaskill

Permission to publish, distribute or print all or part of this article - except for personal use - is needed.

Forwarded links are welcomed.

Contact Jay B. Gaskill, attorney at law, via e mail at law@jaygaskill.com

PRINT LINK -- http://jaygaskill.com/OilPlume.html

POTUS & That NASTY Oil Spill

THE COMPETENCE ISSUE

Jay B Gaskill

June 2, 2010

The Oil Plume

by

David Brooks

June 1

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/opinion/01brooks.html?ref=todayspaper

“In the late 1970s, the hostage crisis became a symbol of America’s inability to take decisive action in the face of pervasive problems. In the same way, the uncontrolled oil plume could become the objective correlative of the country’s inability to govern itself.

“Most important, the plume exposes the country’s core confusion about the role of government.”

Dickens Redux

By

Jay B Gaskill

May 25

http://jaygaskill.com/411/2010/05/25/dickens-redux-%e2%80%93-ghost-of-the-grinch/

“The BP uncapped oil spill is a metaphor for the current administration’s paralysis during a dire period of fiscal hemorrhage. We were already deep in trouble before the new well was drilled. Capping that gusher will be as difficult and as necessary as reversing this administration’s fiscally irresponsible programs-in-place.

“It is also a metaphor for our economic recovery. To the extent that America is able to emerge whole from our under-water indebtedness, it will be due to the buoyancy of our private sector business communities. At the moment, they are underfunded, and deeply anchored to a government that still thinks it can operate at great depths.”

[][][]

Mr. Brooks' thoughtful comments notwithstanding, this is not about “how much” government, it is about how little practical intelligence has been enrolled in the current administration.

THE WORLD'S INSATIABLE DEMAND FOR PETROL, COUPLED WITH INCREASINGLY TIGHT RESTRICTIONS ON SURFACE AND NEAR SURFACE OIL AND GAS DRILLING LED INEXORABLY TO EVER DEEPER, EVER RISKIER OPERATIONS. THIS WAS AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN.

TO SAY THAT THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION IS “WEAK” IN ITS REAL-WORLD, ENGINEERING SAVVY and COMMON SENSE STAFF SUPPORT WOULD BE TOO KIND.

HOW MANY POLITICAL HACKS AND ACADEMIC IDEOLOGUES DOES IT TAKE TO SIMULTANEOUSLY MISMANAGE A SICK ECONOMY AND A CATASTROPHIC INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT?

THE QUESTION ANSWERS ITSELF.

The technological challenges attendant carrying on a robotic repair operation of a massive, high pressure oil leak under a mile of ocean are greater than repair operation in orbit around the earth. The undersea domain at that depth presents immense forces, far exceeding the challenges of working in a vacuum at zero gravity. For example, the crush pressure one mile under the ocean is one ton per square inch, vs less than 15 pounds a square inch on the inside of a fully inflated space suit.

The BP operational failure was actually more dangerous than a modern nuclear reactor accident and the level of competent inspection and safety attention was pitifully small by contrast to that routine in the nuclear industry.

This government's response reflects its technological and practical cluelessness.

A quick review of the backgrounds and qualifications of this administration's science and technology advisors reveals a startling gap.

REPRESENTED ARE EXPERTS IN THE FIELDS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, GERIATRIC MEDICINE, PARTICLE PHYSICS, ARMS CONTROL, BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH, US-CHINA COMMERCE, NANO-TECHNOLOGY, CYBER-TECHNOLOGY, ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, AND SO ON, ALL SEXY, RELEVANT TO THE SENSE OF VISION THIS PRESIDENT WANTED TO PROJECT. NONE WERE CLOSE AT HAND IN THE EARLY STAGES OF THIS DISASTER.

AND MISSING: NOT ONE EXPERT ON THE PANEL APPEARS TO BE FAMILIAR WITH THE OIL EXTRACTION BUSINESS, UNDERWATER DRILLING, MASSIVE OIL SPILLS OR CLEANUP. NOT ONE COULD BE EXPECTED TO EXERCISE THE COMMON SENSE OF THE CHILD WHO NOTICED THAT THE EMPEROR WAS NAKED. AN EDITOR OF POPULAR SCIENCE OR POPULAR MECHANICS WOULD HAVE BETTER SERVED THIS ALMOST TECHNOLOGICALLY CLUELESS PRESIDENT.

