Sound and Unsound Minds

Glenn Reynolds has two posts this afternoon that deserve further comment. He links to Dr. Sanity, a psychiatrist/blogger with whom I wasn’t familiar. Dr. Sanity has the most cogent discussion of Bush Derangement Syndrome I’ve seen:

The number of things that Bush has been blamed for in this world since 9/11 (even acts of God like Tsunamis, hurricanes and other natural disasters) is the stuff of major comedy. You name the horrible event, and he is identified as the etiologic agent.

He is blamed when he does something (anything) and he is blamed when he does nothing. He is blamed for things that ocurred even before he was President, as well as everything that has happened since. He is blamed for things he says; and for things he doesn’t say.***

This psychological defense mechanism is referred to as “displacement”.

The purpose of displacement is to avoid having to cope with the actual reality. Instead, by using displacement, an individual is able to still experience his or her anger, but it is directed at a less threatening target than the real cause. In this way, the individual does not have to be responsible for the consequences of his/her anger and feels more safe–even though that is not the case.

This explains the remarkable and sometimes lunatic appeasement of Islamofascists by so many governments and around the world, while they trash the US and particularly Bush. It explains why there is more emphasis on protecting the “rights” of terrorists, rather than holding them accountable for their actions (thier actions, by the way are also Bush’s fault, according to those in the throes of BDS). Our soldiers in Iraq are being killed because of Bush–not because of terrorist intent and behavior. Terrorist activity itself is blamed on Bush no matter where it occurs.

It isn’t even a stretch of the imagination for some to blame 9/11 on Bush. This is the insane “logic” of most psychological defense mechanisms. They temporarily spare you from the painful reality around you and give you the illusion that you are still in control.

This is exactly the illusion/delusion circulating in the minds of many of the Bush Haters. They want desperately to forget that there is a tidal wave of terror reverberating around the world and to pretend that everything is America’s and Bush’s fault. If that is true, then they will still be in control of events.

I’ve long thought that this is the main explanation not only for Bush-hatred, but for the blame-America-first syndrome that has existed for decades. If everything is America’s fault, then the world isn’t such a dangerous place after all, and we Americans (or Westerners) are still in control. All we have to do is elect appeasers, and external threats will melt away.

The counterpoint to BDS is the common sense exhibited by actor Bruce Willis, along with blogger/reporter Michael Yon, in an MSNBC interview transcribed at the Corner and linked by Glenn. Hollywood isn’t normally where we go to look for sanity, but Willis, who has offered a $1 million reward for the capture of bin Laden, Zawahiri or Zarqawi, is an exception. Here are a few quotes from the interview:

I am baffled to understand why the things that I saw happening in Iraq, really good things happening in Iraq, are not being reported on.
Michael has been over there, was embedded with the members of the Deuce Four, you know, the battalion that actually won the battle for Mosul, that — Michael, correct me if I’m wrong — these are the guys who allowed the election to take place, the election that happened just, you know, a couple months ago, to take place, which is, you know, just a monumental thing. And it’s not being reported on. ***

[A] lot of big choices are being made. You know, to say this is not our fight, when this is the same fight that this country fought 60 years ago and the entire world fought 60 years ago, for the same kind of terrorism, the same kind of thing.

This is not a new war. This is not a new kind of fighting. This is the same fight. And it’s back. And it’s time for it to stop. ***

And it’s not just for this country. It’s for the world. It is time for terrorism to stop. And the United States is the country that can stop it. And that’s what they’re doing over there. And there is — I have no idea why this country is not getting the information that Michael Yon has, you know, access to, is, you know, showing people. It’s just not getting out, and it’s baffling. ***

I want to live in a world, and so do the Iraqi people want to live in a world, where they can move from their homes to the market and not have to fear being killed. And, I mean, doesn’t everybody want that? Who doesn’t want that?

Who, indeed? It is a remarkable fact that the American media, with its endless hyping of Abu Ghraib and similar stories and its obsession with body counts and bad news, have just about succeeded in putting the United States on the wrong side of the war against Islamic terror, one of the purest and most unmitigated evils the world has ever seen.