The World Isn’t So Dark

Hey obamamohammeds...got some good news...it's not ya'lls fault....you are all victims.....it's a sickness....

Psychiatrist Confirms: Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder
As a clinical and forensic psychiatrist, Lyle Rossiter has treated over 1,500 patients and examined over 2,700 civil and criminal cases. Turning his hand to political psychopathology, the author of The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness, has diagnosed an alarming percentage of the population as suffering from the grotesque form of mental derangement known by some as moonbattery.

Among Rossiter's observations:

Based on strikingly irrational beliefs and emotions, modern liberals relentlessly undermine the most important principles on which our freedoms were founded. Like spoiled, angry children, they rebel against the normal responsibilities of adulthood and demand that a parental government meet their needs from cradle to grave.
A social scientist who understands human nature will not dismiss the vital roles of free choice, voluntary cooperation and moral integrity ??? as liberals do. A political leader who understands human nature will not ignore individual differences in talent, drive, personal appeal and work ethic, and then try to impose economic and social equality on the population ??? as liberals do. And a legislator who understands human nature will not create an environment of rules which over-regulates and over-taxes the nation's citizens, corrupts their character and reduces them to wards of the state ??? as liberals do.
The roots of liberalism ??? and its associated madness ??? can be clearly identified by understanding how children develop from infancy to adulthood and how distorted development produces the irrational beliefs of the liberal mind. When the modern liberal mind whines about imaginary victims, rages against imaginary villains and seeks above all else to run the lives of persons competent to run their own lives, the neurosis of the liberal mind becomes painfully obvious.
Basically liberalism is a willful failure to mature beyond adolescence that can have catastrophic consequences for society. With luck, the official diagnosis of this disease by a mental health professional will facilitate the search for a cure.

NOBAMA!!!

The question is less about the world view, which, of course, we would expect Zakaria, as a "cosmopolitanist" (the world remaking the U.S. into a world citizen instead of a superpower) to see Obama's cosmopolitanist world view as more legitimate. However, the truth is somewhere in between this Kantian post-war world and the nasty, brutish, and short world (life) Hobbes described. But perhaps a better question would be what works to deter despots and oppressive regimes?
This
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/obama-s--talking--cure-12504
is a sobering reality.

With McCain as Commander in Chief, despots will know their limitations. With Obama as Commander in Chief, despots will test their limits; and this is a dangerous game. Kennedy was strong and handled the Cuban missile crisis brilliantly, but he was perceived as naive and weak, and it was this perception that directly led to the crisis itself.
McCain may be more pugnacious, but that pugnacity provides clear boundaries. Mr. Zakaria wrote a good book a few years ago (The Future of Freedom), but his latest effort (The Post-American World), while making some good points, is much more Eurocentric in it's views and hence less grounded in reality. Europe (and Mr. Zakaria) has the luxury of second guessing America because we act, while they watch and complain. If Russia does get more expeditionary in the CIS and Eastern Europe, which European military will deter them?

It is a balanced article. America is like any brand image. Our image in World War II was a fair balanced view and everyone embraced the country. The success of cold war break down was due to the 40's brand image. It has been chipped away in the last 10 years to such a state no one is willing to even wanting to be associated with the American brand. For all the folks writing on this column go step outside this country and open your eyes. Far east, middle east, Europe, LA all have been quite running to their own agenda's . Chavez in LA, Russia, China, Iran all are flexing their muscle. No one will partner if America takes on any of these folks. From an alliance in the 50's to where we are a stand alone nation it is scary. Take Libya who was a terrorist nation, a renegade nation 3 years back . No change in leadership, now a partner... If that was achieved by force then you are blind. It was done by diplomacy. Fareed is right - it will take diplomacy to regain confidence and alliance

I hope Mr. Zakaria is correct when he asserts that most Muslims do not want jihad. As western governments relent and allow the practice of sharia law I am concerned that jihad is getting it's nose under the tent. Is there a muslim country that allows for freedom of expression and religion? I have yet to hear of one and the is a grave concern that western nations should have.

Your citing of the downward turn of worldwide violence and the upward turn toward democracies is true.
Thank you President Bush. Your courage in the face of unspeakable evil has stopped the most dangerous enemy the world has ever seen from advancing as it planned. I noticed you failed to give credit where credit is long overdue, so I think it should be noted here and now.

