POLITICAL PATHOLOGY 101

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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.

HR 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.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections08/hillaryclinton/story/
0,,2191830,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront


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