MR. OBAMA HAS ENJOYED AN UNUSUAL STRING OF GOOD LUCK, BY VIRTUE OF WHICH THE COUNTRY HAS BEEN SPARED THREE TERRORIST ATTACKS.

BUT INCOMPETENCE WILL EVENTUALLY BEAR FRUIT.

THIS PRESIDENT'S LUCK HAS RUN OUT.

JBG 

LINK -- http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/president-obama-announces-members-of-science-and-technology-advisory-council/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 27, 2009

President Obama Announces Members of Science and Technology Advisory Council

WASHINGTON – Today, during remarks at the National Academy of Sciences, President Barack Obama announced the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).  The full membership of PCAST is below.

President Barack Obama said, "This council represents leaders from many scientific disciplines who will bring a diversity of experience and views. I will charge PCAST with advising me about national strategies to nurture and sustain a culture of scientific innovation."

The membership of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology is below:

Rosina Bierbaum, a widely-recognized expert in climate-change science and ecology, is Dean of the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan. Her PhD is in evolutionary biology and ecology. She served as Associate Director for Environment in OSTP in the Clinton Administration, as well as Acting Director of OSTP in 2000-2001. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Christine Cassel is President and CEO of the American Board of Internal Medicine and previously served as Dean of the School of Medicine and Vice President for Medical Affairs at Oregon Health & Science University. A member of the US Institute of Medicine, she is a leading expert in geriatric medicine and quality of care.

Christopher Chyba is Professor of Astrophysical Sciences and International Affairs at Princeton University and a member of the Committee on International Security and Arms Control of the National Academy of Sciences. His scientific work focuses on solar system exploration and his security-related research emphasizes nuclear and biological weapons policy, proliferation, and terrorism. He served on the White House staff from 1993 to 1995 at the National Security Council and the Office of Science and Technology Policy and was awarded a MacArthur Prize Fellowship (2001) for his work in both planetary science and international security.

S. James Gates Jr. is the John S. Toll Professor of Physics and Director of the Center for String and Particle Theory at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is the first African American to hold an endowed chair in physics at a major research university. He has served as a consultant to the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense, and the Educational Testing Service and held appointments at MIT, Harvard, California Institute of Technology and Howard University.

John Holdren is serving as co-chair of PCAST in addition to his duties as Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President and Assistant to the President for Science and Technology. Prior to this appointment Dr. Holdren was a Professor of Environmental Policy and Director of the Program on Science, Technology, and Public Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He also served concurrently as Professor of Environmental Science and Policy in Harvard’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and as Director of the independent, nonprofit Woods Hole Research Center. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, as well as a former President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and recipient of the MacArthur Foundation Prize Fellowship.

Shirley Ann Jackson is the President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and former Chair of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (1995-1999). She is the University Vice Chairman of the U.S. Council on Competitiveness, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, fellow of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, and past President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Jackson was the first African American woman to earn a doctorate from MIT and chairs the New York Stock Exchange Regulation Board.

Eric Lander is serving as a co-chair of PCAST. He is the Director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Professor of Biology at MIT, Professor of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School and member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. He was one of the principal leaders of the Human Genome Project, recipient of the MacArthur Foundation Prize Fellowship and is a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine.

Richard Levin has served as President of Yale University since 1993 and is a distinguished economist with interests in industrial organization, the patent system, and the competitiveness of American manufacturing industries, including industrial research and development, intellectual property, and productivity. He is a leader in US-China cooperation, in research and education, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Chad Mirkin is Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Chemistry, and Medicine at Northwestern University, as well as Director of Northwestern's International Institute of Nanotechnology. He is a leading expert on nanotechnology, including nano-scale manufacturing and applications to medicine. Awarded the Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology in 2002, he is one of the top-cited researchers in nano-medicine, as well as one of the most widely cited chemists.