It is amazing even after one of the worst presidential administrations in history people still attempt to justify that administration's doctrine.

I can only rationalize it comes down to dogmatism and pride, because nobody their right mind would try to justify the Bush doctrine in an real intellectual arena. You'd be pretty well laughed at. It's going on here, and it is frightening. It only goes on to fuel cynicism; that many Americans are indeed jingoists.

To all those pushing your "pre-emptive strike" garbage- do you think Iraq was justified? If you can't face a single FACT that Zakaria merely iterates, then your passions dictate you think it was justified, and you have some thinking to do.

Zakaria's had much more biased articles than this.

Note to Mr Fareed Zakaria ( the author ) :

I am a Colombian living in Colombia, South America.

Excellent Article. I agree that overreacting is very dangerous and leads to costly useless wars.

And I want to advance some questions :

Where was the CIA in the weeks or months before the invasion of Georgia by Russia ??. That invasion can not be programmed in 24 hours. This requires many months of Russian work. What is the use of the CIA to prevent attacks against allies ?

And the State Department ??? Did the US Government and Diplomats encouraged the President of Georgia to act irresponsibly ?? ?? . I am sure that this guy is repentant by now of his rash actions. ( And having believed in the US protective umbrella )

And Where was the US Army ?? ..... The US Navy ??? .... The airplanes ???? to at least protect the Georgian Capital or the main Georgian harbors and ports outside of the disputed provinces ????

I am not talking about war or firing shots. I am talking about protective deployed power.

America is well known worldwide for effectiveness, for super advanced technology, for drone or robot airplanes, for satelites in out space. Russia is well known for shoddy technology, inferior quality, backwardness.

There is a poem ( in Spanish ) that says : Where was the King ??? Where were the Princes ?????

Where were the knights and vassals ?????

Vicente Duque

Surprise, surprise, surprise... Another commercial for the DNC, courtesy of Newsweek. I wonder how much the Democrats pay Newsweek for this stuff?

And someone tell Mr. Zakaria that the Cold War 70's - 80's came out well for America because we ramped up our military after Jimmy Carter, and prevented the Soviets from playing their end-of-game card. To anyone but Newsweek, that would be obvious.

Zakaria's piece is overly simplistic and one-sided. The underestimation of threats poses as much, if not more danger than overestimating them. He completely ignores two crucial instances after WWII where the United States's underestimation of the danger posed to it led to its attack in one instance and near nuclear war in the other : 1) The Cuban Missile Crisis; and 2) The Terrorist Attacks on 9/11. In the case of the cuban missle crisis, the U.S. government underestimated the Soviet's capability for brinksmanship and discounted the possibility that they would seek to place nuclear missiles in Cuba. As everyone knows, the United States and the Soviets came perilously close to nuclear war, as close to nuclear war as they would ever get during the cold war. Finally, in the case of 9/11, the U.S. government completely understimated Al Qaeda's capacity to inflict a non-traditional terror attack (airliners as kamikazes) on U.S. soil, despite the fact that the warning signs were there.

another pro Obama puff piece from the Democrats callings themselves journalists at NEWSWEEK........yawn

Don't you see any correlation between the decline in terrorist killings since 9/11 and the US projection of military power overseas? It is precisely the resolve the administration has shown in prosecuting the Iraq War that has either killed or demoralized Islamic terrorists.

Here's yet another foreign-looking so-called 'academic' who is an authority on the Commander-in-Chief and the roles and responsibilities thereof. I'm particularly impressed by the 'overreacting' business. This man, like his hero Obama, has most likely never had to make a tough decision in his life and would likely be incapable of doing so. I wish these people would shut up; everytime they open their mouths, their ignorance is exposed.

And, thus, the continuation of the "Bush Doctrine" (militarily react to every problem from terrorism to drug trafficking) vs. Clintonian proactive policies and diplomacy designed to get at the root of problems. Obama and McCain could be seen as simply adherents to their respective parties' predominant philosophy. (Nothing new there). Obama's worldview is more realistic and reasonable an approach, while McCain's more gratifying to the "quick-fix" mentality. Whther it actually works or not -- you've done something to show.