Mario Molina is a Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego and the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, as well as Director of the Mario Molina Center for Energy and Environment in Mexico City. He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1995 for his role in elucidating the threat to the Earth's ozone layer of chlorofluorocarbon gases. The only Mexican-born Nobel laureate in science, he served on PCAST for both Clinton terms. He is a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine.

Ernest J. Moniz is a Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems, Director of the Energy Initiative, and Director of the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment at MIT. His research centers on energy technology and policy, including the future of nuclear power, coal, natural gas, and solar energy in a low-carbon world. He served as Under Secretary of the Department of Energy (1997-2001) and Associate Director for Science in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (1995-1997).

Craig Mundie is Chief Research and Strategy Officer at Microsoft Corporation. He has 39 years of experience in the computer industry, beginning as a developer of operating systems. Dr. Mundie co-founded and served as CEO of Alliant Computer Systems.

William Press is Professor of Computer Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin, has wide-ranging expertise in computer science, astrophysics, and international security. A member of the US National Academy of Sciences, he previously served as Deputy Laboratory Director for Science and Technology at the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1998 to 2004. He is a Professor of Astronomy and Physics at Harvard University and a former member of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (1982-1998).

Maxine Savitz is retired general manager of Technology Partnerships at Honeywell, Inc and has more than 30 years of experience managing research, development and implementation programs for the public and private sectors, including in the aerospace, transportation, and industrial sectors. From 1979 to 1983 she served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Conservation in the US Department of Energy. She currently serves as vice-president of the National Academy of Engineering.

Barbara Schaal is Professor of Biology at Washington University in St Louis. She is a renowned plant geneticist who has used molecular genetics to understand the evolution and ecology of plants, ranging from the US Midwest to the tropics. Dr Schaal serves as Vice President of the National Academy of Sciences, the first woman ever elected to that role.

Eric Schmidt is Chairman and CEO of Google Inc. and a member of the Board of Directors of Apple Inc. Before joining Google, Dr. Schmidt served as Chief Technology Officer for Sun Microsystems and later as CEO of Novell Inc. 

Daniel Schrag is the Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University and Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.  He is also Director of the Harvard University-wide Center for Environment. He was trained as a marine geochemist and has employed a variety of methods to study the carbon cycle and climate over a wide range of Earth’s history. Awarded a MacArthur Prize Fellowship in 2000, he has recently been working on technological approaches to mitigating future climate change.

David E. Shaw is the chief scientist of D. E. Shaw Research, LLC, where he leads an interdisciplinary research group in the field of computational biochemistry. He is the founder of D. E. Shaw & Co., a hedge fund company. Dr. Shaw is a former member of PCAST under President Clinton and a member of the executive committee of the Council on Competitiveness, where he co-chairs the steering committee for the Council’s federally funded High-Performance Computing Initiative. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and serves on the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Academies.

Harold Varmus is the President and CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and co-chair of PCAST. Dr. Varmus served as the Director of the National Institutes of Health from 1993 to 1999 and in 1989 was the co-recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his pioneering studies of the genetic basis of cancer. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine and recipient of the National Medal of Science.

Ahmed Zewail is Professor of Chemistry and Physics at Caltech and Director of the Physical Biology Center. Dr. Zewail was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1999 for his pioneering work that allowed observation of exceedingly rapid molecular transformations.  He is an Egyptian-American, widely respected not only for his science but also for his efforts in the Middle East as a voice of reason. Dr. Zewail is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and postage stamps have been issued to honor his contributions to science and humanity

Posted by U2RGood at 12:18 PM | Permalink

Welcome to the Policy Think Site: http://www.jaygaskill.com As Posted On The Human Conspiracy Blog: http://www.jaygaskill.com/blog3

All contents, unless otherwise indicated are --Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 & 2010 by Jay B. Gaskill

Permission to publish, distribute or print all or part of this article - except for personal use - is needed.