Exaggeration of crises comes in at least two forms - overestimating and overstating the threat as Republicans are apt to do and underestimating and understating threats as Democrats are wont to do. The examples you cite are very simplified with regard to specifics - especially regarding the collapse of the USSR. It's easy to brush aside N. Korea's nuclear weapons program that isn't even supposed to exist because of a signed treaty and technological assistance rendered by the west, or S. Arabia's countless schools that teach jihad and hatred of the west. Most of all, we shouldn't forget it was small, seemingly inconsequential events that led the planet into WWII. One would hope that after the loss of more than 43 million lives we would have learned a thing or two about "containing" aggressive regimes, appeasement, and the "real" world we live in.

Exaggeration of crises comes in at least two forms - overestimating and overstating the threat as Republicans are apt to do and underestimating and understating threats as Democrats are wont to do. The examples you cite are very simplified with regard to specifics - especially regarding the collapse of the USSR. It's easy to brush aside N. Korea's nuclear weapons program that isn't even supposed to exist because of a signed treaty and technological assistance rendered by the west, or S. Arabia's countless schools that teach jihad and hatred of the west. Most of all, we shouldn't forget it was small, seemingly inconsequential events that led the planet into WWII. One would hope that after the loss of more than 43 million lives we would have learned a thing or two about "containing" aggressive regimes, appeasement, and the "real" world we live in.

Danger, Will Robinson (from Lost In Space)...

The tide of anit-American sentiment around the world does not mean that citizens of other countries simply go around saying they don't like America.

It means, the governments of these countries begin covert operations to insure America no longer wields dominant influence throughout the world, as it previously has.

Covert operations involve obvious and somewhat overt acts, while more intrusive operations are conducted off-radar.

As the political campaigns use lies and devisive politics to defect the other candidate, leaders of other countries watch and listen.

Surely they're thinking, if American leaders use lies and devisive tactics against its own citizenry, would they do the same to us.

Surely they ask, "Can we trust the Americans?"

If McCain/Palin and Republican Party win the election through lies and devisive tactics will the other world leaders trust them?

A very one sided article that looks only to facts which favor its thesis.

Obama's view of the world consists of 90% helpless victims who can't achieve prosperity without government assistance, 10% wealthy exploiters. McCain, when asked about taxing the rich, responded he wanted everyone to be rich by giving them the freedom to do so without government interference, constraining only the cheaters who look to government for special favors and Federal dollars. Who is the pessimist and who the optimist?

War with Iran is a "possibility closer to reality" than we think. -John McCain
Russia should be ejected from the G8, Brazil taken in with open arms, and China excluded. (this was said before the Georgia conflict). McCain also proposed a 'League of Democracies' that would mirror the U.N...excluding all non-democratic nations. America remains the most jingoistic and belligerent nation in theentire world. It is in our culture, we have voted men into the presidency based on how well we???ve felt they would ???deal??? with the ???problems??? of the century. It is evident in the comments on this article here. The Republican platform is even trying to paint the Iraq war as justified, regardless of how that claim has been debunked and burnt down completely. Many of you in response to Zakaria???s simple summaries of the candidate???s foreign policy are responding with your own PROPAGANDA- Iraq ???supported Palistinian terrorism and threatened to attack and help others attack the US???, ???COMPLACENCY KILLS???, ???aggressive foreign intervention is the key to defeating the enemy???. LISTEN TO YOURSELVES! Maybe if the FAA wasn???t so miserably de-regulated 9/11 could have been avoided. But because we are an ocean apart from our enemies, because our country hasn???t been a battleground, it is in our culture. 9/11 made us the victims, it made our belligerence even worse- instead of having specific enemies, now many Americans want the whole world to be burnt down. Those who call Obama???s foreign policy naïve are the ones who are incorrect. His interpretation is MAINSTREAM, it is EUROPEAN. Right now, WE are on the outside looking in. President Bush has alienated this country by invading, occupying, and swapping regimes completely without U.N approval. But what do so many of you care for U.N approval? You???ll vote in the candidate who is most likely to crusade against the rest of the world. And McCain is ready to do that- he???ll fight two wars at once!