Forwarded links are welcomed-- Contact Jay B. Gaskill, attorney at law, via e mail at law@jaygaskill.com

THE PRINT VERSION LINK: http://www.jaygaskill.com/MoralClarityMurderousMulahs.html   

THOMAS FRIEDMAN'S MOMENT OF MORAL CLARITY

In Mr. Friedman's latest Op Ed, “As Ugly as it Gets” (New York Times – link: www.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/opinion/26friedman.html?ref=todayspaper ), he achieves an almost bright line moral coherence in the context of the cozy embrace of that murderous Iranian figurehead president by the leaders of Brazil and Turkey. Here's the pull quote:

“Turkey and Brazil are both nascent democracies that have overcome their own histories of military rule. For their leaders to embrace and strengthen an Iranian president who uses his army and police to crush and kill Iranian democrats — people seeking the same freedom of speech and political choice that Turks and Brazilians now enjoy — is shameful.”

Bravo.

But there is a caveat. This administration and a plurality of the liberal commentariat have given every possible signal to indicate that forcibly preventing the odious Iranian regime from developing a deliverable nuclear arsenal is off the table. Regrettably, this view, if implemented in the bizarre “nuke whisperer” style of Mr. Obama's face-to-the world, will inevitably lead to war in the Middle East. Not just any war, mind you, but one accompanied by the profound destabilization of all the power relationships there, a local arms race, and – here's the rub – the further entrenchment of the anti-democratic regime of radical, homicidal mullahs in Iran and elsewhere. Like so many uncomfortable truths of the real world, practical side of things, partial moral clarity – an improvement over the moral obtuseness of the radical left, to be sure – is a bit like a partial birth abortion. It is a death-prescription, IN THIS INSTANCE for thousands, possibly millions of innocent people.

There remains a slim chance that the Israelis, who have the single biggest stake in promoting a neutral, disarmed Iran, may be able to pull the Islamist nuclear stinger without suffering more than a few thousand casualties. The risk of failure is significant, especially if the hostility to Israel evidenced by the Obama administration leads to a hands-off policy, even when the Jewish state is in extremis. This time, the IDF will need more than diplomatic support because the Iranian military forces and their proxies – Syria and the bloody-minded Hezbolah – will be engaging in a full-on war.

Indeed, there are credible rumors, Mr. Friedman, that the forces of darkness are planning for a preemptive attack on Israel. Would that change your moral calculus?

This administration is becoming increasingly easy to read. The Occam's Razor principle – the simplest explanation that covers all the available evidence is most likely to be true – leads me to a disturbing place, to wit: This is an ideology-driven presidency willing to double-down in order to get the most out of what will probably be a single term. The Israel piece fits perfectly into the soft antisemitism of the anti-Zionist left, a perfect fit for a man who was comfortable to take his family to a church for twenty years that was run by a raving pastor whose pronouncements chill me to the bone. The Rev. Write was fully capable of blaming the world's troubles on “the Jews” and – how soon we forget – had no problem praising the work of that crypto-Nazi, Louis Farakan.

Pray that I'm wrong. If it's actually as bad as I fear, look for these signs:

(a) Rahm Emanuel is demoted or re-situated outside the administration.

(b) Insider Jewish opinion, the kind that is driven by background leaks, shifts sharply against this president.

Hint: The second sign is now very much in play.

JBG

SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION SECTION

Read Jay B Gaskill’s Lost Souls Coffee Shop, an allegory for the human condition. More on the Bridge to Being Blog at http://jaygaskill.com/blog2/ .

And read Jay Gaskill’s new thriller, The Stranded Ones. (An immigration problem of the first order – HINT: THEY ARE NOT FROM AROUND HERE)

Both books are sold in e-book form on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ireadiwrite Publishing and by 10 other outlets. Just Google Jay B Gaskill/The Stranded Ones or Jay B gaskill/Lost Souls Coffee Shop....

Posted by U2RGood at 10:03 AM | Permalink

The Policy Think Site: http://www.jaygaskill.com    
As Posted On
The Out-Lawyer’s Blog: http://www.jaygaskill.com/blog1   
The Human Conspiracy Blog: http://www.jaygaskill.com/blog3 
All contents, unless otherwise indicated are --
Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 & 2010 by Jay B. Gaskill
Permission to publish, distribute or print all or part of this article - except for personal use - is needed.
Forwarded links are welcomed.
Contact Jay B. Gaskill, attorney at law, via e mail at law@jaygaskill.com
 
Read Jay B Gaskill’s Lost Souls Coffee Shop, an allegory for the human condition.  Google 'jay b gaskill/lost souls coffee shop. And read Jay Gaskill’s new thriller, The Stranded Ones.  Google 'jay b gaskill/the stranded ones'

 

This article is also posted at: http://jaygaskill.com/TheTreasonVirus2.0.htm

 

The Treason Virus 2.0

▼

THE TIMES SQUARE BOMBER
By
Jay B Gaskill
 

[][][]

 

 

FROM BBC

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8660370.stm

 

“A US citizen of Pakistani origin is due to appear in court in New York later in connection with a failed car-bomb attack in Times Square on Saturday.

Faisal Shahzad was arrested at John F Kennedy airport on Monday night on board a plane about to leave for Dubai.

 

“Investigators say he has told them he was acting alone and has no connections with foreign militant groups.”

HERE IS MY PREDICTION: 
PEEL THIS ONION
YOU WILL FIND A PATHOGEN AT THE VERY CORE

 

Remember Major Nidal Malik Hasan?  Recall his shooting rampage at Fort Hood?  Were you shocked and puzzled by the bizarre notion of an American citizen as a rogue Islamist terror nut?  How about the secret connections to the radical internet mullah, Anwar al Awlaki, then operating out of Yemen?

Review my analysis at the time, still posed at – http://jaygaskill.com/TheTreasonVirus.htm

Lest we forget, please allow me to review parts of that thread:

HEADLINE:  RARE VIRUS ENDANGERS TROOPS.

 

Another, presumably unrelated headline (my own summary)

 

ROGUE ISLAMIST SHRINK SHOOTS FIFTY AMERICAN SOLDIERS ON AMERICAN BASE.

 

The first story (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/06/rare-virus-poses-new-threat-to-troops/ ) describes a biological pathogen.

 

The second story, the Fort Hood massacre, (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fort-hood-shootings7-2009nov07,0,1269467.story ) describes a moral pathogen.

 

It seems beyond reasonable dispute that the Fort Hood shooter/murderer (Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan) was a devout follower of Islam.  As other suppressed details emerge, it will only get worse.

 

Dr. Hasan was an educated man.  It is almost axiomatic that most mental health professionals don’t become berserk mass murderers, particularly while serving in sensitive positions in American military facilities.    

 

About the Religion of Peace

 

There are pockets of enlightened, peaceful Islamic scholarship and teaching, most of which are taking place in safe havens in the tolerant West.  All those sparks of tolerance acknowledged, there still is no Islamic Reformation. 

 

After the death of Mohammed in the 7th century, there never again was a single Muslim Voice, no Muslim Pope, no Muslim Martin Luther, no one to lead the faith out of its pre-medieval fundamentalism.  The religion remains multi-focal and widely distributed - much like software tied to a common operating system, in this case the Qu’ran. 

 

Software and Viruses

 

The software metaphor is useful because, like all distributed belief systems, Islam is subject to anti-moral viruses.

 

An anti-moral virus is an actively malevolent set of ideas, capable of being carried by an ideology or other widespread belief system, much as living organisms carry infections. 

 

I believe that the Islamist virus stems from a siege mentality, a deep sense of grievance and of being under attack from a decadent, profoundly immoral culture.  We know that the virus is deadly because of its fruits.  One cannot look at the carnage of 911 or the incident at Fort Hood without horror and revulsion.  Surely, we think, this cannot be sanctioned by a truly moral deity, the ruler of the Universe, the Father of the Abrahamic faiths. 

 

An anti-moral virus attaches itself to selected precepts from the Islamist tradition (precepts that post-reformation Muslims will say were taken out of context, but for now stand alone as co-equal injunctions from God’s Prophet).  Among these precepts are the classification of Infidels as unclean, the religious approval for their forcible conversion to Islam (with a tradition of beheading the resistant-apostate) and the sanction for glorious, violent martyrdom in the cause. 

 

Caution: This is a functional analysis, not a critical theological one. 

 

My scholarly friends who are deeply familiar with Islam will quickly point out why a careful and enlightened reading of the Qu’ran does not support terrorism, the slaughter of innocents, and so on. 

 

But Dr. Hasan was an intelligent, well educated man and there has, as yet, been no Islamic Reformation. 

 

The anti-moral virus is active in the Muslim culture.  I believe Major Hassan was infected.

 

Who ELSE is infected?  Just HOW do you tell? 

 

JIHAD-AS- THERAPY

 

We need a new DSM IV* category for rogue mental health professionals suffering with “HME Syndrome”, the Homicidal Martyrdom Escape Syndrome, or “HMES”. 

 

* The vaunted DSM IV is the cookbook diagnostic manual used by mental health professionals to classify mental disorders.  [Buy one if you’re curious -- http://allpsych.com/books/index.html#r .] 

 

I am convinced that Major Hasan was psychologically trapped and that, having been “infected” with an anti-moral virus, he presented an extremely high risk of ‘going jihad”....

 

[][][]

 

THE TIMES SQUARE BOMBER IS MAJOR HASAN REDUX
 

[][][]

 

Who ELSE is infected?  Just HOW do you tell? 

 

Reuters: 

 

“Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, was arrested late on Monday at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York after being removed from a plane as it was about to take off for Dubai, officials said.

 

“Shahzad, 30, was due to appear in federal court later on Tuesday to face charges of ‘driving a car bomb into Times Square on the evening of May 1,’ officials said. Had the bomb detonated, many people could have died, experts said.

 

“’He's admitted to buying the truck, putting the devices together, putting them in the truck, leaving the truck there and leaving the scene,’ the law enforcement source told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

 

“’He's claimed to have acted alone. He did admit to all the charges, so to speak,’ the source said...

AP

 

“Shahzad, 30, had recently returned from a five-month trip to Pakistan, where he had a wife, according to law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation into the failed car bombing.

“Shahzad became a naturalized U.S. citizen last year shortly before traveling to Pakistan, a federal law enforcement official in Washington said, speaking on condition of anonymity amid the ongoing investigation.

 

“Investigators hadn't established an immediate connection to the Pakistani Taliban—which had claimed responsibility for the botched bombing in three videos—or any foreign terrorist groups, a law enforcement official told the AP.”

 

[][][]

 

Do take the time and mental energy over the next few weeks to peel this onion.  At the core you will find the same virus that animated Major Hassan. 

 

Here are four predictions to track:

 

[ONE]

 

In Shahzad’s case, we will soon discover actual connections, internet, cellphone and personal contacts, linking him to at least one radical Islamist cleric.  These will be the infection points.

 

[TWO]

 

There will be the usual, ‘but he was such a nice young man’ chatter by the usual clueless suspects.  Missing in these accounts will be a description of Shahzad’s compromised immune system.

 

[THREE]

 

The case will be handled as a routine criminal matter, framed by a lot of political posturing.  This serve will mask the underlying problem.

 

[FOUR]

 

This sort of thing will happen to peaceful Americans again and again until we, as a culture and a awakened nation, are able to get our collective minds around what it means to live in a time when our the prevalent cultural and moral ambivalences are being actively tested and exploited by predatory moral certitude.

 

 

In 2003, I addressed the core issue in an essay, Secular Steel, still posted at http://jaygaskill.com/secular.htm .

 

I began that essay with this paragraph:

 

“Civilizations whose leaders and members are not rooted in the sterner part of the moral order cannot summon the will to defend themselves when challenged by a more cohesive, more fervently motivated adversary.  There is a Darwinian logic at work here that favors the triumph of the religious society over the complacently hedonist culture, the “blood sweat and tears” rally over the “make flowers not war” withdrawal, and the committed, brave heart over the timid, ambivalent soul.”

 

Today, seven years later, I remain firmly persuaded that we Americans will prevail only when we recover, reaffirm and commit to our founding principles, as captured in that tolerant, but tough creed from the Declaration of Independence...

 

We proudly hold up these self-evident truths as a sacred gift we and all free peoples have been endowed with the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and to this end we have made a place in the world where these rights will be defended with integrity, courage and blood.

 

JBG

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by U2RGood at 09:34 AM | Permalink